Hello My name is Angela and I am a person who struggled with nicotine use disorder for nearly 20 years. For most of my life, smoking was a subconscious autonomous action. Something I did in-between living. You may be wondering why I did not stop sooner? Well, I was not ready or more specifically the stinky thinking from my mental health condition. ...
Since 1978 Mercer Council has been creating pathways to reduce mental health challenges in Mercer County. Through unifying our constituents, providing education, and intervention services Mercer Council has begun building the world we collectively envisioned. As we highlight in October the various preventable measures and intervention services avai...
On Tuesday, August 30th, 2022, we are hosting the 7th annual Mercer County Overdose Awareness event in Ewing, NJ from 5:30-8PM, at the Ewing Community and Senior Center. This will be our seventh annual IOAD- Here is a brief video of some of the highlights from 2021's event- This event is presented by the One Voice Initiative, a partnership between ...
Greetings to our Mercer Council Family, Extended Family, Community Partners, and Mercer County Community - A warm and heartfelt thank you for your continued loyalty and support of our agency and work throughout the year. Wishing you and yours all the peace and joy in this holiday season and the New Year!
Giving Tuesday is an opportunity for people around the world to come together to thank, help, give, show kindness, and share what they have with those in need. Make a contribution today so together we can make a healthy, safe, and responsible community become a reality! Donate Mercer Council is a private, non-profit agency dedicated to th...
We want to thank Brian Bittings, OORP Patient Navigator, for the 4 years he has spent leading our OORP team. Brian decided to move on from the Mercer Council mid-October. We wish him all the best in the next chapter of his journey. We want to congratulate David DeCamp, who has fully transitioned from the role of Assistant Patient Navigator/Re...
On Friday November 5th, 2021 Mercer Council was honored to participate in the inaugural "Open Access To Recovery" (OATR) outreach event. This event was organized by Recovery Advocates of America and the Mercer County Operation Helping Hand Program (OHH) under the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office. OHH offers those arrested for n...
September is Suicide Prevention Month. While ASYSST is assisting students throughout the year, suicide is one of the many areas we focus on. This year's theme is HELP, take one post one. There is a help sign posted outside of one of our offices, students can take a Post-It Note with a positive affirmation that speaks to or means something to him/he...
OORP's Dream Team of Certified Peer Recovery Specialists, spread hope and healing as they reflect on the gift of recovery and what being in recovery means to them! For some Recovery Month inspiration, check out what they have to say! 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜 Marc North, Stacey Ross, James Boozan, Brian Bittings, Jon Macciocca, Dave...
4 Types of Grief Nobody Told You About | Psychology Today And why it’s important that we call them grief. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/between-the-generations/201904/4-types-grief-nobody-told-you-about#:~:text=%204%20Types%20of%20Grief%20Nobody%20Told%20You,one%E2%80%99s%20own%20life%20and%20affairs.%0AExamples%20include%3A%0AA...%20More...
So many faces and voices of recovery have paved the way for countless others to reach their goals with the hope and healing that is generated through connections, support and a shared peer recovery experience. One of the faces and voices making a huge impact in the recovery community is Mercer Council's own, Stacey Ross, a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist with our Opioid Overdose Reco...
Hello Community Members! While New Jersey has become one of the pioneers in underage marijuana usage and law enforcement reform, the new marijuana legislation has led to frustration and confusion with parents, business owners, and law enforcement alike. While there have been news outlets and educational resources mitigating some of that confusion, the Prevention Coalition of Mercer County an...
In the program I teach called Protecting You, Protecting Me (for children in grades K-5), one of the topics I discuss with students is the reasons for rules and laws. They learn that rules and laws are in place to protect themselves and others (i.e. wearing a helmet to protect the brain), show respect toward others (i.e. being polite), and to show order (i.e. not cutting others while in line at a ...
Greetings to our Mercer Council Family, Extended Family, Community Partners and Mercer County Community - It is hard to believe that the holiday season is upon us. It has been a tumultuous year, filled with pain, suffering, sickness, loss, unpredictability, financial instability, social/physical isolation, among other hardships. With these things, however, has come a sense of deep...
I had the pleasure of hosting our weekly Parenting series centered around peer pressure. With stories shared and valuable input from participants, I am excited to know the potential for this prorgram. This is the first session on Peer Pressure in General- A New Persepctive, that premiered on Thursday, November 12th, on our YouTub Channel: This is what the rest of the series will...
This past week, I was honored to be invited to share space with Stacey Ross and Marc North of Recovery Advocates of America on their show, 'The Fix'. In addition to their roles at Recovery Advocates, Stacey and Marc are also Recovery Specialists on Mercer Council's OORP Team. Through both of their roles, they are well versed in all things recovery and we are lucky to have their voices....
In support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Mercer Council staff wore pink and spent a portion of our weekly staff meeting discussing the importance of prioritizing health and how Council's work in substance use prevention education impacts the overall health and well-being of every individual. Studies show that a woman’s risk for breast cancer increases with the more alcohol she ...
In support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Mercer Council staff wore pink and spent a portion of our weekly staff meeting discussing the importance of prioritizing health and how Council's work in substance use prevention enducation impacts the overall health and well-being of every individual. Here at Mercer Council we strive each day to offer programming to foster a healthy, safe ...
The Opioid Overdose Recovery Program (OORP) team has been hard at work during the pandemic, ensuring that the invaluable Recovery Support services typically provided, continue to be available, accessible and effective no matter what challenges and barriers are going on in the world right now. The Mercer OORP team has worked with 921 individuals to ...
Mercer Council team members Malissa Arnold, Jocelyn Cooper and David DeCamp all spent their Saturday supporting strong community partner, Recovery Advocates of America as they hosted their 8th Annual 5k Fundraising Walk/Run. Despite the pandemic, Recovery Advocates safely hosted another very popular and well attended event (over 400 participants!!), that not only raises awareness about subst...
Election Day is quickly approaching on November 3rd, 2020! Voting is a privilege to those who are able and an opportunity for the many voices of our communities to be heard. Each year on Election Day, Mercer Council closes their office to allow staff to prioritize exercising their right to vote. Although the election will look slightly different this year and most of our staff wi...
Hello Community! At the end of each cycle for the Trenton Municipal Alliance Grant, the Coordinator- along with the Mercer County Division of Youth does an undertaking called The Calendar Project. We specifically ask them to express how drugs, alcohol, and violence has shaped their lives and they express that through poems, drawings, and paintings. We collaborate with primary and middle school stu...
Our hearts are heavy, as we mourn and attempt to process the lives we've recently lost, who were taken from their families and communities too soon, unjustly and unfairly. As we sit and reflect on the recent tragedies, we understand and acknowledge that this racial and systematic injustice has been pervasive and long standing and that the result has been countless loss of lives for so many b...
Our thoughts are with our community, colleagues, partners, first responders and front line and essential workers during this challenging time! We are in this together, and because of that, we are stronger. Thinking of you and sending positive energy for health and well-being. Our staff have been very hard at work, continuing to deliver important services to the community, in meaningful and creativ...
On May 5, 2020, people all around the world are coming together to tap into the power of human connection and strengthen communities at the grassroots level. Will you be one of them? We will be one of those participating organizations and we need your help! As a result of the pandemic, there will be trauma and increased incidences of substance use as a way for people to cope....
On March 25, NJ Senate passed the bill S2179 that allows gross income tax deduction for charitable contributions to certain New Jersey-based charitable organizations. The deduction allowed by the bill mirrors the federal income tax deduction for charitable contributions and is allowed regardless of whether the federal itemized deduction is taken by the taxpayer. Mer...
Last week, Ewing High School found out about two students who have had hardships hit them and their families. One student and his/her family lost their home and all of their belongings in a fire. While they are being housed by Red Cross, they will have to start from scratch to regain everything that was destroyed in the fire. Another student lost a parent to a long battle of cancer. As like any FA...
One of my first assignments at Mercer Council was the 2nd Annual International Overdose event, held last year in Hamilton. I received all of the registration calls, and with those calls, came stories of questioning, heartbreak, and hope. I heard stories of sons and daughters taken too soon; of a young father leaving behind 2 and 4-year-old sons; a young girl experimenting for the first and l...
Mercer Council on Alcoholism & Drug Addiction
1931 Brunswick Avenue
Lawrence Township, NJ 08648
Tel - (609) 396-5874
Email - mcada@mercercouncil.org
Hours - Mon - Fri 8am - 4pm
