Brien Center CEO Honored as Irish Person of the Year
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Hundreds gathered in green for the 20th annual Robert "Bees" Prendergast St. Patrick's Celebration last week, honoring people doing good in the community and supporting Hillcrest Educational Centers.
The event embodies the spirit of Hillcrest's founding board member and continues his legacy.
Christine Macbeth, president and CEO of the Brien Center, was honored as the Irish Person of the Year, and Margaret Keller, executive director of Community Access to the Arts, was given the Judge John A. Barry Community Service Award.
Macbeth has led the Brien Center, which offers mental health and addiction treatment, for about 15 years. She was credited for guiding the agency through the COVID-19 pandemic and into its 100-year anniversary, upon her soon retirement leaving it in a better place than when she got there.
Over those years, she said, the center has faced "more than its share" of challenges but staff members have met every challenge with innovation, intelligence in great compassion. Despite the challenges, the agency is now thriving and has been able to expand its programs and services.
"Throughout my career, I have been motivated by one true belief and that will never waver: Treatment works and people can and do recover. Everybody deserves high-quality mental health and addiction care so that they can resume their productive lives, care for their families, and enrich our community," she said.
"All of us at the Brien Center work hard every day to end the stigma that continues to shadow mental illness and addiction. For many of our clients, recovery is a huge accomplishment that is often achieved without the support and public accolades that traditionally come with conquering almost any other adversity or illness. I hope this dynamic changes soon. The stigma connected to mental illness and addiction needs to be no more."
Hillcrest President and CEO Shaun Cusson credited Macbeth for the "daunting task" of leading the county's core mental and behavioral health care system.
"They are what we have," he said. "Brien is absolutely essential to the overall quality of life of all Berkshire citizens, thousands of clients, the dozens of organizations that it supports. Everyone in this room is impacted by the work Brien does either directly or indirectly."
While the agency provides an essential service, he pointed out that it is not guaranteed, as it is not a public entity and is not automatic but relies on resources, "really great" employees, and certainly great leadership.
State Rep. Tricia Farley Bouvier delivered a citation from the House of Representatives congratulating Macbeth, explaining that the amount of service she and her team have done for the community could not be compiled in one place.
"Look around you. Look around at who is here because this is what community looks like. This is what the Berkshires are," she said. "It's the bankers and the health system and the doctors and the education system and the mental health systems all coming together to support our community. This is what's community looks like and I'm really really proud to play a small part in this community."
Keller was recognized for leading CATA through its mission to connect people with physical or developmental disabilities to the arts through 55 program partners that include Hillcrest. CATA now reaches a thousand people with disabilities across 16 Berkshire communities.
"Many CATA artists never had the chance to explore their creativity before coming to CATA," she said.
"We see every day how their potential is unlocked in CATA programs. When our CATA artists paint, act, dance, juggle, and make music, they are tapping into talents they might never have known they possessed, discovering new passions, and giving voice to their unique life experiences."
Keller reflected on an afternoon spent visiting the organization's campuses where she met staff and students.
"What struck me was the respect and the care that Hillcrest staff radiated to their students. We know these are hard jobs. There are so many challenges knit into the work that Hillcrest staff must do to help young people grow and rebuild but at the same time, there is so much beauty in this work. It's the beauty of human beings caring for one another," she said.
"I saw in Hillcrest so many of the core values that we embrace a CATA. Empathy, respect, and a fundamental leaf in the worth and the dignity and the potential of people who have been underestimated and who deserve opportunities to thrive."
Cusson commented that Keller doesn't bleed blood because if she cut her arm, she would leak positive energy, happy ideas, and positive regard for everyone.
Greylock Federal Credit Union was also honored as the lead sponsor for being there "every step of the way" through the 20 years of Bees Prendergast events.
Student Maddy McLaren and her mother, Katie, gave a firsthand account of the impact that Hillcrest services have had on their family over the course of about six years. McLaren is autistic and has some medical, behavioral, and mental health challenges that were making it hard to "live her best life," as she put it, and traditional school settings were not working.
This led her to Hillcrest, where she has made "remarkable progress" and aggressive and unsafe behaviors are gone. Her mother credited this to the staff members taking her input when making a treatment plan, as many other providers had previously not.
Maddy confirmed this, speaking of her wishes for the future and the hope that her treatment has provided.
"Back is our sweet, quirky, funny, caring daughter. She's able to work on building relationships. She's able to work on social skills, vocational skills, her academics. Like she told you she's now on the honor roll and that wasn't possible before because she just wasn't able to attend to anything," her mother explained.
"She's prepared to be more independent and responsible and we have Hillcrest to thank for bringing back our Madeline. There don't seem to be words that are adequate enough to express our gratitude."
Cusson said Hillcrest provides the highest amount of residential service available, last year receiving more than 1,100 referrals and this year will top 1,200.
"It sometimes feels like the things that are wrong in the world are overwhelming the things that are right," he said. "I'd like to suggest, for this moment anyway I would like to suggest that the things that are right just aren't hitting the news. They're not the things that are hitting your feed."
He asked attendees to look at the successes, achievements, and sheer goodness in the room.
"Sure we have problems but we have each other, as it's been said twice," he added.
"And tonight Hillcrest has all of you and all of the good that you have brought with you to help us solve those problems. I think this is the actual world we live in. Certainly, for tonight I will say this is the actual world that we live in and I think it's pretty damn good."
Tags: Irish, recognition event,
