“We are the central place for support and resources for all community members, whether 12/14-related or not,” said Melissa Glaser. Ms Glaser is the community outreach liaison for the Newtown Recovery and Resiliency Team, funded through December 2015 by a Department of Justice grant.

The team, made up of Ms Glaser, project manager Margot Robins, trauma recovery specialist Deb Delvecchio-Scully, and case managers Catherine Galda, Eileen Rondeau, and Suzy DeYoung, works with more than 150 providers addressing mental health, basic needs, and traditional and alternative medical treatments, as well as many other aspects of well-being and how to access that help.

Ms Glaser was distressed, she said, to read the December 8 letter to The Newtown Bee from Steven Feinstein. Mr Feinstein identified himself as the husband of a teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School (SHS), Laura Feinstein.

“They suffer PTSD and all manner of emotional injury,” Mr Feinstein wrote about SHS teachers, “making every day a challenge, yet they are largely forgotten. No real support except each other; no charitable trusts to help give them the time to find peace and no meaningful help on how to get there… the public wants to move on, while these women, particularly the ones like Laura who still teach at ‘Sandy Hook Elementary’ don’t have that option.”

While she cannot speak to the period of time prior to August when the Resiliency Team was put in place, Ms Glaser stressed that the team is available to anyone.

“Some teachers have reached out,” she said, and the team has attended open houses at all of the Newtown schools to introduce themselves to teachers, parents, and staff.

“Dr Erardi and I are working hard to create an environment at Sandy Hook School where teachers feel it is safe and comfortable to seek support, and to make that support easily accessible,” Ms Glaser said. Other than the open house at that particular school, and meeting with clinicians, though, she said the Resiliency Team has not been invited to offer any other programs there.

It is important to remember, she added, that there is currently a mix of personnel at SHS.

“There is new staff and there are those who were there 12/14. It’s tricky to find the right combination of support for those who have been involved and directly impacted by 12/14, and those who were not,” she said

What the Resiliency Team is able to do is provide tools to teachers “to help them manage when they are having difficulties. Not nearly enough teachers are taking advantage [of our resources], as we would like to see,” said Ms Glaser.

The team hopes to take a more aggressive approach this winter. “With the support of the superintendent [Dr Joseph V. Erardi, Jr] we hope to bring our support directly into school. We are making connections and letting staff and teachers know we have resources,” she said.

Those resources go beyond traditional counseling. The Recovery and Resiliency Team (RRT) can suggest programs such as yoga, meditation, or alternatives best suited to the individual.

Even though the number of teachers contacting the team for help is less than they would expect, other community members have sought out the RRT.

Just The Beginning

“We are seeing now, two years out, a large number of people coming forward who have not asked for help prior to this,” Ms Glaser said. Because a tragedy such as 12/14 tends to have a ripple effect, there are many who just now are realizing that they continue to grieve and are having difficulties in day-to-day living. It is not necessary in Newtown, she said, to have been directly impacted by the murders in order to need help. But those feeling the ripple effect “feel guilty, that they should be okay. The truth is, two years out is just the beginning.”

That is why Ms Glaser feels that it is particularly essential now to find those still needing to address issues of grief, sadness, depression, and anxieties related to 12/14. With the Department of Justice grant funded only through the end of this year, the team must know the needs that will have to be met beyond that.

“We are constantly trying to find models for help that are sustainable,” she said, beyond December 2015.

“I respect if even one person is saying he or she has been forgotten. They are in pain and need help,” Ms Glaser said. In response to Mr Feinstein’s letter, she said, “We are here. We absolutely want to be instrumental in offering support and assistance. We are open to any creative way that will make it easier for Sandy Hook School teachers to get the help they need. We have the ability and resources to help.”

Appointed as the director of the third iteration of the School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV) grant in December 2014, former school district health director Judy Blanchard is also disheartened to hear that even one teacher feels unsupported.

There have been services in place to help staff at all schools with recovery from the shootings at Sandy Hook School, she said.

“But I don’t think there is one answer for all Sandy Hook School teachers. Recovery is very personal,” Ms Blanchard said.

It is possible that before grants were written, or formalized programs established, that SHS teachers may have been more on their own in finding recovery assistance, she said. She does know that a clinician is in place at the school now, specifically serving the needs of teachers. Screening programs have been offered to all staff so that they are aware of cholesterol, body mass, height, weight, blood pressure, and blood sugar numbers.

“It is sometimes hard for people to say ‘I need emotional support.’ But the physical numbers might help people recognize there have been changes — for some reason — and do something about it,” Ms Blanchard said.

Other staff wellness opportunities within various schools have included meditation, yoga, kickboxing, Pilates, and self-defense courses. The complex situation, with needs continually evolving, though, means that implementing useful programs is not instantaneous and may not be what is actually desired by the time it is in place. It is a frustrating situation for providers and partakers.

Additional Personnel

Funding has allowed for substitute teachers onsite and additional paraeducators in the classrooms to enable teachers to take a break when needed. The SERV grant provided funding to support the hiring of one full-time and one part-time principal at SHS, said Ms Blanchard, as well as a psychologist, a counselor, and three clinicians.

It is not so simple for a teacher to decide to use a substitute, though, Ms Blanchard pointed out.

“These SHS teachers are so devoted to their classes.” Deciding to take an hour or a day or a week, when the students are involved in projects or seem to need the continuity provided by the regular classroom teacher, can make it difficult for a teacher to look out for his or her own needs.

What needs still must be met is her focus in the coming months. The SERV grants I and II addressed immediate hardware and security needs, and brought in qualified people and programs to help, Ms Blanchard said. This third SERV grant that Ms Blanchard oversees is specific to how to get the school staff to a period of sustainability after the grant money runs out in June of 2016.

“I have only begun meeting with teachers and staff to pinpoint those needs,” Ms Blanchard said. “We have to get to the point to continue positively. The grant money is to create structures and procedures that will be able to continue to meet the needs of the community. Certainly, we want to provide whatever we can to meet their needs. Hopefully, there is not a hesitancy to reach out to providers.”

(Multiple attempts were made to contact Sandy Hook School teachers and staff to comment for this story, but no response was received.)