- Tonight on WPBS Weekly.

Inside the stories we sit down with Ashley Wilson of the Mental Health Association of Jefferson County, discover what services they provide to promote mental health and recovery.

Also, we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal with a special multi-part series.

Discover how the canal helped those seeking freedom from slavery escape into New York and Canada.

Your stories, your region coming up right now on WPBS weekly, inside the stores, - WPBS weekly inside the stories is brought to you by - When you're unable to see your primary care provider.

The Carthage Walk-in Clinic is here for you.

Located off Route 26 across from Carthage Middle School.

Comfort and Healing close to home when you need it most - North Country Orthopedic Group is there for your urgent ortho or sports related injuries.

With our onsite surgical center and same or next day appointments, we're ready to provide care for patients of all ages.

Your health matters to us North Country Orthopedic Group, keeping healthcare local.

- We are the north country we're protecting one another like family is who we are and where our tomorrow will always be worth defending.

Find out how we keep the North Country Strong, at claxtonhepburn.org Today.

- Select musical performances are made possible with funds from the statewide community Regrant program, a REGRANT program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York state legislator administered by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council.

- And good Tuesday evening everyone and welcome to this edition of WPBS Weekly Inside the Stories, I'm Michael Riecke.

Mental health impacts every part of our lives from how we take care of ourselves to how we connect with others.

But sometimes support services aren't always there.

And Jefferson County, the Mental Health Association provides services for the community navigating mental health challenges.

For more, we go to producer Luke Smith in the studio.

- Thank you Michael.

And yes, as you mentioned, mental health services are certainly hard to come by, especially in communities like Jefferson County and you know, programs like the Mental Health Association of Jefferson County really helped to make that a thing of the past.

I'm joined today by Ashley Wilson of the Mental Health Association of Jefferson County.

Ashley, thank you so much for joining me in the studio today.

It's a pleasure having you here.

- Yeah, thank you for having me.

- And before we start talking about the program, I wanted to do sort of like a mental health check-in.

So real quick, how are you doing?

- I can say I'm doing pretty good.

I'm working in the mental health field.

I've definitely learned a lot of skills in terms of coping and that's kind of what I hope to instill in other individuals that use our services.

How are you?

- I'm doing pretty well.

All things considered.

If the weather's been great, I've had a great time in and outside of work, honest to God, like always a good time in and out here.

- Awesome.

- So you know, you mentioned, you mentioned your, your love for doing this type of service.

I wanna know where did it begin for you with getting into mental health services?

- So a big thing for me is I've had my own struggles in life and a big kind of way we work with our individuals is we're all peers here at the mental health association, meaning that we've had to gone through extreme life situations, traumas, or we've also suffered ourselves with negative symptoms of mental health.

So that's kind of how we work with our individuals from our own providing empathy and also experiencing similar symptoms and how to navigate that.

- So when folks come to the Mental Health Association, what are they, what are they gonna expect when they walk in the doors?

Can you give me a little overview?

- Yes, definitely.

So when they walk into our our building, they're gonna be met with friendly faces, smiles, very large drop-in center where we offer lots of different services.

Our big focus with our drop-in center is on that social connection piece.

As adults, it is so hard to, to find a place to make new friends that's in a conducive environment, a healthy environment.

So that's kind of how we, we stand with that.

- As I mentioned, there's a lot of, there's a lot of barriers when it comes to finding appropriate mental health services in this region.

How does the Mental Health Association of Jefferson County help bridge the gap and break those barriers down?

- What we found with individuals that do have symptoms, negative symptoms with mental health that can act, that can actually be the biggest barrier to reach out for help, especially in terms of depression, anxiety, meeting new people, a new face.

So you know, if they're interested in coming in to get connected to clinical providers, what we firmly believe in is a warm handoff.

We will go with the individual if they're comfortable and that has seen a lot of success doing that.

They have a friendly face with them, they're not alone - And that's gotta feel super welcoming for those people that are like looking for something that they can't find outside of your organization, that's gotta be wonderful.

- A hundred percent.

- Now I'm gonna go into some of your programs.

I wanna start by asking you about your drop-in center.

Give me a little bit of some specifics about what to expect when entering the drop-in center.

- So our drop-in center is one of our, our biggest programs here at the Mental Health Association.

So when they come in, like I said, they can expect to see some friendly faces in terms of staff.

They can come in and just meet new individuals, you know, whether, you know, some similarities, someone to connect with.

And that's a big component of mental health is, you know, not feeling isolated at home.

I know the big thing with COVID is everybody had to stay indoors.

Our public places were closed with the whole COVID thing, everybody had to stay indoors, stay at home, we couldn't, we had to be six feet apart and I still think we're feeling the effects of that social isolation.

So coming into the drop-in center, they can expect to meet new people, be not isolated, and really enable them to connect with individuals.

- And that's so strong that you're seeing like there's a, there's a shift between what you've seen pre COVID and what you're seeing post COVID.

What are some of the biggest things that you're seeing in individuals that are using your services?

Because I know you've been doing this since before the COVID times hit.

- Yes, definitely.

We, we see a lot on, in terms of, you know, many individuals that we have come into the drop-in center, we're isolated even regard regardless of COVID.

So we've seen a lot of people kind of open up a little bit more and having that social connection piece is, I mean, we're human beings, that's a big part of, we need that.

So the drop-in center offers that - Now there's another program that you guys do that immediately got my interest and why I wanted to get you in here.

You guys have a respite apartment?

Yes.

What is that?

I, this is new to me.

- So with the respite apartment, it enables an individual that needs to get out of their environment, their home for, for any, not any specific reason, but you know, maybe it's not an ideal situation where they're at and they just need to get away, get their mental health more focused in a positive environment so they can utilize our respite department for up to three days to kind of center themselves.

As long as they have a permanent address to go back to, they're free to use that for three days.

- And what would you say is the community response, the people that are using your respite apartment, what's the response been like for that?

- Very positive and like I said, it enables them to kind of break away from real life at that point if it's a, you know, a bad situation going on.

So it enables them to regroup, refocus, and, and think about next steps before they return back to their home.

- And that's huge, especially when times are tough.

Like when it comes to money, there's another service you provide.

You don't just do mental health services, you also do support for individuals going through family court, like your Agape project.

What is, what's the Agape project?

- Yes, so our Agape project, we do so many things with that.

It's actually one of my favorite programs.

Very passionate about it.

- Ooh.

- So with that, we, we really work with families for reunification.

So if an individual needs to go to family court and file a petition for custody, modification of custody or needs visitation services, we can facilitate that and just be a, an extra support while you're going through family court can be a very stressful time and it's nice to have someone in your corner while you're going through that.

- Absolutely.

I think about the people that are looking for services like this that are struggling with mental health all around, you know, what's something you would say to a, to a community to seek out your services or if they're looking for something, how can they, how can they get, how can they use your services?

- We offer so many different services, whether it's, you know, just needing someone to talk to a peer, wanting to meet new people in the community in a, in a healthy environment.

And I also know a big part, kind of what, what sets us apart as well is as we know and as I know personally, sometimes when you're, you know, feeling depression or any kind of negative symptom from your mental health, it's really hard to take that step to reach out and get help.

So we meet people at their homes if they just give us a call and we can kind of, you know, walk side by side with them to get them connected.

- Now Ashley, as we start to wrap up, I got one more question for you.

What's something you would say to people that, like you mentioned, aren't immediately seeking out these services?

What's something you would tell them to let them know that things are gonna be all right no matter what?

- Yeah, I know it's sometimes when we're in that, that struggle in our mind it is very hard to reach out.

But just know that there's friendly faces here at the mental health association and all of our community partners that are, that are willing to, to work with them.

And I know it can be very hard to take that initial step, but we are here for you and we will help you in any way that we can, especially with our drop in center.

You know, I know it's hard sometimes to take that initial step, but you know, come on in, walk in, come have free coffee, play some pool foosball.

We have plenty of things for individuals to get and get connected to other peers or get connected to those clinical services if needed.

- And for folks who want to get involved or get or volunteer with your organization or as you mentioned, community organizations that wanna connect with you, where can people go to learn more - For volunteering?

We are always taking volunteers with our drop-in center as well.

You know, they can just stop on end, give us a call and we'll be there.

- Well Ashley, thank you so much for taking the time to meet with us today.

It was certainly a pleasure learning more about your services folks at home, you know where to go, you know what to do and you know, if you are struggling with mental health as well, don't be hesitant to make a call.

So folks, make that, make that, make that send.

Ashley, thank you so much for joining us in in the studio today.

It was an absolute pleasure.

- Thank you so much.

- To learn more about the Mental health Association of Jefferson County, visit mentalhealthjc.org Well, 2025 marks the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal and we're commemorating this engineering marvel with a special ongoing series.

Tonight we discover how the canal helped underground railroad freedom seekers escape into upstate New York and Canada - As a technological marvel.

The Erie Canal is revolutionary, it's also incredibly integral to black life.

Slavery in New York state really begins in the 1700's and a little bit earlier than that.

It is a institution that links New York before it's a state when it's a colony into what becomes the transatlantic slave trade.

- The abolitionist movement itself begins in the hearts of people who are enslaved.

It didn't start in the 1800's or the 1700's.

This started in 1619 when the first enslaved people were brought to the shore of Jamestown, Virginia because resistance is a form of abolition and people of African descent resisted slavery in many different forms since it actually occurred on this land prior to the establishment of this country.

In 1776, - After the American Revolution, there is this debate over how you will meet the cornerstone ideal of what the revolution argued, which was about freedom.

And so what begins to happen really in the 1780s is discussions in the state legislature about how to abolish slavery and what that would look like.

And it starts really slowly.

It takes about four decades to actually get to the point where within New York State slavery is abolished entirely.

The Erie Canal is being constructed.

It will be complete two years before the immediate emancipation in New York state goes into place, which is in 1827.

And so you have two things colliding.

You have immediate emancipation coming while the Erie Canal is being built, but you also then have this transportation system that is offering a new way to be able to construct an underground railroad.

- When we talk about the Underground Railroad, we're talking about a network of freedom and people literally sacrificing their lives to build relationships and establish trust with people in order to create that network to freedom.

Even though it's called a railroad, it wasn't underground, but it was also intermodal.

So it wasn't just a railroad.

A railroad is just symbolic to a means of transportation.

But people were utilizing railroads but they were also utilizing canals.

They were also walking along routes to seek freedom.

And then you think about towpaths that are on the sides of the Erie Canal, people were utilizing those as well.

- The completion of the Erie Canal really changes the economic layout of the United States.

You see African Americans who are free, who move into those areas to work on the locks.

And so that's where you start to see some of them becoming proprietors or coachmen and barbers.

- As these new communities form on the banks of the canal.

You've got thousands of people traveling along its banks, communicating with one another, learning from one another.

And it starts out, you have what's called the second grade awakening really takes hold here along the canal.

This is a religious revival movement rejecting in a lot of ways traditional Calvinist notions of predestination and embracing a more perfectionist doctrine.

One that says you yourself have a moral responsibility to improve yourself and society.

So a lot of reform movements will also spring out from canal communities and this new religious awakening, notably the abolition movement, the Temperance Movement, and the Women's Rights Movement here in Syracuse, there are a number of abolitionist demonstrations.

You have people like Jermain Wesley Loguen live here in Syracuse, who helps thousands of freedom seekers reach Canada.

And also out in Rochester.

You have famously Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony living out there.

So these two bastions of kind of these reform movements as well.

- In 1834, slavery is abolished throughout the British Empire, which means Canada being a part of that abolishes slavery, many people begin to make it across the Canadian side and settle there.

So Canada became what is known as Canaan Land or the Free Land because once people made it across to the Canadian side, there was a sense of freedom that they were able to experience that they were not fully able to experience.

Even here in New York state, - There are a lot of Jim Crow laws that are put into place in New York state before the Civil War.

So travelers, even if they're legally free or if they're enslaved, are dealing with transportation segregation in some sense along the Erie Canal.

- You think about the gradual abolition of slavery in 1827, just because that gradually became policy within the state, it did not mean that everyone that lived in the state agreed with that policy.

And then when you get to 1850 and you have Miller Fillmore passing the Fugitive Slave Act, it put people who were living here free at risk, not only because of that federal policy, but because it deputized everyday American citizens to participate in the capture of everyday people.

Many people didn't feel safe in America anymore and it created an exodus of people escaping to get across to the Canadian side.

And in order to do that, you travel along the canals, right?

And then the canal, the Erie canals connected to Lake Erie.

You have people who are crossing the Niagara River as well as Lake Ontario.

And in order to get to freedom, you have to pass through places that are border towns like Buffalo, New York, like Niagara Falls, Youngstown, Lewiston.

All of these areas have rich history, not only in the form of abolition, but also in helping freedom seekers get across to the Canadian side.

In Niagara Falls, there weren't a bunch of safe houses or people hiding out.

You're literally standing at the border of freedom where you can see Canada for the first time often in your life.

Thankfully there were people who were here that help facilitate that freedom.

And in many cases you had people of African descent who are not only living here free, but may be Canadian citizens who are working on the American side in the hospitality industry that are instrumental in helping people get across to Canada.

Harriet Tubman, she actually took people from one place to the next and made many journeys back and forth from the Canadian side back across to America in order to facilitate freedom.

Reverend Thomas James, he was born in kind of Johari and he lived his life as a young man that was enslaved when the canal was first being constructed.

He actually followed the path of the canal all the way to Lockport, New York.

The canal eventually connects to Lake Erie, so he departed from that particular path, made it to the Niagara River and crossed over on the Canadian side and then he made it back over to the American side eventually and settled in Lockport, New York.

- The canal in reality was a much more diverse space than it is often portrayed as.

However, that history is largely un acknowledged in a lot of cases.

So we are trying to incorporate that into a lot of different programming.

Here at the museum for instance, we have several different walking tours that we have introduced, notably our Pathways of Resistance tour, which focuses on black history along the canal with an a special focus on the abolition movement and the Underground Railroad.

But it actually takes the story all the way up to today and our future infrastructure.

- I think we're in a time period right now where the contributions of all of us are not equally considered and that's what makes this country rich and what it ultimately is.

And I think that we're able to look into our past and to see the contributions of our ancestors where you gonna see a similar story that we all have freedom seekers and that is a universal story.

Whether we are people of African descent, whether our ancestors came from Ireland or Italy, or whether we are indigenous to this land.

These are common stories that we all share and I think that that gives us the ability to see common humanity of all of us.

- Turtles aren't always known as the fastest creatures, but in Osceola that's put to the test.

This weekend marks the 52nd annual Osceola Turtle races, a tradition hosted by the world famous Osceola Hotel.

The event includes vendors, food and kids activities as the fastest turtles go shell to shell for a chance to win cash, prizes, medals, and most importantly, bragging rights.

- We added a few more things for the the children to do to keep them occupied as they wait for their their races, but we try to keep it as close to the original tradition as we possibly can so that people have that to look forward to.

- The races start at noon this Saturday at the Osceola Hotel.

Registration starts at 10.

For more information, visit the world famous Osceola Hotel's Facebook page.

Well, that does it for this Tuesday night.

Join us next time for a fresh look inside the stories in the heart of Ontario.

A vibrant celebration of Shakespearean art comes to life each summer.

We'll take you there.

Plus we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal with a multi-part special series.

Examine how the construction of the canal impacted indigenous peoples.

Plus a recipe for deep fried shrimp with tamarind sauce that just might become your new go-to appetizer or dinner.

Meantime, if you have a story idea you'd like us to explore, we'd love to learn more.

Just drop us an email at wpbsweekly@wpbstv.org and let's share it with the region.

That's it for tonight.

Everyone have a safe night.

We'll see you next time.

Take care.

- WPBS weekly.

Inside the stories is brought to you by - When you're unable to see your primary care provider.

A Carthage Walk-in clinic is here for you, located off Route 26 across from Carthage Middle School, comfort and Healing close to home when you need it most - North Country Orthopedic Group is there for your urgent ortho or sports related injuries.

With our onsite surgical center and same or next day appointments, we're ready to provide care for patients of all ages.

Your health matters to us.

North Country Orthopedic Group, keeping healthcare local.

- We are the north country.

We're protecting one another like family is who we are and where our tomorrow will always be worth defending.

Find out how we keep the North Country Strong, at claxtonhepburn.org Today.

- Select musical performances are made possible with funds from the statewide community Regrant program, a REGRANT program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York State legislator administered by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council.

- Thankfully, there were people who were here that helped facilitate that freedom.

And in many cases you had people of African descent who are not only living here free, but maybe Canadian citizens who are working on the American side in the hospitality industry that are instrumental in helping people get across to Canada.