Cassandra Hemenway
Another Way, the peer-run drop-in center for “psychiatric survivors,” will celebrate its 40th year on Oct. 4.
“Ten by four, by the back door!” shouted Ken Russell, executive director of Another Way, as he walked through a group of regular visitors at its Barre Street facility in Montpelier. “‘Ten by four’” is the number of years Another Way has been in operation, Russell said, adding that his rhyme has become “a bit of an expression” around the place, and the “back door” refers to where the celebration will take place.
Another Way is part of a network of similar groups that aim to provide sanctuary, healing, community, and mutual respect for people who have experienced psychiatric treatment that has left them traumatized, according to Russell.
“Another Way is a place where people can go and get support, a place to be with other people who are peers, psychiatric survivors, who go there and look for alternatives to the mental health system,” said Malcolm Sawyer in a press release from Another Way. Sawyer has been involved with Another Way since 1986, the release states.
“It’s a healing center,” Sawyer said, “a place where you can go and help recover. A place I go to when I am freaking out and people are there to comfort me.”
Russell said a psychiatric survivor “is someone who was given a psychiatric diagnosis and subjected to the mental health system, whether by compulsion, coercion, or choice. That is part of our mission statement.”
Specifically, some people have experienced forced medication, being strapped to tables, and “power trips on the part of the people in power,” Russell said.
“Some people think of it as a relatively benign thing and go, ‘Well, he was having a hard time, so he went into a psych ward.’ And maybe some people’s experience was like that. But for other people, it’s very, very different, and people carry it for the rest of their lives,” Russell said. “And I think it’s important to think of, you know, it’s a form of incarceration. … You can’t just leave.”
Russell said Another Way supports people making their own decisions around their psychiatric care and other health needs. He described the work of Another Way as “another liberation movement. … It’s sort of a civil rights movement.”
“Sometimes people are weaning themselves off of psychiatric meds,” he said. “Many people make that choice. In the process that can be a super intense thing to go through.”
So Another Way offers peer support groups, massage, “accu-wellness,” art, music, a greenhouse, gardens, a wood shop, karaoke, drumming, a weight room, and weekly community meals. But the recurring theme is companionship, Russell said.
The organization’s roots date back more than 40 years, to 1982, when Kate Quinn got funding for “Eden Express,” Vermont’s first peer-run project for psychiatric survivors, according to an article about Another Way’s history on its website. By 1984, “dissatisfied with the services offered by the local community mental health centers,” Quinn started what would become Another Way, intending to “create a space for peer support and alternative healing.”
“We all started out trying to create a place that was different from the system and serve the people we knew were rebels,” Quinn said in the article.
Forty years later, that central mission remains. “A lot of what we try to do is just, you know, spontaneous mutual support,” Russell said.
But, Russell also pointed to the need to set clear boundaries and allow for self-care among staff. He said he sometimes relies on the Montpelier Police Department when things get out of hand, and noted that “it’s also true that there’s some real hard edges…. There are people in really rough places, and it’s not for the faint of heart.”
Roxy Smith of Montpelier spoke to The Bridge about her 22 years of experience with Another Way. She’s currently its board secretary, but she has also been a shift worker, associate director, an interim data entry staff member, and a regular participant in some of Another Way’s support groups, she said.
“Another Way saved my life,” she said. She credits community support and mutual respect as what kept her coming back over the years.
“We were peers who helped each other,” Smith said. “When somebody was homeless, we would help the person make phone calls, set up a meeting with a landlord, go to appointments with somebody if they needed support.”
In fact, Russell said, there is crossover between psychiatric survivors and homelessness. He has served on the city of Montpelier’s homelessness task force and currently serves as one of three chairs of the Washington County Housing Coalition. But, while he has long been a vocal advocate for supporting people without housing, Russell was careful to note that his work at Another Way centers on providing a supportive sanctuary for those who have suffered trauma as a result of psychiatric
care.
In the spring quarter in 2025, Russell said the organization had 1,338 visits, with 207 unique visitors.
“There’s a heck of a lot of humanity here,” he said.
The 40th anniversary celebrations will start with a candle-lighting “to remember those who have gone before, and to set the mood for the day,” according to the press release.
There are plenty of people to remember. An entire wall in the community room is dedicated to posting the names and photos of members of the Another Way community who have passed.
At 2 p.m. there will be a community meeting with the Another Way board. At 3 p.m. the celebration begins story sharing, music, visual arts, and arts and crafts.
A fall dinner starts at 4:30 p.m., with music by Vermont singer-songwriter Jess O’Brien. Afterward, there will be a hat-making party and a parade down the bike path on Stone Cutters Way.
“This is a really nice moment for Another Way,” Russell said in the release. “We work hard in challenging conditions, so it’s nice to step back and celebrate all that we have done. There are real rewards in this work, having to do with reciprocity between humans that care.”
The Oct. 4 celebration is open to the public and will take place at Another Way at 125 Barre Street in Montpelier. For more information, go to anotherwayvt.org or call 802-229-0920.
