Mental health facility sponsors film about family tragedy

If you need help, you don't have to look far. The Southeast Nassau Guidance Center wants you to know that.

The Southeast Nassau Guidance Center in Seaford, a nonprofit organization dedicated to treating mental health issues and fighting substance abuse addiction for almost 65 years, recently sponsored a film to help spread its message.

The film, “Scattering CJ,” scheduled to premiere on PBS on Sept. 15, follows the story of a mother, Hallie Twomey, and her family healing from the tragic suicide of her 20-year-old son, CJ.

“The family had not been wholly aware of CJ’s suicidal thoughts, which is very typical of this kind of sad story and makes it even harder to cope,” said Brian Baldwin, a clinical social worker at Southeast Nassau. “This tragedy sent the family into unrelenting grief and guilt.”

Twomey thought of scattering CJ’s ashes all around the world and making a film about it to raise awareness for mental health. She worked on it with filmmaker Andrea Kalin of Spark Media, who is the daughter-in-law of Milton Kalin, the executive director of Southeast Nassau.

“We saw an opportunity to help tell a story that may hit very close to home,” Baldwin said. “A normal family is suddenly struck by this awful thing caused by mental illness.”

Baldwin added that the Twomeys were not even from Long Island, but that did not matter to the guidance center.

“They could be a family from anywhere,” he said. “The people that have responded to this film are all over the world. People from seven continents accepted CJ’s ashes being scattered there, and wrote back to Hallie and her family.”

CJ’s ashes were scattered in places like Mount Kilimanjaro, the pyramids in Egypt, the Great Barrier Reef, the Great Wall of China, and even on a rocket ship to space.

The Southeast Nassau Guidance Center also runs an outpatient center in Wantagh dedicated more to fighting addiction. Southeast Nassau was founded in 1958 and has been the premiere location in Wantagh-Seaford for mental health awareness.

“We primarily serve southeast Nassau, as our name indicates,” Baldwin said. “But we help people from all over Nassau County who suffer from mental illness or substance abuse.”

Situated on Jackson Avenue in Seaford, the center’s building is centrally located to feel like a natural part of the community, Baldwin said.

Besides being a social worker, Baldwin, who has worked at Southeast Nassau for more than 15 years, is also a behavioral health consultant. He earned his degree in social work from Adelphi University, and worked in private practice for 30 years. During this time, he opened his own private mental health practice, “Baldwin Consultants,” prior to working at Southeast Nassau.

In addition to sponsoring the film, Southeast Nassau helped to create a screening guide and discussion questions to accompany community events that show the film. The organization also helped create a Spanish-subtitled version. Baldwin has participated in a few screenings as a mental health professional, and led discussions after the showing.

“There is a great deal of stigma attached to suicide, which leads to even more damage after the fact,” Baldwin said. “And so, the Twomeys wanted to fight that stigma and make people more aware, which perfectly aligns with our own mission.”

Although “Scattering CJ” has a worldwide reach, Southeast Nassau hopes that the film’s poignant themes will make Wantagh and Seaford residents more aware of mental health struggles, which would lead them to the center.

“Once you start sharing it like this, the stigma is greatly reduced,” Baldwin said. “People support each other and help each other heal.”

“Scattering CJ” will be released on PBS and WLIW World on Sept. 15 and 16, respectively.

The Southeast Nassau Guidance Center can be reached at (516) 221-3030 for anyone suffering from mental health issues, suicidal thoughts or substance addiction.