In the public eye: Community Resource Liaison builds positive connections with those in need of help

Editor’s note: This is another in an ongoing series of Windham and Raymond town employee profiles.

By Ed Pierce

Haley Berry believes that self-care is how you take your power back and that’s how she approaches each day in her work as Community Resource Liaison for the Windham and Gorham Police Departments.

Haley Berry serves as the Community
Resource Liaison for the Windham Police
Department and the Gorham Police
Department and provides support to
individuals struggling with mental health
or substance use and offers assistance to
the community for any mental health
related incidents that occur.
PHOTO BY ED PIERCE 

Berry’s duties and responsibilities for both police departments include providing additional support to individuals struggling with mental health or substance use. She connects community members, whether individuals or family members, to additional support if it is needed and does follow-up and check-in phone calls or in-person meetings to the community for any mental health-related incidents that occur.

She also responds to any mental health-related incidents that take place while she is on duty to help support department officers if needed and connects with community providers to help and/or support clients and individuals within the community. Berry assists in minimizing police-related incidents specifically related to mental health and substance use and she offers support to first responders she works alongside, if it is needed, and can connect them to support outside of the police departments.

“In my opinion the best thing about my position with both departments is continuing to build a positive relationship between the departments and the community,” Berry said. “Offering individuals support that they may not have known was available and identifying to individuals who struggle with mental health and/or substance that they are not alone and there are supports available.”

According to Berry, the most challenging aspect of her work is the availability and accessibility of resources and support that are available within Cumberland County and the State of Maine.

She started her duties in November 2022 after working for the Opportunity Alliance as a crisis intervention specialist.

“I previously had been working for The Opportunity Alliance through their program Cumberland County Crisis Response. I worked there for five years as a crisis intervention specialist and fell in love with it,” Berry said. “The Opportunity Alliance also had a position with the Portland Police Department titled, police liaison, similar to what my position is here in Windham and Gorham. I worked closely with one of the police liaisons in Portland and knew I wanted to do something similar or even the same position if another town had the opportunity to apply for. One of my co-workers identified that there was a joint position for Windham and Gorham available last summer and I had applied.”

She said the biggest misconception that people may have about her position with both police departments is that she is not a police officer or that some individuals may believe that she is there to arrest them or “get them in trouble.”

“I am not. I am there to help support individuals who are struggling or simply just need someone to talk with or need additional support being connected to resources/supports,” Berry said. 

Before working for the Windham and Gorham Police Departments and The Opportunity Alliance, Berry also worked for DayOne, a residential services program for adolescents for co-occurring disorders as a Residential Care Staff member at both the male residence in Hinckley, and the female residence in Buxton. She also has served as a substance use counselor for Crossroads.

Originally from Westbrook, Berry graduated from Westbrook High School and earned a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Maine at Farmington specifically focusing on Rehabilitation Services with a specialty in Substance Use Counseling. She went on to obtain a master’s degree at the University of Southern Maine in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a specialty in Substance Use Counseling.

Her family is supportive of her work with both police departments.

“They continuously say how proud they are of me and encourage me to continue with this position,” Berry said. “I am not sure what they like most about my job, but I could guess is helping individuals connect with supports for mental health and substance and give individuals someone to speak with if they need to check in or additional support.”

She says the most important thing she’s learned while working for the Windham and Gorham Police Departments is that police officers handle a lot more than the communities may realize.

“Both departments have done an incredible job in assisting individuals who may be struggling with mental health and substance use,” Berry said. “The one thing the public may not know is that I am available if it is needed. I am not sure how many community members know about my position with the police department and if it is needed that I can be of support, specifically if it is mental health or substance use related.” <