Connections Peer Support Executive Director Fred Poisson Named Peer Professional of the Year from NAMI NH

PEMBROKE – Connections Peer Support’s executive director, Fred Poisson, was recently recognized as Peer Professional of the Year from the National Alliance on Mental Illness New Hampshire (NAMI NH). NAMI New Hampshire is a grassroots organization working to improve the lives of all people affected by mental illness and suicide through support, education and advocacy. 

Every year NAMI NH recognizes individuals who work or live in New Hampshire that support mental health across the Granite State. Award categories include: Volunteer of the Year, Mental Health Supporter, Legislator of the Year, Peer Support Professional of the Year, Systems Transformation Leader, Youth Leadership, and Justice System Leader. 

The Peer Professional of the Year is described as someone who “willingly shares their experiences with mental illness and substance use recovery with others traveling a similar path. Through shared understanding, respect, and mutual empowerment, peer support professionals help those working on their recovery stay engaged with their wellness. As important members of many treatment teams, peer support professionals offer an effective extension of treatment beyond the clinical setting to support sustained recovery.” 

This year, NAMI NH selected Fred Poisson as their Peer Professional of the Year. Poisson currently works at Connections Peer Support, a nonprofit organization that provides no-cost mental health support to adults in NH. Under Poisson’s leadership, Connections has seen a significant increase in fundraising, community engagement, warmline calls, and member visits at their Portsmouth center. 

Poisson also helped form the Portsmouth Mental Health Alliance, a collaborative work group of Portsmouth area stakeholders dedicated to advancing community wellbeing related to mental health and substance use/addiction. 

To Poisson, this award means more than just recognition, “I am quite grateful to be recognized by NAMI NH with this award. I have great respect and admiration for NAMI NH as an organization; I have also been fortunate to come to know their team, which makes the recognition hit even heavier. I am also grateful to those who took the time to nominate me. It is a beautiful experience to know that you have had enough of an impact on someone’s life for them to take the time to write a letter recognizing you and asking others to do the same.”

Poisson continues, “This work, the work of supporting people in their recovery journey, however that may look, has brought such an incredible sense of meaning to my life and it has helped me to redefine my relationship with my own recovery and the story that surrounds it. I am grateful to NAMI NH for recognizing my work and it only makes me want to work harder to deliver superior mental health support to those who need it.”

ABOUT CONNECTIONS PEER SUPPORT

Connections Peer Support in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, was founded in 1993 and is uniquely run by and for people with lived experience of mental health challenges—because we’ve been there ourselves, and we believe in the power of shared experience. We offer a stigma-free environment where judgment and the limitations of clinical labels give way to acceptance, encouragement, and genuine human connection.
Learn more at https://connectionspeersupport.org/