Photo by Howard Owens.
This is a better place because of the “Sues” in the world, Matt Landers says.
Referring to mental health advocate Sue Gagne, the Genesee County manager spoke about her many attributes, including an ever-increasing passion and energy for providing support to others in her myriad roles since he’s known her the last two decades.
“So early on 20 years ago, I had a positive impression of Sue. And it has only grown from that point on for my 20 years here of getting a chance to know Sue, whether it's at (a Leadership Genesee) function, or the various roles she's had, and my opportunities to sit in and see her at work at various boards, and she's had a variety of them, all equally important to this community,” Landers said during the 2024 Woman of Distinction Award ceremony Monday at the Generation Center in Batavia. “I’ve gotten to see her more from her role in Mental Health Association, Suicide Prevention Coalition now UConnect Cares, and then some of the great work that she's doing with the City Church here, and the programming that she's advocating for, and coming to me for advocating for some funds for some Opioid Task Force monies, she's tireless.
“Many people in Sue’s role is, in my opinion, they slow down with time, she’s the opposite. I think that she’s speeding up and getting more passionate and more energetic through time, which is impressive. She’s one of those people that genuinely wants to help anyone in need in crisis,” he said. “I’m glad we have the Sues of the world. I’m a little more black-and-white, and the Sues of the world balance me out, and I’m glad that we have Sue and I’m glad to call her friend. Her passion and energy have positive impacted numerous lives in Genesee County, and it’s going to continue to impact them for years to come.”
Gagne was nominated by Sen. George Borrello of the 57th District for having “stood out amongst the group as someone so deserving” of this award. Gagne was honored in May during a ceremony in the Legislative Office Building in Albany alongside fellow honorees from across the state. The award program honors women who've made remarkable contributions to their professions, and their communities and serve as inspiration for others.
Monday’s ceremony brought the award home so that she could be recognized locally in front of friends and family. County Legislative Chairwoman Shelley Stein first encountered Gagne when she worked on the Board of Health and noted that Gagne’s name was there.
“Not only was her name there, Sue’s arms are there. And they’re around this entire county. And I can’t count on the number of times that I have said that name cares about all of us,” Stein said. “So thank you for being the arms that hold us kind of toward the center, or that we can bounce off of, because we need you. We need you more than we ever would imagine.
“I am grateful for the fact that you have continued to grow and to move your skills forward, because we are your beneficiaries here in this county,” she said. “On behalf of the county and our Legislature, and all of those who you take care of, we have a proclamation, but I’m not going to read t because you’re just gonna read it. Ours come come from the heart and from our head. Thank you Sue, congratulations.”
A great deal of Gagne’s work as stemmed from the mental health field, including when she was at the Mental Health Association in Genesee County, where she offered meetings for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. That was when Mental Health Director Lynda Battaglia discovered that “she was a force to be reckoned with,” Battaglia said.
“And I knew way back then that she was just someone that you just loved to be around, genuinely. Our collaborations and interactions continued through the years. And when I came to Genesee County, she was one of the first to welcome me with some hoots and hollering and screams and cheers and hugs, and that was at the Suicide Prevention Center training in Albany, New York in September 2019, and we were just really excited about all the work that we were gonna do together," Battaglia said. "So I see a drive in Sue, that is one of advocacy, advocating and using your voice for those that cannot advocate for themselves. And with that advocacy comes educating our community on mental illness, stigma, suicide prevention, all areas that are near and dear to Sue's heart.
"She's assisted with the development of a grassroots suicide prevention called gal pathway to hope. And on her own time and dime. She nurtured this coalition and built relationships so that this coalition could flourish, and blossom into what it is today," she said. "When she sets her sights on a vision she homes in and does what she needs to do in order to make it come to fruition.”
It was a pleasure for Borrello to nominate and honor someone “as wonderful as Sue,” he said, while also needing to recognize the people that she’s encountered on the worst days of their lives, “when they’re struggling in crisis, when there’s just seemingly no hope.” And to have another human being step in to provide them that hope, “that takes a special person,” he said, especially amidst the red tape of government and navigating a system to receive those desperately needed services.
“You know, as a society, we don't want to talk about these things, we want to sweep them under the rug, we don't want to recognize the fact that there are people out there that are struggling, that have issues with substance use disorders, mental health problems, but you are right there in the middle with those people," he said. "That's why you were the perfect choice for this award, because you are the type of person that does this for no other reason than you want to make society a better place to be. So I am just very, very proud to to be able to honor you today, and just take this time in front of your friends and family and co-workers to say that you are special, because you look for the good in people, you look for the way to get them a path to be productive members of society, to lift themselves up, meet people where they are, as they say you do that every single day.”
In a matter of seconds, Gagne illustrated her open spirit by jumping from a joke about herself into deep tearful reflection about why she has persevered in this field.
“I’m just so grateful, my heart is so full, and now you get me crying. The sadness that people deal with on a daily basis, it hurts, and I can’t just go though life and ignore it,” she said. “And I know I’m speaking to the choir here. You guys are all advocates in your own way, and under our pastor’s leadership years ago … my notes from the dream conference, he said find a need and fill it, and it stuck with me.”
Photo by Howard Owens.
Photo by Howard Owens.
Photo by Howard Owens.
Photo by Howard Owens.
