Q&A with John Bennett, who is leaving UConnectCare to accept regional position

Press Release:

John Bennett is leaving UConnectCare after dedicating the past 25 years at the agency formerly known as Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse to helping those affected by substance and alcohol use disorder.

With his last day as chief executive officer set for this Friday (Feb. 7), the 63-year-old Geneseo resident took time out to reflect upon a 40-year career in the field.

A reception for Bennett, which is open to the public, is scheduled from 4-6 p.m. Feb. 4 at The Recovery Station on Clinton Street Road, Batavia.

Bennett has accepted a grant-funded director of network development position with Forward Leading IPA’s WeLinkCare social care network that connects individuals and families to vital resources that address the social factors affecting health -- from housing and employment to food and transportation.

In his new position, he will oversee agencies, including UConnectCare, in 14 counties across the Finger Lakes region.

Q.  Forty years is a long time in what can be a highly stressful field of work. What made you choose alcohol and substance use treatment and prevention?

A. In the past, I have shared that my grandfather, who I am named after, was an alcoholic. It was during the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s when they didn’t have EAP (Employee Assistance Programs) and much help for people like my grandfather. So, he died young from his alcoholism, and it affected my mom in a lot of ways.

My mom always worried that her children would develop alcohol and drug addiction, So alcohol was never allowed in our household growing up.  If you came home with alcohol on your breath it didn’t matter what time of night it was she would get up to smell your breath.

Her whole life centered around breaking the cycle for her own children. Her sister, my Aunt Virginia, married a man who was alcoholic and she took me to AA and Al-Anon meetings when I was probably 8 or 9 years old.  Also, my grandmother ended up living with us after my grandfather died.  So my mom, my aunt and my grandmother influenced me to enter a field to help individuals and families with addiction.

I felt like it was a calling for me to help families and individuals with addiction. That’s how I got started.

Q. Where was your first job?

A. My first job was in Livingston County for what was then called Livingston County Council on Alcoholism. That was in 1985. I think there were 12 employees in total at the time – like two secretaries, a couple directors and the rest of us were counselors.

I went to college, SUNY Geneseo and SUNY Brockport, for counselor education and later I became a certified alcoholism counselor, a CAC, around 1989. I ended up working at LCCA for about 15 years.

Q. What brought you to GCASA, now UConnectCare?

A. I worked my way up in the field as a counselor and then as a team leader and eventually as the clinical supervisor. I was kind of recruited, actually, to come to GCASA by Beverly Maniace, who had just been promoted to deputy director in Batavia. She had a program director position open and asked me to interview.

So, I did, and I got the job a week later. That was in 1999. We were located in the bottom of the Growney Building (on Bank Street). We were there until 2003 and then moved to East Main Street to our current location.

Q. Dave Markham, the former executive director, was well respected in the community. What was your relationship like with him?

A. Dave was my mentor and when he left in 2012, I became the executive director and eventually the CEO. He has had a profound impact upon my life and career.  David was very well respected in the community and in the behavioral health field.  David gave me ample opportunity to get involved at the state level sitting on several state wide and local committees and he taught me a lot about how to be a leader.

Q. How has the substance use field changed over the years?

A. I started when substance abuse and alcoholism were divided up into two different sectors. And then eventually we became certified alcohol and substance abuse counselors.

There were two different divisions, and we treated drugs and alcohol differently at the time. DAAA and DSAS. Then the two different organizations merged to become OASAS (New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services and now New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports).

When I first started we dealt mostly with long-term alcoholism and short-term drinking drivers.  Opioids were a drug of last resort.  Today the majority of our patients are addicted to poly substances and most included opioids.  I never saw our organization opening a methadone clinic but we did in 2018 and I am thankful we did because we have helped a lot of people.

Q. What stands out as far as services available in Genesee and Orleans counties?

A. Looking back, the people that I met and the providers, especially those like Genesee Justice with its restorative justice program, stand out. I became friends with the director at the time, Dennis Wittman, and helped participate in pre-sentencing investigations when there was drug abuse involved.

Eileen Kirkpatrick, who was the director of Genesee County Social Services. People like Dennis and Eileen reached out to me when I first arrived in Genesee County and they introduced me to people and institutions that could make a difference in people’s lives.

I became part of the Criminal Justice Advisory Council, which is really unique across the state to have a council that's made up of criminal justice and service providers.  I think that group of individuals does amazing things in our community and is incredibly collaborative.  It’s unique and I think all the agencies try to work together and the county legislature has been mostly supportive of our services

I've just really been impressed with Genesee County and Orleans County, the providers and law enforcement and everybody works together to try to make the lives of individuals we serve better. That’s one of the blessings to be able to work in a place where we had those types of relationships,

Q. UConnectCare has grown significantly in recent years. Can you speak about that?

A. Over the last 10 years, we’ve grown from an agency of 68 employees to what will be about 190 employees when the Women & Children’s Residence in Albion opens in a few months.

That was my goal when I took over. It was very frustrating that urban communities had all these services and rural communities had none. So, a lot of our community members had to leave the area to get the services they need … like inpatient or detox or to get methadone. And so, my goal was to bring all those services here so that people didn't have to leave the community, and so that's what we set out to do.

We added a full continuum of services of care in a rural community. I would say that one of my biggest pride and joys is that our organization really tries to make a difference.  The staff here care about the people we serve and always try to do the right thing.  I will miss them all dearly.

I think opening The Recovery Station at the former Bohn’s Restaurant is one of my favorite projects, because that is one of the most unique recovery centers across the state.

Recently, AA hosted an event there and they had 71 people there. We have had several events with over a 100 people.  So, it’s those things that make a difference in the lives of the people we serve.

Q. What challenges have you faced and continue to face?

A. I think the hardest part of working in this field is that I've spent 40 years working in a stigmatized field. And no matter how hard I fought to reduce stigma, it still exists today in the year 2025. People with addiction continue to be stigmatized and that sometimes makes me feel like I didn’t do enough to change the attitudes towards people with addiction.

The people that we serve are just people like everybody else. They just have a drug addiction and when they become sober or get into recovery, they’re some of the kindest and coolest people you could ever meet.

So, that probably has been the most difficult part. When I reflect on how we tried to open a recovery center down on Swan Street and they kind of ran us out of town. Those are disappointing moments, not because we weren’t able to open a program, but because it sends a message to people who are struggling with addiction and are in recovery that they are somehow less than others. It makes me sad that people have this misconception of people in recovery.

Q. What can you say about the people you have worked with over the years?

A. Well, obviously, all of the staff that I've gotten to work with in the past 25 years at UConnectCare are amazing people. I’ve had the privilege to work with a great leadership team. Some of us have been together for the full 25 years.

I want to be careful to mentions individuals because I am sure I will forget someone important, so I’ll just say that my current leadership team is comprised of incredible people who have devoted their careers to serving people and their families suffering with addiction.  I couldn’t have done half of what we accomplished without them.  I love getting to know as many staff individually as possible. I will miss them all.

I’ve worked with a great volunteer board of directors over the years. I want to say a huge thank you to all of them over the past 13 years.  Most of them had some kind of connection to the work we do and I truly appreciate all their guidance over the years.

In the community, I need to mention Jay Gsell and now Matt Landers, Genesee County managers, and also Lynda Battaglia and Danielle Figura, who head up the mental health clinics in Genesee and Orleans. They have always had our backs and have been supportive all we do.  There have been so many great people along the way -- too many to mention.

Q. What made you decide to leave UConnectCare?

A. I will truly miss this work, but it was really after 40 years, it was just time for me to pass the torch on to someone else. I really kind of feel like I've accomplished what I needed to.

Honestly, my father died two years ago. I just kind of felt like I did what I needed to do in my career to make my family proud. I’m proud of how the agency has grown and I am leaving it, I hope, better than it was when I took over and in good hands with the current leadership and the interim CEO Kathy Hodgins.

With this new position, it gives me the chance to get back to my roots of hands-on assistance and help this social care grant grow and be successful and to help people who really sometimes just need the basics to have a better life.