Lydia Fortin seldom initiates casual conversation with strangers. Her replies to questions are quiet and brief. But today she is talking to thousands and enjoying it. With no prior experience and little advance notice, she is acting as host of “Getting Together,” a new radio program on WHSN-FM. Behind the hanging microphone, her voice flows smooth, steady and bigger than life.

“Welcome to `Getting Together,’ your voice for better mental health,” Fortin says.

“Getting Together” is the nation’s first radio program created and produced by mental health consumers — people who have been diagnosed with mental illnesses — about mental health, for people involved in all aspects of the mental health field.

In a half hour, the program provides news, discussion with experts, advice, a calendar of events and commentary on mental health issues. More than that, the show itself fights images of the mentally ill as frightening, strange or contemptible people.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity to combat stigma,” says Amy Snow, another participant in the show. “It’s a quiet way of letting it happen.”

As Fortin speaks, it happens. More than rational argument or emotional pleas, her voice — not quite professional, but poised — tells listeners that she deserves their attention.

Today her guest is Patrick Tabor, who gives a brief history and discussion of the Special Olympics program in Maine.

The next segment is news briefs, read by Jeff Hamm. Hamm is the show’s founder and coordinator, and the program director for the Together Place — a social club for mental health consumers, and the pool from which the “Getting Together” staff was drawn.

Seven months ago, Hamm was looking for an outlet for members of the Together Place that would go beyond therapy. He wanted the members to help other mental health consumers.

He began talking with different people about a journal, or maybe a radio station. That led him to Ben Haskell, director of the New England School for Broadcasting, which operates the Husson College radio station, WHSN.

Together, they polished the idea to its current form: a low-key, half-hour talk show.

When Hamm presented the idea to his clients, seven members of the Together Place volunteered to work on the show.

They now spend Monday afternoons researching and planning the show, which they tape at the Husson studios Tuesday morning. The result is a product that surprises Hamm, Haskell and listeners.

“I’ve been amazed right from show one,” Haskell says. “Whether by design or by coincidence, everyone here is able to read well and sound good behind the microphone. They state at the beginning that the show is produced by mental health consumers, but by the end, even the listener is surprised by the quality of the show.

“It’s not someone speaking for them — that’s what makes the show real for me,” Haskell says. “As a broadcast outlet, we’re tickled to death to do this.”

Haskell and WHSN summer employee Jeff Danz have donated their time to help with the technical side of “Getting Together,” but their role will soon be taken over by Gene Lahaye and Tom Thompson, two of the show’s staff members who are training as radio engineers.

Other staff members have developed their own niches: Fortin handles the Mental Health Update, Snow the Community Calendar, Patricia Baehr the Commentary. Dr. Judy Burke, a psychiatrist affiliated with the Bangor Mental Health Institute, gives a medical perspective with her Mental Health Minute. Mickey Mallory is working behind the scenes on development and fund-raising.

After recording just six shows, they all believe they are poised for something bigger.

“I have never heard of anything like this,” says Neil Brown, director of community support programs for the National Institutes of Mental Health in Arlington, Virginia. “It sounds very exciting. I think we could do this in other places around the nation.”

“We are going to have a lot of people looking at us,” Hamm says. “Possibly this concept can be taken elsewhere.”

On Wednesday, “Getting Together” took that first leap. Cablevision executives and Hamm agreed to replay the radio show Tuesday and Thursday at 5:30 p.m. on channel 36, where it will serve as audio accompanying the video preview of cable television events. The agreement covers the Bangor area, from Milford to Winterport.

Hamm also looks toward a time when other mental health consumers can use “Getting Together” as a model for their own shows, in Augusta, in Portland, in other parts of the nation.

That sounds like a good idea to the people behind “Getting Together,” as they head into the main studio to listen to the tape of the show they just finished. With the exception of two small segments that needed to be re-recorded, the program has gone off without a hitch — business as usual for the “Getting Together” crowd.

“I can see us heading for bigger and better things,” Lahaye says. “But the main point is getting the message across.”

“Getting Together” airs on 89.3 WHSN-FM, Mondays at 11:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. For more information, contact Jeff Hamm, c/o the Together Place, 150 Union Street, Bangor, ME 04401, or call 941-2897.