Letters to the editor
Aid to grandparents raising grandkids
2.6 million. That's the number of grandparents raising grandchildren and other kin in the United States. That’s also enough people to fill more than 66 Fenway Parks. In fact, over the past decade, the number of grandparents raising grandchildren in Massachusetts has increased by 30%. There is a significant need for comprehensive, culturally competent services for grandfamilies in the commonwealth and beyond.
There are many reasons grandparents take on the role of caregiver, including the COVID-19 pandemic, substance use disorder, military leave and a need for support with raising kids. This can be incredibly challenging for grandparents because of fixed incomes, limited housing options and health concerns.
There is a gap between the unique support these families need and how those needs are currently being met. Here in Central Massachusetts, we're doing something about this through a community-first approach. Over the years, we have worked to build additional services for grandparents raising grandchildren and other kin. This has evolved into the Grandparents Raising Grandkids Resource Center, a roving center that meets families where they are with the help of trained grandfamily community health workers.
Grandfamilies receive the direct support they need, including rental assistance, legal aid, and referrals for health services. We're eager to create stronger communities through our work with grandfamilies. What about you?
Dr. Moses S. Dixon, President and CEO of the Central Massachusetts Agency on Aging, Worcester
Democracy or dictatorship?
My uncle put on an army uniform and found himself on the beach at Normandy, France, during World War II. He, and many others, were there to save our country and others. To save democracy and freedom from an insane dictator named Adolf Hitler. A German bullet ended his life at 28 years old. Over the life of our country many men and women died so we could live in a country free from dictators.
Think about this my fellow Americans, in our divided America. I know you're busy with trying to make a living, playing your computer games, and trying to escape from reality. Now is the time to ponder this. Do I want to live in a democracy or a dictatorship?
John Tominsky, Leominster
Save Leominster maternity ward
Thomas Jefferson, a lion of this country's budding democracy, once wrote, "Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever." And sadly more than two centuries later, his words still reverberate - especially when we consider how poorly we still treat the least among us. Take the proposed plan by UMass Memorial Health to close the maternity ward at its Leominster campus on Sept. 22.
This unit, which averages 500 births a year, is critical for families in the Fitchburg-Leominster region, one designated as Gateway Cities. This is a hard-working, family-oriented community. I know; I grew up there – born at Leominster Hospital in 1951. And while UMass Memorial CEO Eric Dickson has cited challenges finding staff and declining birth rates, his plan is, at a minimum, tone deaf. And the state should step in, and fast.
Because when women of color and poor women giving birth are dying far more often than well-off white women, then "Houston, we got a problem." In short, the UMass decision, unless reversed, is a grievous assault against the decent people of North Central Massachusetts. And anyone committed to a more just society should speak up now. Saving the maternity ward is right and just.
R. Jay Allain, Orleans
Civil rights era's legacy
As I watched proceedings leading up to Georgia's Fulton County DA Fani Willis spelling out the racketeering indictments of former President Trump and his co-conspirators, I reflected on those who had gone before and made that moment possible.
Sixty years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech during the August 1963 March on Washington. Douglas Harris of Orange, Massachusetts, was there and was inspired to give up a scholarship, drop out of college, and drive to Georgia to join the Student No-violent Coordinating Committee aka SNCC, which was headquartered in Atlanta.
He joined hundreds of others who put their lives on the line. Some were later found in shallow graves; others, like Doug, were shot at and jailed and others were beaten and suffered police dog attacks. But they persisted despite all obstacles. Their goal? To register Blacks living in the South to vote. Later the goal was to run for office and become part of local, regional and national government so they might have a say in governing their own lives and building strong communities, like the former president of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Congressman John Lewis.
Trump and company's indictment, except for the judge, was mainly handled by members of the Black community, from DA Willis to the Clerk of Courts, Che Alexander, and Sheriff Patrick Labat, who once served as the president of Georgia’s Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE).
The civil rights era of the past has bent the arc toward justice.
Genevieve Harris-Fraser, Orange
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Letters to the editor
