The South Coast INSIDER - July 2020

JULY 2020

Vol. 24 / No. 7

Summer sun su nsh shiine

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From the editor

COVER STORY

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Getting back together

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ON THE COVER We’re making way toward our “new normal,” but summer isn’t slowing down. Stay safe and still get your fill at local restaurants. Turn to page 14 for Elizabeth Morse Read’s top tips for doing so.

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FROM THE EDITOR BLACK LIVES MATTER. You may think that the Insider is an inappropriate platform in which to publish the statement that Black Lives Matter.

This is, after all, a magazine dedicated to local interests—arts, culture, business, community—and not politics generally nor the specific acknowledgement of the fact that Black Lives Matter. The deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbrey, Breonna Taylor, and countless others have little bearing on our lives. We and our South Coast communities are overwhelmingly white, and to the extent that the Insider should deign to acknowledge some societal ills at all, they should be issues of immediate concern: the drug epidemic, poverty, public health, or the response to COVID-19. Let others have their protests, quiet in the far-off distance. Let others tend to their own.

To start, let’s be clear that it is not unprecedented for the Insider to publish political content. You don’t have to look far to find it—there have been articles on all the topics listed above, and many more. But to have an editorial such as this specifically dedicated to a political cause is certainly unprecedented.

And that is because it is too easy for us to bury our heads and believe that we are divorced from the racial turmoil wracking the rest of the country. We, as much as anyone else, have a part to play in this fight. To abdicate that duty would be to ignore the warning of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” We must once again take a leading role in the national conversation.

In 1838, a man who had spent the first two decades of his life going by the name Fred Bailey found a home in New Bedford.

Setting roots in the South Coast, he found both work as a ship’s caulker as well as a new identity. It was in our community that he began to write what would arguably become the greatest memoir in American history: the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.

Some (though not enough) of us are familiar with his story, and with the role our region played in the abolition movement in the early-to-mid 19th century. There are two lessons in particular I think we can glean from our own recent past (and I do mean recent—many of our readers had grandparents who were old enough to remember).

First, it is important to recognize that Massachusetts had abolished slavery all the way back in 1783. But that didn’t stop communities like New Bedford from becoming national

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July2020 | The South Coast Insider

crucibles for abolitionist activity through the Civil War—they had a moral duty to fight against an injustice that continued far beyond the borders of the state. The abolitionists (universally white and largely wealthy) amplified the voices of Douglass and others, listening, learning, supporting. By virtue of the color of their skin, they were arbitrarily granted a higher position in society. But they put aside that privilege in order to elevate others.

Today, we have the opportunity to do the same. Our world is smaller than ever before, and we do not need to give up space in our homes to provide shelter to those calling out for it. We can listen, we can learn, and we can support, as we did almost two centuries ago.

Second, it is important to recognize that abolitionists were only ever a small part of the local population (estimated to be about 15%). Meanwhile, workers in textile mills wove with cotton picked on slave plantations. By Douglass’ account, he faced similar racism in New Bedford as he had when he lived in Baltimore as a slave; if he had to board a ship to caulk it, the white workers would disembark. It is telling that the Douglass family only lived in New Bedford for a short time before moving elsewhere.

This second lesson may be the most important: we cannot be blind, as our ancestors were, to local injustice. Racism, both overt and systemic, surrounds us. We can ignore it, or we can face it head-on, and in doing so, serve as a model to the rest of the country and to the world.

In that spirit, I should acknowledge that the Insider has been complicit. We provide a wide circulation, and are the mostestablished periodical in the region. And while we tend to veer from hot-button issues, deferring to our colleagues in local news, we have not done enough to amplify the voices that tend to be drowned out. We hail from a relatively diverse region with a rich history, but this is not a diversity that is adequately reflected in these pages.

So let this serve as an open call: if you have a story you’d like to tell and are looking for a platform, let us provide it. As it has ever been, the Insider is dedicated celebrating what makes the South Coast unique among all other communities. That includes our arts, our businesses, our natural beauty, and, more than ever, our people.

My personal email address is sepclarkin@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

Black lives matter. Let’s show the world what that means.

Sebastian Clarkin Editor

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July 2020 | Vol. 24 | No. 7

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THINGS TO DO

Jordan Richard, Chris Richard, and Erin Hedges prepare to tell stories of pirates and privateers at Fort Phoenix in Fairhaven.

Social resurgence

by Michael J. DeCicco

Will this COVID-dampened warm weather season be the summer when nearly everything across the South Coast on people’s recreational calendar has been canceled? Well, yes and no.

New Bedford The current plan in New Bedford is to bring seasonal National Historical Park staff back around mid-to-late July for conducting activities that exclude the use of downtown historic buildings and offices.

“We are considering offering more of an outdoor experience,” park superintendent and head ranger Jennifer Smith said.

“The primary focus will be a self-guided experience.”

From an outdoor tent, maps will be distributed for self-guided tours directing

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July 2020 | The South Coast Insider

visitors to the interpretive panels that are stationed in front of the sites that are the highlights of the downtown historical park, she explained. This focus will be augmented by virtual content on the park’s webpage and Facebook pages as the park’s three frontline rangers work from home to explore how to reopen the park safely and under CDC guidelines.

“Governor Baker is being very conservative in his plan of opening up in phases,” she said. “Museums are in his Phase III. We’re more of a historical venue than a nature park.”

She said the park is working closely with the managers of the attractions within it, such as the Whaling Museum and Rotch-Jones-Duff House, what she calls the park’s ‘platforms’ for drawing visitors.

“We’re very, very engaged with our ‘platforms’ and that we’re going to make sure their plans are in line with theirs,” she said.

Fairhaven New Bedford’s next-door neighbor, Fairhaven, has been able to preserve its two most popular outdoor traditions this summer.

The Office of Tourism will still be offering its fun, family-friendly “Pirates and Privateers” presentations at Fort Phoenix on Friday mornings at 10 p.m.

Attendees will hear tales of pirates, Revolutionary War privateers, and historical Fort Phoenix from a ‘genuine’ pirate, Greybeard. Attendance will be limited to allow for social distancing, and audience members must wear masks. The programs are held, weather permitting, from now through the end of September. For more information, visit fairhaventours. com/pirates-privats-presentation.

The Huttleston Marketplace will be operating on the lawn of the Visitors Center and Fairhaven High School every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The types of vendors who will be set up will depend on the reopening plans announced by Governor Baker, said Chris Richard, Director of the Fairhaven Visitors Center. Farmers market vendors selling fresh produce, herbs, plants, honey, food products, etc. will be there every week.

scaled-back events,” Jones said, “before concluding that canceling was the safer option for everybody.”

Instead, the association is focusing on preserving its plans for the fall. It is hoping to hold its Canal Cruise on the Viking as planned on September 11. Jones noted one reason for keeping this event on schedule is that this is the group’s annual fundraiser.

Also still on Onset Bay’s event schedule is the September 19 Harvest Moon Festival to feature its usual mixture of live music and local vendors, she said.

The association is also hoping to continue its Car Shows, Food Truck Festival, and Quahog or Chowder Festivals. “But it’s hard to plan,” Jones said. “We’ve seen a lot of other communities have canceled their events until the end of the year. We kind of just need to see what will happen.”

The good news is that any money that has been raised will go to fund next year’s events, and the association is looking to

“We’re feeling hopeful.

It may be a good opportunity to reset, recharge, and reconnect.”

Once “Phase II” allows other retailers to operate their businesses, including artisans, craftspeople, etc., Richard said, those vendors will attend as well.

Here also, members of the public will be required to wear masks and maintain social distancing. Safety protocols are in effect for vendors. More information is available at fairhaventours.com/ huttleston-marketplace.

Onset Meanwhile, the South Coast town normally with the busiest summer schedule, Onset, is emphasizing its autumn plans instead.

Onset Bay Association President Kat Jones said all of the town’s festivals and events through Labor Day in early September have been canceled. That includes the weekly Summer of Love Music Series Concert schedule, the mid-summer Shakespeare in the Park Festival, the summer Canal Cruise, Illumination Night, and the Kite Festival.

“We worked to try to plan more

maintain a virtual market for its vendors on its website.

Jones said Onset Bay Association planners are looking into holding virtual events, porch jams, or drive-by events.

But any plans are very uncertain right now because of the rules and restrictions they currently have to follow.

Yet, she said, “We’re feeling hopeful. It may be a good opportunity to reset, recharge, and reconnect.”

Meanwhile, one of Onset’s biggest summer festivals has already decided to wait until next year. The Onset Cape Verdean Festival, which would have celebrated its 18th anniversary this summer, has been postponed until the summer of 2021.

“It was given a lot of thought,” said lead organizer Anthony Lopes. “It was just too risky. We get people from all over the world. We thought about the safety of the townspeople. It wasn’t worth it. And we wouldn’t have gotten the support of local police details if we had tried.”

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COVER STORY

WINDS OF CHANGE

By Steven Froias

Groundwork members enjoy a sense of community at the coworking space.

DESPITE THE CHALLENGE OF A PANDEMIC, ONE OF THE SOUTH COAST’S NEWER BUSINESS CONCEPTS IS PUSHING FORWARD. YOU COULD EVEN SAY IT HAS THE WIND AT ITS BACK.

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roundwork is the coworking facility at 1213 Purchase Street in the Quest Center in New Bedford. It was established just five years ago, but has grown quickly and attracted a dedicated membership that yearned for a “third space” that wasn’t a home office, traditional office, or coffee shop.

Part of the appeal – beyond shared desks, printers, and powerful WiFi – is a sense of community and belonging for the freelancer or lone entrepreneur. It turns out there are scores of them throughout the South Coast who turned Groundwork into their hub in New Bedford. So many of them, in fact, that in 2019, plans were made for a second Groundwork in Fall River.

The timetable for such an ambitious plan may necessarily change with the difficulties presented by COVID-19 – not

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July 2020 | The South Coast Insider

least of which has been a total shutdown of the Groundwork space for over two months per state pandemic guidelines.

In June, however, Groundwork New Bedford will open first to current members and then, in July, once again begin accepting new members. In the meantime, they are holding many virtual events and workshops which you can find at NewBedfordCoworking.com and through Facebook.com/NewBedfordCoworking.

FRESH AIR As reopening has begun, Groundwork’s forward momentum has continued.

Despite closing its physical space due to the pandemic response, Groundwork announced during May that it is laying the building blocks for a swift recovery thanks to a partnership with a new New Bedford-based company with roots in Denmark.

The coworking space is working with Aegir Wind Solutions and Edward Anthes-Washburn from the New Bedford Port Authority to establish New Bedford as the “First Port of Call” for offshore wind energy.

Press material provided by Groundwork co-founder Sarah Athanas explains: Aegir Wind Solutions, based in Denmark and New Bedford, is a project management consulting firm that develops local supply chain solutions for the offshore wind industry. Aegir’s founder, Alexander Thillerup, set up American headquarters in New Bedford at Groundwork in January.

Thillerup was impressed by the welcoming and close-knit nature of Groundwork’s entrepreneur community, and saw the potential to establish the coworking space as a landing pad for Denmark-based companies planning to

do business in the USA. “Our coworking space is uniquely positioned to provide services to companies setting up in New Bedford for the first time,” states Athanas. “While they are not yet ready to lease an office, these companies need to set up a mailing address, hold meetings, and get work done during visits.

“On a human level, they are met with welcoming hospitality and introduced to members of our community so they feel right at home doing business here.”

She goes on to say that Thillerup and his team are adamant about “acting local first,” and believe a presence at Groundwork will serve to connect incoming companies with local entrepreneurs who can offer professional services. This will ensure that the local economy benefits from business generated by offshore wind development.

Thillerup states, “It’s important to Aegir Wind and myself to be actively engaged in bringing business to New Bedford and at the same time we want the businesses we point in the direction of New Bedford to feel at home and to be serviced and facilitated. Having been welcomed in this business community with that kind of commitment and professionalism has made it very easy for me to go out and promote New Bedford as the ‘First Port of Call for Offshore Wind,’ so much so that the first three companies have already signed up.”

Athanas is planning a slow and phased reopening of the coworking space over the summer as previously outlined. All the while, she is working closely with Thillerup and Aegir Wind to roll out the red carpet to several Danish businesses over the next few months. While offshore wind is a long game and there are still many hurdles to pass, Athanas is optimistic about the future.

“At Groundwork we always say that if you work together, you grow together,” says Athanas. “Collaborations such as these will be the key to our city’s recovery, and I’m certain that if we can survive these next few months, the future will be very positive.”

For more information, you can visit newbedfordcoworking.com or aegirwind.com.

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GETTING BACK TOGETHER

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By Deborah Alard

he pandemic may have changed peoples’ way of life – and the way they shop – but summer is beaming with new possibilities to socialize outdoors and even pick up some local tomatoes and artwork.

The Southcoast Open Air Market (SOAM) will open this month at a new location as a weekly shopping spot in the field at the Stoico/ Firstfed YMCA, at 271 Sharps Lot Road in Swansea.

Opening day is Saturday, July 11 and the

market will be open each Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. through October 24.

SOAM Founder Allison Faunce Richards said the market will offer a rotating list of vendors selling items like fresh produce and meats from local farms, along with handmade items like soap, jewelry, artwork, cards, wreaths, and candles, plus handcrafted foods from local vendors including honey, coffee, shakes, kombucha, picked items, artisan soft pretzels, BBQ, sandwiches, Del’s Lemonade, and ice cream.

Live music and outdoor yoga is also being planned.

“The overwhelming majority of our vendors said ‘please open when it’s legally possible,’” Richards said. “They need a place to sell to people in person.”

Items sold will be curated and Richards said it will avoid duplicated vendors so shoppers will be able to find what they want more easily.

Roughly 40 to 50 vendors are planned for each weekly market.

Richards said the location is twice the size of the former Somerset site and offers parking for 500 vehicles, eliminating the need for a trolley or long walk.

The large space will allow vendors and shoppers a way to spread out and practice social distancing while still maintaining a fun atmosphere.

“This season is a lot different for everyone,” Richards said. “In some ways, it may give people a safer way to shop for groceries.”

Partnering with the YMCA is a good fit for both organizations.

“The ‘Y’ is synonymous with focusing on community and bringing people together,” Richards said. “We felt that their energy was similar to ours. We’re very excited to be there.”

The choice to move to Swansea will benefit shoppers and vendors because they can depend on a weekly market.

Last year, the market alternated between Somerset and New Bedford.

“We wanted to be in one place,” Richards said. “It’s a way that we can add value for the vendors.”

Yoga and workout classes on the lawn will be planned and offered by the YMCA during open-air market hours.

“We want this to be a very symbiotic relationship,” Richards said.

The market will offer hand-washing stations and clear signage to maintain Massachusetts Department of Public Health guidelines for safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But, with local music playing in the background and the smell of fresh blueberries and sunflowers in the air, shoppers might barely notice the “new normal” way of being together, but apart.

“It’s all about coming together around the restrictions,” Richards said.

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BUSINESS BUZZ

A world of POSSIBILITIES

by Ann Katzenbach

In her non-fiction book, The Library Book, Susan Orlean recalls going to the library as a youngster. “The place was so bountiful. I loved wandering around the bookshelves, scanning the spines until something happened to catch my eye. Those visits were dreamy, frictionless interludes that promised I would leave richer than I arrived.”

FOR THE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE who share Orlean’s love of libraries, the last months of COVID-19 closures have left a hole in their lives, especially since so many are home-bound and looking for interesting ways to pass the time In March, libraries in Massachusetts and Rhode Island closed their doors, and librarians went into high gear to figure out how to use technology to bring library offerings into people’s homes. The SAILS Library Network, which includes libraries

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July 2020 | The South Coast Insider

throughout southeast Massachusetts, has gotten high marks for the many ways its resources have been made available. This includes encouraging people without WiFi at home to sit in the library parking lot or an outside bench and use the library signal. This service has always been there, but it has been used much more since the virus made being online almost a necessity for many people. You don’t even need a library card, although a card is necessary if you want to access

the myriad other online offerings from your library. You can apply by calling your local branch. And for those who are using the online resources for the first time, know that your password is the last four digits of your phone number.

If you go to the SAILS Library network page or your own library page, you will find a rich source of information possibilities from TumbleBooks for kids, to magazines, to doing genealogical research.

You can stream movies, download music,

take hundreds of different classes, find recipes, learn languages, get book recommendations, and browse databases.

Many libraries are doing Zoom programs that include baby songs and stories.

You can access an endless number of these options on your library’s website and also its Facebook page. It takes some time to get a sense of the full scope of the possibilities, but the exploration is well worth your time because library bookshelves will probably not be the same “dreamy and frictionless” places of the past – at least not for months to come.

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Turn the page For those starved for books and the friendly advice of a librarian, starting in June, Massachusetts and Rhode Island libraries began accepting book returns, and have instituted a program of curbside pickup that lets users reserve books by phone or email and then pick them up the next day at the designated library site. There are librarians working to fill these orders, so someone is in the building each day and they are answering the phone.

Lynne Antunes, head librarian in Dartmouth, explains that returned books are sanitized and quarantined before they are recirculated, so there is no danger of spreading the virus by way of books.

At the beginning of June, she reported that curbside pickup was busy and her staff was working to make it run smoothly. She also said that all the area libraries are planning for the best possible way to actually open their doors and let people come back with the limitations that we are by now used to: masks and social distancing and limited numbers of people at a time.

Rhode Island has been a little ahead of Massachusetts so far as accessing public places, but by the time you read this, libraries in both states should be open, but regulated. Exploring the online world of libraries provides enough choice and richness far into the future, but if you want a real book and long to browse library bookshelves, it can be managed. And if you are hesitant to do that, curbside pickup continues to be an alternative.

As summer offers a limited choice of outdoor activities, especially for children, make use of your online library. You’ll be amazed at what you will find there.

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13

COVER STORY

Dining dilemmas

By Elizabeth Morse Read

Okay—by now, you’re pretty tired of lukewarm takeout food, soggy pizza, and eating your own cooking, and you’re delighted that South Coast restaurants have finally reopened for business.

R

hode Island eateries opened first – May 18 for outdoor seating, June 1 for indoor – while Massachusetts was the last state in the country to allow restaurant dining – June 8 for outdoor seating, and the end of the month for indoor seating.

In both states, the reopening requirements were the same, based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and industry-wide models developed by the National Restaurant Association. Whether indoor or out, tables must be spaced at least six feet apart, and in such a way as to allow for social distancing along high-traffic areas like lobbies and hallways.

Indoor seating may not exceed 50% of normal capacity, and dining outdoors or indoors is by reservations only with no more than five or six people per dining party. Each restaurant is limited

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July2020 | The South Coast Insider

to 20 outdoor tables spaced at least eight feet apart, although they may be positioned closer if separated by a six-foot wall or plexiglass barrier. Customers will be screened for the virus and contact information will be taken at some restaurants. Tables and chairs will be sanitized after customers leave. And valet parking will not be available, so plan ahead as to where you’ll be able to park off-site.

Restaurants have been encouraged to maximize outdoor space, such as patios, terraces and parking lots, and when municipal approval is obtained, even out into the street. Many states have chosen to keep bar areas closed, as it is very difficult to maintain social distancing with bar-counter seating, although the bar area floor space can be converted to accommodate more inside tables.

“Food is everything we are. It’s an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma.

It’s inseparable from those from the get-go.”

–Anthony Bourdain

What to consider before dining out So what are your options when dining “out of the house” in the era of COVID-19? You can eat outdoors in your own or someone else’s backyard, or on an outdoor patio setup at a local restaurant, or you could eat inside a restaurant. The guiding principle should be this: your risk of infection is 18 times higher when eating indoors than it is when eating outdoors, according to Erin Bromage, Ph.D, who is a professor of biology at UMass Dartmouth. His blog post about the COVID-19 pandemic, “The Risks: Know Them, Avoid Them”, has been viewed by more than 17 million people.

Your risk of infection is 18 times higher when eating indoors than it is when eating outdoors Whichever dining option you choose, be alert to the infection rate in the community where the restaurant or backyard is located. If there’s been a recent spike in cases, choose a different locale where the infection rate is lower. Second, think about your own personal risk for contracting the virus. If you’re 65 or older, you might want to wait before returning to indoor dining or attending an extended-family cookout. If you are immunocompromised, obese, or have chronic health issues like diabetes, kidney disease, or coronary disease, stick to either outdoor dining or eating at home. And think, too, about what you might bring home to an elderly relative or someone with a chronic disease.

If you’ve never been to a particular restaurant before, check it out before you go, either by questioning the manager or by checking its website or social media accounts. Are they in compliance with CDC and industry guidelines in regards to social distancing, cleanliness and staff monitoring? Does the restaurant provide separate entrances and exits to avoid crowding? Look around when you first arrive – if you see clusters of customers or staff at the door or anywhere inside, that’s a bad sign right away.

Check the restaurant’s menu online before you arrive to minimize conversations with the server. You can check out the daily specials on chalkboard menus inside or sandwich-board menus posted outside the entrance. When ordering, customers can scan a QR code to view the menu on their smartphone or are given a disposable paper menu.

Minimize your exposure risk when dining at an indoor restaurant – don’t linger over drinks, coffee, or dessert. If ever there was a time to “dine and dash,” this would be it.

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July2020 | The South Coast Insider

What to look for when you eat out Restauranteurs had to become very creative in order to meet the guidelines, coming up with innovative solutions to maintain social distancing, cleanliness, and to minimize contact between staff and customers.

The National Restaurant Association offers excellent guidance on how to reopen safely. First, the person in charge of the restaurant must have up-to-date ServSafe Food Manager certification, and that person must be onsite during open hours. In addition, all employees should be provided with ServSafe Handler training.

In addition to rearranging the tables and expanding indoor/ outdoor access points and pathways, restaurants have reduced staff/customer interaction by using contactless payment systems, automated ordering systems, website updates and text messages to customers waiting in their cars to be seated.

To avoid cross-contamination, restaurants now provide individual-serving condiments rather than bottled condiments and salt-

Many restaurants have paid particular attention to improving indoor ventilation and-pepper shakers at the table. Eating utensils are pre-wrapped in napkins or plastic. Many restaurants are even using disposable utensils and plates. You can even politely request that your meal be served in a cardboard/plastic takeout container.

Restaurants have removed self-serve stations, buffets, salad bars, and beverage dispensers. Shared surfaces like doorknobs are continually disinfected – especially in bathrooms and lobbies.

Host stations have been moved outdoors to avoid crowding at the door.

Many restaurants have paid particular attention to improving indoor ventilation, some by installing HEPA filtration systems or the HEME HALO air purification system. Others have opened more windows and doors to increase fresh air circulation indoors.

Hand sanitizer should be provided throughout the restaurant (but bring your own, just in case), and there should be hand-washing stations for employees, with strict rules against them congregating in break rooms, outdoor smoking areas, and employee bathrooms.

Servers wear masks and gloves at all times, and customers must wear their masks when the servers come to the table. One study showed that even normal conversations without a mask conducted in an unventilated room produces droplets that could

Veterinary Services

Backyard BBQs, clambakes, and picnics linger in the air for as long as 14 minutes!

Restaurant employees are supposed to be screened before they start their shifts – their temperatures are taken, they’re questioned about their general health and possible exposure to the virus since their last shift. So if you see an employee rush in the door, grab an apron and head for the kitchen without being stopped by the manager, there’s another red flag.

If you’re tired of eating with just the members of your own household day after day, be very careful when considering whom to invite over for a cookout. Think of each household as a bubble, no matter how many people live within each bubble. It’s not so much the number of people that matters – it’s the number of household “bubbles” that you mix together in the backyard.

Remember that most households include people who leave the home every day, increasing the chances of being exposed to infection at their place of work or worship. And even if they are infected with the virus, they may not exhibit any symptoms (are asymptomatic) and could innocently expose you and everyone else in your yard, including your diabetic father, your asthmatic teenager, and your pregnant sister-in-law.

Keep your guest list limited to your own extended family at first, if possible, but if you decide to expand beyond that, make sure your guests are as safety-conscious as you are regarding social distancing, wearing masks, and practicing extreme hygiene.

An outdoor event is far safer than one held indoors, but still plan the seating layout accordingly – set up separate eating areas for each household, use disposable plates and utensils and keep a trash bin nearby. Ask everyone to dispose of their own trash so that the hosts don’t have to handle it. Except for the hosting family’s grilled-food items (burgers and hotdogs, etc.), ask everyone to bring their own salads, snacks, side dishes, condiments, and serving utensils – no sharing the chip bowls or ketchup bottles between household “bubbles”!

Maintain social distancing by placing a barrier between the different households’ seating areas – another table, a fire pit – and insist that everyone (especially people with loud voices) wear a mask unless eating. Make using the inside bathroom safer for guests by creating a well-defined pathway to it and asking guests to use well-placed paper towels to open doors, turn on faucets and flush handles (and always lower the toilet lid when flushing to avoid aerosolizing what you’re flushing).

It will seem strange at first to see everyone wearing masks or sitting in their cars awaiting a text from the restaurant, but the lure of “eating out” after months of eating in your own kitchen will give you the impetus you need. Just stay safe, and close to home, when you’re eating out.

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The South Coast Insider | July 2020

17

COVER STORY

St. Vincent’s promises a safe space for local children and youth.

Finding a home

By Sean McCarthy

Many area residents know St. Vincent’s as a Fall River-based organization that harbors and heals challenged youth from throughout the region, placing them on a therapeutic path to being reintegrated to their family and surroundings.

But since 2011, the mission of St. Vincent’s has grown significantly to encompass the greater Southeastern Massachusetts area with its outpatient outreach, working with youth, adolescents, and families to achieve goals that will acclimate them to functioning roles at home and in the community.

And while St. Vincent’s still supplies assistance for youths with their on-campus residential programming, today the organization is encouraging and facilitating positive mental health and therapy with

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July 2020 | The South Coast Insider

a community clientele of more than 900 families throughout the region with an array of treatment options.

Progress in reaching out to the community with their mental health services is an ongoing mission for St. Vincent’s.

“We are understanding better the role of what trauma means to a kid and family,” says St. Vincent’s Executive Director Jack Weldon. “We understand a lot better now the impact that trauma can have on a child’s life and ongoing development.

We’ve developed better and significant

treatment intervention to help deal with the trauma more effectively, both on the part of the child and the family.”

St. Vincent’s defines “trauma” in a broad sense, with a variety of causes and impacts. It is understood as anything that happens in a child’s life that affects how he or she deals with life, and affects how they get along and make a place for themselves. It includes a vast number of situations unique to each client and family, ranging from physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, to a lack of confidence

that may lead to the child having difficult experiences with peers, within the family, or within the community at large.

“Trauma doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s been some horrific thing that has happened in a child’s life that you can point to,” Weldon says. “Sometimes it can be a subtle, developmental process that leads to not feeling good about him or herself, something that leads to difficulty dealing with family and friends.

“Most children and youth can sometimes feel sad, isolated, anxious, stressed, or angry,” Weldon says.

“Children and adolescents can experience difficulty at school including learning difficulties, difficulty getting along with peers or adults, difficulty making or keeping friends, difficulty sleeping, or feeling unaccepted and negative about themselves. Sometimes families experience separation or divorce or the loss of a loved one, which can lead to feelings of sadness and anger.”

Individual care

St. Vincent’s strives to meet each family’s situation in a holistic and individualized manner with care from across the developmental spectrum, addressing physical, social, psychological, and spiritual needs, in order to achieve positive change and transformation.

“Seeing a mental health professional doesn’t mean that someone is ‘crazy,’” Weldon says. “Behavioral disorders and issues can be an adjustment process that just needs some tweaking. Sometimes things get off track a little bit and they just need to come to a different perspective or understanding of how to be successful and being emotionally open and stable.”

With each situation, the client and family establish goals to be met by virtue of their treatment. A successful meeting of these goals will result in a completion of services from the organization.

St. Vincent’s offers a collection of treatment options for their clients, including individual therapy, in-home therapy, school-based treatment, family therapy, therapeutic mentoring, psychiatry, medication management, and neuropsychological evaluation.

Individual therapy consists of one-onone sessions with a clinician with an aim

of treating issues ranging from anxiety, depression, behavioral issues, social/ peer relationships, attention deficits, learning difficulties, and/or interruption with daily functioning.

In-home therapy has clinicians working with the child and family in their natural setting to resolve conflicts, learn new ways to understand each other, create helpful new routines, and identify helpful community resources. These sessions can take place seven days a week and include a 24-hour telephone response for urgent issues.

School-based treatment includes counselling that assists in the classroom setting with the assistance of the school, dealing with anxiety, bullying, social influences, attention, and learning issues.

Family therapy aims to reduce conflict while increasing effective communication within the family unit as counsellors work to build on the strengths of the family.

Therapeutic mentoring helps youth to connect appropriately with peers and adults to improve social and communication skills to be practiced in everyday settings at home, in school, and the community.

“Every person’s position in the world is unique,” Weldon says. “What their needs are and how they define and deal with those needs are unique. It’s our job to work with them to understand what those needs are and to support their maximum potential, and whatever that is is different from person to person and family to family.”

Moving forward

St. Vincent’s has a staff that includes 15 clinicians, each of whom has at least a Master’s Degree and is licensed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in fields such as Social Work, Clinical Psychology, Clinical Counselling, and others. They also have two Child Psychiatrists and a Child Neuropsychologist. Each member of the staff is specially trained and experienced in treating children, adolescents and families, assessing and treating trauma of various kinds.

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children and youth to get back on track, increase confidence, improve relationships and school performance and feel good about themselves,” Weldon says.

“We can also support families in getting along better and enjoying doing things together as a family.”

Beginning as an orphanage more than 130 years ago, St. Vincent’s still features residential programming for children and adolescents up to the age of 22. There are eight cottages on the Fall River campus that house up to 60 residents, along with a group home in Fall River and another in Plymouth. A resident may be a part of the on-campus program for 45 days or less, but depending upon their progress they may remain in the setting for a year or more.

Many of the residents receive life skills.

Older clients may receive training geared towards independent living that features job skills, finding and maintaining employment, and becoming financially independent. Youths without families are assisted in establishing connections with a responsible adult or family in the community. All of the residents attend daily schooling at the public and parochial schools in the area.

“We try to normalize each living environment,” Weldon says. “Depending on the age of the resident, each child is expected to benefit from and contribute to the community in some way – just as within a family. For younger children, it could mean keeping their room clean or helping to set the table for meals. For older youth it could mean helping the staff to prepare meals, or learning how to do their laundry.”

St. Vincent’s clientele reaches from the Fall River and New Bedford areas to Plymouth, the Cape and Islands, as well as Brockton, Taunton, and Attleboro.

While the youths in the residential programs are contracted to St. Vincent’s through the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, the outpatient services are made by direct contact from the families.

St. Vincent’s is located at 2425 Highland Ave. in Fall River. They can be contacted at (508) 679-8511 or email them at info@saintvincentsservices.org.

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July 2020 | The South Coast Insider

BUSINESS BUZZ

If you or someone you know needs somebody to talk to, give the Crisis Center a call at 508-996-3154.

Mindful of mindfulness

T

By Sean McCarthy

he present stressors of the COVID-19 quarantine may be affecting our mental health, but the practices we can take advantage of during this time are actually things we can turn to regardless of our situation, shutdown or not.

Positive mental health should be an everyday goal. When we reach the “new normal,” good mental health will still be a priority – something you can begin working towards today.

“One of the first things people should do is to establish a schedule for themselves,” says Katherine Schleich-Medeiros, a licensed mental health counsellor who has been practicing in the community for 25 years. “They should balance out their typical tasks, putting in time for enjoyable activities and self-care. Self-care is very important right now, it’s something they should think about embracing.

You can connect with some of the free apps on your phone such as ‘Calm’ and ‘Headspace.’ You can do research in your app store to find something that works for you.

“Mindfulness is important,” Medeiros says. “You can pay attention to your breathing or your surroundings, whether it’s something you can see or feel or smell or touch or hear and just focusing on that one sensation for a moment which can be calming.”

Many people are out of work as well as dealing with children who are not in school.

“Talk to your children and make time for them,” says Wendy Botelho, Director of Child & Family’s 24-Hour Programming in the organization’s New Bedford location.

“Listen to them and hear their concerns.

Provide structure for them since they won’t be attending school. Structure is important for both adults and children – getting up every day, taking care of their hygiene, eating regularly, exercising regularly, and not spending too much time on the couch. Engage them in meaningful ways.”

“We are obviously challenged to be creative at this time,” Medeiros says. “In all of this if we may feel we are on our own which can cause a feeling of helplessness,

not being able to anticipate the future. We may lose sense of time and day, things like that.”

“Regardless of COVID-19 there is the mind/body connection,” Botelho says. “A person’s mental and physical health can go hand-in-hand and so we should have exercise and proper diet that can be helpful and contribute to our emotional well being as well. Be active and try to find activities for the whole family.”

“We’re challenged to connect with people in a different way at this time,” Medeiros says. “We’re connecting through technology – we’re reconnecting with people we haven’t spoken to in a long time and we’re also connecting with our families.

“There’s increased stress within the home, whether we experience it personally or someone we care about is experiencing it. We should reach out and get some help.”

“People should be looking at how they feel during these times of isolation,” says Botelho. “People should be looking for feelings of severe anxiety and depression.

When people are in situations of isolation they may not feel that they have a helpful connection. People should be looking out for feelings of helplessness; there may be suicidal feelings or wanting to do harm to themselves. If you feel like this you should speak to a friend or family member, a doctor, or another provider.

“There’s no shame in seeking mental health support, especially during COVID-19. It can be empowering for the individual,” Medeiros says. “Working with a clinician can help an individual process their experience and manage their distress and discomfort.”

Child & Family offers an array of mental health services including outpatient, psychiatric, and emergency services.

They are hosts for the Crisis Center, a 24hour respite facility that is managed by the organization’s emergency services program. They can be reached at (508) 996-3154.

COVID-19 has made daily life more difficult, but has also forced us to check in with ourselves. Make sure you take the time to look after your mental health, and know that there are resources available for when you need help.

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The South Coast Insider | July 2020

21

ON MY MIND

Mirror ima e image g

By Paul Kandarian

mage is everything, as it is said, but it begs the question: whose image?

The image others have of us or the image we have of ourselves?

I’m pretty sure it’s the latter.

Or it should be. And without question, the matter of self-image is incredibly screwed up in our society, largely victimizing women, who by dint of a barrage of advertising touting a perfection that is virtually unattainable without a penchant for anorexia and no small amount of Photoshop, are the ones held up to a ridiculous ideal.

Skinny is good, skinniest is better. Is it healthy? Hell no, but what does that matter? As Billy Crystal famously wisecracked ages ago on Saturday Night Live in mocking the charm of Fernando Lamas, “It is better to look good than to feel good.” It’s a funny line, but too many take it seriously.

Many women, when they are young and perhaps not blessed with the self-confidence and surety of their own identity and inherent worth, are not fully aware of their beauty,

22

within and without.

I see this in many women my own age now, and this is not at all sexist – merely observational. I see many women who will look at old photos of themselves 40 or more years ago and marvel at their wrinkle-free faces, their natural hair color, the absence of crow’s feet and worry lines

column recently by Christine Hammond, a mental health counselor and author of The Exhausted Woman’s Handbook, that ran a few years ago. It addresses this very topic – image – and she writes that because culture accepts something doesn’t mean it’s right, or even useful.

Projected image, Hammond

Being someone you are not by projecting an image you think others will like has to be exhausting, internally and externally. around the eyes or corners of their mouths.

They will invariably say, “I was pretty then, wasn’t I?” and say it wistfully, in a voice tinged with regret, gazing upon a long-ago self who perhaps didn’t realize how pretty she was then, either, but realizes it now with the yearning ache of nostalgia.

I read a remarkable

July2020 | The South Coast Insider

said, allows a person to dissociate their true selves from the exterior, and with women in particular this becomes habitual as society forces on them new roles that may not be in line with their true selves.

What society sees (or wants to see) they become, whether they want to or not.

Social media hasn’t made it easier. It’s made it worse,

allowing people to project a false image, an image of how they want to look to the outside world, Hammond writes, and when a person hides their true selves long enough, they forget what that true self was and wants and needs to be.

Being someone you are not by projecting an image you think others will like has to be exhausting, internally and externally. Personally, and I don’t know if this is a matter of aging and realizing what BS most of the world is, but I am who I am (thanks, Popeye!), what you see is what you get, and that’s not just a tired old cliché, it’s the truth and believe me, it’s sanity saving.

Any other way, projecting an image for the consumption and approval of others is a lie, and when you lie, you have to keep lying to keep the original lie as the truth you want others to see.

And that is just too draining to bother with. Sure, we all have roles we play, we act differently as a parent than we do as a spouse than we do as an employee than we do at a party, but throughout,

we can be our true selves and just tweak how we present ourselves not to benefit others necessarily but ourselves.

Playing different versions of ourselves while still being who we are isn’t a lie. It’s being human.

As Hammond writes, the ideal is for your true self to be the same persona as your public image, which creates harmony within – no need to pretend, hide, falsify. She calls this the “synchronized self,” something that reduces the stress, guilt, confusion, and exhaustion of not being true to you.

Women suffer this most

of all, falling for and trying to adapt to the ideals of others instead of conforming to their own. For me, as an older man, it’s so disheartening to see a woman look at a picture of herself from long ago, remembering how pretty she was and thinking, falsely, she is pretty no longer.

“I’ve gotten so old,” they will say, gazing at that old image.

No, no you haven’t. You have merely grown into a new beauty – within and without – that may not be evident to you, but is wonderfully obvious to those of us lucky to know and love you for so long.

Hawthorn Medical Welcomes

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Dr. Barré provides specialty care for patients with rheumatologic maladies including, complex autoimmune diseases like Lupus, Sjogren's, Scleroderma, Vasculitis, and Rheumatoid arthritis; inflammatory conditions like Gout, pseudogout and periodic fever syndromes; Collagen defects and hypermobility syndromes; and osteoporosis and metabolic bone diseases. He enjoys collaborating with his patients and other specialists to achieve a successful treatment plan that allows patients to do the things they care about.

508-996-3991 Welcoming new patients.

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The South Coast Insider | July 2020

23

IN THE NEWS

Hawthorn Medical Associates is recognizing #whitecoatsforblacklives, a movement with the mission of “eliminating racism in the practice of medicine and recognizing racism as a threat to the health and wellbeing of people of color.” To learn more about the initiative, visit whitecoats4blacklives.org.

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center will present its annual Something Fishy Summer Camp as a series of free virtual programs for elementary students, Tuesday afternoons from July 7 to August 4. Each day, the Center will host a performer or speaker to lead a digital program over ZOOM. Live events will include a maritime music program with musician and educator Jim Bean, a drawing activity with cartoonist, Steve Brosnihan, and virtual meet and greets with a fisherman, a lobsterman, and a scalloper. To register, visit fishingheritagecenter.org/virtual-camp and use the provided Brown Paper Tickets links.

Programs will feature members of the New Bedford fishing industry including lobsterman, Steve Holler

National Arts Strategies (NAS) is hosting a threepart lecture series on racial equity and how to take proactive steps on personal, group, and organizational levels. To view the lectures and find more resources, visit National Arts Strategies online at artstrategies.org/racial-equity-learning-series.

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July2020 | The South Coast Insider

The Audubon Society of Rhode Island is keeping things cool this July with a full calendar of events. There’s explore the Estuary for Kids at Prudence Island on July 7, Bird Banding in Bristol on July 11, the Annual Butterfly Count in Seekonk on July 19, the Scavenger Hunt at Caratunk on July 26, and many more. Learn more at asri.org, where you can also access tons of learning resources sure to keep families engaged!

AUDUBON SOCIETY OF RHODE ISLAND

Southcoast Health hospitals held events of “remembrance, support, and renewal of strength” in early June.

The services were dedicated to those who lost their lives to COVID-19 and to celebrate those who survived it. The services, held outdoors and with appropriate social distancing, was attended by over 200 employees.

At the conclusion, the ceremonies held 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence out of respect for the murder of George Floyd and the other Black, Indigenous, and People of Color who have lost their lives due to systemic racism and violence. To learn more, visit southcoast. org/diversity-and-inclusion-at-southcoast-health.

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