Worcester Magazine May 28 - June 3, 2020

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International students in limbo Pandemic leaves many stranded and struggling to survive

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A whole new world for Vanilla Box theater group RICHARD DUCKET T

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anilla Box Productions, which co-founder Christine C. Seeger (with her husband Joel D. Seeger) describes as a “mom and pop company,” has had to steel itself for a lot of challenges over the past few weeks.

It was just in February that it staged Worcester composer, lyricist and playwright Stephen Murray’s romantic musical comedy “Making Scents” at its home at the then Holy Name Central Catholic Junior/Senior High School, 144 Granite St. Last summer, one of Vanilla Box’s productions was a huge undertaking of “The Music Man” with a cast and ensemble of over 40 performers. In the fall, it staged the musical adaptation of “Little Women,” as the theater company increasingly was making a name for itself. Now in its 14th season, Vanilla Box Productions started as a summer program for children only and has expanded into a year-round community theater production company for performers of all ages. The Seegers both have extensive backgrounds in theater, with Joel often directing the musicals and Christine the choreographer.

But now, “Our season is just kaput, unfortunately,” Christine Seeger said.

Planned summer productions of “La Cage Aux Folles” and “Hello Dolly” (“that was going to be big,” Seeger said) have been canceled because of the pandemic, as is a youth production of “Head Over Heels” and the annual summer theater champ for children and youths.

However, Vanilla Box is planning a first live streaming of a staged reading of the all-female comedydrama “Steel Magnolias” by Robert Harling at 7 p.m. June 7, reuniting the cast (albeit via Zoom from their respective homes) of its popular 2015 production. The plan is to sell tickets as a freewill donation.

Christine and Joel Seeger run Vanilla Box Productions, which is currently closed due to COVID-19 ASHLEY GREEN

Vanilla Box has also been posting videos such as teaching a dance combination.

“It’s stressful because you need technology. I just upgraded my WiFi, so hopefully we won’t get a video upload five hours later,” she said.

To compound matters, other recent developments have also impacted Vanilla Box’s situation.

The theater at Holy Name has been the company’s home since

Note To Readers the cover Photo by Christine Peterson Design by Kimberly Vasseur

2013, and also has a deep personal connection for the Seegers.

Christine Seeger is a graduate of Holy Name High and she and her husband were both in the cast in a 1992 Holy Name Summer Theater production of “The Sound of Music.”

Holy Name Summer Theater and later Booth Productions was run by Richard A. Booth Sr. at Holy Name for many years, and the Seegers were regularly involved with shows there

until Booth left for Ogunquit, Maine, where he still lives.

“I’ve been on that stage my entire life. Richard Booth hired me as choreographer,” Christine Seeger said.

But with the new merger of Holy Name with St. Peter-Marian by the Catholic Diocese of Worcester to create St. Paul Diocesan JuniorSenior High School located at the former Holy Name site, Vanilla Box has had to at least temporarily move

Worcester Magazine has put its calendar section and event recommendations on hold for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, and other standing features may be put on hold or appear more sporadically. Also, considering the pace of news these days, some articles may be updated online as the situation changes. For the most up-to-date versions of articles, visit WorcesterMag.com or Telegram.com.

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year with social distancing to abide with was too daunting a prospect, and Vaniila Box has issued refunds to all the families that were going to participate. The camp usually draws about 35 to 40 children.

“We are indoors. Kids can’t wear a mask — you can’t act, you can’t sing.

Kids love to hug,” she said.

Meanwhile, “theater is so touchyfeely. How do you not interact with people? It’s impossible. It’s hard. We’re a mom and pop company. We rely on people filling our seats.”

Reviewing last August’s production of “The Music Man” for the Telegram & Gazette, Tyran Grillo wrote, “bringing Meredith Willson’s evergreen musical to light requires a committed assembly of musicians, actors and crew. Which is exactly what we were treated to when the band (… and more) indeed came to town at Holy Name Central Catholic Junior/Senior High School.”

“I’ve been talking to a lot of my friends from other theater companies and they’re all feeling the same way,” Christine said of the current difficulties. She and her husband have been involved with Worcester County Light Opera Company and Calliope Productions. “Although we’re not the new kids on the block, we don’t have the same name. We were taking all these steps forward, just to be knocked back,” she said.

The newsletter says that while there was sadness about packing up from Holy Name, the Segers “had a smile. They remembered all the good that happened because of the space and the people they met there. They hope the cast members they worked with and the students they taught will remember the good times as well and think fondly of their time on the stage at HN … THIS IS NOT THE END. ‘Steel Magnolias’ is coming.”

Vanilla Box thinks “we will be streaming this show for the first time ever … Another first for Vanilla Box Productions. “ The cast includes Christina Pierro, Kaitlyn Doig, Linnea Lyerly, Liz Mitchell, Candy Schap and Autumn Olson. Also returning from the 2015 production, Chuck Gigaitis directs.

Christsine said her children have been offering technical help with the live stream. “It’s everyone from their own home, and we connect. It’s crazy,” she said.

“If this one goes well I’d like to do one with the teens, too, and then another adult. If we can pull this off the way we’d like to do, it’ll be easier from now on …

“We’ll see what happens, one day at a time.”

For more information, visit www. vanillaboxproductions.com.

M AY 28 - J U N E 3, 2020

out of the theater space while repairs and renovations are taking place.

In its newsletter, with pictures of packing up, Vanilla Box wrote, “Leaving for the last time was bittersweet.

Memories were relived. A few tears were shed.”

“We hope to have a good relationship (with the school) moving forward,” Christine Seeger said. “The school is very arts forward.”

Vanilla Box had made arrangements to stage shows at Notre Dame Academy. While it has a smaller theater, Seeger is pleased that Notre Dame is willing to help. “They’re more than happy to work with us.”

Christine Seeger was also working at Holy Name in a number of capacities, including teaching a business fundamentals class, being part of the theater department, and helping to arrange catering.

Currently, “I’m not sure I’ll be able to have job yet,” she said.

Joel Seeger works in the field of theater for different theater companies and schools as a private contractor (including as a choreographer, set and light designer, and doing costumes) and his jobs have been directly affected by the pandemic and the cancellation of shows.

“He was midway through ‘Mary Poppins’ at the Stadium Theatre (in Woonsocket, R.I.) and it got canceled halfway through,” Christine said. A school Christmas production he was going to be involved with has already been postponed to the spring of next year, she noted.

“What little we make during the summer we live on, so Joel can work as a private contractor,” she said.

“What we do with Vanilla Box, it’s really how we get by.”

At the same time, Vanilla Box hires people for paid positions with shows and the summer camp as private contractors. That has affected the company in seeking financial assistance during the pandemic, because it doesn’t have a regular payroll. “Any help we can possibly get we just get bumped,” Christine said.

The Seegers originally founded the CCS Dance Academy in Holden as a dance company, and changed the name to Vanilla Box Productions with an expanded vision. In 2013 the Seegers brought their summer musical theater camp to Holy Name after it outgrew the space at the dance studio. Also that summer, Vanilla Box Productions debuted its adult community theater there with “Anything Goes.”

The couple have three children who have all been involved with the company. “All of our kids grew up in the theater,” Christine said.

Running a summer camp this

CITY VOICES

FIRST PERSON

‘But That’s Not Today’ IRA HOFFMAN

Think of the lives ruined. Think of those who have lost their jobs, nother day of isolation the companies that went out of begins. Just like yesterday. business, and the family issues I look at the charts for the that have developed. Think about U.S. and Massachusetts for the after effects of those surviving the flattening of the curve.

COVID-19 on their health. The Even before I start to feel sorry damage to their lungs, kidneys, for myself - not being able to go to heart, and increased chance of our favorite Chinese restaurant, heart attack or stroke. And think the Clinton Gourmet, or see my about the mental health of those grandkids in Vermont - I think of on the front lines – the police offithose who have it worse – much cers, firefighters, EMTs, paramedworse. ics, doctors and nurses who have I think of the police officers, witnessed so much. firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, One day everything will be back nurses, doctors, and the many to normal, albeit it might become others who face possible exposure the “new normal” – living with to COVID-19 every day, because COVID-19. But that’s not today. it’s their job. I think of those who One day I can feel that it’s safe have perished, who have made the for me to venture to the outside supreme sacrifice. They are dead. world and talk to someone, to sit You can’t blame all the deaths down next to a stranger at the on the actions, or inaction of our Hanover Theatre in Worcester. But president. When this is over and that’s not today. analysis is done of what the presiOne day I can feel confident dent did when he knew about the that if I have COVID-19 symptoms virus, what he did or didn’t do that I can immediately be tested to mitigate the growing threat to see if I have COVID-19. But while publicly down playing its that’s not today. seriousness, the numbers will be One day if as an immediate restaggering. sult of my test being positive, I can But it’s not only the deaths. easily seek medical assistance and

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be seen by a medical professional.

But that’s not today.

One day if the medical professional verifies that I do, in fact, have COVID-19, I can immediately be isolated and be sent for treatment. But that’s not today.

One day treatment for COVID-19 will include medicines, and whatever else is necessary to cure my COVID-19. But that’s not today.

One day an “action plan” based on analysis of data from the outcomes of thousands or millions of COVID-19 cases will be developed - what recovering patients should do. But that’s not today.

One day there will be a vaccine available to prevent COVID-19, like the flu vaccine, like the vaccines that have been developed to prevent childhood diseases. But that’s not today.

So, today I will continue to implement my action plan. Before I do anything, I will consider the reward of doing it, along with the risk of contracting COVID-19.

Today I’ll stay home.

Ira Hoffman lives in Holden.

CITY VOICES

WORCESTERIA

Whining in West Boylston BILL SHANER

UNSPEAKABLE: Let’s juxtapose our cry baby small town police chief

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who’s sad he can’t go to Denny’s with a Vietnamese family in Worcester whose lives will be forever irreparably harmed by this pandemic.

Earlier this month, Joseph Vo Van Ngo and Bay Thi Huynh, immigrants who escaped the brutality of the Vietnam War to set up a life here, died minutes apart in the same hospital bed from COVID-19. The day they died, their oldest daughter and caretaker, Kim Chi NguyenNgo, was admitted to the hospital. Five days later she died as well.

This is a horrific example of the way this pandemic brings destruction into people’s lives in a private way. By a back of a napkin calculation, we’ve had 32 9/11s in the past three months, and they’ve all happened quietly in hospitals and in nursing homes and in bedrooms. God forbid we show a shred of human empathy and put a little bit more weight on the thousands of untold tragedies this pandemic has brought on than on the squawking of people like that gym owner in Oxford when we think about reopening the state. Unfortunately, we live in a sick society and each passing day is dumber than the last. So the thousands of real corpses and the whining of aggrieved exurban men who’ve been told no for the first time in their life carry the same political weight. You know, both sides of the aisle. Gotta compromise. That’s politics, baby.

M AY 28 - J U N E 3, 2020

BIG BABY: The first Worcesteria Cry Baby Of The Year Award goes to Dennis Minnich, chief of police in the little town of West Boylston. Last week, he sent the Worcester Board of Health an outrageously irresponsible letter in which he threatened to arrest Board of Health members who try to enforce shutdown orders in his town for trespassing. What’s more, he said he’s not going enforce any of the shutdown-related laws that fall under his jurisdiction. Now, he’s since walked it back and apologized for the strong language, and, no, he’s not actually going to arrest public health officials for trespassing. But the apology doesn’t take back all the ways he told on himself in that letter. First off, he really put it on blast that chiefs of police can just pick and choose what laws they’re going to enforce. That’s what we like to call “saying the quiet part loud.” If you hold that position of power, you get to fall back on the “rule of law” when it’s convenient for you, and when it rubs you the wrong way, you can just make some vague overture to the “unconstitutional nature” of the law, and sit on your hands. So it’s not so much the rule of law as it is the rule of the police department. Way to articulate that so clearly, bud. It would be good if more people knew that. Maybe they’d start to better understand some of the deep-seated flaws in our criminal justice system. By being a little cry baby throwing a temper tantrum because the barbershop is closed and the big bad governor doesn’t say when it’s going to open again, you laid bare a flexible relationship you have with the rule of law. Great job. Also in the letter is what amounts to a roadmap for businesses in his town to flout shutdown orders. He basically says “you can keep Board of Health agents from coming into your business, you can call it trespassing, and I am going to look the other way.” One. Hundred.

Thousand. People. are dead from a world pandemic, and this guy’s concerning himself with giving a little wink and nod to the VFW Hall and the hair dresser. Yeah, go ahead and put you and your customers directly into harm’s way. I’ve got your back. Cry Baby Of The Year.

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COVER STORY

International students in limbo Pandemic leaves many stranded and struggling to survive

BILL SHANER

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n Worcester, there are several thousand people living half a world away from their families.

They’re stranded, unable to fly home, and find themselves in the precarious situation of not being able to work and not receiving the government assistance afforded to American citizens.

They’re international students, a small and easy to overlook group of people quietly caught in a bind amid a historic world-wide pandemic.

They’ve surfed couches, depleted their savings accounts and struggled to find food as they navigate an unprecedented situation.

Now, a new food pantry has formed to help the students get access to fresh and culturally appropriate food. As the pandemic stretches on, organizers and patrons alike see the Ujima Food Pantry as a necessary stopgap to help a small and vulnerable group of people through a tough time.

ries closed.

“A lot of students are in really dire situations in terms of food, clothing, shelter,” she said.

Some have couch surfed, others have seen money from their families dry up as their families fall on hard times back home. Young students, 18 or 19 years old, were put in the position of having to go out on their own and find housing.

“They were put into dangerous circumstances where they were forced to have to all of a sudden move,” she said. “They were living alone for the first time in their lives and they

didn’t know how to handle it.”

Food insecurity has been a particular issue for international students as they manage tight budgets without income or unemployment benefits. They also typically lack transportation, making it difficult to obtain the meals for which they once relied on the university cafeteria. For several weeks, Pasha said that she ate only ramen and rice.

“Right now my money is extremely tight,” she said. “As a student who is graduating right now, I don’t know when I’m going to get my next income.”

Pasha doesn’t so much blame the university administration for the difficult situation in which international students found themselves.

The university offered transitional housing and grants for moving expenses in the first few weeks of the shutdown.

But she said she found the end of the semester to be extremely difficult, as the university transitioned to online coursework while students scrambled to find new living situations. The stress of it became such that she said considered dropping out just months before completing

the program she’d been at work on for three years.

“I’ll be honest, at one moment I was ready to give up,” she said.

Given the frustrating nature of online coursework, she said she’s dismayed by the university’s plan to implement a 3% tuition increase.

“I don’t know how they can justify what they’re charging us,” she said, for online coursework that she found to be lacking in comparison to traditional schooling.

“This semester was truly one of the worst educational experiences of my life,” she said.

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M AY 28 - J U N E 3, 2020

ASWIRA’S STORY

A

swira Siraj Pasha graduated this spring from a master’s degree program at Clark in sustainability and social change as well as environmental science policy. She finds herself in the position of struggling to obtain a work permit while living off of her savings.

Unable to return to her home in India due to travel restrictions and struggling to find work, Pasha is facing an uncertain and stressful situation.

“There’s a lot of anxiety and not a lot of support,” she said. “Not only am I worrying about my situation here in America, but I’m also thinking about my home country. There’s a lot of additional anxiety and stress that is added because you’re thinking about your family back home.”

But, Pasha said, her situation isn’t even close to the most difficult she’s heard an international student face.

Most international students can only work on campus or through internships arranged by the university.

Many students were laid off from jobs on campus, had internships canceled, and faced difficulty finding Imrana Soofi runs the Ujima Food Pantry out of the Denholm Building. new living situations after dormito-

CHRISTINE PETERSON

COVER STORY

in Worcester were geared specifically to international students, so Soofi and the Muslim Community Link stepped up to fill the void. The MCL partnered with international students from Clark University and local businesses to stock the food pantry. The pantry delivers boxes of food, specifically catered to meet certain cultural needs and dietary restrictions, to international students in need.

INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGES

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n Worcester, most of the international students are concentrated at Worcester Polytechnic University and Clark University.

At Clark, there are roughly 750 enrolled international students. The majority are graduate students, and they make up roughly 23% of the student body. At WPI, there are 1,410 enrolled international students. Similarly, most are graduate students, and they make up 21% of the overall student body. At other colleges in Worcester, the community is much smaller. There are 90 undergraduate students at The College of the Holy Cross, comprising 3.2% of the

student body. At Becker College, there are several dozen. At Assumption College, there are 51 international students. At Worcester State University, the city’s largest school by enrollment, there are only 74 international students, according to College Factual, a higher education data aggregation website.

Under normal circumstances, international students can have a hard time adjusting to life on campus and in America. The culture shock coupled with sometimes poor understanding of conversational English can leave students feeling isolated and out of place. Bill Coolbaugh, director of the Boston International Student Ministry, deals with this regularly. The ministry has been helping students find homes, support networks and other resources as they deal with the pandemic.

“These international students aren’t a lot different from Americans.

They’re isolated and they’re used to a lot of socialization,” he said. “It’s been a lot of adjustment.”

The problems of isolation are coupled by more immediate needs.

Many international students are prevented by their visas from finding work off-campus, he said, and they were hurried into living situations

which may be hard on their budgets.

There are over 40,000 international students in Greater Boston, and he said survey data show that about 70% of them have never been invited into an American household.

“In general they’re an anomaly and kind of ignored,” he said. “Maybe that’s because Americans don’t know what to do with them.”

The pandemic has made the issue particularly hard, as people are even more guarded about taking someone in.

Coolbaugh is sympathetic to the massive issues colleges faced in dealing with the shutdown, and said he feels international students were a low priority that, for the most part, got lost in the fray.

In the future, he’d like to see colleges put together policies to better care for international students should another shutdown happen.

Travel restrictions will likely lead to drastic decrease in the amount of international students coming in, he said, giving universities time to plan.

“Maybe that involves working with the towns and cities and other groups and such, but I think they should have some kind of contingency plan,” he said.

Aswira Siraj Pasha recently graduated Clark University.

ASHLEY GREEN

S

Ujima Food Pantry in the Denholm Building is made up of International students that volunteer and are serviced by the pantry which is led by Imrana Soofi. The international students were stranded here when the area went into shutdown for COVID-19.

CHRISTINE PETERSON

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eeing the plight faced by international students, the Muslim Community Link formed the Ujima Food Pantry last month. They run the operation out of the Denholm Building on Main Street. An all-volunteer staff supplies food to international students several times a week.

“They are a small isolated com-

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

THE UJIMA PANTRY

munity, and thus invisible within communities where they live and go to college,” said Imrana Soofi, executive director of the Muslim Community Link. “That means that during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, their suffering and plight is not known to others.”

Similar to the challenges faced by undocumented immigrants, international students lack access to COVID-related government benefits and normal benefits like SNAP assistance. The global nature of the pandemic has also led to parents of international students finding themselves in similarly hard times, and less likely to be able to provide support, Soofi said.

“So the impact on both the undocumented community and many of the international students manifests itself similarly in the form of hunger, food insecurity and the inability to stay current on their rent and utilities,” said Soofi.

While other food pantries exist to serve the undocumented, none

M AY 28 - J U N E 3, 2020

But of all the difficulties of navigating the pandemic as an international student, an aspect that Pasha said especially bothers her is the sense that international students are being overlooked.

“We are not thought of in the general conversation. We’re just immigrants. We’re here, we study, we’re gone. But at the end of the day, all of us are paying taxes, all of us are working really hard, and we’re trying our best to contribute to a country that we believe is really amazing.”

COVER STORY

THE VOLUNTEERS

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M AY 28 - J U N E 3, 2020

ike many international students, Ahmed Khalil, an accounting major studying for a master’s degree, has struggled to find work. An internship lined up for the summer was pushed to at least January, and he’s living off his savings account. But, with down time and in a relatively safe position, Ahmed decided to help fellow international students in a worse place than him. A friend brought him in to volunteer at the Ujima Food Pantry, and he’s been at it for a few weeks.

“It’s helpful for them,” he said.

“During this time, literally no one is working. You’re either relying on family or your savings.”

Those who relied on on-campus work are in an especially vulnerable position, he said, and as they’ve launched the pantry, the list of students signing up for food has grown exponentially.

As the pandemic continues to linger

with no clear end in sight, the task of building the food bank will be imperative for students in uncertain situations without solid financial support.

“There is no future,” he said with a chuckle. “Even the government doesn’t know what is going to happen tomorrow. Any plans I had, they’re destroyed already. It’s just day by day.”

Like Pasha, Khalil is frustrated with the quality of online coursework and disagrees with the university’s decision to raise tuition fees.

“It’s really annoying for all of us,” he said. “At least keep it normal, keep it the same.”

The pantry is for the most part staffed by international students, leaving them with a key problem: transportation. It’s difficult to get a driver’s license as an international student, making it hard both for the pantry volunteers and patrons.

So they brought in some help from an American friend. Leverett Ball, Khalil’s roommate, has become the pantry’s defacto delivery driver.

“I just think it’s a great thing to be involved in,” he said, “and with a lot of my work that got canceled, I have the time to do it.”

Ball works in sports media, and has a job lined up as a sideline reporter at Massachusetts Pirates games for the New England Sports Network. It is still unclear how COVID will impact the season, which is slated to start June 13.

Ball said he’s sympathetic to the challenges faced by international students, especially because they don’t qualify for the government support that Americans receive.

“You know, there are a number of international students in the area who don’t get benefits and maybe can’t afford food,” he said.

“So just getting food to people who

Ujima Food Pantry in the Denholm Building is made up of International students that volunteer and are serviced by the pantry which is led by Imrana Soofi. The international students were stranded here when the area went into shutdown for COVID-19.

CHRISTINE PETERSON

wouldn’t have it otherwise and doing something not for any type of pay but because it’s the right thing. That means a lot.”

And he’s in it for the long haul. He said he’ll continue to drive for the food bank as long as he’s asked to.

“As long as there’s a need and I am able to do it, I will,” he said.

FROM WUHAN AND REISYA BACK AGAIN eisya Ichwani, an engi-

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va Lu, a Clark student from Wuhan, China, ironically enough, is one of the many forced into a new living situation when the pandemic hit.

She lived with two students, both American, who moved home once the university closed. She had to move to a one-bedroom apartment, and her rent more than doubled. Like Khalil, she lost an internship necessary for her to graduate. She planned to obtain a visa and stay in America to work, but now fears the market may be such that jobs are difficult for international students to obtain.

Now, she’s considering moving back to China when she is allowed.

“A lot of my friends lost their internship,” she said. “Even for Americans, it’s really hard. I’m sure the market is even less accessible for international students.”

Like most of the students interviewed for this story, Lu is dismayed by the university’s decision to increase tuition rates.

“Because of the economy in China and in India and in any country, it’s really hard for families to continue to support us in these amounts,” she said.

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neering graduate student at WPI, lives with her husband off campus. They have a 1-year-old child, and when the university closed, Ichwani’s husband was laid off from his job at the school cafeteria. Ichwani is still employed by the university part time as a teaching assistant, but for a while when the shutdown first hit, they were in a difficult situation.

“It was quite hard in the beginning,” Ichwani said. “We didn’t know where to go and what to do.”

But, she said, after some time they figured it out. Her husband found gig economy work, like delivering groceries, and their financial situation has evened out. Still, the pair eat halal, and accessing that food has been difficult. Once, they relied on the campus cafeteria, now they face long drives to get to stores that offer halal food, and supplies have been running low. For the past several weeks, they’ve been patrons of the food pantry and they get fresh halal food delivered to their door.

“It’s been extra helpful,” she said.

“And, especially, for me, the chicken halal. It’s delicious.”

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ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

M AY 28 - J U N E 3, 2020 WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

Worcester-based artist Kai Griffiths continues to push the boundaries of his own mind by creating a unique form of art which encompasses transcendentalism, surrealism, geometric form and representationalism. In 2016, Griffiths had the pleasure of being involved with international Mural Organization Pow! Wow! Worcester beginning his career in large scale works.

As a featured artist in 2017, Griffiths painted a large mural on the iconic Coney Island building in Worcester titled “Totality,” pictured here. His work has also been featured at numerous arts festivals, galleries and showcases across the country. Griffiths currently operates a local gem, mineral, and artisan gallery in Worcester called Funky Stuff where he continues to grow his business alongside his love and passion for the arts.

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CITY LIFE

LIFESTYLE

Fashion masks SARAH CONNELL SANDERS

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M AY 28 - J U N E 3, 2020

asks are here to stay. At least for a while. And, although there were very few choices just a short time ago, our options seem to have grown exponentially in the last month.

The maturation of masks came out of necessity. In late March, Redemption Rock Brewing Co. CEO Dani Babineau dusted off the old sewing machine and dug through her fabric scraps to make sure she had enough for her employees. She was not alone.

Local maker Hanna Leck also stepped up right away. At first, she found patterns on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website and added her own modifications such as a wired nose bridge.

Like many of us in quarantine, she saw her skills get more and more refined as she committed to practicing every day. Leck donated most of her initial creations, but soon found that her strong Instagram presence (@hanna_leck) opened up a host of opportunities to see her masks off into the world. A nurse from New York City inquired about a purchase and then one of Leck’s favorite jewelry accounts proposed a barter.

“My main goal has always been to make as many masks as I can and provide them accessibly to everyone,” Leck said.

Special Educator Katie Mahoney found herself searching for a satisfying reprieve from her remote teaching duties each day. She had a stash of tightly woven cotton fabric left from her college days when she had enjoyed sewing Greek letters for her friends’ fraternities and sororities. Mahoney’s mother, who works in a nursing home, helped to pick out the most practical pattern — a pleated rectangular mask with bias tape, like the piping on the edge of a bib or a quilt. She secured fun fabrics featuring dinosaurs, unicorns and Donald Duck to appeal to her students with sensory issues.

Mahoney’s masks found their way to her friends, family, students, and most importantly, her mother’s coworkers at the nursing home. Soon, people began reaching out, offering to buy her creations. She encouraged them to barter with snacks and libations for her roommates, or pay what they could. Her favorite reaction was from one student who exclaimed, “My-Honey,” (as in Mahoney), “My mask! I Love it!”

If you don’t have a seamstress in your circle, local proprietor Exclu-

Local maker Hanna Leck’s designs are available on her Instagram page @hanna_leck. sives Where Music Meets Fashion on Pleasant Street has customized masks available for purchase. You can inquire on Instagram: @exclusivesmusicmeetsfashion. If you choose to buy from one of the large mask producers, most of them are matching purchases with a donation to health care workers or other

essential service men and women.

A quick search on Etsy turned up nearly 900,000 face mask results. The most popular style for this summer accessory seems to be tie-dye, which speaks to my bohemian heart. Animal print is also a crowd-pleaser, but I’ll spare you the "Tiger King" joke.

Please remember that cloth masks

are simply an extra layer of protection, but you should still stay six feet away from other people. Many health experts recommend adding an additional layer of fabric as a filter inside your mask to help slow aerosol-sized particles. The mask should cover your nose and mouth, and it should be washed daily.

TABLE HOPPIN’

Bean Counter Bakery continues rise despite pandemic BARBARA M. HOULE

A

lice Lombardi of Bean Counter Bakery Café is a successful businesswoman who has led her company through unanticipated twists and turns.

This month amid the coronavirus pandemic Lombardi remained optimistic and held a soft opening of a new flagship location at 270 Grove St., Worcester.

The first Bean Counter Bakery Café was established on June 1, 2001, at 113 Highland St. in Worcester, and then three months later 9/11 happened. “I’ll never forget that date,” said Lombardi, who recalled she was in the kitchen making pastry cream when she heard the news. After 9/11, Lombardi thought she had faced the worst the industry could experience.

Founder and owner of Bean Counter Bakery and Cafe Alice Lombardi at her new location on Grove Street.

CHRISTINE PETERSON

Fast-forward to this month and May 20 the day Lombardi held the ribbon-cutting ceremony of her new 5,000-square-foot flagship store at 270 Grove St. She admitted opening a fourth business amid the coronavirus pandemic has been difficult and challenging.

“As business owners we’ve weathered upheavals like 9/11, the downturn of 2008 and other crises,” said Lombardi. “I’ve been a businesswoman for 20 years, and I’ve been through a lot but at the end of the day, especially during this time, I feel blessed that my family and I are healthy.”

Lombardi said she had a good feeling about the Grove Street location ( former Gervais Car Wash/ Auto Body) when she first looked at the property in 2016. She purchased it the same year from Gervais family members who retired from the

business founded by their father.

The property had been available for a couple of years with no takers, according to Lombardi, who said she and the owners originally had a good old-fashioned handshake to seal the deal. “The family received several other inquiries the day after my offer but they stuck to our agreement, and to this day I am still touched by the family’s thoughtfulness and kindness to me,” said Lombardi.

When the pandemic began, Lombardi had to lay off about half her staff, but the Grove Street space and the Paycheck Protection Program have allowed her to bring back all the employees, she said. A full-time production manager and front and back of the house managers work at the new site. In time, she said she would like to create more work opportunities.

C O N T I N U E D O N N E XT PA G E

CITY LIFE

TA B L E H O P P I N’

C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 10

Worcester Technical High School senior Paola Hernandez poses with banner she painted.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Banner moment at Worcester Tech

Lombardi said her daughter, a tattoo artist and barista at the Highland Street Bean Counter, is her social media coordinator helping with the production of a new product line.

Both children have long encouraged their mother to use social media to connect with customers and help build her brand, but Lombardi said

she sort of resisted at first, saying “OK, OK, later,” she said. “I’m all in now.”

She jokes about working “eight days a week” and always looking for something more to do. “Years ago I was offered a position as a control quality engineer for a casket manufacturing plant in New Hampshire, but I didn’t take the job,” said Lom-

If you have a tidbit for the column, call (508) 868-5282. Send email to bhoulefood@gmail.com.

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happy to hear that one Bean Counter customer especially appreciated her work. “A customer recently told my husband that she saw an older woman doing a fantastic job cleaning and sanitizing at the Highland Street store,” joked Lombardi, who admitted to being the “older woman.”

Lombardi said about 50% of the Bean Counter bakery options are takeout, so in some ways the business was more prepared to handle the state’s new protocols during the pandemic.

The wedding season had promised to be bigger than ever for the business prior to COVID-19. “Fortunately, customers postponed wedding cake orders, and we didn’t have a single cancellation,” said Lombardi. “Double bookings could be a challenge, but the new building has more space and that’s a blessing,” she said.

Orders for six- and eight-inch cakes also have tripled. “I really believe people are tired of cooking and baking at home and are ordering out,” said Lombardi, who anticipates busier days ahead, especially for Father’s Day and graduation family celebrations.

Lombardi and her husband, Domenico (Dom), also an engineer, came to Worcester in the 1980s when he got a job here. “We were only going to be in the city for two years,” said Lombardi, “but we fell in love with the community and never left.” She credits her husband with “discovering” all the Bean Counter locations. “I wouldn’t be in business without his support,” she said.

The couple has a daughter, Marianna Lombardi, and a son, Domenico Lombardi, a clinical researcher in San Francisco.

When seniors at Worcester Technical High School arrived on May 19 to pick up their graduation caps and gowns they were greeted not only by teachers and staff members cheering them on in the parking lot, but also a large banner painted

by Paola Hernandez, a senior in the school’s Culinary Arts program.

The banner depicted food and chef instructors at the school.

“Paola painted the banner in six hours,” according to one of her teachers, who joked about looking 20 years younger in the scene. Hernandez plans to study game production and management at Becker College in Worcester in the fall.

Good stuff !

M AY 28 - J U N E 3, 2020

The Grove Street building will have two other tenants: BankHometown and The Eyebrow Place, with current locations at the Greendale Mall in Worcester and Solomon Pond Mall in Marlboro. After BankHometown’s merger with Millbury Savings Bank last year, the bank first announced it would have a branch on Grove Street.

Lombardi, an engineer, designed the working spaces at the new site. “The work and traffic flow are perfect,” she said, adding that she wants everyone to be comfortable in their work space and is fortunate to have “very experienced bakers and decorators” on staff.

The Bean Counter will go through several operational changes with the opening of the flagship store.

The Highland street store will become more of a café, according to Lombardi, who said customers will still be able to buy coffee, assorted pastries, etc. However, all the store’s custom cake and specialty orders now will be made and picked up at the Grove Street location, which has 32 parking spaces. “It will be easier for customers because at Highland Street, we only have on-street parking,” said Lombardi.

Also, as of May 22, all Bean Counter phone orders have been transferred to Grove Street, the primary bakery where pastry chefs will prepare all wedding and custommade cakes.

The chef team at the Bean Counter, 288 Boston Turnpike, Shrewsbury, will make only birthday cakes and standard decorated cakes, according to Lombardi, who said customers can still pick up product in Shrewsbury.

The Shrewsbury store and Lombardi’s second brand Café Noir, 307 Grafton St., Shrewsbury, continue to sell coffee and assorted pastries and desserts.

Beginning June 1, the Bean Counter Bakery Café will have an ecommerce menu website. “The online menu will include everything that’s offered in Bean Counter’s pastry cases,” said Lombardi. Customers will be able to browse the menu and photographs and order and pay online.

All Bean Counter locations currently are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for takeout and pickup, with at least two employees on site. Lombardi explained that one employee assists customers with takeout orders, while the other focuses on cleaning and sanitizing to keep everyone safe.

Lombardi also pitches in with sanitizing stores. She said she was

bardi. “I guess you could say I turned into a quality taste tester instead.”

Lombardi has won numerous local and national awards, especially for her wedding cake designs. Her success is the result of loving what she does, she said, and listening to customers. “I’m happy when they’re happy,” she added.

CITY LIFE

FILM

Balm for the graduation blues JIM KEOGH

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M AY 28 - J U N E 3, 2020

o how was graduation?

I know, what graduation?

For generations upon generations, students have walked across a stage to shake hands with a school administrator and then exit to applause, clutching a diploma. It didn’t matter that they may never have met the administrator during their entire school career, or that the handshake was moist, or the applause only a smattering. And, of course, the diploma proved no guarantee of future success. None of it mattered. It was a life moment.

This year the cap-and-gown ritual became a casualty of COVID-19, and for that I’m sorry. It wasn’t my fault, but I’m sorry nonetheless. I have friends and family members whose children were supposed to march this year, and instead their names are being announced online, their diplomas mailed.

So how to cope? By watching movies, of course. If a global pandemic robs you of graduation, experience one vicariously, and maybe even laugh a bit. Some suggestions: “She’s All That” — Freddie Prinze Jr.’s high school soccer hero loses a bet that requires him to show up at commencement wearing only a mortarboard and tassel. He also holds a soccer ball, strategically positioned to maintain some dignity.

When his name is called, he tosses the ball to his laughing girlfriend.

The movie ends there, but we know what comes next. The kid is denied his diploma, arrested for indecent exposure, sued by helicopter parents for disrupting their children’s precious moment, and dies in a bus terminal stall with a needle in his arm.

Just your typical rom-com epilogue.

“Back to School” — Rodney Dangerfield’s magnum opus about a

middle-aged man tagging along with his son at college ends with him delivering the commencement address: “To all you graduates, as you go out into the world, my advice to you is — don’t go! It’s rough out there. Move back with your parents. Let them worry about it.” Sadly, many have heeded his advice.

“Election” — Reese Witherspoon’s Tracy Flick is conniving, manipulative and monstrously ambitious — she’ll go places, but her yearbook will remain conspicuously unsigned. Tracy so irks history teacher Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) that he rigs the student council president race against her — and destroys his career in the process. For a peek into Tracy’s dark soul, watch her brood her way to the stage at graduation, then instantly throw on a 1,000-watt smile when her name is called.

“Into the Wild” — We first see Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) at his commencement from Emory University, where he’s earned top honors and a ticket to a good life. Weird thing about that. Chris wants a life simpler and purer than Thoreau’s, so he gives it all away and hitchhikes to Alaska to find solitude and purpose. Sadly, he couldn’t also find food.

“Billy Madison” — Billy’s rich daddy will turn over the family hotel business to him so long as he successfully completes grades K-12 in a matter of weeks. Each time he conquers a grade, Billy throws a raging graduation party at the family estate, where people ride jet ski rides in the massive water fountain and a clown on stilts topples to his neardeath. It’s all so wrong, yet, strangely, so right.

“An Officer and a Gentleman” – Officer Candidate School hardhead Zack Mayo (Richard Gere) spends much of the film insisting he’s a lifelong loner, and the conclusion of his commencement ceremony proves why that is. When everyone else in his class is being swarmed by family members, Zack stands in isolation because his bum father couldn’t be bothered to show up. So, what’s a lonely boy to do? Race over to the local paper mill, literally pick up his townie girlfriend, and carry her away from the drudgery that is her life.

CLASSIFIEDS

SERVICE DIRECTORY Sudoku Answers

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Call 888-254-3466 or email classifieds@ gatehousemedia.com

classifieds@gatehousemedia.com • 888-254-3466 ADOPTION OPTION Welcome to Adoption Option, a partnership with the Worcester Animal Rescue League highlighting their adoptable pets. Check this space often to meet all of the great pets at WARL in need of homes.

WARL is open seven days a week, noon-4 p.m., 139 Holden St. Check them out online at Worcesterarl.org, or call at (508) 853-0030.

Otis was found on a porch with a wound on his head. In Massachu-

WARL COVID-19 Update As of March 25, 2020

• ANIMAL SURRENDERS: Our business practice for surrendering a pet remains the same. All pet owners must contact WARL in advance of surrendering a pet. Please call (508) 853-0030.

• SPAY/NEUTER CLINICS: All scheduled appointments will be honored. If you have a scheduled appointment, we will be contacting you to discuss changes to our drop off/pick up

procedures.

• DONATIONS: We will not be accepting linens of any kind or used, stuffed dog toys. While we are grateful for your thoughtfulness, we will not accept these donations if brought to the shelter.

• Pet food, cat litter, and other shelter supplies will be essential in continuing to provide for our animals and to assist community members in need. To avoid unnecessary travel and exposure, items can

be purchased online from our Amazon Wishlist - https:// www.amazon.com/gp/registry/ wishlist/3AX342JIL73M0 • Weekly training classes are suspended until further notice.

• The WARL Volunteer Program is temporarily suspended. All regular volunteer shifts are on hold. We look forward to welcoming you back as soon as we can.

We have many animals in our

care who depend on us to stay healthy and well. The above measures help to protect our staff and community from the spread of COVID - 19 by minimizing face-to-face interactions while continuing to operate only core essential services.

Please continue to follow our Facebook page for additional updates. Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact the shelter at (508) 8530030 or info@worcesterarl.org.

Thank you for your continued FURiendship and support.

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• Casual visits to the shelter are prohibited. We will strictly enforce this in order to keep our animal care team protected while still maintain-

ing the most essential function of our operation...finding homes for animals in need.

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• ADOPTIONS: At this time, adoptions are being held BY APPOINTMENT ONLY. If you are interested in adoption, please visit our website worcesterarl. org/adopt/ to learn more about our available animals then call us at (508) 853-0030 ext.0 or email us at info@worcesterarl. org to schedule an appointment.

M AY 28 - J U N E 3, 2020

setts, a wound of unknown origin (WUO) requires a 4-month quarantine. An animal has to be very easy-going to handle being confined in a cage that long. Otis was happy with people and other animals, but he developed some gastrointestinal issues. Our veterinarians weren’t sure if it was stress or a food allergy. They put Otis on a food allergy diet that requires a prescription from your veterinarian. If his GI issues go away after he settles into your home, then his stomach woes were stress related. Otis is talkative and friendly. He can’t wait to run around your home after his months of confinement.

GAMES

J O N E S I N’

"Free Is a Very Good Price" – last themeless till the big one.

by Matt Jones

Across

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M AY 28 - J U N E 3, 2020

Fun By The Numbers Like puzzles? Then you’ll love sudoku. This mind-bending puzzle will have you hooked from the moment you square off, so sharpen your pencil and put your sudoku savvy to the test!

Here’s How It Works: Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine 3x3 boxes. To solve sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The more numbers you name, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!

PLACE YOUR AD HERE! Call 888-254-3466 or email classifieds@gatehousemedia. com

1 Cocktail “invented” in 2020 that can include vodka, gin, honey, Emergen-C, or whatever you feel like drinking 11 Items in a self-checkout station question 15 Out of uniform 16 Model Nordegren once married to Tiger Woods 17 How long USPS bulk mail takes to get across the country 18 Only 19 Tennessee team, for short 20 Part of some fire extinguisher instructions 21 Sink to the bottom 23 Yellow bloomer with a bovine name 25 Key beside Q 27 Bishop’s hat 28 Wee drink 30 Intimidating, unhelpful advice from a coach 32 “A cartoon by Robert ___” (common “SNL” credit in the '90s) 35 Part of BCE 36 Org. in TV’s “The Rookie” 37 Hither’s counterpart 38 Sidekick and Samurai, for two 41 “Chandelier” singer 42 Some hosp. scans 44 Exceed 45 Memento accessory 47 Word before mirror or humor 49 Abbr. for some Spanish teachers 50 Hokkaido city known for its beer (and headquarters of Hokkaido Brewing Company) 51 2001 “Lady Marmalade” contributor 53 Over 57 Actress Davidovich of “Gods and Monsters” 59 Advanced deg.

61 Library penalty 62 Pleasant feeling, to reggae fans 63 Figure not found in an appellate court 66 Kind of pay or day 67 Only state capital without a McDonald’s 68 Part of an Einsteinian equation

69 Extra income source, informally

Down

1 Migos rapper who received his high school diploma in 2020 (at age 29) 2 Remove from packaging, a la YouTube videos 3 “I don’t want the issue of Hobbes’s reality settled by ___ manufacturer”: Bill Watterson 4 Being green, in a way 5 Output from Frida Kahlo or Mary Cassatt 6 Org. whose March Madness was cancelled in 2020 7 Namely 8 “It’s settled” 9 Society page notation 10 Bugs 11 Request to one’s heart?

12 Like huge favors 13 Legendary bebop trumpeter 14 Showed disdain for 22 CPR administrator 24 Slapstick projectiles 26 Syllable for the Swedish Chef 29 Body officially demoted on August 24, 2006 31 Subject of TNT’s “Claws” 32 Movement with a lot of representation?

33 Halts 34 How book titles should

appear when cited, per APA style 39 Video chat company based in San Jose 40 Kinda miffed 43 Blood-curdling cries 46 Water measures, when mixing condensed soup 48 Wagon wheel track 52 Subside 54 Was guilty 55 “Mary Tyler Moore Show” actress Georgia 56 Manufacturer with a green and yellow logo 58 Dispensers with Braille options 60 Coleridge’s “sacred river” 64 “Vive le ___!”

65 Game, in French (the plural is heard in “Games Without Frontiers”)

Last week's solution

©2020 Matt Jones (jonesincrosswords@gmail.com) Reference puzzle #990

LAST CALL

Dr. Heather C. Forkey childhood trauma expert D

r. Heather C. Forkey is the clinical director of the Foster Children Evaluation Services (FaCES) and chief of the Division of Child Protection for the UMass Memorial Children’s Medical Center in Worcester.

spinning and thinking, “I should be doing something. I know there’s something I should be doing, but I can’t do it and I can’t think.”

That was the impact of stress hormones hitting a part of our brain called the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for keeping us organized and focused. Routines help calm that whole area and help us with just doing the things in life that don’t need a lot of stress and don’t need a lot of brainpower by putting them on autopilot.

Making charts really shuts down the stress response for kids. The last of the three “R’s” is regulation, which asks us to identify emotions and address them. For kids, it can often mean giving them the words for what they’re feeling or teaching them how to understand what the feeling is if they’re too young to learn words. We sometimes

substitute colors for words. I’ll ask, “Do you feel red today? Is what you’re feeling making you feel purple?” This is another way to express language and introduce skills around managing emotion with things like deep breathing or blowing bubbles. Those practices not only help you to focus, but they stimulate parts of your brain and body that are responsible for calming. Deep breathing, belly breathing, and blowing bubbles stimulate what’s called the Vagus nerve, which helps us to feel calm.

Squeezing our muscles and then relaxing them stimulates deep proprioceptive centers that are part of our nervous system. This also helps to calm us. Use the three R’s: reassuring, return to routine, and regulating.

– Sarah Connell Sanders

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What should we do, particularly with kids, in order to navigate this collective trauma and prepare to address it in the future?

I use the three “R’s.” First, reassure safety because when we feel unsafe, we can’t settle at all and all of our stress hormones are impacting our brain and our body.

For adults, it’s also important to find people and situations that reassure you. For kids, it means letting them know that they’re safe. You’re showing them they’re safe with hugs and touch or even by making a fort or something else to make them feel cozy and safe. The second “R” is for routine. Routines really shut down the stress response. Most people can remember the end of March and how with everything out of routine you kind of spent the day

WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM

What is your typical role at UMass and how it has shifted with COVID-19?

I wear a couple of different hats here. For kids who are entering foster care, we do medical evaluations. We also make sure we’ve got them connected with services that they need whether it’s pediatric specialists, developmental support, or mental health counseling.

We also run the FaCES program.

I perform medical evaluations when there are concerns of abuse and neglect for kids who are coming into the hospital with injury.

When there are concerns that kids may have been sexually abused, we do outpatient medical evaluations. Sometimes I evaluate kids with injuries who do not have to be admitted to the hospital, but need to be looked at because of possible abuse or neglect. I also teach a variety of different folks including parents, professionals, medical students, residents, and doctors. There’s a certain percentage of the work that we do that we still have to do in person. We’ve continued to see kids, even when other docs have not, just because the nature of what we do means that we really have to be able to examine them very well. A certain percentage of what we’ve done has shifted to telehealth. That’s been a change. I actually am doing a lot more teaching online to different groups dealing with the health issues of COVID and how trauma is impacted by this layering on of the stressors of COVID.

DYLAN AZARI

M AY 28 - J U N E 3, 2020

Can you describe your career trajectory?

I went to residency at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia with the intention of becoming a pediatric oncologist, taking care of kids with cancer. While I was there, I got very interested in addressing issues of kids who are in foster care. I did a chief residency year, which is sort of an extra year where you are in charge of the residents and you also teach. The residents had questions about how to get care for those kids: Who signs to consent? Where do we get records? How do we know what’s happened to them? And, we began to ask these questions of various people from around the city in a series of meetings. It turned out that nobody knew much about how those things were supposed to happen. I decided at the end of that year that I was going to put off doing the training that I needed to become a specialist in pediatric cancer care. I stayed in the Primary Care Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. At that point they said, “You know the most about kids in foster care.

Could you take care of them?”

And, I never stopped. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia developed a safe place addressing the needs of kids who are abused and neglected as well as in foster care.

When my husband accepted a job in Gardner, Massachusetts, we moved up here. Linda Sagor was the head of the Pediatric Primary Care Center here at UMass at the time, and she was starting a foster care clinic. I took a part-time position with her while I was expecting my fourth child. As my fifth child was born and the kids got a little older, I just kept working more and more. That’s the story of my career.

I have a mentor who told me to find the thing that feels like work to everyone else, but you just can’t resist — that’s the thing you should pour yourself into.

Honestly, I’m glad you said that because I really love what I do.

And every day there’s something new and exciting. Besides my love for taking care of the patients, there really is so much for us to understand about new ways and better ways we can take care of these kids. Every single day has really felt like a fun adventure.

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