Hello Everyone,
I hope all is well and that everyone is enjoying the last few weeks of summer we have left. Especially with the COVID-19 delta variant surging, I want to encourage everyone to get vaccinated if you have not done so already. The vaccine is safe, effective, and is the best way to protect yourself, your family, and your community. Vaccine locations and information can be found at mass.gov/covid-19-vaccine.
I want to start off this update by recognizing the incredibly heartbreaking situation we are seeing play out in Afghanistan right now. As someone who has served in Afghanistan, I know what a difficult time this is for Veterans, active service-members, and their families. Those who have served our country over the last twenty years in Afghanistan are nothing less than heroes and their sacrifices will never be forgotten.
I also know how critical it is for our nation to evacuate all Americans and Afghan allies who are still in danger in Afghanistan right now. During my time in Afghanistan, I worked closely with many Afghan linguists, translators, and guides. These were local residents who signed up to work with the U.S. despite the risks it brought to themselves and their families. As the Taliban regains power and looks for retribution, these individuals now face imminent danger with each passing day. Earlier this week I was joined by legislators across our state on a letter to our federal partners urging them to do everything in their power to safely evacuate our allies. These people were there for us and we cannot leave them behind.
This week I continued my work as Chair of the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal affairs. On Wednesday, I was glad to host and organize a virtual presentation by the Veterans Legal Services organization for committee members. It is so important that we support our Veterans in their civilian life, and VLS is a great organization that provides legal aid to Vets across the Commonwealth. Later in the week, I met with Mike Jones and other board members from Friends of the Springfield Veterans Center to learn how the group supports the center and Veterans across the community.
On Tuesday I was fortunate enough to join Representative Carey for a tour of the Treehouse Foundation community in Easthampton, which was founded to support foster and adoptive families. Since its inception, 95% of Treehouse Youth have graduated high school and 100% have attended college or vocational training. We had a great discussion about the vital work the foundation does for children in foster care and how there are still gaps in social services within our communities.
I strongly believe that we must continue to increase access to mental and behavioral healthcare in our communities, and on Friday I had a great meeting with Baystate Medical Center’s Vice President of Government Relations, Mike Knapik, and Dr. Barry Savert. We discussed the Behavioral Health Wing at Baystate and the needs of Western Massachusetts more generally.
This weekend is the Westfield Fair! It should be a great time to get outside and attend some fair festivities. I hope that everyone who is around will come out and enjoy all that our community has to offer.
As always, if there is anything I can do to assist you, please never hesitate to reach out to my office. I can be reached at my email: john.velis@masenate.gov, or by phone: 413-572-3920, and you can find me online at senatorjohnvelis.com, where you can also sign up for my newsletter.
Sincerely,
John Velis