Hello Everyone,
I hope everyone had an excellent Fathers’ Day and long weekend!
My office hit the ground running on Tuesday in the Statehouse and the District, hosting office hours at the Easthampton Senior Center. Office hours are always a great opportunity to connect with my team and I encourage you to stop by. Next week we will be hosting office hours at the Westfield Council on Aging at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, at the Russell Council on Aging at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, and at the Southampton Council on Aging at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
Wednesday I was able to attend the Grand Opening of Northstar Recovery’s new facility in West Springfield. It was a pleasure meeting the staff and I am excited to work alongside them as well as their many partners in the community to ensure the highest quality of care for those in recovery. That afternoon I met with the Massachusetts Associations of Physicians Assistants (MAPA) to learn more about the crucial role they play in the Behavioral Health workforce, and how the pandemic impacted the volume of Behavioral Health cases PAs are handling day-to-day. It is critical we continue to support the Behavioral Health workforce in the wake of the pandemic as their caseload is larger and more varied than ever before.
As schools across the district wrapped up this week, my team and I had the opportunity to visit Mountain View School in Easthampton on Thursday to speak with students about how our government operates at the state level, and our role at the Statehouse and back home in Western Mass. This also gave us the opportunity to present a citation to honor the retirement of Mrs. Messer, who has served 25 years in Easthampton Public Schools – congratulations on a phenomenal career Mrs. Messer! That evening I attended the Grow Holyoke Awards which was put on by the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce and honored the valuable contributions made by business owners throughout the community.
Friday, I had the opportunity to tour the proposed site of a new workforce development center at the Holyoke Health Center which would offer training to local, low-income residents in an operational medical facility. This will prepare their workforce to immediately transition to full-time work following their training. I can’t wait to see this important vision come to fruition!
This weekend I am incredibly excited to compete in Hooplandia, a 3 on 3 basketball tournament which raises money for local Boys and Girls Clubs. Good luck to all the participants!
As always we can be reached by phone at (413)572-3920, or by email at john.velis@masenate.gov.
Sincerely,
John Velis