Hello Everyone,
Spring is finally in the air. I don’t know about you all, but the beautiful weather this week has me excited to get outside.
This week was a busy one. Early on in the week I had the unique opportunity of joining a radio show based in Greece. My family and I are very proud of our Greek heritage and I was honored that the “Voice of Greece” invited me to be a guest on their show. We spoke at length about the Greek Diaspora, the contributions of Greco-American immigrants, and the hardships of the immigrant experience. It was a great discussion and I would love to be a guest again. S’ efharistó!
This past Tuesday I took part in a great virtual Twitter conversation about the impact Covid-19 has had on mental health in our communities. This event was hosted by Mass Support Network and I was joined by colleagues from across the state. Sadly, this topic is not talked about enough and I look forward to continuing to work on these issues as Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use, and Recovery.
This week Westfield was awarded a $60,000 grant from the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development to help invest in downtown and commercial projects. This “Downtown Initiative” grant is a part of Local Rapid Recovery Planning (LRPP) program and will help the city invest in projects that will boost the recovery of local businesses.
On Friday I met with Representative Duffy of Holyoke and the interim Receiver-Superintendent of Holyoke Public Schools, Anthony Soto. It was a productive meeting and I’m fully confident that Superintendent Soto will do an excellent job serving the students of Holyoke. It has been great working with him so far.
Friday also marked three years since the tragic passing of Brian Donaghue Simpson of Westborough. Brian struggled with and eventually succumbed to opioid addiction in 2018. I gathered virtually with members of his family, Attorney General Healey, Senator Markey, and Dr. Lipi Roy, an addiction specialist, to commemorate his passing and talk about how we can lift the stigma around opioid addiction. Through committee work and my own legislation, I plan to take on the opioid crisis head first. In matters of addiction, silence so often leads to death which is why we must all work to stop the stigma surrounding it.
This week the State also launched a preregistration system to sign up for vaccine appointments at mass vaccination sites. Individuals who preregister will receive weekly status updates, and will be contacted to book an appointment when available instead of constantly checking the website. You can preregister at vaccinesignup.mass.gov/#/
I am hopeful that implementing this pre-registration system will improve how our vaccine rollout is organized. Although mass vaccination sites will be the only sites you can preregister for to start, the Governor has stated that other sites will added to the system soon which will be especially important in our region. As our vaccine supply continues to expand, it is critical that our vaccination sites expand as well and I will to continue to advocate.
Recently, I also started sending out both quarterly newsletters and weekly email updates regarding the COVID-19 vaccination rollout. To sign up for my COVID-19 updates, head to senatorjohnvelis.com/covid-19-updates/ To sign up for my quarterly newsletter, head to senatorjohnvelis.com/quarterly-newsletter/
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.
Sincerely,
John Velis