COVID-19 relief for Medfield residents.

Medfield is a community of just around 13k citizens, but it always seems a bit smaller due to its neighborly feel. I grew up in this little town and we make jokes about how quaint, yet vast Medfield can be. For example, wherever we go we always run into someone from Medfield and all roads lead back to Medfield.

Enter this Pandemic and community has never been more vital. COVID-19 has brought about stigmatism and isolation which is understandably the opposite of beneficial. So how can we help? Some amazing work is being done in town that everyone should be aware of--The Medfield Foundation, Medfield Helping Hands, Medfield Youth Outreach, Medfield Food Cupboard, Medfield Senior Center and INTERFACE are among some of your options. The Medfield Foundation (MFi) which was founded back in 2001 to enable the raising and allocating of private funds for public needs, has expanded their efforts to include support of families that have gone into crisis because COVID-19 and its social restrictions. Additionally, Medfield Helping Hands, formerly Medfield Neighbor Brigade and initially Medfield Angels, a year ago became an initiative of the Medfield Foundation (MFi) to provide additional support in times of need. The volunteers of Medfield Helping Hands support others during incidents like serious illness or injury, surgeries, and other tragic events such as navigating through COVID-19. The Medfield youth outreach is located under the umbrella of the Medfield Board of Health. The purpose of the office is to serve youth from infancy to age eighteen and their families with a host of social services. Medfield food cupboard provides supplemental or emergency food and select household and personal care items to Medfield residents in need of assistance. INTERFACE is a mental health resource and referral Helpline that our community has contracted with to help children, adults and families become connected with mental health and wellness resources. Interface is a mental health resource for anyone in the Medfield community. The Medfield Senior Center is also an invaluable resource for our Seniors - shopping trips, medical appointments, fuel assistance, housing assistance, Meals on Wheels, online programs to name just a few.

The point of this article is two-fold. Please know you have resources in town if you need support, additionally or alternatively if you are looking to aid and assist your neighbors you have several outlets to do so. All outreach services will be confidential and will be carried out with respect to ones personal privacy.

Please visit:

Medfield Foundation https://www.medfieldfoundation.org/covid-19 or

Medfield Outreach https://www.town.medfield.net/403/Medfield-Youth-Outreach

Medfield Food Cupboard https://www.medfieldfoodcupboard.com/

Medfield Helping Hands lotsahelpinghands.com join community, search Medfield Helping Hands. If you have any additional questions you are encouraged to contact one of the Medfield Helping Hands coordinators. Kathleen Cahill kathleenhome@comcast.net, Laurie Nealon ljnealon@aol.com or Katie Henebry katiehazen@yahoo.com.

INTERFACE Medfield.net page with more info: https://sites.google.com/.../mental-health-resources...

Medfield Senior Center https://www.town.medfield.net/... or call 508-359-3665.

Abby Marble also manages a local FaceBook page, Medfield COVID-19 Updates & Support, if you click on announcements at the top of the page you will find links to mental health resources, local financial aid resources, the financial need application for Medfield Foundation Covid fund and a link to donate to that fund.

Raising awareness and enabling assistance will help us get through this pandemic together. As they say, it takes a village, and Medfield is a resounding example of one.