Residents are being asked whether or not we should override Prop 2 and half with a 7.9 million dollar override and permanently raise our property taxes so that we can maintain current services and fund different investments and needs. 

Without an override, we’d be about six million dollars short. We would have to cut services and lay off 19 municipal employees and 46 positions in our schools. Both the Select Board and the Advisory Committee were unanimous in voting in favor of passing the override. Why?

My guests are Select Board Chair Bill Ramsey, School Committee Chair Michelle Ayer  and George Danis, Chair of Hingham’s Advisory Committee.

I wish I didn't feel so woefully inadequate in finding words to describe where we are. Maybe there are no words. Maybe I have no idea.

What I do know is that people are in pain. People need help and we all need each other. 

In this week's episode I talk with three women trying to help our community. Susan Sarni, Hingham's executive health officer is helping lead an effort to deliver a kind of one-stop shop for health and wellness through town resources. It's a work in progress, and they want to hear from us on what we think could help our community, but they are amplifying services for mental health, physical and spiritual health and addiction. Heather Rodriguez, director of counseling for Hingham Public Schools shares what counselors are seeing with our students and what is currently and will soon be available to help them. 

Kathleen Bambrick is a social worker with Aspire Health Alliance. We talk about the importance of normalizing the conversation around mental health (whole person health!) and what resources they are offering to help local families immediately.

I hope you find value in the conversation and will lend your voice to the process. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please call the crisis lifeline at 988. You are not alone and people want to help you.

When Kenzie Blackwell heard some public school students were using socks, dish towels and cardboard to serve as pads during their period, she knew the work she had to do. The Hingham woman launched Free . (period), a non-profit that provides free tampons and pads in public schools and to local service providers like Father Bill's and Interfaith Social Services.

Kenzie and Ann Linehan, a Brockton Public School nurse and consultant for the state Department of Public Health sit down with Ally to share their story and their mission, which is not yet done.