Lunchtime with Lesser

In September Eric spoke with Elms College President Harry Dumay about how Elms is educating students in a pandemic and important topics related to higher education -- this is that conversation.

In September Eric spoke with Phil Korman, the Executive Director of Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture -- more simply known as CISA. CISA is a non-profit organization that strengthens farms and engages the community to build the local food economy. We learned at the height of the pandemic how important locally sourced food is and Phil explained all his organization is doing to help farms meet the challenges posed by the pandemic -- this is that conversation.

The Pioneer Valley is blessed with a broad array of nonprofit groups and causes, from our Boys and Girls Clubs to our museums, from music programs to conservation efforts. But as the pandemic hit, the needs quickly outstripped our region’s resources. In stepped Katie Allan Zobel, President & CEO of the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts. Katie setup a COVID19 response fund that quickly raised and distributed millions of dollars in relief for our local nonprofits. Eric spoke with Katie about the devastation caused by COVID19 and what our nonprofit sector needs to continue their vital mission -- this is that conversation.

In July Eric spoke with Jean Albano Canosa, the Assistant Director for Public Services at Springfield City Library. She’s been a fierce advocate for public libraries in our state and is also on the Board of Library Commissioners. Jean and Eric discuss how libraries have had to adapt to continue to serve people in the pandemic -- and how libraries are also an important social justice tool in our communities -- this is that conversation.

Back in June Eric spoke with Joan Kagan, President and CEO of Square One, a childhood education provider in our region. Joan retired from Square One in August after 45 years in human services. She thought she had seen it all, until a global pandemic hit during her final months on the job. One of her last tasks was to help children and families manage during the height of the crisis and she tells us how -- this is that conversation.

Long before the murder of George Floyd catapulted racism into the national conversation, the Healing Racism Institute of Pioneer Valley was leading efforts locally to bring leaders and organizations together tackle structural racism and fight for a more inclusive, equitable region. Eric sat down with my friend Vanessa Otero, the Institute’s Interim Director, to talk about the importance of being actively anti-racist and what it means to do so in both the present and future – this is that conversation.

The COVID19 shutdowns and the social distancing measures our state took to stop the virus, while necessary to save lives, have wreaked havoc on our economy and by this summer, 1 million people in our state were out of work. The most affected have been low wage workers, especially in service industries like hotels, restaurants, and human services. Our food banks were quickly overwhelmed with urgent need. At the center of that response Andrew Morehouse, Executive Director of the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. Andrew’s organization serves as a distribution and coordination network for dozens of food pantries in every community across the four counties of Western Mass. Eric spoke with Andrew about the COVID19 pandemic and the urgent need to ensure every person in our Commonwealth has enough healthy food to eat – this is that conversation.

In May Eric spoke with Michael Weekes, the President and CEO of the Providers' Council which represents community-based human services agencies across Massachusetts. We discussed what they were doing to continue to provide services to their clients and how the industry was adjusting on the fly during the height of the pandemic -- this is that conversation.

In May I spoke with Pia Kumar, the co-owner and Chief Strategy Officer of Universal Plastics in Holyoke. Pia has been a leader in the manufacturing industry here in Western Massachusetts and Universal has been very busy since the pandemic began. They make the diagnostic machines used to test for COVID-19 and have also transitioned to making PPE as well. We talk with Pia about how they jumped into action at the beginning of the pandemic and what the road ahead looks like for them -- this is that conversation.

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on American’s health, but an area that doesn’t get enough attention is its impact on our mental health. In May Eric spoke with Dr. Joan Lesser about how people can cope with the isolation caused by the pandemic and ways people can get help -- this is that conversation.