Meet the Problem Solvers

People dealing with addiction and recovery are among the most vulnerable patient populations and often receive the least amount of care. The rates of relapse and death are dire and only growing. Dr. Chris Fischer of the Cambridge Health Alliance shares how community care can transform health outcomes for people living with addiction.

Alina Lopez Thomas, Creative Director of The Greater Resource of Women Networks (G.R.O.W.N.) joins Judy for the first Meet The Problem Solvers episode of 2020. She shares the importance of transferrable skills and connection as a fundamental part of her work – she helps women articulate and work through a grief processing and rebuilding process needed to free up energy for entrepreneurship.

Kate Byrne and Bill Cavellini join Judy in the studio to share stories from their years of activism as a family. Hailing from the Midwest and the Bronx, respectively, Kate and Bill were drawn to each other’s passion for community organizing, starting with their meeting in 1990 at an eviction-related takeover and squatting action at a building on Broadway in Cambridge. Throughout the years, their work has ebbed and flowed, they have supported each other's efforts and struggles, and both their activism and family life have been driven by social justice and community care.

In this episode, Judy is joined by Sara Reid, a founding member of Massachusetts Transgender Women Leadership and trans rights advocate who shared how she works to protect, uplift, and empower other trans women. Her work includes speaking engagements at national healthcare conferences, facilitating a weekly support group for transgender women who have experienced homelessness, and serving on several healthcare boards.

With the holidays quickly approaching, Judy chats with Adam Patten from the Cambridge Police Department and Cambridge firefighter Corey McGrath about two upcoming charity drives. Cambridge Fire joins the Marines in their annual Toys-For-Tots Drive, collecting new, unwrapped toys at the Cambridge Fire Station through December 12th. Cambridge PD enters their 13th annual Secret Santa For Seniors drive, running through December 18th.

Host Judy Perlman talks with Emi Jacobsen, one of the young leaders of the upcoming Boston Climate Strike, about her passion for climate justice and the background of the march. Young people across the planet are rising up to fight climate change and this episode provides insight into what drives them. Activists will meet in Copley Square on Friday, 12/06/19. For more information, follow them on Instagram @climatestrikema or visit the official event page.

Host Judy Perlman talks with Stephanie Brown, CEO of Casa Myrna, digging deeper into the issues of domestic violence. The work has changed in recent years as the field tries to reach younger people and help them develop healthy relationships. Stephanie goes on to provide strategies and coaching for those "who worry something's not right" but haven't known how to help.

Prof. Alain Lempereur, an international conflict zone negotiator, joins host Judy Perlman to strategize about ways to sustain joy and maximize connection during holiday gatherings -- even under treacherous conditions such as family dinners and office parties.

Professor Julian Agyeman joins host Judy Perlman to ask, who gets to determine what is considered "local food?" People come here and cultivate and eat foods from their previous homes -- is this then local food? What is "local,' actually, anyway? 11-04-2019

Caitlin Frumerie joins host Judy Perlman to expand our understanding of ways that we, as a caring society, can support social justice movements and activities. As Executive Director of the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, Caitlin is guiding her group, and urges other advocacy organizations, to take up long-held tactics from other sectors where major things happen by groups using collective political muscle to advance their interests. It's time for human rights leaders to claim that same stage.