Equity Vaccine Clinic at PernetThe city of Worcester has been using data collected during the pandemic to help in covid-19 vaccine distribution. The data showed that there was a high percentage of people of color in the city who got sick. The decision was made to make the covid-19 vaccine easily accessible by holding clinics in locations that people can get to easily and by partnering with organizations that people trust.
We are glad that on July 14th, 9am to 12pm we will be hosting a vaccine clinic. Kindly spread the word to your family and friends. Our Early Intervention program will be there to answer any questions on developmental milestones for children 0-3 years. Remember you can get information to give a friend. Stop by for a chance to win a $50 gift card.
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Pernet was honored to be recognized as the non-profit of the night during the WooSox opening week at Polar Park. We enjoyed the opportunity to officially welcome the team to the neighborhood and look forward to a continued partnership between our organizations. Go Sox!
Community Partners,
We (SPUD, CBL, and GCR) thank you tremendously for welcoming Holy Cross volunteers into your organizations this semester and year. We are very aware of how difficult managing virtual volunteers can be and we are grateful for the time you spent working with Holy Cross students. From what we have heard from our students, it is clear that they had meaningful experiences, built important relationships, and appreciated how virtual volunteering kept them connected to our city. These experiences, relationships, and feeling of connection wouldn't have been able to happen without you -- your willingness, your creativity, and your hospitality. We are hopeful that you and your community members found the virtual volunteering experience worthwhile and meaningful, as well. As a small token of our appreciation, this week on social media we will be running a gratitude campaign for our community partners. We asked students to share their words of thanks and have turned those into social media posts for our wider community. Follow our community relations instagram account this week to see all of the posts. We have shared some below, as well. We look forward to the time that we will be able to properly thank you in person! With gratitude, Sue Hunt Isabelle Jenkins Marty Kelly Pernet Virtual Baby Shower
I recently read a meme on Instagram from @thebalanceafterbaby that said, "We spend too much time worrying about if a new baby is sleeping well, eating enough, or crying too much and not enough time worrying if a new mom is sleeping well, eating enough, or crying too much." I believe this is part of the reason we celebrate Mothers Day. A day where we can shower mothers with attention, appreciation and love. This Mothers Day, I urge you to take a moment and honor a mother or mothers in your life. Give them a call, a visit (if it is possible), give them a card, a gift and let them know that they are special. I also ask you to think of mothers in need who come to Pernet looking for food, infant formula, baby clothes, laundry soap, everything for their child and not thinking of themselves. Give a gift to these mothers. Give a gift in honor or in memory of a mother in your life. You can give a gift in different ways 1. Purchase an item from our Amazon Wish List 2. Donate online 3. Purchase baby items or gift cards and drop them of at 237 Millbury Street, Worcester, MA 01610 4. Send a check to Pernet Family Health Service 237 Millbury Street Worcester, MA 01610 This mother needs your helpOne of our mothers just learned that she is pregnant with twins and will have three children under the age of three. She is in need of a double stroller and a car seat. Please note that for safety reasons, we do not accept used car seats. Your donations will go towards helping her and other mother-to-be who find themselves choosing between their own needs and the needs of their babies. Amazon Wish List This week, we celebrate National Volunteer Week and our amazing Pernet volunteers. While we believe that every week should be Volunteer Appreciation Week, this celebratory week allows us to formally honor our volunteers for their efforts and express our gratitude for everything they do.
Reflecting on this past year, especially, we realize how critical our volunteers are to supporting the Worcester community. To put it simply - we wouldn’t be able to do our work without the individuals and teams of volunteers who are so incredibly generous with their support during the most challenging of times. Oh the joy of holding a new born baby! Mothers and fathers to be take time to prepare for the new addition to the family. It is an exciting time for the whole family. To families in need, it is a time of constant worry.
Where will we get the clothes? Where will the baby sleep? What about diapers? Will we have enough food? These and many more questions are what parents-to-be and parents with newborns are faced with every day in our community. These are families in need of your help. The Little Sisters of the Assumption recognize the month of May as the month of Mary mother of Jesus in their faith. Many of us celebrate Mothers' Day on the second Sunday of May. So you see, the month of May has special significance for each of us. At Pernet, we would like to appeal to you to consider donating the following items to help mothers-to-be or families with an infant in need during our Virtual Baby Shower. We will be looking for items such as diapers, baby clothes, baby blankets, infant formula, baby cereal, baby food, baby toys, and laundry soap. We will be sending you an Amazon Wish List in April. We look forward to partnering with you for the Virtual Baby Shower. I am excited to share with you that the Worcester Together Fund awarded us a grant to start the first Universal Newborn Home Visiting program here in Worcester. For many years, Pernet Family Health Service has been known for our expert and highly effective home visiting practices, and for skillful identification of health and developmental risk factors. With this new program, we will provide new parents in Worcester with every opportunity to succeed and to raise a healthy, safe child. We will do this as a collaboration with Family Health Center of Worcester, Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center, and Worcester Healthy Baby Collaborative.
At the visit, the mother and child will be assessed as to their welfare, living conditions, support systems, general health and risk factors. Some new mothers will simply need reassurance and best wishes. Others will require supportive services. Appropriate referrals will be made, resulting in an at-risk parent beginning to receive support and services before reaching the point of crisis. Our focus will be on the prevention of abuse, neglect and developmental delays in a newborn. We also seek to improve maternal health by reducing postpartum depression, connecting at-risk or struggling mothers with supportive resources, and reinforcing the importance of postpartum visits. In the new few weeks, we will be working on the final details of this program. We wish to give families a healthier start. Thank you, Sheilah Dooley High profile acts of violence, particularly in schools, can confuse and frighten children who may feel in danger or worry that their friends or loved-ones are at risk. They will look to adults for information and guidance on how to react. Parents and school personnel can help children feel safe by establishing a sense of normalcy and security and talking with them about their fears.
Suggested Points to Emphasize When Talking to Children
![]() December 18, 2020 By Bill Doyle | CFP Correspondent Attendance has plummeted at churches in the Diocese of Worcester due to the pandemic, but parishes have managed to collect just as many, or nearly as many, Christmas presents for those in need. The state has limited attendance at places of worship to 40 percent of capacity to avoid spreading COVID-19 and many parishioners don’t feel comfortable attending Mass yet, people in the parishes said. Attendance at Our Lady of the Assumption and St. Brigid parishes in Millbury, St. Columba Parish in Paxton, St. Matthew Parish in Southborough and St. Mark Parish in Sutton, has fallen off by as much as two-thirds from a year ago, but those churches have still collected the same number of Christmas presents as usual. Deacon Ronald B. Buron oversees the Giving Tree program at Our Lady of the Assumption and St. Brigid with pastoral associate Deborah Blicharz. Deacon Buron and Father Daniel R. Mulcahy, the pastor, spoke about the need to give during their homilies, and the parishioners responded. Deacon Buron estimated that attendance is only 35 percent of what it was before the pandemic, but all 340 gift tags – the same number as last year – were given out during the first weekend they were available. Parishioners indicated how many tags they wanted as masked staffers distributed them in ziplock sandwich bags. “I was flabbergasted in a way that all the tags went,” Deacon Buron said. “Normally, when we have them hanging on the tree, it might take a couple of weeks for them all to go. But there were people taking multiple tags when we gave them out. It just warms your heart to know that there are still people out there who care.” The toys and clothing were donated to the Urban Missionaries of Our Lady of Hope in Worcester and the parish’s St. Vincent de Paul Society chapter. Both organizations received more gifts than they had requested because people donated gifts even if they hadn’t picked up tags. After the parish ran out of gift tags, parishioners purchased gift cards for Pernet Family Health Service of Worcester, Why Me & Sherry’s House of Worcester and the Bethany House Ministries of Millis. When Deacon Buron arrived at Sherry’s House, the sign out front read: “Desperate Need of Gift Cards.” He said that people at Sherry’s House and Pernet cried when he delivered the gift cards. Mrs. Blicharz admitted she was concerned that the churches wouldn’t collect as many gifts as needed, but she is glad she was mistaken. “It was very inspiring to have the response be so generous,” she said. Because of the pandemic, St. Columba accepted only Kohl’s, Walmart and Target gift cards, not gifts, for Pernet, St. Peter Church and St. Andrew the Apostle Mission in Worcester. Last year, St. Columba collected more than 250 gifts. Father David W. Cotter, parish administrator, estimated that Mass attendance was only about a third of last year, but Susan Stone, who oversees the Giving Tree program, said the parish still managed to collect 216 gift cards. Mrs. Stone said the gift cards were worth a total of $5,400, almost what the 250 gifts cost. St. Columba promoted the giving program not only to those attending Mass, but to those watching the live-streamed Mass each Sunday, as well as via Flocknote and the church’s online bulletin. “It makes me realize that even though there’s only a third of people in the church,” Father Cotter said, “the parish is still very lively and people are still very much aware of what’s going on in the parish and still participating. It also reminds me of the generosity of people.” St. Matthew pastor Father James B. Flynn estimated that attendance has fallen to 30 to 40 percent of what it was before the pandemic, but parishioners continue to give. Karen Fournier has coordinated the church’s Giving Tree with Suzi McGourty for more than 20 years. Mrs. Fournier said the parish collected 175 gifts and 30 gift cards this year, the same as in past years. St. Matthew collects gifts for families served by Pernet and Father Flynn said the church has also received more than $4,000 in gift cards for St. Jude Thaddeus Church in Waldron, Arkansas. “I think people are more sensitive to the needs during COVID-19 because of the experience of seeing so many local people enduring hunger and homelessness,” Father Flynn said. “I just think that people still want to give,” Mrs. Fournier said. “This time of year just naturally has people thinking about other people.” Father Michael A. DiGeronimo, pastor at St. Mark’s, said attendance is about half of what it was before the pandemic, but parishioners will donate more than 300 gifts, the same as in past years. “Especially in times of difficulty and stress,” Father DiGeronimo said, “we need to do charity more than ever. My approach was, ‘We’re going to do it. Now we’re going to figure out how and keep people safe.’” Gift tags were spread out on tables at the church and hand sanitizer was available. Parishioners could pick them up after Mass or whenever the church was open. St. Mark distributes gifts to local families and the Urban Missionaries. Father DiGeronimo said parishioners have continued to support not only the Giving Tree, but the church’s other ministries, including a nursing home in Haiti and the St. Vincent de Paul Society. 96.1 WSRS for the 28th Annual “Feed Worcester County” Food Drive
Hosts: Christopher Zito “Zito” and Suzanne Lewis |
AuthorPernet Family Health Service, Inc. Archives
July 2021
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