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Tomas O’Leary is a poet, translator, music-maker, singer, artist, and expressive therapist. His new and selected poems from Lynx House Press is In the Wellspring of the Ear. Previous books of poetry include Fool at the Funeral, The Devil Take a Crooked House, and A Prayer for Everyone. A teacher for many years – college, high school, elementary, adult ed) – he has worked for the past couple of decades with folks who have Alzheimer’s, playing Irish accordion and eliciting cognitive and emotional responses through songs, stories, poems, and free-wheeling conversation. He grew up in Somerville, long before it became the Paris of New England.

Come hear members of the local Salvadoran community tell their stories and talk about their work in Somerville’s neighborhoods! Panelists include: a social documentary photographer who exhibits throughout New England, a local leader who works to build the collective power of immigrants, a community engagement specialist who assists Spanish speakers across the city, and a pastor whose sermons are heard throughout Latin America.

Somerville’s Fair Housing Commission’s webinar covers information that includes the Fair Housing Act and protected classes, how to spot discriminatory practices by realtors, and what to do if you’re facing housing discrimination.

Somerville will join with the State in lifting remaining COVID-19 restrictions on Saturday, May 29. Please note, as of May 29, State guidelines will still require face coverings to be worn on public transit, in rideshares and taxis, in healthcare facilities, and in other settings hosting vulnerable populations, such as congregate care settings. Until May 29, face coverings remain mandatory in indoor public spaces and also outdoors when 6-foot social distancing is not possible. For more information on the State’s reopening plan and guidelines, visit mass.gov/reopening.

Additional activities and reopening guidelines in Phase 4, Step 2 of the state’s reopening plan will go into effect in Somerville on Saturday, June 19. Somerville will be joining Boston’s reopening schedule, which is on a three-week delay from the state’s plan. All of the newly allowed activities will be subject to regular city permitting and safety rules and the state’s sector-specific COVID-19 guidelines.

Meals on Wheels Driver Martha Crowley packs meals for morning delivery at Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services.

By Nathan Lamb

Meals on Wheels helps older adults live independently, and it also reduces food insecurity and isolation, according to a recent survey conducted by Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services (SCES).

Out of more than 250 survey respondents, 87 percent said the meals help them live independently.

The City of Somerville’s annual Water System Flushing Program will begin the week of May 17 and conclude in late October. This annual program flushes pipes at high velocities to clean water mains and maintain the highest possible water quality.

Political representatives are evaluating how mental health challenges in young adults can be addressed

By Shira Laucharoen
Somerville Wire

Since the onset of the pandemic, parents, school officials, and city leaders have been working to address the issue of trauma in youth. On May 3, Councilor Katjana Ballantyne put forth an order at a Public Health and Public Safety Committee meeting, demanding that Director of Health and Human Services Doug Kress discuss how much planned funding will be allocated toward trauma training initiatives for youth in the coming years. Ballantyne said that she is principally concerned with the isolation and loneliness that young people had been experiencing.