We are excited to share the news of a new Hingham community organization: the Multilingual Family Network! Their first event will take place on Thursday, January 18th from 6-8pm in the Hingham Middle School cafeteria with dinner provided by the Hingham Unity Council. This social event is open to our multilingual community members and those who would like to welcome and connect with multilingual community members. Please RSVP and/or reach out with questions via email to epollard@hinghamschools.org.

We will start off this month's meeting by hearing from Ashleigh Miller of the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Helpline. The BHHL is the state’s “front door” for behavioral health needs, connecting callers to the full range of treatment services for mental health and substance use throughout the Commonwealth. The BHHL helps in real time with immediate crisis intervention, urgent, and routine needs and is available 24/7/365 in 200+ languages. The BHHL is accessible to both consumers and providers seeking resources for patients. We hope you will join us for this presentation (those who do not wish to stay for the "business" part of our meeting are welcome to leave after the presentation!)

Another area of concern for our community identified at our "Community Check In" last October was "political differences." This excellent book provides stories and tools for ow we can recharacterize and rehumanize people we disagree with in order to achieve healthy and productive conflict versus what Ripley calls "high" conflict. From the publisher: "People do escape high conflict. Individuals—even entire communities—can short-circuit the feedback loops of outrage and blame, if they want to. This is an “insightful and enthralling” (The New York Times Book Review) book—and a mind-opening new way to think about conflict that will transform how we move through the world." Register to Help Us Plan