[Danielle Balocca]: Hey Medford Bites listeners, I wanted to give you some updates on proposals being made to address the city budget following the most recent budget session. Two different plans have been proposed, one by Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn and the other by City Councilors Zach Bares and Kit Collins. The Mayor is proposing that the City Council approve a measure to levy taxes that has a cap of $3 million, totaling of about $150 a year for each household. Councilor Bears and Councilor Collins have proposed a plan to increase the city budget by overriding Proposition 2.5 to increase revenue in taxes by $12 million. This would break down to about $550 a year or $46 a month for the average single-family household. Under Prop 2.5, property taxes can only increase by 2.5% in one year. Overriding Prop 2.5 would allow property taxes to be set by assessed property values. This increase would only be allowed for a single fiscal year and exemptions can be implemented for those groups that may be most impacted by the change. Both plans are available to read on the Mayor's Facebook page as well as Councilor Bears and Councilor Collins social media. I also included a link in the show notes to explain more about how Prop 2.5 works. Today you'll hear a conversation with members of the Medford Family Network. Check out the show notes for links to their website and ways to stay connected. I hope you enjoy. All right, thank you both so much for joining me today. If we could start just by introducing ourselves, if you could say your name and your pronouns and just who you are.
[Marie Cassidy]: It's great to be here, Danielle. I'm Marie Cassidy, director of the Medford Family Network. Her, she, hers, my pronouns, and just wonderful to have this opportunity to talk with you. Thank you.
[SPEAKER_05]: I'm Caroline Cohen. I'm the president of the Friends of the Medford Family Network. My pronouns are she and her. And yeah, thank you so much for doing this for the community and really letting everyone learn more about the great things here in Medford.
[Danielle Balocca]: Thank you both so much. And I know Caroline, you've listened to the podcast, so you're ready for this next question. So the one that I ask everybody is what is your favorite place to eat in Medford and what do you like to eat there?
[SPEAKER_05]: I have hopefully two answers only. I'd say in general my answer to all food questions in Medford is snappy patties. I feel like you can never go wrong there. I love their patio and it's great for brunch and their chicken, what do they call them now? Their fried chicken is just out of this world. But then a little closer to home, I love Classic Cafe and their breakfast burrito. I pretty much only ordered that for the last five or six years, and I love it.
[Danielle Balocca]: Delicious. Classic Cafe isn't one we've heard yet, so thank you.
[Marie Cassidy]: Excellent. I went on memory lane when I heard that question, Danielle. So having been growing up in Medford, my favorite place to be was Carol's Restaurant because it was open 24-7. So you would go there after an evening out, you'd meet your friends late at night. It was a wonderful place to be in Medford. I don't know what they served at those days, but we had a wonderful time just being there. I'm falling in love with sushi and so Yoki in Station Landing has been a wonderful place to eat and also they've been a wonderful supporter of our program. So it's been great. And Red Sox is my favorite sushi.
[Danielle Balocca]: What's in the Red Sox?
[Marie Cassidy]: Oh, I wouldn't even know. But it has some tempura in it. special kind of rice, and it's just beautiful.
[Danielle Balocca]: Great. I always forget about station landing and the Medford spot, so yeah, thank you. Awesome. So if you guys could both each tell me about kind of what, how you got involved with the Medford Founding Network, sort of what it means to you.
[Marie Cassidy]: Sure. Well, I have been blessed since 1994 to be able to have the opportunity to utilize the funding that had been put in place by the superintendent at that time. There was a new grant in place to the Department of Education and grants were sent out to all the school departments across the state. And seven of those were given grants to run a brand new entity called the Family Network. It had never been done before. The goal was to engage families at the birth of a child and into age four to help parents to understand child development, to secure their you know, a child abuse prevention aspect of things, and also to have them comfortable with helping their children academically. And also to broach the achievement gap. That was a piece of that as well. You'll notice I said till four. So we got the grant, Medford was one of the 200 were submitted, seven were accepted, Medford proudly won that. And at that time I was a social worker at the then DSS and received a phone call saying, why haven't you applied for this job? And I said, what? What job? I guess I had helped them in the past design some family programming through another call and they asked me if I would consider applying for the job. I did. I got it, and it's been wonderful ever since. And later years, about five years after that, I wrote a new grant called the Children's Trust Grant to then up our age to age eight. My ultimate goal was to go up to 18. That hasn't happened yet. I did get a mini one at 13 about 10 years ago, but that has gone now. But anyway, so that's how that became. My background is a social worker, a teacher, a head staff director, and teacher. and a community organization specialist with the Office for Children for 10 years, kind of all kind of blended to kind of bring hopefully some skills to how do we create something that literally is on a piece of paper and had to be built, you know, made flesh and real. So I kind of put those skills together and literally walked the pavements of Medford. I'm a Medford-born gal, so I knew the streets and the roads and how to walk around and talk to people, which I did a lot of.
[Danielle Balocca]: So it's fair to say you created the Medford family?
[Marie Cassidy]: Yeah. Wow, great. But, you know, you don't do that alone. You build a community. Everything is all about relationships, right? I was lucky to have had relationships with community members as a social worker. I worked with all the other organizations, the school department. I was in every school overseeing my kids, you know, and so I had some already some things in place where I could tap into and people could call upon to help me, you know, get into the nitty gritty of Medford.
[Danielle Balocca]: Fellow social worker here, but I think it's um, yeah, it's interesting to hear like I think programs like DCF, what it's now called, I feel like are always looking for resources like this. Like where can we send these families for support? Where can we help them sort of adjust to being new parents? And it sounds like you were able to use that experience to design a program to do just that. Absolutely, yeah. Awesome. And Caroline, what about you? How did you get involved with MSN?
[SPEAKER_05]: I was lucky enough to be introduced to Marie before I even had children. And so I knew about the MFN and I knew that I wasn't going to have a lot of family support just because I don't have much family in the area when I was pregnant. And so I was excited and ready and started bringing my first child who is now five and a half here when he was seven days old to the parent support group, to creative coping. And literally from that day, I met life-changing friends. And it has been such an amazing support for me. I am a graphic designer by trade. And when probably my son was two or three, friends approached me about if I was interested in helping out with the advisory board or the friends, partially to bring on my skills. And I was happy to be a part of it. And over time, I focused more on the fundraising. And then I guess I've officially been the president for three-ish years. Um, and it's been fun. And, you know, honestly through COVID times, it was really fun and interesting to have to recreate or do a lot of new programming, um, for fundraising. And it has been amazing what this community has stepped up and given and they get excited about our events. And, um, I'm really thankful to be a part, um, of both the friends, which is the fundraising arm of, the MFN as well as a sitting member on the advisory board as well.
[Danielle Balocca]: And can you say a little bit more about the advisory board, like what that is?
[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah. So there are two different boards that help with the MFN, one of which was the friends, and then there's also the advisory board, which are, maybe Marie, you can go into a little more detail.
[Marie Cassidy]: I actually created that when we first started. The first thing I did, because I understood that parent leadership isn't key, and we have to define what leadership means. It isn't being at a podium. It's being part of a team that can actualize and move things. So I created what was first called the steering committee to help me steer this thing. And then it created an advisory board, I wrote bylaws, I was a bylaw writer in a previous life, and I love parliamentary procedure, so I created a group of 12 parents and raised them with bylaws and were charged with helping me The eyes and ears of this city helped me know if I don't know what's going on in this part of the city or what's in this neighborhood, helped me to understand how we're going to make this program work and how we can be best in the city. At that point we had nothing. We had no place to be. So we had to find churches and a homeless shelter and the after school areas and in other places. Grocery stores wherever we could go literally to have a spotless place and we did that for several years But the advisory board always helped me and they grew in its ability to feel its leadership to to promote programming, and I've seen so many parents come through kind of reticent in the beginning, kind of maybe not knowing what to do but wanting to do something. And after several years, they've just shown and just have been a really advocate for themselves, for their children, and for our community at large. They have been a cornerstone of the FEMI network for 27 of the 28 years we've been here.
[Danielle Balocca]: Wow, that's interesting. I feel like there's a lot of organizations that have the board, which is mostly fundraising, right? And some approving of what the organization can do, but it sounds like you've separated that to a fundraising capacity and a program development capacity.
[Marie Cassidy]: Well, what happened was about 20 years ago, the funding was drying up. So I didn't know what to do. So I said, well, I'll create a 501C3. And there was no, no one had done it in the entire state of any of these programs, so I figured it out how to do that. And my husband and I wrote it, wrote the 501C3, and went down to the treasurer's office, plucked out $15, and got a 501C3. We named it the Friends of the Medford Family Network, and they said, we'll do an ink, a company, and then corporation just sounded like so awesome. So it's now the Friends of the Medford Family Network Corporation. And I understood then that we have to have separate, but demonstrate alignment. We have to be separated. So I took three of the board members at that time who were willing to be the first, the three first members, and they became the president, the recording person, and the treasurer, and just built it. And now you see it flourishing like never before under the wing of Caroline. But it took so many amazing people to step up and create those new fundraising opportunities. And it's an ebb and flow. Some years are stronger than others. But I'm seeing an amazing strength now because of the years that we've built into it. And it's like anything, the foundation is building stronger than ever. So that's how that. So basically we took from, we leveraged the leisure that was in place and created a node through those programs.
[Danielle Balocca]: Wow. So Marie, you've seen the program through its whole development up until now, and Caroline, you've been in the program for several years, it sounds like. I'm wondering if you could speak to some of your favorite moments or favorite parts of being involved with a family network.
[Marie Cassidy]: For me, the most favorite part is when parents are talking to each other. I think Caroline alluded to that when she said some of my best friends and longest-term friends, and I'm so proud that that's what it's all about. It gives us a sense of belonging, a sense of having someone by your side, the go-tos. And whatever we taught here in terms of parenting education, and had those programs that most of them are curriculum-based and I've researched them thoroughly for many years and created a few. What we hear on the streets, why don't you try it this way? Instead of walking away or scouring at an interaction between a parent and child, just knowing that it's okay to say, I know what it feels like, I know that feeling, and hey, try it this way. And for me, that's the most favorite thing that that happened. My whole point is planting seeds and to see them grow, having the good luck to see them grow once in a while and flourish, that is amazing to me.
[Danielle Balocca]: That sounds like you've created a pretty organic peer model, right, where you're saying it can feel really maybe condescending to hear a provider or someone tell you, like, here's a way you could do this, but to hear it from someone who you know is sort of doing the same thing.
[Marie Cassidy]: To that end, just very quickly, the first thing I did when I got signed on online was The word client popped up. As a social worker, I know that word well, as do you, don't you? So I said, there are no clients here. There are parents and there are families, and that's what there are. So client was gone, and I just hope that that kind of told the world that, you know, you are you, and that's awesome. Thank you. And Cameron?
[SPEAKER_05]: Um, I mean, as I alluded to some that, I mean, the new parenting classes really introduced me to, um, a great, great group of families in town. And then through playground play groups and concerts, it's just amazing that, you know, because of my connections through things at the MFN I've done, you know, I can go almost anywhere in town and run into people. And, you know, they've all seen our kids enough and interacted enough that It helps you feel comfortable, you know, where you are in this town. And I find it just so, so important because, you know, so many of us, you know, no longer have family that lives right by and things like that. And so this is a way to kind of create your own families and your own network. And so, you know, it's just wonderful. And then, you know, things like the swap that, you know, it's just been the clothing swap, which has changed over the years with the direction of Tamar and, you know, what we can provide, you know, both on the sense of saving money, but also saving the resources and environment by sharing our goods with everyone else in the community. I mean, it's just been amazing. So I guess I didn't pinpoint one thing, but really the sense of community that I feel like it brings to Medford is so important to me.
[Marie Cassidy]: I need to say too, Danielle, that what Carolyn talks about, it's It's because of an amazing team we have in place here. The world knows Ms. Andrea Breen, who's done an amazing job over the years as a playbook leader, and has stepped up and pivoted unbelievably during COVID like no one could. Kept us outside safe. rediscovered the world for parents, literally. She walked all over to make sure we could get outside and take care of ourselves and be safe. And Brenda Kennedy, who does our ages and stages questionnaire, our screening part, giving parents the skills to understand children through five different skill set domains and giving them constant support in those areas, making referrals all the time as needed, early intervention, other kinds of programs. And Heather Fuller, who does an amazing job with the marketing and assists me in all of my work and my reports and all of that kind of thing, but does a great job marketing. And Miss Cindy Sabag, who is also doing marketing, my child care, now working with a pre-K and K playgroup leadership program. And then the team of parenting educators that we bring on, it's just a whole cadre of different people coming together. And it changes. So the basic of how we evolve, what do we need more of, less of, always that kind of thing. I do want to do one quick thing and that is just like, and who are we missing? That's the key question for me. Who are we missing? This city has changed so dramatically. from when I was here, which was 4,000 years ago. But it has so changed, and we want to not miss them. And we'll talk about how we're responding to that need through the Cummings grant in a minute. But we need to constantly ask my staff, where are we not? Where do we need to be? Who are we missing? How are we missing them? And how do we get them? So it's a very exciting, constant way to be, because we're never satisfied. We're never just going to be placated. We're just going to be always, always evolving.
[Danielle Balocca]: Right. And that actually was a great lead-in to my next question, which was about the mission of the MFN and how that aligns with equity in the city. And I wonder if you could speak to some of the things that you're already doing, and then also maybe what's on the horizon for addressing those goals.
[Marie Cassidy]: Sure. Well, I think we are feeling center itself is reflective of the diversity that is by our pictures in our books and our everything that we have in here, our language. of the increasing diversity of Medford. And we have to think of diversity in a variety of ways, too. Age, children with special needs, in all the ways that diversity exhibits itself. Single parents, those who are marginalized in any kind of way. We need to look at the diversity of how one raises children, what needs. to be effective for what they want. We don't put any value system in place. We ask you to think about these ideas and place them into your value system as you see it. And so the advisory board created Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, which we're going to, I think, generalize into a group as opposed to just a committee. And we're working with a diversity director in Medford, Frances Nelage, very intentionally to be really work our programs that make it much more. And then, you know, Corita Anderson, she's an amazing Councilor in Medford. She had helped us with raising sexually healthy children years ago, those courses, and now I'm bringing her back in. She's going to be helping me with making sure our programs are very reflective of that and of diversity. And also looking at ourselves as an organization. I'm putting myself and our staff through training to look at how are we, how do we view the world, what are our biases, and let's deal with them and acknowledge and then move with our language. So it's a big issue, but as Caroline said, we've got so many wonderful things going on in this city that can help us do that. New boards being created. I was on the Human Rights Commission for years and years, and a lot of good stuff is coming up with that, and plenty of opportunity. Thank you. Did you have anything, Caroline?
[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, I mean, one thing that in the programming that I've been involved in the last couple years, I mean, last year we had to do some of our summer concerts in another location, namely Harris Park, which has a brand new amazing playground, water park, and we had a great night. that is almost as far away from our core location here at the high school as you can be in Medford. And we were really shocked at how many parents showed up just because they saw something going on and had no idea about the Medford Family Network. To me, it's just an ingrained part of what every parent in Medford should know, but that was a real understanding of Oh, maybe we're really not reaching a lot of people and I know when we did when Cindy sent out a lot of the stuff to new families, you know, it was in a lot of apartment buildings and a lot of things on sort of like more than Medford or the mold inside of Medford. And one thing that we really are trying to open up is making sure that we are reaching everyone. And that is part of why Marie and myself and a whole team of people applied for the amazing Cummings grant. a Cummings Foundation grant this year. And we are so blessed to have been awarded $100,000 over three years with the goal of really trying to expand our programming and really targeting areas and different groups in the city who we're not currently hitting, whether it's one thing we found that there's certain families that have a lot of trouble getting to the MFN, but they need our physical resources and diapers and formula and things like that, but they're also not able for a number of reasons to attend some of our programming. So the goal with the money we've received from the Cummings Foundation is to hire an additional person to really help spread out and really focus on who, as Marie said, who we're missing and how we can adjust programming and adjust our offerings to really make sure that we are reaching everyone who needs it. Because yeah, the Medford Family Network is, I mean, as we've all said is, you know, a very, very unique thing in this town, or in this area. And wanna make sure that we can really make sure everyone knows of what they can get out of being a part of the Medford Family Network.
[Danielle Balocca]: Seems like a real privilege to be connected to the Medford Family Network, right? Making sure that it's accessible to as many people as it can be. Well, thanks for mentioning the Cummings grant. I'm wondering if there's anything else that you wanna make sure to mention or promote while we're talking to each other.
[Marie Cassidy]: I just think that due to that end, we really are seeking voices that have not been heard yet. There are many resilient families in Medford that we know whose need for is that for English classes, and we're going to be providing them in the fall, and also their need for programming on the weekends as opposed to weekdays, and maybe on certain times of the day, evenings. Child care is a huge need in our Brazilian community. So we're looking to take an honest approach and address all of those issues.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah. And I know we, I've mentioned it before in the podcast, but you have a gala coming up as well. Yes. So excited.
[SPEAKER_05]: Yes. We, the gala, um, which traditionally as we call it the night, um, of 10,000 lights. Um, we, unfortunately because of COVID, we're not able to, um, have it the last couple of years. And we are really, really excited to be able to resurrect. um the gala this year in a whole different way um traditionally was at the city hall um up in the i forgot the name of the room the the uh the the council chambers yes the chambers which has been wonderful but um with covid and also one thing you know we're trying to figure out how can we get more people. It's a wonderful, beautiful space, but it limited the amount of people we could have. And so we are pivoting, and with the help of the Medford Rec Department, we are going to be hosting it at Wright's Pond on September 10th. I believe it will be 6 to 10 o'clock. And this is going to be a night, unlike any of the others, we are going to have a full band. In the past, the music had to be sort of in the background. We have hired a local dad who is also a very talented musician with a number of different projects. But his project, the Mancini Soul Project, is a cover band that is going to just help us really, really celebrate the night on the stage there. We're going to have, it looks like we'll have some local restaurants doing catering and we really are looking for the community to come together both for a fun night. We're also going to be reaching out to local businesses to help us put together some really strong options for our raffle prizes and our silent auction, as well as our grab bags, which are a huge part of the fundraising of the night. Traditionally, we try to raise $15,000 to $20,000, but we are trying to up that this year. After not being together for a few years for this big event, we're really trying to push the goal to try and raise $25,000 that night, which a lot of the money that the Friends of the Medford Family Network raises goes directly towards summer programming because a lot of the grants that we do receive only apply for around the school year. So, you know, all the various things that happen during the summer. Um, you know, it's a big part of what the friends have to help, you know, and also to help us expand, you know, the Cummings grant is a huge, huge help for us, but we have a lot of things that we want to do. Um, and a lot of people that, you know, have really stepped up over the years that we want to help, you know, help keep this place growing and continue. So, um, you can, um, currently get tickets, um, at the friends of the MFN.org forward slash gala. GALA And until a month before the event so the event is September 10th, which is a Saturday night We're gonna the rain date of the next day the Sunday then 11th We have an early bird special so if you can use the Promo code early bird. It'll get you 20% off the tickets We currently have at least two levels of ticketing one of which is our general ticketing which I think we're doing one drink ticket with that, dinner, dessert, music, just so much fun. We also have a special VIP ticket available now as well, which will have open bar. some commemorative cups with it and really helps to just step up our programming. And then if you really want to be an extra part of it, there are also gold and silver star tickets as well, which directly impact us in a very significant way. So all that can be found on the Friends website. Again, it's friends of the MFN forward slash gala.
[Danielle Balocca]: And you're still looking for sponsors for this?
[SPEAKER_05]: Absolutely. So we have an amazing team of people. With it being the summer, we are, I don't want to say behind, but you know, we're all working together as we can in between camps and vacations. And so we have an amazing team that are reaching out to different businesses, um, by email and phone. Um, and would love, um, you know, we're really looking to have community members help us put together awesome packages. and gift baskets that we can raffle and sell.
[Danielle Balocca]: It sounds like it's going to be a great night. Fantastic. What does the name mean, Night of 10,000?
[SPEAKER_05]: Um, well traditionally it was when it was, um, we had twinkle lights all over the chamber. And so I think originally it was actually night of, it was under balloons, right? It was the night of 10,000 balloons.
[Marie Cassidy]: Yeah. Original name.
[SPEAKER_05]: That was Debbie Steiner Hayes, right? She was still an amazing supporter on a lot of our events.
[Marie Cassidy]: And Springstep, where it was first held for several years. Balloons everywhere. And then we had to, when we moved it, the balloons, we couldn't use them anymore or something like that, so we had to change it, and change it to the lights. And the City Hall was amazing, just lights everywhere. And that became Twinkle Bags, and we used that kind of... It was great.
[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah. And so now moving it to Wright's Pond, we adjusted a little bit being the night under 10,000 lights. Don't you love it? It's going to be, especially in September, will be, you know, the sun will go down. You know, there will be lights as well. But, you know, to really focus on how beautiful it is there. And fingers crossed, it will be a clear and beautiful night. And we can see the, you know, millions and millions of stars. So swim attire for you. fun attire for sure if you go swimming that that will be on your own I think double-check that I believe we're gonna have a couple lifeguards but we said that the night is not about swimming more focus on the music and fun and everything but yes have have fun where where what you're comfortable with and We'll have a great time.
[Danielle Balocca]: Great. Thank you. So my last question, unless there's anything else that we've missed. So if you were to imagine yourself not having come to the Medford Family Network at all, what would be your recommendation for an entry point? What's the first place people should check out? Do we have a place to check out in Medford? No. What's the best entry point to the Medford Family Network? Where should people go?
[Marie Cassidy]: What kind of event should they attend? This is real true, but it's kind of funny. I canvass the baby isles of CVS, literally, to find them. That's how I get them. Or I go to Dunkin Donuts and see, you know, moms sitting there or dads with their babies and like, what do I do now? That kind of thing. So I literally canvass the CVS. So go to CVS baby isle and I'll find you.
[Danielle Balocca]: And what do you recommend people check out as a first try for the Family Network?
[Marie Cassidy]: Oh, the first thing to try? Yeah. Depending on the age, and that's why I love this program, because if you've got a baby, if you have a toddler, if you have a child, there's so much you can experience. The concert, I think, blew away so many families last Tuesday who had never come because, oh, it's Wright's Pond, oh, they never came. Several came up to me and said, Marie, you've been talking about this for years, this is amazing. Look at these people, look at my children, they don't want to leave. You know, so if you go to a bigger family, at least show you what we've built for the past 20 years in terms of camaraderie, belonging, knowing each other. That might be a great way for someone who can handle that kind of thing. Another way is just come and visit. When you find us, visit. Sit down with me. Sit down with our staff. look around, see yourself here. You will see yourself here, but who you are, you're going to see. In fact, an Indian grandfather came in and said, there I am. I said, what? It was a picture of me and my family. And it wasn't. It was a stark picture I had all over the place here. But you will see yourself. And that's what matters. That then you can start here and find others who, through you know, our programming that will hopefully become your friends and your supports.
[Danielle Balocca]: That word belonging I think is striking to me, right, especially for families with young kids who maybe are new to Medford or feel like they don't have a place here, right, that like I think it's Caroline spoke to this a little bit too, but I've heard anecdotally from lots of families like once you're connecting with those resources for your kids it feels like this is a place that you can belong.
[SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, I mean it's amazing that, you know, There's open time play groups or play time that you can just come here. It's an extension of your living room. You can try new toys and then just slowly meet if that's how you need to do it. Just slowly introduce yourself. I also, I believe they're on hold right now with Andrea on vacation, but the summer playground playgroups. Every time I go, I am just floored at how many families are there. And it's just an amazing, easy way to just kind of, you know, put your foot in a little bit. Um, you know, they're all over the city. Um, there's a schedule on the calendar, um, which you can find through, um, the medfordfamilynetwork.org. Um, there's a link to the calendar right there. Um, and yeah, that's a great way. Um, you know, and then if you're a new parent, um, currently the parent support group is still on zoom.
[Marie Cassidy]: It's coming back in September. Oh, it is. Yeah. September. They can just tell me less.
[SPEAKER_05]: Oh, awesome.
[Marie Cassidy]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_05]: So, um, yeah, I mean the same woman has been running it for about 10. Yeah. And it's been running it for over 10 years and you know, it's just an amazing way to come in and just have an understanding that there are other moms who are going through what you're going through, whether you're a first time mom, second time mom, you know, go there. And, you know, as I would kind of say, you just, yeah, and dads for sure. Um, yeah, I mean, parents of, yeah. Um, you know, just to let it out, to just express what, what's your trouble. And there'll be someone else in the group who has, you know, The facilitator is an amazing job, you know, we're not pushing each other to do something right or wrong But just a way to help everyone relate to each other and give some gentle suggestions or ideas or nothing You know just to let it out and you know that there's so many different struggles that people are going through whether it's you know know with breastfeeding not breastfeeding diapers sleep I mean and everyone has so many different issues that you know it's just good to know and sometimes it's even oh wait my issue is this but yours is at the opposite end and you're struggling with them and you know in some ways which is so good to know that you know everyone has their own struggles and it's such a great way just to really get through I mean You know, I mean, some parents are ready a week like me, others, you know, it takes a lot longer to feel strong and ready to leave the house. And maybe that's why right now, while it's on Zoom, it's also a great way to easily approach it. So, and again, those are on the calendar.
[Danielle Balocca]: Yeah, and one important thing to mention is the location. Oh, thank you.
[Marie Cassidy]: So you guys are outside of the high school, the purple door, right? Yes, the purple door. So as you approach the high school off of Windsor Street, 489 Windsor Street is the address, the Medford High School. Just go straight up, do not go to the parking lot, just go straight up to the corner of the building, go by a little bit, you'll see the purple door, big sign, Medford Family Network, and there's a ramp leading up to our door if you need to have a stroller. So ring the doorbell and come on in. But you're a friend to know, and you're a place to grow.
[Danielle Balocca]: Well, thank you both so much for making the time for me. It's been great for me.
[Marie Cassidy]: You've been great. You've been wonderful. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[Danielle Balocca]: Hopefully we'll see you at the gala. Yeah, absolutely.
[Unidentified]: Absolutely.
[Danielle Balocca]: Thanks so much to Caroline and Marie. Really looking forward to the gala at the pond. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode, and as always, if you have feedback about this episode, or ideas for future episodes, you can email medfordpod at gmail dot com. You can also subscribe, rate, and review the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Thanks so much for listening. Guys, what's the name of the podcast? Medford Bites!