I, like many others, am feeling increasingly isolated. Almost every aspect of our lives is politicized. Discussing facts related to the current administration’s policies is now dismissed as politics, but it’s important to still be able to share real stories.

My love for a happy, healthy Hopkinton led me to Dawn Alcott, director of Hopkinton Youth and Family Services (HYFS).

Dawn has been a clinical social worker for over three decades. Her department focuses on case management, providing support for people in crisis. Programs include behavioral health support, free/confidential online screenings, clinical consultation, crisis counseling and substance abuse prevention services through Hopkinton Organizing for Prevention (HOP). HYFS is, as Dawn says, a “softer place to fall when hard times hit. If you serve everyone with a focus on the targeted and most vulnerable in every spectrum, you serve everybody better. We all bear the burden of being human.”

Dawn used grant money to grow her programs, understanding that “funding on the backs of town taxpayers” can hurt the very people — like the elderly, low income or disabled — they wish to help. Grants currently fund over half the HYFS budget.

In 2024, a Mental Health Awareness Training Grant provided funding to train 32 local clinicians on suicide assessment and intervention and 416 community members on suicide prevention and mental health literacy.

The Drug-Free Communities Grant accelerated the growth of HOP. HOP is woven into the tapestry of our community, partnering with youth/parents, police and fire, Board of Health, YMCA and others. Last year was packed with monthly coalition meetings, Narcan trainings and sponsored events including the Youth Power Summit, Hopkinton High School Mega-Brain and Self-Care Fairs, YMCA Day at Hopkinton Middle School and student-led peer vaping training.

When grants were recently marked for auditing, funding was frozen. A federal judge restored access, but the department waits in limbo until the freeze is indefinitely blocked. In the past, Dawn says, “Politics was about fiscal responsibility. Its intention wasn’t to hurt. Now it feels different. Politicization is changing people’s hearts and minds.”

Dawn underscores that “all of us have agency. Without it, we would free fall. Let’s not forget that ‘iron sharpens iron,’ and fostering differences of opinion makes us stronger. We need to have more venues to safely have difficult conversations.” Mental health programs build relationships with individuals whose suffering might not be seen, heard or accepted by anyone else.

— Alyssa Thompson, Hopkinton

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