Volume 12, Issue 12: December, 2025

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy" - Martin Luther King Jr

Dear Valued Community Member,

Thank you for your continued community and readership of our local Boston Network Connector Newsletter. In this edition, you will find featured stories from our VVN community, upcoming in-network events, opportunities in our community, and our monthly research highlight, the scoop on the stats.


• Village Voices: Unsung Hero Blog, From Classroom to Community: Erica Beverett's Journey of Advocacy and Environmental Justice
• Support our Campaign, Give Where Leaders Grow
• Virtual and local opportunities with the Vital Village Networks
• Save the date for the January Network Connection Meeting!
• Explore opportunities in your community with VVN Partners
• October Scoop on the Stats Featured Resource: “Evaluation of Family Protective Factors and Parenting Stress Following the Strengths-Based Power of Parenting Program,”

Unsung Hero Blog - From Classroom to Community: Erica Beverett's Journey of Advocacy and Environmental Justice

Awardee: National Partnership and Collaborative Leadership

From Charity to Justice: Finding Abundance in Community-Led Food Systems

"We always want to see better for our community, and do better for our community, so I think that that is what inspires me to keep going." - Erica Beverette

After 18 years of teaching in the education system, both at Head Start and in private preschools, Erica Beverett got to know families and children well. She quickly realized the vast knowledge and experience that caregivers possessed but also the lack of attention that they received when it came to using this knowledge for systemic improvement.

Read the full blog at vitalvillage.org

As we approach the end of the year, we’re honoring what it means to be VillageMade and the meaningful ways our network has shown up for one another this year.

Please consider making a gift today to support our campaign, Give Where Leaders Grow.

Save the Date! January Network Connection Meeting

January 26, 2026 | 5:30 pm ET in-person / 6:00 pm ET on Zoom

Save the date for the January Network Connection Meeting - 2026 Visioning Session. Monday, January 26th at 5:30 pm ET in-person / 6:00 pm on Zoom.

Register here.

Virtual Fireside Chat, Integrating Change Systems: Bridging Birth Justice & Food Justice

December 17, 2025 | 6:00 pm ET on Zoom

What if our food systems and birth systems were never meant to be separate? In this fireside chat, Femeika Elliott — farmer, birth worker, and founder of The Lotus Program Experience and a 2023 Community Food Systems Fellow — invites us to explore how birth justice and food justice are deeply interconnected movements rooted in the same soil of care, community, and liberation.

Learn more and register here.

My “Self” in the World Children’s Mental Health Story Times with the Boston Public Library 

Virtual Storytimes on Thursdays from 3:30 - 4:00 pm ET on Zoom | In person dates, times, and locations vary: 



Vital Village Networks and the Boston Public Library partner to offer Children's Mental Health Story Times both on Zoom and at your local libraries across Boston. Join us for live readings, reflections, songs, activities, and more! Story times are intended for children ages 3-8 years old, however older and younger siblings are welcome to join the fun! We require a caregiver to attend with their child. See October dates, times & locations on the VVN website Calendar and register for virtual sessions at https://cutt.ly/CMHS-Web-Registry

Download the Abundance App



Boston Abundance is your local guide to free and low-cost food resources in Greater Boston, MA. Search and discover local food resources - whether that be local food pantries, meal programs, farmers markets, senior dining sites, or fruit and vegetable pickup sites. Filter your search and access reviews for your local sites, plus leave your own feedback on program offerings! You can access Boston Abundance at abundanceboston.com or download the app on your mobile device.

GRO.W.BABY Research Roundtable Seminar Recording Available



The recorded session of the November Research Roundtable Seminar is now available on growbabyresearch.org/archives. In this presentation, Identifying anticipated challenges when implementing group care: Context-analyses across seven countries to develop an anticipated challenges framework, Astrid Van Damme presents her PhD research on the global challenges of implementing Group Care. 

Watch the recorded presentation here. 

2025 NOW Webinar Archive: Centering Disability Justice in Intergenerational Movement Building



 Last month was the final installment of the 2025 NOW Webinar Series, Rooted in Connection, Rising in Power. National Leaders Fabienne Eliacin, Parent Advocate and Organizer; Maria Palacios, SinsInvalid and the Crip Solidarity Network; and Francisco (aka Pancho) Argüelles, The Praxis Project, shared reflections on resistance through radical self-love, intentional solidarity, and the importance of naming not just what we are ‘against,’ but what we are ‘for.’ Watch the recording and learn more about what centering disability justice looks like in our current moment and how this work leads us toward collective liberation. 

View the recording here.

AFT Black Caucus Boston Chapter and the Boston Teachers Union invites you to: Light the Candies a Kwanzaa Celebration

December 12, 2025 | 5:30 - 8:30 pm | Boston Teachers Union 180 Mt. Vernon Street Dorchester, MA 02125

Join this event for food and raffles! Donations are accepted. Learn more here.

Annual Hyde Park Children's Christmas Party

Sunday, December 21, 2025 from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm | Register for the event by December 15th, 2025



"Santa Claus is calling children between the ages of 1 and 10 years old who live or go to school in Hyde Park to join him for our Children's Christmas Party!" In order to attend, parents must call and register for the event in order for their child to receive a gift. This event is sponsored by Boston Police District E-18, Boston Police Foundation. To register, call the E-18 Boston Police Community Service Office at 617-343-6511

Boston COPHI Lunch & Learn Series

Tuesdays, November 18, 2025 - January 2, 2026 from 2 - 3:00 pm ET on Zoom



Join Boston COPHI for this 8-week interactive Lunch & Learn series designed to strength how Boston COPHI teams collaborate to support families from pregnancy through the 6-week postpartum period. Each session focuses on practical tools, teamwork, and culturally responsive strategies for improving family outcomes and communication. Audiance: PHAs, Doulas, CHWs, Coordinators, and Program Partners.

(Man)aging (Men)tal Health: We Are in the Name, So Why Aren't We in the Room?

Monday, January 26, 2026 from 6:00 - 7:30 pm ET on Zoom



Join this engaging conversation on how masculinity and cultural norms affect men's mental health, especially for men of color. Featuring Dr. Darryl Sweeper, Jr & Mr. Sheldon Aaron

FREE Vaccine Clinic in Boston



The city of Boston, through the Department of Public Health is hosting a series of vaccination clinics throughout the City. Questions about clinics, eligibility, accessibility, or language interpretation? Email info@bphc.org or call 617-534-5050.

Staff will ask for your insurance and identification card, but insurance and identification are not required. If you have a health insurance card, please bring it with you.

Job Opportunity: Age Strong Community Ambassadors

Boston's Age Strong Commission is hiring 15 part-time Boston residents to serve as Age Strong Community Ambassadors. Ambassadors will help build bridges with under-connected aging communities by making connections, sharing information, and making sure older adults get the resources and benefits

they are eligible for.

Ambassadors will be hired in 3 groups of 5. They are currently seeking the first group: five older adult Boston residents with deep connections to the following communities: Latinx, LGBTQIA+, Chinese, Somali, and Cabo Verdean.

Ambassadors will be paid $25/hour and work ten hours per week. Ambassadors may host gatherings/conversations, attend neighborhood meetings, make connections, and strengthen relationships. Age Strong will provide training.

View Age Strong Community Ambassador job description - here

Apply - here

For more information, contact Jordan Rich at 617-635-2451 / ageambassador@boston.gov

Biotechnology Manufacturing Associate Training Program

Part-time at locations on the North Shore, in Boston, and on the South Shore



A FREE 4- to 8-week program designed to prepare participants for entry-level roles in the biotech industry. It includes hands-on lab training at ArLab, job readiness workshops, and one-on-one coaching. Training is available part-time at locations on the North Shore, in Boston, and on the South Shore.

Graduates are places in full-time positions at local biotechnology companies, with starting wages of at least $22 per hour. 

The manuscript, “Evaluation of Family Protective Factors and Parenting Stress Following the Strengths-Based Power of Parenting Program,” provides preliminary evidence supporting positive outcomes from this strengths-based program. The study found that parents who graduated from Power of Parenting experienced:

• Statistically significant growth in the five protective factors that promote family well-being
• Statistically significant decreases in parenting stress

This recognition highlights what we see every day: parents gaining confidence, connection, and tools to strengthen their families.

Stay connected and explore more of our engagement pathways and opportunities across Vital Village Networks programming. You can view upcoming events and opportunities through the gallery snapshot below, by following us on social media, or keeping up with our website calendar and Linktree.