Imagine being a child and arriving at a new house, with a new family, and only the clothes on your back. As of last year, that was the experience for over 8,300 children in Massachusetts alone. For one Kingston woman, helping children adjust to foster care and ensuring they have adequate clothing and other common childhood belongings has become a life mission.
Sharon Collins became a foster parent after her divorce. With two children of her own, she fostered other children for 9 ½ years and adopted three. Now, as a busy family with five children, Collins and her co-founder and friend, Jeanne Bello, dedicate time and energy to making sure other children in the foster care system do not go without basic needs and comforts.
“I was at a meeting about foster care and I sat next to Jeanne and another woman. We started talking about how foster children often arrive with nothing but the clothes they are wearing and usually those need to be thrown away,” says Collins, “We thought, ‘Why wouldn’t we create a place where they could shop for clothes and other things?’”. After that meeting in 2018, South Shore Foster Closet began to take shape and became a 501c charity.
Once donated clothing started to come in from friends and family, they needed a space to store and sort it. “We started out using basements,” explains Collins, “and then Jeanne got us a space in the Duxbury Baptist Church. We outgrew that space and asked if we could take the abandoned house behind the church. Jeanne’s family has a painting company and they helped us renovate it.” Now, the “Little White House” is full of shelves and shelves of clothing and supplies for foster families. Initially open to the public, Covid changed how they ran the organization.
“During Covid, we had to close to the public, so we had people request things. We put together bags of the items needed and they could pick them up. This ended up working out so well for us that we kept it like this. Our house is not open to the public, but we put orders and bags together to be picked up.”
As far as the items and supplies available from South Shore Foster Closet, they cover many bases and needs. “We provide things like clothing, footwear, underwear, socks, jackets, coats, diapers, toys, backpacks, and holiday items for celebrations,” says Collins. “We are always in need of new underwear, sneakers, toys, and boys and girl’s clothes -especially in sizes 5-12.” Collins assures that gently used items in good condition are accepted but underwear, and most toys and sneakers should be new. “We would accept used things like high-end gaming systems or other high-end toys if they are in good condition as well -we just want to be able to get the kids things they enjoy and need.”
One of the busiest times of the year for South Shore Foster Closet is approaching. The holidays can be difficult to prepare for -especially when caring for children in need. “We gave away 1,500 toys in one night last year to foster families for Christmas,” says Collins, “We have an event where the toys can be picked up in November and that way families can have some great things for the kids on Christmas. We even have an Easter event where we put together Easter baskets for the kids.”
For the most part, Collins and Bello run the South Shore Foster Closet on their own, but volunteers are often needed for their clothing drives and events -the dates and times can be found on their website and Facebook page. One of the biggest challenges they face is space. “We have run out of space again,” says Collins, “We just serviced 143 foster children for back-to-school supplies and it takes up so much room for that many supplies. Things like coats and shoes -it all requires a lot of room.”
Supporting South Shore Foster Closet is easy to do and Collins asks that all items be dropped off at 9 Page Ave. in Kingston -preferably with notice of what you are going to bring. “Anything you want to donate can be bagged up and dropped off on the lawn and we will pick it up and sort through it,” says Collins. In addition to foster children, Collins says that foster families with other children in the household may receive donated items. “Your children can be fostered, adopted, or biological -as long as they are part of a foster care family, we can help you have the clothing and things you need. We also give away groceries on a monthly basis at the same location.”
With so much of our attention going to our own lives and families, sometimes we don’t notice the miraculous and incredible things going on right under our noses. Collins and Bello are working every day to improve the lives of some of the most vulnerable children in our communities and the families caring for them. “We try our best to provide whatever is needed for these kids. We want people to feel supported and heard when working with us and know that they are not on their own in this,” says Collins, “We are blessed to be able to live our passion to help others and provide children with things that comfort and make them happy.”
South Shore Foster Closet is a testament to what can happen when care meets passion. When we look beyond ourselves and our busy lives and see a need, instead of waiting for someone else to fill it, I hope we take initiative and network with others to help in whatever way we can. What more precious need can there be than that of a child?
For more information on South Shore Foster Closet and ways to help please visit:
www.southshorefostercloset.com or email: ssfostercloset@gmail.com
For contact or drop off information, or to organize a clothing and supply drive text Sharon Collins at 781-336-8439.

The only predictable thing about life is that it is unpredictable. In fact, sometimes it seems the more we prop up our expectations on plans, the more life reminds us that it will not be tamed. Still, the lifelong dance between foresight and flying by the seat of our pants, though often unpleasant, is the means by which the human spirit is refined and made resilient. Such a resilient spirit can be found in True Repertory Theatre’s Artistic Director, Donald Sheehan.
Developing a passion for theater at the age of thirteen, Sheehan holds an MFA in Acting from Trinity Rep Conservatory in Providence, RI, and has worked extensively as both an actor and director with major regional theatres such as Williamstown Theatre Festival, Trinity Rep, Beowulf, The Gamm, and The Theatre Cooperative. He founded True Repertory Theater in 2000.
A true talent, matched equally with passion, Sheehan was set to join a prestigious theater company in New York City, but life had other plans. “I woke up one morning and I was so swollen and felt very ill,” recalls Sheehan, “I found out, the summer of 1999, that I had kidney disease and it changed everything.” The decision to forgo acting opportunities in NYC was made all the more difficult by the fact that Sheehan would need to maintain employment with insurance benefits to manage his intense and expensive treatment. “I found myself having to focus on keeping a day job that didn’t make me happy while undergoing dialysis and keeping up with my treatment plan,” says Sheehan.
Staying in Massachusetts with family to provide support meant Sheehan had to turn to local opportunities to continue his passion while dealing with a chronic disease. While relying on medication for number of years kept his condition manageable, eventually dialysis was necessary. “I was going to my 9-5, which didn’t help my health, then going to dialysis three days a week for four-hour blocks, then to rehearsals for whatever project I was involved in, but I had to keep doing theater. I refused to give it up. It was what sustained me and gave me a sense of normalcy,” explains Sheehan.
While dealing with chronic health issues, Sheehan made sure to continue making a new plan for his life and found a dire need for local theater in surrounding communities. “I realized there was plenty of local and community theater in the big cities, but it was not easily found outside of places like New York and Boston, so I decided to make my own.” True Repertory Theater opened in 2000 and quickly became a hub for local talent and local ideas.
After over a decade of managing his kidney disease, Sheehan was finally able to receive a kidney transplant on July, 19, 2016 at Mass General Brigham Transplant Center. After his transplant, Sheehan founded a nonprofit, Project 719 which is a community-based outreach initiative that brings awareness and fundraising to various organizations whose missions align with the dramatic themes of the True Rep season.
This year marks the ten-year anniversary of Sheehan’s transplant and with that milestone came the inspiration to share his story in hopes that others waiting for a transplant or managing disease would be able to relate to and feel hope for a life past illness while in the thick of enduring it. “I had been journaling my thoughts and feelings about the whole process for a long time, and last year I came to my colleague, Victoria, and started sharing this idea with her. I wanted to tell a success story on the anniversary of my transplant and also be able to give back in some way,” says Sheehan. In a unique spin, instead of one person writing an original play, Sheehan began to work with four other people in the company -each of them adding their own unique style and perspective. The collaboration with Sheehan, and co-writers, Victoria Bond, Maureen Cornell, Mike Hoban, and James Sullivan, resulted in True Repertory Theater’s first original work, “Hold Please! Drama, Dialysis, Dead end Jobs and How Katherine Helmond Saved My Soul.”
“Working together on this was a huge educational experience,” says Bond, Associate Artistic Director, “We learned a lot about this disease and what it takes to overcome it.” “There are over 100,000 people in the U.S. alone waiting for a transplant,” says Sheehan. “Still, our play is relatable in many ways -not just for people with chronic disease or waiting for a transplant,” he assures. “Most people can relate to being tied to a non-fulfilling, 9-5 job that takes a lot out of you, or trying to juggle your dreams with reality, or using humor to get through difficult things -there are plenty of themes in the play that anyone can recognize and appreciate.”
In addition to Hold Please! raising awareness and being a relatable experience to many people, Sheehan is also donating a portion of the proceeds to the Mass General Brigham Transplant Center in honor of Dr. Cecil Coggins -a foremost nephrologist in Boston, an instructor at Harvard Medical School, and editor for the Annual Review of Medicine.
Sheehan’s play explores his journey through the phases of illness, treatment, and triumph and is a new, original work to the theater community. “We have been creating by the seat of our pants in real time,” says Cornell, “We came together with open minds and were aware that some things would not work, but we stayed flexible and appreciate that theater is, naturally, a collaborative art. This has been that on steroids -it is an unusual way to make a play, but we have loved it. This theater has made a huge difference in my life.”
Hoban had more of an outside take on the process, “I am a sketch writer, so I am not as immersed in the story and that means I can give kind of an overall, outside perspective that can get lost with too much hyperfocus. I love that this play, and this theater, prove that you can still have a good life, even if it doesn’t go exactly how you want it to.”
“I come here to learn -to learn from these people I work with. We show up, ready to work together with open minds and it’s been neat to see what we can do,” says Sullivan. “You can’t have an ego and if you leave that at the door, you can do some really great stuff!”
Bond had her own health scare and found that her passion for theater carried her through times that could have been all-consuming. “I had a health scare and it was surreal to be worried and going through tests, and waiting and feeling helpless, but I brought scripts along with me and reading those helped me find calm and focus.” Bond is also continually focused on True Repertory Theater’s mission -to be an incubator for new works, new voices, and new ideas. “Community theater should not just be the classic plays or the big titles -the ones everyone already knows about. Community theater should be a place to showcase new works and ideas from people around you. It is a place of connection in a world of disconnection.”
Sheehan has been connecting people and creativity to the community for over two decades as True Repertory Theater celebrates its 25th Anniversary this year. Hold Please! is only one way you can be a part of the magic happening at True Repertory Theater. On Sept. 25, 26, and 27, the company will host Playwright Platform, their 4th Annual New Play Festival. These evenings will feature selections from 24 plays in 72 hours -chosen from over 100 submissions. Sheehan explains, “This festival gives new playwrights a chance to have their work heard and to see what impact it has on the audience. There are already some we have selected that are really special and we want to produce them as mainstay plays for the company.”
If you are looking for a way to celebrate and make a difference financially for this amazing local theater, then you don’t want to miss True Repertory Theater’s fundraiser, “The Greatest Gift on Earth” -a circus-themed fundraiser celebrating Sheehan’s transplant anniversary. “The theme started off with the idea that life is a roller-coaster,” says Sheehan, “And then it turned into life is a balancing act -like in a circus and before you know it, we had a whole circus- themed fundraiser going with the ‘greatest gift’ referring to organ donation and the healing power of art.” The fundraiser will take place at the Pembroke Community Center on Oct. 3 at 7p.m. The proceeds will also go to The Mass General Brigham Transplant Center and True Repertory Theater to help cover the cost of production.
With so many incredible things happening, and Sheehan at the helm of it all, it is hard to believe that ten years ago things seemed quite bleak for him. “I want to share my story to help others who feel stuck and scared. I want them to know that things can get better. The key is to find your personal ‘medicine’ -be it laughter, theater, or whatever moves you through the hard times.” For as unpredictable and cruel as life can be, it can also be constant in providing opportunities for connection and inspiration. Sheehan and True Repertory Theater have taken a could-have-been finale, and turned hardship into a story where not only Sheehan’s new dreams come true, but others have the space and opportunity for theirs to come true as well. Success in the big, flashy ways, doesn’t always mean fulfillment, and when it comes to creating a life of meaning and purpose, Sheehan is purely aspirational.
For Ticket and Upcoming Event Information please visit:
www.Truerepertorytheater.org

Many mothers have the scenario perfectly pictured in their minds long before they walk through the door of their home with their new baby. There is often an idealization that upon arriving home, things will fall into place, routines will eventually come from the happy chaos of this new phase, bonding with your precious little one will be blissful, and those around you will support and help you heal and navigate. Nearly every mother dreams about the same kind of natural, beautiful transition after growing, carrying, and welcoming a new life into theirs. Of course, new mothers also know there will be intense fatigue, a recovery period, struggles of all kinds, new worries, a bit of anxiety, and feeling overwhelmed at times; no new mother expects a postpartum experience without the full gamut of adjusting to new or “added to” motherhood.
That said, what happens when the postpartum experience is all-but-consumed by the struggles -fatigue or insomnia beyond comprehension, recovery that never comes or is hindered due to a lack of support, struggles and worries that haunt the mind day and night and prevent basic functioning, anxiety that alters heart health and makes getting out of bed physically impossible, and depression and hopelessness that make life more unbearable and frightening by the day, and can even prevent bonding and feeling motherly towards the new baby in your arms?
Postpartum mental health disorders are more than just “baby blues”, they are chemical alterations and imbalances set off, and enhanced by, the giant internal chemistry experiment that goes on in a mother’s body for well over the nine months of pregnancy and after birth. The usual coping mechanisms and things like, “eating healthy” and “taking a walk” are not only largely ineffective, they are asking too much of someone in crisis who needs far more than an inspirational quote and a long nap to feel better.
While the gray clouds (which can be more storms of terror than just cloudy skies) of postpartum mental illness do not come for the majority of mothers, they are common enough and on the rise for a number of reasons. Statistics show that one in five mothers will experience significant postpartum anxiety and/or depression. Patricia Wasiolek of Plympton knows, first hand, the severity of the storms new mothers sometimes face with postpartum mental illness. After recovering from her own storm, she has dedicated her time and energy to help others find safe shores and see the sun again.
“After my son was born, I experienced awful postpartum anxiety,” explains Wasiolek, “So severe that I could not get out of bed.” Wasiolek and her husband knew things had gone beyond what could be remedied on their own at home, so they headed to the emergency room. “I was assessed in the ER by a psychiatrist and, though they were just doing their job, they were impersonal and unhelpful for what I was feeling and experiencing. The whole experience was very clinical. I was sent to a partial day clinic in Norwell, but it was more of a mood disorder clinic and I was unable to relate to anyone there. It was not, at all, a fit for new mothers with postpartum anxiety, so I kept looking for something else.”
Wasiolek found the Day Hospital at Women and Infants Hospital in Rhode Island and moved her care to their program. “You can bring your baby with you, which a lot of programs don’t let you do. They have clinicians, physicians, group and individual therapy, and lots of programs to help new moms with postpartum disorders. I was there for two weeks and it really helped me.”
In addition to finding professional support and treatment, Wasiolek also found solace and support in a friend who had suffered from postpartum illness during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. “I reached out to a friend I knew had struggled with this and she gave me a lot of advice. Her care was wildly mishandled, as is the case for many women, and I was shocked at the lack of awareness and resources for these things in such a large medical hub like Boston.” One invaluable resource Wasiolek’s friend shared was Postpartum Support International, PSI -a global nonprofit that promotes awareness, prevention, and treatment of mental health issues related to childbearing created by a worldwide network of individuals and organizations and professionals.
“I was invited to PSI’s ‘The Climb’ by a college friend where I connected with Kelly Winter who had started advocating for PSI locally,” says Wasiolek, “Kelly watched her friend go through postpartum illness and wanted to do something to show support, so she put together the first ‘Climb’ in Duxbury. I asked her if I could help and we started meeting in January.”
Founded in 1987 by Jane Honikman in Santa Barbara, Calif., PSI is a unique organization in that it provides global support to families and individuals through perinatal health support, education, advocacy, and research through helplines, educational and training programs for professionals and individuals, lists of resources and the perinatal care programs and providers closest to you -no matter where in the world you live, online support groups, webinars, and educational materials. Since its inception, PSI has grown to be an international resource that provides support and connection for over 100,000 people a year.
PSI’s “The Climb” is a family-friendly, community-building walk starting at the Pilgrim Church of Duxbury on Oct. 3, from 10 a.m. -1 p.m. The event is sponsored by many local businesses and also accepts individual donations. The walk aims to raise awareness and money for perinatal disorders, and to continue to work on erasing the judgment and taboo often associated with postpartum illness. One in five mothers and one in ten fathers will experience intense anxiety and/or depression after the birth of a child. Over 800,000 people a year are affected by perinatal mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, Perinatal OCD, enhanced Bipolar 1 and 2, Psychosis, and Perinatal PTSD. Sadly, only 25% of those impacted by these disorders are able to receive treatment or follow-up monitoring. “One of the great things about PSI,” says Wasiolek, “is that they do all the homework and research for you. When you are in the depths of postpartum crisis and trying to cope, its just too much to also be expected to make lots of phone calls and search online and stay on top of seeking out something that works. PSI makes all the information easy to find and it is specified to your area.”
PSI’s “The Climb” had resounding success last year -raising $10,000. “This year,” notes Wasiolek, “We set an initial goal to raise $15,000, but we have already raised over $18,000 and we aren’t even to October.” When asked what, beyond fundraising, Wasiolek and Winter hope to accomplish with “The Climb”, Wasiolek replies, “This walk shows the power of community and why it is important. Community can not only provide support, but validation and recognition for what so many go through -sometimes silently. There is such a spectrum of what a perinatal disorder can look like -for some it’s manageable with therapy and for some professional help in a care center or hospital is needed. We need to help people find resources BEFORE they reach their breaking point. Treatment plans need to include the mother, partner or spouse, and healthcare professionals -and family if possible. It should never be left largely up to the mother -the one enduring the disorder, to manage on their own.”
In light of recent events, perinatal health is on the minds of most of us -especially in our South Shore communities. Some of the public dialogue has been encouraging to see and hear, but some of it has been deeply hurtful, judgmental, uneducated, shortsighted, and ignorant. There are clearly many who do not understand the severity and reality of perinatal disorders, or comprehend the overall failure of our mental health system as it applies to perinatal care and women’s health. There is also a looming gap between realizing that a healthy and cared for mother is a healthy and cared for baby/child.
Perinatal disorders are not a phase, they are not imagined, and they are not usually something that can be dealt with alone or by simply “cheering up”, “being grateful”, or “snapping out of it” -as were some of the “tips” I was given over the course of having perinatal disorders with all four of my children the last 20 years. These are serious conditions and terrifying for the person enduring them at a time when their greatest desire and focus is bonding with, cherishing, and caring for the new little miracle in their lives. When you can actually feel the chemistry in your body “crash”, as I described it each time, and you have no control over the wild imbalances and reactions taking place inside of you, it is one of the most terrifying and helpless feelings someone can have. It steals away many moments of joy that you had dreamed of having with your precious newborn.
Please, reach out to new moms and their partners. Ask about the mom as readily as you do the baby. Please, don’t say, “Let me know if I can do anything for you,” because they usually feel like a burden, ashamed, or an imposition and they won’t ever ask. Please, listen to women when they say they are not okay or they need help. Please hold their hands and truly listen, without judgement, to what they feel and need. Please, show the same compassion to new mothers that you would wish for yourself and your loved ones. Be the catalyst for their treatment to begin and stay on course. Allow them to grieve, be angry, and collapse, safely, so they can begin to heal -because healing IS possible and the outlook is bright for women (and their families) who have the support they need. Mothers are superheroes, but sometimes even superheroes need someone to save them. It is time we all put on our capes and set out with a message that there is, indeed blue, beyond the gray sky.

To Register for PSI’s The Climb in Duxbury on Oct.3 visit:
https://Give.postpartum.net/event//2026-climb-duxbury-2026/e763328
To Donate:
https://give.postpartum.net/fundraiser/7050672
For Information on Postpartum Support International:
https://postpartum.net

Walking into the New Again and Refill-Able retail shop is an instant lift for the spirits. Immediately, you are greeted with the pleasant scent of handmade candles and a sun-lit expanse of carefully curated products on shelves lining every wall. Intricately knitted sweaters and scarves hang on racks and an adorable Cardigan Corgi named Pandora is happy to investigate customers while being pet. The cheery space then draws the eye back to a large, long room with work tables, more shelves and displays, and people sitting and making. This is the homey and creativity-inducing space that Gail Farrell, Executive Director and Founder of New Again and Refill-Able, and local artist, teacher, and owner of Hello Peach Arts, Jennifer Godbois, have put their hearts and minds into.
Farrell started New Again in 2012 with the people who were aging out of special education in mind. New Again is a 501c(3) nonprofit that teaches vocational skills and job training to adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities. New Again is especially fostering of those interested in becoming artists. The retail space and business model offer job opportunities for these adults while also providing shared studio space for local businesses and students participating in the offered classes.
In addition to New Again, the retail space also houses Refill-Able -a zero-waste store for household items. Businesses labeled “zero-waste” mean they eliminate single-use packaging for their products as well as carry reusable, often biodegradable items such as shampoo, conditioner, body wash, laundry soap, toothpaste, makeup, soaps, lotions, sponges, dryer balls, food storage containers, and many other personal care and household products. Refill-Able also strives to use as many local products as possible and is always looking for local businesses and partners to feature.
“We also have a refillery where we refill your empty containers with more product, or you can purchase one of the containers we have here for reuse.” If you are wondering about a specific type of product to provide refills for, all you have to do is ask. “We listen to our customers,” says Farrell, “We don’t have a set sign for what we offer in the refillery because it is such varied list and it’s always changing -largely based on customer feedback.”
At the beginning of the year, Godbois was searching for a space to build her business. She walked into New Again and found the perfect fit. “Jennifer came in just to ask how this area was for business, but we quickly realized her business would fit perfectly in here and she could be a teacher as well,” says Farrell. Now, Hello Peach Arts is integrated beautifully into the space and had room to grow.
Godbois is an artist of many talents, but fiber arts and teaching are her passions. After a long career as a Federal Auditor for the Department of Health in Boston, she was in need of a change of pace from her intense, high-demand job -one where she could use her creativity and hands to make beautiful things as well as teach others these oft-neglected skills. “I have been doing crochet since I was little. Both of my parents are fiber artists. My father crochets like a machine -he makes beautiful Afghan’s,” explains Godbois.
To further her goal of incorporating art and teaching into her life, Godbois became a certified art teacher and taught at Scituate High School last fall and Halifax Elementary in the spring. She also works in local schools as a substitute teacher. When asked what her favorite material is to work with she says, “My hyper fixations tend to go from one thing to the next, so whatever my focus is at that moment would be my answer, but if I had to choose only one thing to do, it would be sewing. You can make so many things that way, the possibilities are endless.”
In addition to crochet and sewing, Godbois embroiders, felts, and will take on basically anything to do with fiber arts. “I am holding a back-to-school embroidery class on Aug. 29. I was shopping with my kids and saw these sneakers with beautiful eyelet fabric and thought, why not decorate our own? The class will teach you how to embroider things to personalize them -from shoes to backpacks to shirts -anything you want to customize and make your own style.” Godbois also plans to hold sewing classes in the shop, as well as felting. In order to do that, however, she needs the equipment. “I am looking to see if anyone can donate some working sewing machines that I could use to teach on,” she says, “and I am always looking for, and accepting donations of, yarn, fabric, ribbon -or any art and fiber art supply. Most of this yarn was donated.”
Godbios can also be found teaching at local libraries in the community. She leads the Night Ravelers club at the Holmes Public Library and enjoys bringing Hello Peach Arts offerings in a free-library setting. “I want to get out there and help people of all ages become acquainted with fiber arts. A lot of the time, people think it sounds intimidating. But you don’t have to have any experience to come to a class. We can start from the beginning if needed and there is no rush or pressure -if you mess up, which you will, oh well! That’s part of it. Hello Peach Arts is a stress free, all-inclusive environment to learn.”
So when you are settled into your fall routine this year and need a reprise from the chaos of schedules and hurry, consider heading down to New Again, Refill-Able, and Hello Peach Arts to stock up on household wares in the most eco-friendly way you can, support local artists with special needs by purchasing their beautiful products, or take up a new skill, or feed an existing passion in fiber arts. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “In art, the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can imagine.” Perhaps now is the perfect time to defy the machine made, and find out how much your heart can imagine.
For more information on New Again and Refill-Able visit:
http://www.newagaininc.org or call (774) 608-9960

For more information on Hello Peach Arts and classes offered visit:
https://www.hellopeacharts.com or text (603) 340-3918

Over the last two weeks we “visited” two local watersheds in our communities through the PHK Express and learned about the amazing and tireless organizations and citizens that have come together to repair, protect, and preserve these vital parts of our ecosystem. It has been inspiring to find such passion, commitment, and intelligence among the many stewards of our local waterways. The Taunton River Watershed Alliance, our last featured local watershed in this series, is comprised of the same caliber of people and also accomplishing vitally important things.
Based on geologic evidence, we know that 10,000 years ago the landscape of southeastern Massachusetts was covered by ice flows. The retreating glaciers in this flow created a large glacial lake that eventually drained to become the Taunton River and its tributaries. This river system moved through glacial deposition that included outwash plains, wetlands, and the many kettle ponds we enjoy today. The Taunton River begins at the confluence of the Matfield and Town Rivers in Bridgewater and runs over forty miles to Mount Hope Bay. It is considered “tidal” water due to saltwater intrusion for its last eighteen miles.
The Taunton River is the longest undammed coastal river in New England. The land area that drains into a river is known as its “watershed.” The watershed of the Taunton River, and all of its tributaries, covers 562 square miles. This river is also unique because in 2009, the Taunton River was designated a Wild and Scenic River by the National Park Service, the U.S. Congress, and President Obama. The Wild and Scenic Rivers System currently protects 12,709 miles of 208 rivers in the United States.
The recognition and protection of the Taunton River is largely due to the efforts of the Taunton River Watershed Alliance, formed in 1988, much in the same way that the other local watershed advocacy organizations in the area began -concerned and activated citizens. A “Taunton River Stewardship Plan” was completed in 2005 by the Taunton River Wild and Scenic Study Committee. The Taunton River Stewardship Council was then formed and is composed of delegates from each of the communities in the watershed to identify goals and objectives to guide future efforts to restore and preserve the Taunton River corridor.
One of the many people dedicated to the TRWA is Abby Abrahamson, Bruce Spooner Education Center Program Manager. “We are very lucky to have a large group of dedicated board members and volunteers that support us,” says Abrahamson, “In fact, we still have some of the original members from 1988 serving on the board and involved in our programs.”
As with the other two local watershed organizations, the TRWA relies on volunteer citizen science to collect data and record observations as well as carry out projects and gather resources for the alliance to continue its important work. “We have significant programs to restore and protect, assist in restoration and preservation, and provide education and advocacy in the community,” Abrahamson explains. “We monitor 20 sites for nine months of the year for water quality and species status -all through volunteers. Volunteers need no prior training or experience, but we do require them to attend a training in April to learn about how to gather and submit data as well as be organized into teams.” Citizen-gathered results are then tested at the Veolia Water Treatment Plant in Taunton where the data collected strengthens the ability of the TRWA to work with and provide information to the Environmental Protection Agency. The goal is to ensure that harmful levels of nitrogen and other pollutants in the river and its tributaries are reduced.
Abrahamson continues, “We also monitor groundwater levels and promote water conservation in local communities and assess barriers throughout the watershed and the species affected by the river flow.” One of the main focuses of the TRWA is the monitoring and protection of the threatened Diamondback Terrapins. Abrahamson explains, “We work in partnership with Mass Wildlife and Bristol County Agricultural High School to assess the population of the terrapins in the watershed. They are very threatened by human development and they also have a large number of predators. Volunteers participate in nest watching along the rivers, and if nests are particularly vulnerable, we carefully remove the nests, put them into bins, and transfer them here to the Bruce Spooner Education Center to hatch safely. We can get them over the first hurdles to a point where survival is more likely.”
Another focus of the TRWA is nothing new to those of you who have heard or read about the work the Jones River Watershed Association, North and South Rivers Watershed Association, and every other local watershed organization is focused on -water flow and quality improvement via the removal of outdated, unnecessary, and harmful dams.
Stephen Silva, Corporate Clerk and Board Member of the TRWA, has a Civil/Environmental Engineering background from the University of Vermont, and an Associate of Science in Offshore Marine Technology from the Florida Institute of Technology. Silva offers his time and expertise on a constant basis to the TRWA and the gathering and evaluation of data as well as spearheading dam removal projects. Though the Taunton River itself is dam-free, its tributaries are not.
Silva explains why the removal of these dams is crucial to our watersheds, “What we find is the area behind the dams revert to healthy streams quickly, and fish and wildlife do much better. Anadromous fish, like herring, are food for many fish and birds that come upstream. Flood risk is reduced by removing dangerous dams and reopening flood plains which were flooded in the former impoundments.”
Silva has been a part of various dam removals and has seen firsthand the drastic difference restoring water flow makes to water and ecosystem quality. “The Three Mile River dam removal project was one of the bigger ones in our watershed -three dams were removed and a state-of-the-art fish ladder was put on the last dam at Lake Sabbatia. That has enhanced the Three Mile River which runs right through the heart of Taunton. It improved water quality and fish passage.”
There have been smaller dam removals as well, including one that is personal to Silva. “One of the dam removal projects was on the Cotley River -which is right near where I sample. I have actually seen the benefits when that dam came out -the water quality improved -you could see it visually, never mind my sampling.” Another significant and recent dam removal was in the Town River in Bridgwater. “The Town River Bridge Removal was a very big project,” says Silva, “and that really opened up the river and it allows fish passage into Lake Nippenicket.”
None of the data, or projects it spearheads and supports, would be possible without the volunteers that work with Silva. He explains, “We sample twenty sites once a month, and we have 40 volunteers that go out on the second Tuesday of the month. We were just out this morning sampling.” Information on becoming a volunteer, or even looking up and monitoring the data collected to satisfy your own curiosity, can be done on the website. “If you go to the homepage”, Silva explains, “Go to ‘Watershed News’ and you can see the results of our sampling. It explains the water quality, the accomplishments to date, and also the future goals of stormwater management.”
Of course, one of the key elements to assure longevity and success for organizations like the TRWA is education and outreach. The TRWA is dedicated to taking their mission out into the community and teaming up with other local groups and organizations to promote and support their mission. “We have a number of educational programs that get people involved and engage children. One of our collaborations is ‘Learning in Concert’ where we have collaborated with members of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra who present a narrated 40-minute musical performance which brings the ecosystem to life,” Abrahamson goes on, “This is a program for children, ages 7-10, to learn about the connectivity of living parts in a salt marsh ecosystem, as well as among musical parts in a piece of music.”
In addition, the TRWA makes great effort to offer education to and involvement with local libraries. “Right now, we have a grant in place which makes our public library outreach programs free,” says Ambrahamson, “Children can also be involved in helping with the terrapin monitoring program as long as they are accompanied by an adult.”
One of the TRWA biggest public events is the Taunton River Festival in June. Abrahamson explains, “The Taunton River Festival brings people together to celebrate the Taunton River and support local artists while learning more about the watershed in a fun, festival setting with food and vendors.” If you are looking for a way to support the TRWA from home while encouraging local photography, the TRWA publishes an annual Taunton River Tide Calendar that combines tide data with seasonal photography from the watershed. The photography is selected via a digital photography contest that is open to adult and teen photographers -amateur or professional.
The TRWA has certainly accomplished a great deal in terms of restoring and preserving their watershed, but there is always far more to do than to check off as “done”. Luckily, the team moving the alliance into the future has plenty of resolve and passion to accomplish their goals. “We are passionate about engaging with all members of the watershed,” says Abrahamson, “We are all connected and these programs and this alliance exist because it is important that we do this and learn together. It takes all of us. We are always interested in talking to community members and we really want to know, what can we bring to YOU?”
It is my personal hope that the last three weeks learning about our local waterways and the wonderful organizations that protect and preserve them have given a clearer picture of the vital role they play in our ecosystems and communities. We cannot separate ourselves from the ecosystem when we are such a large and impactful part of it. Water is as powerful and omnipotent in this world as it is fragile and vulnerable -meaning what we do with it can make or break us as a species. I am grateful for those who gave their time and energy to share these stories with our readers and I encourage everyone to learn about their local watershed and instead of waiting for them to ask what they can bring to you, ask what YOU can bring to THEM. You will be surprised at how much you are needed.
For more information and news about the TRWA, please visit:
www.tauntonriver.org
www.savethetaunton.org

Maya Angelou gave sound life advice when she said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” Time and again humans often make decisions without thinking about what those choices will do now and thereby, inadvertently or intentionally, pass off the repercussions to generations down the road to remedy and manage. As colonists spread throughout New England, this is what happened when over 3,000 dams were built in the midst of previously freely flowing rivers. Luckily, one of those generational members to inherit, remedy, and manage these obstructive relics and serve as a guardian and advocate for the Jones River watershed is Pine DuBois -Director of the Jones River Watershed Association in Kingston.
The Jones River Watershed came about the same way many environmentally focused nonprofits do: concerned and engaged citizens. In 1985, residents in the area were feeling the impact from decades of compounded damage to the quality and depletion of their basin water supply via mismanaged and manmade diversions impacting Silver Lake, as well as noting the long-term harm the many concrete dams had caused for centuries to local ecosystems. The Jones River watershed may be a small coastal ecosystem, but its relationship to the globally significant Gulf of Maine is closely tied and in need of regulating and protecting.
To help others understand the unique nature of the area, DuBois starts back in the Ice Age. “Thousands of years ago, an ice lobe a mile high began to move and retreat to the Jones River Valley. It created the current landscape and also, Silver Lake. Silver Lake is not a shallow pond like many in the area, it is 80ft deep at its deepest point! It was also the highest quality of water -until humans came along and started causing problems.” In 1899, Brockton obtained the legal rights to Silver Lake and unfortunately, its depletion and damage picked up shortly after. Between the 1920’s-50’s, the water supply began to run low -largely due to disruption from dams and high public strain on the supply in the area. “By 1960, Brockton was out of water, so they began diverting water from Monponsett and Furnace ponds -which polluted Silver Lake.”
In 1985, The Massachusetts Water Management Act (M.G.L. c. 21G) was enacted to address growing concerns about the sustainable use of the Commonwealth’s water resources. Still, there was a section in the act that allowed exceptions to be made for pre-existing water supply and demand issues, and Silver Lake was further stressed with limited natural resources. “They drained Silver Lake 38ft down from natural levels -a huge ecological trauma for the area,” says DuBois. Kingston is continually affected by the management of Silver Lake as it is 17% of their watershed, but much of this water is mismanaged and no longer flows into the Jones River, so the Jones River is in a constant drought. DuBois explains, “At 7 ½ miles long, the Jones River is the largest river draining into Cape Cod Bay, but the way Brockton is managing their water supply has a direct, negative impact on three rivers and three bays: Narragansett Bay, Mass Bay, and Cape Cod Bay. Silver Lake is one of the 12 largest natural lakes in the state and we are misusing a geological treasure.”
One of the biggest pollutants of Silver Lake is Monponsett Pond. What were once seasonal summer cottages surrounding the water are now permanent, septic-bearing, year-round waste-contributing structures that have had devastating effects on the water quality and ecosystem. From 2020-2022, Plymouth County Water District completed a water quality study of Silver Lake and concluded that it was in the worst condition it had ever been in its thousands of years of existence. The study showed heavy amounts of phosphorus and nitrogen-loading cyanobacteria as well as invasive plants, all being introduced daily from polluted, diverted ponds. In addition, the Pittsfield site for the former GE facility, contributed extensively to the contamination of Silver Lake with their discharge methods and high concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB’s) and contaminated fill being placed on property that abuts the lake.
Though it may seem the fate of Silver Lake is beyond help, DuBois and the Jones River Watershed Association are working tirelessly to help remediate the damages caused to the water and intricate ecosystems established there. “We just have to keep watching and make note of things that don’t seem right and then get to the bottom of it and continue to push back locally for these towns to do the right thing. We have to make a fuss,” says DuBois. Thankfully, DuBois and her fellow volunteers are seeing signs of success in their efforts to restore balance and health to the region’s watershed. One of their main focuses in this mammoth effort is the removal of dams which would result in the restoration of natural migration and movement patterns for native animals in the waterways.
Historically, many dams in Massachusetts and beyond, served a crucial purpose (however ecologically unsound it was) for the development of the shipbuilding industry in the area. Mills and factories produced a variety of goods and products -largely for shipbuilding materials but also weaponry and everyday goods like shoes and tack. “People have always lived with the river,” says DuBois, “rivers give life in water, food supply, and industry, but using them to support communities didn’t always cause so much environmental damage.” DuBois explained that these dams used to be temporary, seasonal structures. “They would build the dams up in January, use them with the spring thaw and rains, then take them apart and let the rivers flow into wetlands that they would then farm for the rich soil.” In the late 1600’s however, a less seasonal approach took hold to allow increased production and profiting year-round and dams became concrete and permanent. As a result, animals like the herring and American eels that use the Jones River and other waterways in the area, were blocked from their natural patters of passage. This drastically altered the eels abilities and numbers in the ecosystem as well as the animals and plants that had an established codependency and symbiotic relationship with them. DuBois explains, “River herring and eels are ‘diadromous’ fish, meaning they spend part of their life in salt water and part in fresh water. Unblocking their pathways is one of the most important things we can do to restore our waterways.”
Eels are born somewhere out in the Sargasso Sea, out in the middle of the North Atlantic. The newborn eels make their way back to the eastern coast of the Americas and, for reasons unknown, they branch off and swim up thousands of different rivers along the coast. They migrate upstream as far as possible until they find a good, safe habitat to grow in. It has been recorded that female eels spend as much as 40 years in our local streams and lakes and can grow up to 5 feet. In the fall, the masses of eels slither back down the rivers and head out to the Sargasso to spawn, and thus begins the process again.
Eels also serve as crucial pest control as they are one of the greatest consumers of mosquito larva. While chemical sprays harm the environment around the mosquitoes -including the fish that eat the mosquitoes, eels eliminate large quantities of mosquito larva in addition to the fish consuming large amounts of grown mosquitoes that are able to hatch. DuBois raises American eels back at the Jones River Watershed headquarters and releases them into areas of the river where dams will not inhibit their passage. “I have released about 5,700 eels into these waterways,” says DuBoise, “They are doing well where we have released them and that gives me hope.”
Perhaps the best-known creature of the waterways in the area, largely thanks to the indigenous communities’ successful public advocacy and celebration of them, is the herring. Herring population and well-being have long been a staple focus for local watershed associations. DuBois remarks, “The explorers and colonists came to this area for the timber and also for the fish! We had so much cod that we made an entire industry for it. One of the things people don’t know is that cod eat herring. If you care about the local fishing industry, you need to care about the herring and therefore the local waterways.”
So what, exactly, is being done right now to help the eels, herring, and other aquatic animals and plants be able to once again move freely up and down the waterways? DuBoise, who is standing across from me at Forge Pond dam, points out several things the Jones River Watershed Association is working on. “Overall, we want the dams gone. They need to be taken out, but it is a careful process and it costs a lost of money, so it is a slow battle for each one. In the meantime, we have made fish ladders. The Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) has been able to acquire the ability to require fish passage at dams, so we are getting help making and placing these ladders. They are measured and made to be positioned in water deep enough for the fish to swim up them, but also high enough to help them jump the dam. Still, not every species of fish jumps well -herring do, luckily, so they have been able to make some movement even when dams are still there.” A section of the Forge Pond dam has been removed but the process of cleaning up the residual build up of muck since its construction in 1905 is no small feat. “We have a dredge machine coming to clear this pond. It is a 20ft pontoon boat with an electric motor, a suction pump, and a hose. It is going to suck up the 3-4ft deep mud deposits blocking up this pond and potentially the river, and then shoot it out onto the banks which will nourish and feed the trees and plants along the banks.”
So far, the Jones River Watershed Association has removed two dams in the area. DuBois states, “We removed the Wapping Road dam in 2011, and the Elm Street dam in 2019. After taking underwater video surveillance and conducting studies at these sites post dam removal, the fish and animals came right back and started doing what they had been blocked from doing for so long. It is very promising to see how quickly nature starts to set itself right when we just get out of the way and let it do its thing.”
Even the headquarters for the Jones River Watershed Association is not immune to the danger and destruction of modern-day environmental practices and climate instability. Upon entering the Headquarters at Jones River Landing and Environmental Heritage Center -an unassuming and nearly tucked-away building snuggled up against the Jones River inlet, the viewer is met with enough pictures, maps, memorabilia, knickknacks, books, banners, papers, and chairs and tables to be instantly intrigued. An aquarium of baby eels sits near the back of the entrance area flanked by a tank of mosquito larva for their feeding.
Through the lively, and obviously well-loved gathering room, there is a boat-making workshop stocked with materials for making beautiful 19th century lobster boats and boat restoration. As we tour the busy building, DuBois points out that its very existence is becoming a battle. “When the tides get too high, which they do often now, and especially during Nor’easters, the water comes right up into the building -knee deep sometimes. I mark the water levels with each flood, and as you can see it is getting higher each time. There has been a lot of structural damage so far, and we had drawn up future plans to make it a floating building -like homes in New Orleans, but according to the water-level-rise studies and predictions for this area, that won’t even work.” How ironic that the headquarters where some of the most important discussions and decisions about our watershed and waterways takes place, is threatened by the unnatural alterations of the very waters they are working so hard to protect.
Still, there is always the argument of hope. “It is worth it -doing this. It matters so much,” says DuBois, “Our job and hope is to make people think -to trigger the process. These are millennially important natural resources and absolutely everything we do to them and for them -good and bad, matters. These issues will affect our lives and our future generations and so I just keep working at it and keep trying to wake people up.”
As I leave the headquarters and stand on the boat dock on the beautiful Jones River, a Great Blue Heron takes off from the banks. It soars upward -likely to where the great wall of ice used to reach, and it is impossible to not be overwhelmed, in a beautiful way, by the story of this place -to marvel at the mere thought of the chapters of transformation it has undergone through centuries and eons. It makes me want to be sure that my addition to the current chapter is one that won’t need to be remedied or healed from in the future, and if Pine DuBois has taught me anything about nature today, it is that I can best do that by getting out of the way and letting it take its course.

In an ideal world, humans would coexist with nature rather than try to champion over and manipulate it for our own interests and purposes. The concept of “give back equal to or more than you take” would be balanced out, and would replace the current way our society runs which is more by the philosophy of “take, take, take and when it eventually comes to harm you, then give a little back.” We have become comfortable with finite, unsustainable, inconsiderate plans that have catastrophic costs. Then, we often turn away from facing and fixing the understandably overwhelming realities we have shaped and created in our ecosystems.
People are busy lip-syncing on social media, but don’t bother to spend time learning things like where their water comes from or how their daily activities directly affect it. Many of us are so busy getting to and from jobs and commitments that we drive right past tree-hidden streams, marshes, and ponds tucked off the side of the roads that impact our daily life. I, too, am numbered as such. It is a fortunate thing, indeed, that there are also people in our communities working tirelessly to address, study, heal, and protect our local ecosystems -people like Samantha Woods, Executive Director of the North and South Rivers Watershed Association.
The NSRWA was created in 1970 by a group of South Shore residents who wanted to preserve and protect the watershed’s natural beauty -both for their own use and for generations to come. What began as a group of 400 South Shore residents has grown to over 1,900 members. The initial movement behind the formation of NSRWA was a Scituate resident named Jean Foley. She was birdwatching around the North River salt marshes and noticed that two types of sparrows she often spotted there were missing. Foley suspected perhaps the new Driftway condo development built along the marsh was a possible cause. She started to look for answers and rallied local water resource specialists, state environmental agency employees, a wildlife biologist, an attorney, and local conservation commission members, and other residents of watershed towns to join the cause. Jean, and her Husband Jack, had a meeting that spring to address the current state, and future of, local waterways and thus began the NSRWA.
Over fifty years later, the NSRWA is a well-established, local, grassroots, non-profit environmental organization made up of thousands of South Shore citizens who donate time, resources, and funds to restore, preserve, and protect our local watershed and waterways and the local ecosystems around them. NSRWA focuses on three main areas to achieve their goals: Education, Engagement, and Lead by Example.
“Healthy watersheds require working with communities to restore our rivers and waterways. We realize that in order for people to want to protect things, they need to understand them. This is why we focus on education in the community,” Woods explains. “The Water All Around You school program, sponsored by WaterSmart (a non-profit partnership with the NSRWA) provides water-based education to local fifth graders in South Shore schools. We provide 3D models showing how water moves across their towns, how pollution travels and ends up in our rivers, and how dirty water gets treated.” The Water All Around You program provides students tours of their local water treatment plants where they also learn how to conserve water by making small changes.
During the winter months, people can further their education about waterways by participating in the Waterwatch Lecture Series. “These are online and in person lectures with a variety of themes and experts to teach about our waterways and their histories -even about gardening and learning how to manage our gardens in a more eco-friendly way. We help homeowners learn how to make their yards less of a strain on water resources and the environment,” says Woods.
In addition to providing many opportunities to learn about our watersheds, NSRWA also educates the community on how to be on the water and understand how our water systems work in the landscape. Their River Adventures Camp teaches children how to kayak, practice water safety, and explore the natural and cultural history of the North and South Rivers. If you are looking to learn more and wish to connect with NSRWA for group learning opportunities, the River Ambassador Volunteers are available to speak to community groups about their outdoor activities, educational programs, and advocacy work to protect the waters. Woods, ecologist Alex Mansfield, and NSRWA environmental educator Brian Taylor, are happy to speak to groups and organizations.
The second focus for NSRWA is perhaps its most alluring for the average citizen: Engagement. The NSRWA provides a wide array of hands-on, close up, personal, and first-encounter experiences for all ages to learn about and participate in the health and preservation of our waterways. “We focus greatly on our engagement programs -programs that use citizen science and outdoor participation to help people become aware of and familiar with the water in our communities,” says Woods. “We offer programs to get people outdoors to have hands-on experiences. We want to get kids outside hiking, fishing, and on the water as well as help them be active participants in our scientific studies.”
The Estuary Explorers Program is one of many unique opportunities to get children engaged. Participants will learn first-hand about the science of rivers, watersheds and estuaries in outdoor day trips on boats. For many children, this is their first time on the North River -the only scenic protected river in Massachusetts. The program visits the salt marsh, sand flats, mud flats, and barrier beaches of the North River, and children learn about the ecology of a salt water estuary. At a shifting sand flat called “the Spit,” children examine tide pool creatures and observe a variety of animals including invasive green crabs, Asian shore crabs, sea stars, and birds. On land exploration or a pontoon river boat trip, the team teaches children to collect data on water quality and marine life using scientific tools to study river salinity, and marine and local ecology. There is even a beach scavenger hunt. Remarkably, this program is free of cost due to a generous donation from The Michele E. Dufault Foundation.
Woods is also eager to help the communities on the South Shore learn about and become engaged in a pressing and widespread issue in our local watershed systems -dams and the plight of the herring. “We do a lot of things to engage the community and we ask them to be citizen scientists -observing their waterways and collecting data -counting what they see and reporting it to us. We do horseshoe crab counts, herring counts, bay restoration, observation of invasive species, and salt marsh monitoring -all using the collected data from volunteering, observing citizens.” Woods Explains, “But one of the biggest things we need help with, and to focus on, is dam removal and the restoration of natural waterways for the herring and other native species.”
Dams have long been a part of the New England landscape since colonists arrived with industry. Dams were originally seasonal -built for a few months to power mills and then dismantled to allow the return of herring flow, and then the wetlands created from the flooding were farmed due to the enriched soil. When society began to industrialize in the late 1800’s, dams became concrete and permanent -also permanently detrimental to native species moving up and down the rivers and to and from the ocean and other waterways.
“There are about 3,000 dams in Massachusetts -leftover relics,” says Woods, “they were the electricity before electricity. They stopped up the rivers and created local ‘ponds’ that have formed their own ecosystems, but they are not natural or conducive to the migration and natural patterns of local species -especially the herring, and they create stagnant water environments. Through our own studies and citizen science over the years, we have learned just how impacted the populations are by these unnatural dams -which were rendered quite useless with electricity established in most places by the 1920’s and when mills stopped being used.”
Currently, local watershed associations are focusing efforts and resources on dismantling these unnecessary and detrimental structures -often with a great deal of resistance from local organizations and institutions and with the obstacle of large expenses and lack of enough funding. Overall, 15% of available habitat has been re-opened but 77% is still blocked by dams, and only four of the sixty-five dams in the North and South Rivers Watershed have been removed. In an attempt to find a way forward in the immediate future, watershed associations are also proposing altering the dams by at-least partially dismantling areas that will allow some species to move freely up and down the waterways without obstruction.
The third focus of NSRWA is to lead by example. In keeping with their goal, NSRWA offers plenty of chances to interact and learn from them in a social, community setting. Woods assures there is something for everyone. “We have yoga at the river edge, kayaking instruction and excursions, library lectures, photography exhibits, and a walking club where you can meet up with other NSRWA members on guided walks through trails and learn about the area with expert hosts.”
One of the largest events for NSRWA is The Great River Race taking place August 9. “This is the 36th year of the race. This is a non-motorized vehicle race where you can compete with others on the river. We recommend this for people who have some experience paddling as the total mileage is 8.5 miles to the take out,” says Woods, “It is a big fundraiser for our environmental education and outdoor programs.”
For South Shore residents to get involved, Woods recommends first making sure to contact and support your immediate local watershed organization. “Join the mailing lists, follow the online calendars, and go to events,” Woods advises, “There is the Jones River Watershed Association and the Taunton River Watershed Alliance that also cover this area of southern Massachusetts -everyone should know which one they live in and support them first.”
Whatever watershed association you are a part of, they are all crucial, connected, and deserving of far more attention, effort, and funding than our communities give them. “What happens on a small scale will eventually happen on a large scale,” warns Woods, “We hope that people not only learn about these important places, but also learn the joy they bring when we get outside and appreciate them.” Perhaps this summer, we can collectively commit to take a look at that nearby stream we usually only glance at and learn about where it comes from, where it goes, and what lives in and depends on its health. You will undoubtedly be led on a meandering journey of your own and be quite surprised at how big a role you play in the state of life around you.

For more information about the North and South Rivers Watershed Association, Inc., please visit: www.nsrwa.org

“Strength” is a multifaceted word. Often times it denotes a sense of isolation or individuality -we see individuals, entities, and classify them, sometimes unjustly, as weak or strong. This misunderstanding of strength is harmful and dangerous, and Steve Littlefield of Halifax knows better. He understands that strength often comes in numbers and in packages looking a lot like community, family, and facing your biggest challenges with plans and tools instead of coping mechanisms.
The things that qualify Littlefield as someone who knows about strength and survival ca bring even the most resilient of people to dark places. War, emergencies, death, danger, injury -the heaviest things a person can carry, and all of it on repeat -day after day, year after year. Littlefield, however, has found his way through it all and, along the way, has found what works for him. He also knows that it might work for others, too.
Littlefield grew up in Halifax and, as of April 2026, is a retired Army Sergeant First Class with over 25 years of military experience. His combat deployments included Iraq in 2004 and Afghanistan in 2010. Littlefield also served as a Commander and Fire Marshal for the 179th and 180th Engineer Detachments during the COVID-19 pandemic. After military service, he served as a corrections officer and a police officer on Cape Cod, and he is the current Veteran Service Officer for Halifax as well as pursuing his masters in Mental Health Counseling from Bridgewater State University. In addition to this, Littlefield is the founder of The Veterans Next Step Foundation -a nonprofit dedicated to supporting veterans with mental health services and emergency assistance. He is also the Operations Manager for The Anchor Within Counseling and Wellness Center. His debut book, The Rucksack We Carry -A Field Manual for Veterans and First Responders, was released June 1 of 2026 with the aim of helping people in these intense professions learn to feel comfortable with and seek out assistance with their mental health.
When Littlefield joined the army in 2000, he could not have adequately imagined what would be asked of him. “These fields of work teach you how to accumulate this weight on your shoulders, they don’t teach you how to set it down or that it is okay to need help carrying it,” Littlefield explains. In addition to the trauma witnessed and experienced in combat duty, serving in local law enforcement and emergency services locally comes with its own mental health cost. “We are there for what is, often, the worst day of peoples lives. That starts to accumulate in you and leaves negative physical symptoms. We are there to be the help, and so sometimes it is hard to need the help,” says Littlefield.
Upon returning from overseas military service, Littlefield found himself consumed with managing chronic PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Experiences in combat and under high pressure situations day and night left Littlefield at a loss as to how one navigates daily life with decades of accumulated stress and, as his book calls them, “unthinkable moments” that people would give anything to forget living and thriving freely inside the mind and manifesting as physical maladies. “After I returned home, I started to think about mental health in a new way. I thought less about the clinical side and more about how responsibility, stress, trauma, and the quiet accumulation of pressures build over time. I wanted to not only understand these things, I wanted to do something about them,” Littlefield explains.
Littlefield also found himself at a crossroads in life about what was going to come next for him and his family after two decades of high-stress, high-risk professions. “I was staring into the next chapter of life and in reflecting on what I was transitioning from, I began to write down experiences and feelings and thoughts for myself. I wrote things that had been sitting in me for a while that needed to work themselves out onto paper. It was never intended to be the beginnings of a book, but that is where it took me,” says Littlefield.
Once Littlefield was made the Veteran Services Officer for Halifax and began to connect with fellow veterans in the community, he realized his feelings and experiences were obviously common among service members -past and present, but he was made acutely aware that they were not dealt with, acknowledged, or discussed freely within these circles of people who were, nevertheless, suffering. In addition to journaling his thoughts and experiences, he began to share these experiences, struggles, and triumphs with others. This ignited a passion to try to help change the way mental health is viewed and dealt with in military and law enforcement services.
Littlefield states, “Overall, there are better mental health services in the military and law enforcement fields, but the problem is there is still such a stigma around mental health and in needing help to manage it. It is seen as weakness to ask for help or admit that you need it.” According to the latest data, over 30% of veterans meet the criteria for mental health disorders as opposed to 19% of the general population. The suicide rate for veterans is 57% higher in the general adult population than the non-military serving population. These are numbers based entirely off of people who have sought help or are being treated -many of which are not -therefore, accurate percentages are much higher for these statistics.
Littlefield decided it was time to do more than journal and talk with others, and began pursuing a masters in mental health counseling. With his experiences and perspectives in the fields of military and law enforcement, combined with a higher education in the field of mental health, Littlefield is equipped to relate to, as well as understand and advise, in a way that someone who hasn’t experienced such high levels of prolonged trauma and stress might not be able to do. “The things I am learning can help others overcome and cope and they give me insight that is needed in the field,” he says,” I want to help others answer the question, ‘What do we do with all this?’ and facilitate people feeling comfortable enough to ask for help and follow through on it.”
After a year of writing down his thoughts and experiences, combined with the knowledge accumulating as a graduate student, Littlefield decided to self-publish his book. “When I am passionate about something I get really focused, so it was a relatively quick process, but within a year I published the book. It was released June 1. I got software that helped me format for publication and had to learn on the fly, but it worked out and it has been well received.”
The Rucksack We Carry is not meant to be a book to treat or diagnose, it is a mental health manual comprised of experiences and learned tools specifically geared toward those serving or who have served in the military or law enforcement. A quote from the book reads: “Unlike an everyday backpack, a rucksack is built to carry heavy loads over long journeys -much like the professional lives we lead. Over time, even the best-fitting rucksack will dig into your shoulders and strain your back if you never stop to adjust it,” says Littlefield, ppxvii, The Rucksack We Carry.
Littlefield breaks down the levels of traumatic or heavy experiences into classifications based on intensity and/or danger of the event. There are “pebbles” which comprise of everyday wear and tear experiences that come with the job such as the never-ending radio chatter, broken military equipment that doesn’t ever seem to get fixed, or the third call in the middle of the night for a malfunctioning carbon-monoxide detector. These things are minor and don’t seem like much on their own, but the issue is their persistence with no let up.
Moving onto larger and more pressing burdens is the classification of “rocks”. These are heavier incidents that make a lasting impact on you. “Rocks” for these professions include things like a convoy that came back missing people and the following duty to inform the families of those lost, pulling someone out of a burning building only to realize they already passed away, or sitting with someone hearing their terminal diagnosis and watching their reaction. “You can still function with rocks in your rucksack,” says Littlefield, “but they are heavy and they make it really hard to do so.”
Lastly are what Littlefield calls “boulders”. These are life altering moments that physically alter your chemistry and mental health capacity. Examples of “boulders” personnel may have to carry are losing a friend or experiencing military sexual trauma, having to draw and use your weapon to take someone’s life, responding to a call as an EMT involving your own family or friends and not being able to help them, or any mass-casualty event where no matter your efforts, there were not enough resources to save everyone.
Following the classification of levels of trauma or stress experienced in these fields, Littlefield spends a great deal of time deconstructing and reconstructing how to manage and work through the aftermath of them -not shortsighted that the mental and physical responses of the individual are one and the same and connected. “In this line of work, sometimes it is seen as weak to admit that things have gotten too heavy to manage on a daily basis. I want people to see that not only is that not true, its dangerous. Ignoring trauma and mental health is like ignoring an infection,” Littlefield explains. In his book, Littlefield constructs a series of “myths” vs “reality checks” concerning common hindrances that come up with people avoiding dealing with their mental health. The unique aspect of this approach is that Littlefield can offer the reality check as someone who was the one checked by reality. “I did a lot of things the wrong way -I didn’t have the tools to cope at first and I made a lot of mistakes. This means I really know what doesn’t work as well as what can work for people.”
The Rucksack We Carry outlines the various levels of support needed in the healing process. “Of course, these things need to be dealt with first on an individual level -admittance, accountability, and finding ways to center yourself through things like breathing, mindfulness, and taking care of yourself. After that, it is about peer support from family and friends. Oftentimes, it is our spouse or sibling or parent who notices you aren’t yourself and brings it up. It is important to know how to let others see you and not get defensive when they take note of your struggles.
In addition to individual and peer/community/family support, Littlefield makes a clear statement that leadership in these fields holds a great responsibility for the mental state of those serving under them. “The leaders in these fields largely set the tone for how trauma and stress are dealt with. Unfortunately, many leaders out there still hold on to this myth that if you need help you are a weak link and a problem, and this might keep struggling people from seeking the help they need. A true leader is one who fosters an open dialogue and safe environment for people to share their reality -what they are really feeling and going through. Additionally, being a leader is a huge responsibility and stressor, and leaders in these fields need to realize they aren’t meant to entirely carry others rucksacks in addition to their own, they just need to let them know they don’t have to carry it alone.”
Littlefield covers the various steps in mental health recovery until the last and often most avoided step: Seeking professional help. “Again, people need to understand that if your body is unwell in any other way, you are normal and fine to go see a doctor dealing with those symptoms. Mental health is no different. There is no shame in calling in reinforcements -especially when we are dealing with things that the human mind is simply not meant to have to process and manage frequently. The truly courageous and brave thing to do is to ask for professional help. That is being strong -not refusal and denial that can end up hurting yourself and even those you love.
Littlefield concludes, “I just want to be able to help others -not in an entirely clinical way, but as a friend with compassion and understanding. I want people to know that things like this are not meant to be handled alone, and that there are so many people going through similar things. It is important to talk about them and share ways we have found to get through them. It takes true courage to cope.” If there is a theme noticed when speaking with Littlefield, it is his frequent use of the word “help”, and jumping from decades of high-stress careers that took a great personal toll, to education and awareness so that others wouldn’t have to feel alone, proves him a hero of the most needed and best kind -the empath.
For more information on where to purchase the book, The Rucksack We Carry, as well as upcoming events prompting the book, please visit: www.therucksackwecarry.com