Editor:

The Chatham Ecumenical Council Helping Prevent Homelessness (CECH) extends sincere thanks to the partners who make our work possible. Providing support and resources to prevent homelessness before it occurs requires a strong, coordinated community effort, and we are deeply grateful for those who stand with us.

We appreciate the town of Chatham for its support through the human services grant program, and our faith partners — the United Methodist Church, St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, and Holy Redeemer Parish — whose parishioners continue to sustain CECH’s mission with generosity and care.

We also thank the sponsors of our Community and Connection event: Eastern Bank, Joan E. Aucoin, Ed.D., Guthrie Schofield Group, GotStryper, Cape Cod 5 and Chatham Village Market, as well as the Atwood House, whose professional and gracious staff hosted us.

As the requests for assistance grow, CECH continues to seek not only donations to keep pace with critical financial needs but also help from our community members to contribute their time and talents. Volunteers play a vital role in providing hope, stability and practical support to individuals and families in Chatham and surrounding communities. Please consider getting involved with CECH by visiting www.preventingcapehomelessness.org/volunteer.html.

We want the community to know that CECH is here to help provide emergency funds to individuals or families struggling with housing challenges due to financial hardships, medical bills or loss of employment. We provide services to the towns from Harwich to Provincetown.

If you know someone who is struggling to pay their rent, mortgage, or needs help with fuel or utilities, please encourage them to reach out to CECH. They can visit our website at PreventingCapeHomelessness.org and click on the “Get Help” button to apply online.

Please help us spread the word about CECH and our mission to prevent homelessness in our community before it occurs. We are here to help!

Erin Minichiello, president
Chatham Ecumenical Council Helping Preventing Homelessness

Editor:

For over 15 years, I have had the good fortune of working in real estate in and around the Mid Cape. It’s given my colleagues and me a front row seat to watch Cape Cod grow in smart ways — new homes, renovations and additions to existing homes, hotels and motels re-inventing themselves to attract new generations of visitors. One only has to look at the Chatham Bars Inn and the Wequassett Resort as great and recent examples of smart growth. Both places are now year-round destinations; not just boosting tourism and helping their respective towns economically but providing real opportunities for Cape Codders to become economically mobile, putting workers on true career paths, helping them to raise their families, send their kids to our schools and be good citizens all around. 

I am supporting the re-development project at Wychmere on Snow Inn Road, where many home renovations and additions have happened over the last several decades, because I think it’s the best example we have on Cape Cod right now of that smart growth. Throughout the public process of the Cape Cod Commission, the proponents of the project have proven that they are willing to listen and to change and to adapt to concerns they have heard along the way. And while doing so, they have committed to a healthier climate around Wychmere Harbor, vehicle mitigation and safer streets including Snow Inn Road and around Route 28, and a variety of efforts to boost our local economy. 

In December, when I testified before the Cape Cod Commission, I talked about the young people and families and how there is an obligation by all of us on Cape Cod now to give them the tools for a healthy society down the road — good career opportunities, good schools, good services, good healthcare. With this re-development, Wychmere will expand its operation into the shoulder seasons and do just that, providing good jobs, supporting local vendors and boosting other local businesses along the way. 

Anyone who knows local history knows that Snow Inn Road has been a destination for locals and tourists alike for over a century, a place where memories have been made for generations of families, friends and neighbors. The current Wychmere proposal will make new memories for current and future generations, and perhaps more importantly give future generations of Cape Codders an opportunity to economically thrive and raise their families. I urge all of us to come together in support to make it happen. 

Tony Guthrie 
Chatham

Editor:

To Democrats:

No one seems to be talking about the oil in the Arctic, but it's obvious that Trump is angling for more "liquid gold." His Secretary of State Pompeo in his first administration talked about how good for commerce it would be to have shipping lanes through the ice. But it wasn't about commerce, and Greenland isn't about national security. You have to imagine the worst about his intentions and prepare for what he will do, instead of just passively complaining about each new travesty. (You know he'll try to seize ballot boxes, right?) He wants the ice cap to melt. That's why he wants Venezuelan oil to be burned, and why he says "drill baby drill" off our coasts. With enough added heat in the atmosphere Greenland could become a summer beach resort. Putin also wants the oil. That's why Trump keeps stringing Zelensky along with proposed peace terms he knows are unacceptable, and why he doesn't increase sanctions. He has to stay on good terms with Putin so they can divide up the oil amicably.

Since Trump made himself the center of attention in 2016 you've ignored the climate change issue. It affects everyone and stopping it would benefit everyone. Look back at Al Gore's video from 2006, "An Inconvenient Truth." Show how much worse things could get, and show, with optimism, what people are doing to combat it.

Steven Atwood
Harwich

Editor:

The Harwich economy is fortunate to have robust resorts and seasonal destinations, and the Wychmere resort is no exception. They will increase their jobs number with this proposal, if approved. Further, they will also continue to bring great economic benefit to other businesses throughout Harwich, especially during the shoulder seasons.

As the closest property owner to Wychmere, I’d like to address a few areas directly where the facts have become lost by the project’s opposition.

Traffic concerns: Opponents claim that traffic on Snow Inn Road will worsen. This is simply not true. The project proposes that large passenger buses will no longer be allowed on site, and that deliveries be diverted to the commissary building on Route 28. The proponents petitioned the town to install speed tables to slow traffic. Time and time again, in any number of public meetings, these points have been made, and the opponents continue to disregard the undisputable facts. 

Environmental benefits: Wychmere is committed to preserving the coastal environment, notably stormwater management, including runoff from neighboring roads and properties, something abutting opponents refuse to acknowledge. Wychmere’s developer has taken great care to protect a site that has supported commercial use for over a century and is positioned to do so responsibly for another century.

In summary, critics and opponents of the project have described what they call a lack of public comment opportunity, which is simply not true. Like the proposal, the public process has been sound and reasonable, and the project deserves to move forward for the betterment of the community.

Vincent P. Helfrich, Jr.
Harwich

Editor:

Without professional or public input, following President Trump’s order, RFK Jr. eliminated CDC recommendations for childhood immunizations against hepatitis A and B, influenza, rotavirus and meningitis because the USA must match “20 peer nations,” especially Denmark (with only 11 vaccinations).

The USA has had similar recommendations (18) to Germany (16), Australia (15) and Japan (14). Two hundred medical groups are opposed, with six of the largest in court to stop it. I want to list likely outcomes for our children without these vaccinations.

Hepatitis A: usually asymptomatic in kids but months-long viral shedding can continue and infect adults with serious disease. The effective vaccine has few side effects.

Pre-vaccine 30,000 childhood cases of hepatitis B occurred yearly; 25 percent developed serious liver disease. Post-vaccine cases dropped 99 percent. Eighteen of 20 “peer nations” recommend vaccination.

Childhood influenza vaccine reduces hospitalizations by 67 percent, according to a 2024 NEJM review. RFK believes it does not, based on a flawed five-year-old study. Ninety percent of children who die are unvaccinated (five this year in Boston and 290 nationwide last year, both 20-year highs).

Rotavirus diarrhea hospitalized 70,000 infants and killed dozens yearly. The vaccine (recommended by 17/20 "peer nations") prevents at least 75 percent of cases.

Meningitis killed up to 1,000 people a year (15 to 30 percent of infections) with significant disability in survivors; vaccination has eliminated 90 percent. Fifteen “peer nations” recommend vaccination.

The FDA has announced future decisions will be made without input from professional groups or the public. Staff members who release information publicly will be fired and likely prosecuted.

This is RFK’s “gold standard science” and “radical transparency.”

Fitzhugh C. Pannill, MD FACP
Orleans