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Town of Milford Updates
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The Milford Town Hall is now open to the public. Although all departments will be open, they encourage residents to continue to conduct business remotely whenever possible. Online payments ( Tax bills, Dog Licenses, DBA's, Birth\Death\Marriage Certificates, Past Due Excise On Warrant and Parking Violations through Kelley & Ryan Municipal ePayment System)
can done on the town's website for your convenience.
All in person business or meetings must have an appointment, please schedule those appointments with the individual Town Hall departments. Phone numbers for each department can be found here.
We are implementing a number of measures to ensure the safety of all employees and visitors to the Town Hall, including social distancing and PPE requirements, enhanced cleaning protocols, and capacity limitations. Please plan to wear a face mask or face covering when entering and conducting business,
guidelines can be found on our website.
The only entrance open will be our
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessible entrance located on the Court Street side of Town Hall. Upon entering, a receptionist will greet you at the entrance and inquire about the business you need to conduct and connect you with your scheduled appointment.
For all other Town and local COVID-19 updates, please visit the Town of Milford, MA website. For Massachusetts COVID-19 testing locations, click here. Also check out up-to-date information at Milford TV (information available in Spanish and Portuguese). For the Town Clerk's July newsletter, click here.
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MYC Programs Update: August 2020
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 Happy August everyone! As of now, there is no decision on how the After School Program will operate and/or open come the new school year. The Youth Center, Youth Commission and Town will make an announcement after there is a decision on how and whether the schools will be opening for the beginning of the school year. MYC staff have been and will continue to meet with the Town, including personal from the Milford Public Schools and the Board of Health, to make a decision that is in the best interest of the community and the Youth Center. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
This month we will be continuing with some small group and virtual programming! Small Group Programs include:
- Martial Arts with Anthony Miele every Monday through Aug. 17th
- Arts & Crafts with Joanna Abrantes every Wednesday through Aug. 19th
- Ultimate Frisbee with Elizabeth Siber every Thursday through Aug. 20th
There will be limited supplies for the art sessions so please sign up now if
interested! We currently have 3 more spots for the last few weeks of our Summer Art session, 1 more spot for the last few of weeks of our Summer Martial Arts program provided by Anthony Miele from Lone Wolf Kajukenbo Karate Studio, and several spots open for Summer Ultimate Frisbee Program provided by BUDA!
For anyone interested in signing up for Martial Arts, Arts & Craft Sessions, or Ultimate Frisbee, please call 508-473-1756 at least a week before the next session! For PDF of calendar, click
here
.
Along with all of our small group programs we will also be offering Virtual Southwick zoo every Monday in August, Virtual STEAM sessions on 8/4 & 8/18 with part time staff member Kenny Duong, Virtual FFPN Studio with Daniel Harlow every Wednesday in August, Virtual Basketball tips on 8/6 with part time staff member Josh Connolly, Virtual Arts & Crafts on 8/11 with part time staff member Reagan McGrath, Virtual Softball tips with part time staff member Kelley Reichert, Virtual Arts & Crafts on 8/20 with part time staff member Adrianna Crisafulli and Virtual Fishing every Friday with Nick Harkins all at 2:00 pm! So, keep checking our social media, website and Milford TV's local access channels for all of our programs! You can also still help the Milford Youth Center by creating virtual programs of skills, hobbies or activities that you would like to share with everyone! You might even be featured on Milford TV!
Thanks to the outreach of support from our volunteers, staff, Milford TV, and our other community members we have been able to continue to offer virtual programs on our
Facebook page
, the Milford TV app for your phone and/or on the Milford TV local access channel (Comcast (channel 8) or Verizon (channel 38) if you live in Milford)! You now can participate in some of our short virtual tutorials, crafts, activity ideas and other programs right from home. Programs/times may be subject to change based on volunteer availability.
You can also check out any previous programming
here
!
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Milford Community Telethon Thank You!
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We want to thank everyone who made the 2020 Summer Community Telethon possible! A huge thank you to the Director of Milford TV, Liz Harkins, and staff for everything you do for the Center and for the larger community as a whole! This Virtual Telethon could not have happened without you!
Th
ank you to everyone who submitted a video/performance: Marshashana Yoga, Karen Kelley, Michaela Taylor, Joseph Marcello, The Pub Kings, Jenn Tefft, Jim Ligor, Natalie Sining and Vern Thayre.
Thank you to everyone who donated baskets/items including items that were originally intended for our St. Patrick's Day Fundraiser: Ariea Bryan of Amazon, Ed & Sharon Donnelly, Beth Fraunfelter, Courtney & Mike Walsh, Patty Mulcahy Miles, Carrie McGrath, Petruska Family, Chris Ward, Joan Ward, Leanne Velky, Cheryl Zarcone, Bunny Porter, Dulude Family, Sandy Caproni, Kate Poitras, Anaisa Carnerio, Sam Calagione, Chuck Calagione, Carly Nyland Fauth,
Bellagente Salon Inc.
FFPN Studio Simply Charming Upscale Resale, and Teacher's Driving Academy! We appreciate all of your support and can not thank you enough for your generosity! We would like to especially thank Darlene Dulude who helped make all the baskets themes and to put them together for us!
 Thank you to those who made monetary donations, including the Shain Family, Mary DiAntonio and Barbara Brashier! Also, thank you to the numerous individuals who donated towards our baskets! Don't forget you can still take home some awesome items still available (30 total), as long as you connect with us by phone, email or comment on the image on Facebook! For remaining items, click
here.
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Thank You Milford Police Dept.!
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As many of you know, we have been collaborating with the Milford Police Department (MPD) well before the coronavirus pandemic, whether it was participating in a friendly basketball or softball game during one of our Telethons, attending our community events and/or visiting the kids during the After-School program.
In true fashion they have continued to show their support for our community even in such precarious times by not only keeping our community safe but also providing virtual programming for our members and helping the Milford Youth Center bring birthday gifts and gift giveaways provided by Amazon and
the United Way of Tri-County's "Project Toy Box" to over 80 of our youth
members. When asked to help we had immediate support from the MPD, especially the Special Ops Unit, who has been present at every birthday/ gift giveaway parade; allowing us to reconnect with our community and youth members. We have continuously seen them take time out of their days to bring joy to our community when we needed it the most. We have been collecting "thank you" messages from our youth members/families and several from Miss Fahey's Team 8 - Grade 5 class at Woodland Elementary School since April who were given the assignment to write an acrostic poem for their ELA class, (a poem where certain letters in each line spell out a word or phrase) and we were able to finally share them to the Milford PD with a board we made for the station! You can check out the messages and photos
here
as well!
Even in these times where we cannot ignore the systemic social injustices being experienced and witnessed throughout the country, we want our community to know they have a local police dept that supports our mission to provide a safe environment that promotes self-esteem, builds character, and fosters the notion of community and the importance of respecting and serving others. We are all stronger together! Thank you again Milford PD for keeping us safe and helping our community stand strong together!
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 MYC families and community members, we are hoping to see you soon, whether it is participating in some of our small group on-site activities and/or during a rental! The Milford Youth Center is currently open, by appointment only, for small group rentals through August 14th. Rentals will continue again after the gym floor is refinished (TBD) at the end of August. Please note, guidelines are subject to change with State and Town decisions):
As we are continuing to adjust during this unprecedented time, here is some information on rental space this summer
:
- Renters must abide by all CDC, state & local compliance guidelines;
- Rental times between 1 pm - 8 pm, Monday through Friday;
- Weekends available but must pay additional custodial fee for proper sanitation;
- (2) Half Gym and batting cages available- Adult over the age of 21 must be the renter;
- Social distancing must be kept and proper PPE in use;
- Own equipment must be used;
- Groups must have phone meeting, emailed or scanned paperwork back and payment completed before requested rental date (payments can be made by credit card or cash/check mailed or dropped off);
- All scheduling is by appointment only!!!
For more information and to set up a meeting, please call Katie at 508-473-1756 or email if you have any questions at
[email protected].
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HOOP Crew Youth Basketball
Summer Clinics - 2 Weeks left!
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- MHS Varsity Boys Basketball Coach and director of Hoop Crew, LLC Paul Seaver, still has 2 weeks left of non-contact skills and drills clinics for youth boys and girls entering grades 3-9. Assisting him will be MHS Basketball Captains and Alumni. Sessions will be restricted to 10 players per side of the court so make sure your sign up quick!
Sessions will run Monday through Friday going through August 14th.
- There will be 3 morning and 3 evening sessions available:
- 9-9:45 am
- 10-10:45 am
- 11-11:45 am
- 4-4:45 pm
- 5-5:45 pm
- 6-6:45 pm
Sessions will begin and end promptly on time to allow for proper sanitation and transition between group entry.
All sessions will be held at the Milford Youth Center, located at 24 Pearl Street, Milford, MA. The price is $15 per session and participants
are welcome and encouraged to sign up for as many sessions per day and per week. Each player is required to register before sessions as there will be no walk-in registrations permitted! Each player must also bring their own basketball, water, and mask. A portion of each player's fee will be donated back to the Milford Youth Center! Check out the website here
for more information or email Paul Seaver here.
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Volunteer Spotlight: Elizabeth Siber!
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We are always looking for ways to thank our community and especially our volunteers! This month we would like to recognize the efforts of Elizabeth Siber!
Liz contacted us back in June about bringing an ultimate frisbee to Milford through the Boston Ultimate Disc Alliance (BUDA) Youth program, which has never been done before in Milford! This could not have come at a better time as we were just getting word that we could reopen our doors to small group programs and what better right now than a physical fitness program that can be done outside! Ultimate Frisbee is a great, easy to learn, self-regulated, inexpensive and inclusive sport. It promotes kindness and camaraderie more than anything else through the spirit of the game. In just 3 weeks we have already seem this mission being promoted by Liz and the kids have really taken to it. Liz has been so helpful through this precarious time and continues to help build confidence in the kids and even encourages them to start their own Ultimate Frisbee teams within the schools, promoting leadership and team-oriented skills along the way. Thank you so much for bringing this wonderful sport to the Milford Youth Center and we hope it continues to grow!
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We Need You(th) Pale Ale Available for Month of August at CraftRoots Brewery!
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We are so excited to announce that CraftRoots will be continuing the sale of their "We Need You(th)" pale ale for the month of August (as supplies last)! This special beer was brewed in May to raise funds for the MYC! For every purchase of a 32 oz squealer, $1 will be donated to the Center! Now that they are open they will also donate $0.50 from every pint ordered too! Finally, CraftRoots will be matching the proceeds made from this two month fundraiser!
We are so appreciative of our amazing community partner, CraftRoots, who reached out to help the Center back in May to find a way to support the Center during his difficult time. With no rental programs for the last 3 and half months and the postponed 10th Annual St. Pat's Fundraiser, our largest event of the year, Maureen and Robin, came up with this awesome idea to help support our program! Stop by CraftRoots for beer to-go or enjoy it in the taproom or at their outside beer garden!
Send us photos of you picking up your squealer so we can make sure we can thank you! Send them to our email
here or post them on social media and tag CraftRoots and the Center! Thank you to everyone who went already during the month of June and July!
Thank you CraftRoots! We hope to set a new date soon for our fundraiser, when it is safe to do so!
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MYC Thanks Community for Donations:
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The Youth Center would like to extend a very appreciative thank you to the following list who donated items and/or their time this month to the Center:
- Ariea Bryan & Amazon for multiple deliveries of misc. pet food, non-perishables, toys, games, clothing and goods, which allowed us to distribute to families, individuals and organizations in need;
- Paige Brown for donating DVD's, speaker/sound system, and rowing machine;
- Chris & Julie Ward for donating stools for the kitchen island;
 Sandra Caproni for donating misc. decorations for holiday's;- Koch Family for your generous monetary donation;
- Carlos Benjamin for helping with all our projects around the building;
- Milford TV for sharing our virtual programming;
- Jen from Infinite Pawz-Ibilities for working with Cora and the grant process to get her trained;
- MetroWest Health Foundation for Wayside Youth and Family Support Network's Trauma Intervention Services for providing a free training to help understand trauma and how we can support ourselves and those that we serve in the community;
 "We Need You(th)" Supporters for not only supporting the Milford Youth Center but for also supporting CraftRoots Brewing; Continued thank you to all volunteers submitting daily virtual programming for our kids!
The Youth Center relies on donations to help sustain our programs! Please contact the Center if you would like to donate or click here.
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Milford Summer Grab & Go Lunch Program
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Teachers Driving Academy (TDA) Update!
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The Teacher's Driving Academy (TDA) would like to share the following update: The RMV has allowed for web-based classroom instruction up until the end of August, during this time of the COVID-19 crisis. Many schools throughout the state may not be ready to support the web-based option at this time but here at TDA, we are ready to GO! We are offering the classroom instruction via web-cam for 5 weeks in a row. The only thing at this point that the RMV will not allow online is the FINAL EXAM. They are stating that this has to be done in person. We are CONFIDENT that this will change as this policy was just instituted a few days ago. The fee is only $119 and includes fee to RMV for your driver's education certificate. Click here to register for web-based virtual classroom. If you were already enrolled in for the standard classroom session, you can now switch to a virtual web-based format by clicking here.
Important Info:
- Virtual Web Based classes are Monday thru Friday, 10am-4pm
- On Tuesday of each week at 5pm, there will be a web-based parent class
- For all information visit the website here or email here.
The Milford Youth Center is pleased to partner with Teachers Driving Academy, who offers students a great program, at a reasonable price! We are very grateful for this partnership and the very appreciative of the estimated annual donation of over $25,000 each year!
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2020 Census Mobile Questionnaire Assistance "MQA" Program
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 The U.S Census Bureau would like to introduce the 2020 Census Mobile Questionnaire Assistance "MQA" program, which started July 13th and runs until September 18th. The intention of this program is to increase the response rate in low response/hard to count areas and help community members to respond to the census on the spot if they haven't responded yet. This program allows census staff to come to any location/event, any date that our partner chooses and thinks will have a good turn out. This could be at an unemployment office, food distribution site, churches, or some kind of socially distanced event. They have a variety of options for this program to allow everyone to feel safe and comply with all COVID-19 guidelines. Basically, they will ask your members if they have responded to 2020 Census yet; if yes, we will thank them for doing that; if no, we will ask if they want to respond with their help on their electronic devices. if you are interested in hosting MQA event at a location or to refer us to any other organization, please contact Elie Boutros, Partnership Specialist by email here or phone here: (401) 834-2272.
The results of the 2020 Census will help determine how hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding flow into communities every year for the next decade. That funding shapes many different aspects of every community, no matter the size, no matter the location.
Think of your morning commute: Census results influence highway planning and construction, as well as grants for buses, subways, and other public transit systems.
Or think of your local schools: Census results help determine how money is allocated for the Head Start program and for grants that support teachers and special education.
The list goes on, including programs to support rural areas, to restore
wildlife, to prevent child abuse, to prepare for wildfires, and to provide housing assistance for older adults. Curious about what other programs are impacted by census data? Download this report to see a full list.
As of July 31st, the self-response rate percentage for the town of Milford is at 68.6%, compared to Massachusetts at 64.9% and Worcester County at 66.5%.
The non-response follow up phase" sending census takers to visit addresses of those who didn't respond on their own" will start August 1- October 31! You can check the percentage changes on a daily basis on this link
here
.
For more information on the Census, click
here
. For a PowerPoint on info on the Census, click here.
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Milford Youth Center
Newsletter
August 2020
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