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(left to right) Ginny Monk,  Jacquen Byron,  Krista Neilson, and Jim Foster discuss the film and potential solutions to affordable housing. 28% of working families in Norwalk struggle to afford the basic cost of living. Norwalk’s Median Home Value has risen from $402,925 in 2017 to $629,874 in 2025. A $93,087 salary —that’s a $45.09 hourly wage— is considered low-income for one person. “I think we need to have a story to communicate and have a dialogue with regard to why affordable housing is valuable. It’s not a question of ‘Should we.’ It’s a question of 'How do we?'" said Jim Foster, the chair of Westport Affordable Housing Committee, yesterday night at Norwalk Community College. Foster was speaking in regards to not only Fairfield County, but the film “Room For Us? Confronting Nantucket’s Housing Crisis ." Presented by Fairfield County’s Community Foundation, in partnership with Norwalk Film Festival, Centers for Housing Opportunity and the Housing Collective, the...

Toys from Dollar Tree are displayed on a shelf.  The Westport Police Department, in partnership with the Police Athletic League and Police Benevolent Association, will host their annual Holiday Toy Drive on the first two weekends of December from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 1560 Post Road East, according to a press release. “We respectfully ask for your support and generosity to help create lasting memories for children in need in our community as we believe that every child deserves to feel the magic and joy of the holidays,” Lt. Anthony Prezioso said. Volunteers from the police department will be in the parking lot of ASF Sports and Outdoors, where they will also be accepting cash donations.  Those who are unable to make it can donate to the following toy box stations starting Dec. 1.: Westport Police Department, 50 Jesup Road, Westport, CT ASF Sports & Outdoors Store, 1560 Post Road East, Westport, CT Awesome Toys & Gifts, 429 Post Road East, Westport, CT The Toy Post, 180 ...

Volunteers (left to right) Nicholas Satta, Paul De Regt, Jessica Barszcz, Kristin Ysais, Michell Wallace, Rachel Morrison, Lauren Lengyel, and Jenny Louis stand in front of mobile food bank. BRIDGEPORT— Bridgeport Hospital, in partnership with CT Foodshare , will serve its 20,000th distribution of food at their mobile pantry, located at 267 Grant St., on Nov. 26 at 9 a.m., according to a press release.  “We are incredibly proud to reach this milestone,” said Gina Smith, manager of Community Health in the Office of Health Equity and Community Impact. “We see firsthand how many families in our community face challenges meeting their basic needs. Through partnerships like this one with CT Foodshare, we’re not just addressing food insecurity, we’re helping relieve stress for families and showing them that their community cares.” According to Feeding America , it is estimated that more than 516,000 Connecticut residents are food insecure. Of them, over 122,000 are children.  The in...

photo credit: Cait Malilay "Though hundreds of thousands had done their very best to disfigure the small piece of land on which they were crowded together, by paving the ground with stones, scraping away every vestige of vegetation, cutting down the trees, turning away birds and beasts, and filling the air with the smoke of naphtha and coal, still spring was spring, even in the town." - (Tolstoy 5) "Resurrection" was Leo Tolstoy's last written novel published in 1899. Told in the third person perspective, the book centers on a nobleman named Dmitri Ivanovich Nekhlyudov, whose values are tested when he by chance reconnects with someone from his past, someone he once loved and betrayed. The book's first chapter has strong similarities to that of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" with its opening passages of a prison and society focused on the fate of a fallen woman.  We are introduced to Maslova, also known as "Katusha," who i...

Max Vales (left) sits with his wife, Niquette Vales (right), of 56 years at Ramapo Activity Senior Center. photo credit: Aileen Miller, Manager of Ramapo Senior Activity Center Max and Niquette Vales have been married for 56 years. It's all thanks to her brother. He went to a picnic, where he met the music-loving guy. “That same day when my brother got home, he bought a guitar and tried to play. Then one day, Max stopped by my house,” she said. “They were talking, playing guitar and I passed by to go out and he saw me. I saw him too…and then I left.” From when their eyes first met, he kept returning every day, every afternoon. Read full article here.

  photo courtesy of Susan Bresnahan Patrick Bresnahan was just one of the millions of U.S. babies born when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. His mother, Susan Bresnahan, would learn later that she would not only have to deal with the stress of the pandemic, but an unknown condition impeding her newborn son’s development. At 2 years old, Patrick was diagnosed with a rare CACNA1C-related disorder. That was when Susan reached out to find support and came across Timothy Syndrome Alliance, a charity in England whose mission is “to improve the diagnosis, treatment and care of individuals with CACNA1C-related disorders, including Timothy Syndrome and LongQT8.” Read full article here. NEWS TIPS: cmalilay@rocklandcountytimes.com

  The new year is approaching soon and with that comes new beginnings and the brand new you. While it may be easier for some, It may be hard for others to make adjustments into their everyday lives, even the smallest of changes. Dr. Jennifer Buchwald, a clinical psychologist at the Hudson Valley Center for Cognitive Therapy , spoke with The Rockland County Times to share her advice on how one can stick to their new year’s resolutions. "It’s really helpful to make a specific plan for how you’re going to make the change. Write down your reasons for making the change, so you can read your list over when you’re feeling tempted to do the behavior you’re trying not to do,” she said. Read full article here.

Remember the good old days of going to the video store to rent movies? Christopher Plummer, the director of Rockland Community College’s Cultural Arts Theatre and co-founder of the Rockland Shakespeare Company, shared that the first VHS tape his mother ever bought him was "Back To the Future." "We were in the electronic store and I remember the guy saying to us, ‘Hey, would you like to buy the movie?’ We looked at each other like, ‘You can buy a movie?’” he said. The brand new copy costed them $100. Read full article here.

Ah, Thanksgiving: a time of cheer, laughs, good food and getting together with the family. But for some, it may be daunting to meet with certain members. After all, we’ve all heard of the in-law horror stories and watched the movies: “Monster-in-Law,” (2005) “Meet The Parents,” (2000) and “ Crazy Rich Asians" (2018). "Meet the Parents" (2000) Raffi Bilek, a Licensed Certified Social Worker – Clinical and the director of the Baltimore Therapy Center , shared his advice on how to avoid family tensions. “These days, I think politics is the hot topic. For the past couple of years, it’s gotten more and more polarized and political issues cause big arguments,” he said. According to a 2022 poll conducted by The New York Times and Siena College , 19% of registered voters said that politics damaged relations with family members or friends.  With the recent release of the dates and locations of the 2024 presidential debates , it's likely to come about in conversation at le...

  graphic courtesy: The Mental Health Association of Westchester County The Mental Health Association of Rockland County and The Mental Health Association of Westchester County are expected to merge this autumn or early winter.  “We believe that the merger will make us stronger as a combined entity, which will give us a deeper and wider array of services, and a greater ability to be flexible and nimble to meet the changing needs of our communities. We’ll also have a stronger infrastructure and enhanced financial strength, which really positions us to be the best that we can be on behalf of the people that we have the privilege of supporting in our communities," said Stephanie Madison, the president and CEO of MHAR. With an operating budget of $50 million and 500 staff members, the new partnership will make them the second-largest mental health association in the country. Read full article here.

  photo courtesy:  L’Oréal Paris Samantha Wettje, Bardonia resident and co-founder of 16 Strong Project, will be honored in Los Angeles as part of L’Oréal Paris's 18th annual private celebration for Women of Worth on Nov. 16. “It is an incredible honor to be included in one of this year’s L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth honorees alongside some of the most incredible women I’ve ever met making unbelievable change in their community,” she said. 16 Strong is an organization dedicated to helping children, teens and young adults affected by adverse childhood experiences. Read full article here.

The Finkelstein Memorial Library hosted a Zoom book discussion on the New York Times bestseller,   “King: A Life,”   with author   Jonathan Eig   and   Mondaire Jones , a former Democratic representative and Congressional candidate for New York’s 17th district, last Thursday. " I wanted readers to encounter a more fully human Martin Luther King Jr: one with flaws, with doubts, with fears, one who’s even more inspiring because of his imperfection,” Eig said. Read full article here.

photo credit: Cait Malilay Emily Shan is a New York City public school teacher, stay-at-home mom and author and creator of Jojo Adventure Books , a bilingual children’s board book series that’s written in Cantonese and English. Launched in September 2022, the series is based on real adventures, both big and small, of her daughter Jojo. “At the same time, I’m creating the resources for ourselves as well as families who want to be able to pass down that Cantonese language to the next generation and hopefully future generations beyond that,” Shan said.  What inspired her to launch this project is that while she was shopping for children's books, she noticed that a lot of them were more catered toward Mandarin-speaking families. Mandarin and Cantonese are tone languages. "Cantonese has six to nine tones, whereas Mandarin has four to five. You’ll see Cantonese written as traditional Chinese characters, whereas Mandarin will typically be written in simplified Chinese characters,...

Did you know that August is Women in Translation Month?  According to WomenInTranslation.org, this movement is "a global effort centered around the idea that women who write in languages other than English deserve to be widely read and appreciated."  While I was at Reimagine Asian Fest in New York City, I had the pleasure of meeting Emily Shan. She is the author and creator of "Jojo Adventure Books," a children’s board book series that’s written in both Cantonese and English.  What inspired her to launch this project is that while she was shopping for books for her daughter, Jojo, she had trouble finding bilingual books for a Cantonese audience.  In this very special 10th edition of "Conversations With Cait," Shan shares with us the story behind Jojo Adventure Books, her personal journey with the Cantonese language, and the importance of preserving our heritage.  Be sure to check out her Instagram page below to learn more about the series.  When you sup...

photo courtesy: Birdie's Batch website Happy National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day! Sara and Vinnie Cann, the founders of Birdie's Batch, a mother-daughter duo that sells jams and old-fashion classic baked goods from heirloom recipes, spoke with the Rockland County Times to share the secret behind a good chocolate chip cookie. Read full article here.

photo courtesy: We Fight Like A Girl / Instagram We Fight Like A Girl will be hosting their ninth annual fundraiser for Young Survival Coalition at Hudson’s Mill, located at 55 W. Railroad Ave. Building 19 in Garnerville, on October 13. “Every year we invite breast cancer survivors or families of those who have passed to join us. We have music, we have raffles. We raffle off prizes from local businesses all the way through to sporting events, and it’s a really fun night where everyone can just come gather and really get together to fight for a really good cause,” said Michelle Nishanian of We Fight Like A Girl. Read full article here.

July marks Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. According to the CDC , more than 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. cope with a mental illness. In many cultures, mental health issues are mistakenly viewed as a character flaw or weakness. Stephanie Madison, the president and CEO of the Mental Health Association of Rockland County, spoke with The Rockland County Times to share what the organization is doing to alleviate these inequities and how society can overcome these stigmas. Read full article here. Cait · President and CEO of the Mental Health Association of Rockland County on mental health in the media hgh

Peter Winograd (center) leads as concertmaster for The Discovery Orchestra during the Discover Saint-Saëns’ “Organ” Symphony concert. photo credit: Amanda Brown Photography Peter Winograd is the first violinist with the American String Quartet and a member of the violin and chamber music faculties at the Manhattan School of Music and the Aspen Music School.  When he's not teaching, he serves as concertmaster for The Discovery Orchestra. “Music is an abstract art form, opera and popular music with lyrics notwithstanding. If you just listen to a symphony, it’s delving into emotions that you can try to put words to, but sometimes it only cheapens it,” he said. Cait · West Nyack concertmaster shares friendship with Discovery Orchestra Founder George Marriner Maull Winograd gives an inside scoop on how he met his longtime friend, Discovery Orchestra Founder and Artistic Director George Marriner Maull. Read full article here.

  Police Officer Mike Keane and K-9 Jax graduate from a patrol K-9 school hosted by the Yonkers Police Department. photo credit: Facebook / Clarkstown Police Department  Happy Father's Day! Officer Mike Keane who's been in the force for more than 20 years, shares what it's like to have a four-legged partner that works with you and follows you home. “Whether it’s knowing a bark in the back of the car or it’s just an ominous presence that is needed to kind of cool out a scene of a crime to gain some compliance with people, I certainly wouldn’t want to do it without a partner,” he said. Read full article here.

"Our spaces are a true representation of who we are and where we’re going.”  - Nancy Parker   photo credit: Erin Borzellino Nancy Parker, a personal and environmental energy specialist; healer and feng shui practitioner of more than 20 years, shares tips on how to make your home shine its brightest.  “Feng shui is the art and science of balancing and harmonizing the flow of natural energies in a space or in our surroundings to create beneficial effects for a better lifestyle," she said. Read full article here .