Category: Q&A

Health director commended for pandemic leadership

Manchester Public Health Director Anna Thomas is the recipient of the Greater Manchester Chamber’s Citizen of the Year award, which recognizes individuals who have demonstrated leadership, vision and civic pride while making significant contributions toward the betterment of the Manchester community.

How did it feel, being named Citizen of the Year?

I’m honored and humbled, but there are so many people in the community who should be recognized for their contributions; [the recognition] really can’t go to just one person. I see it as more of a ‘citizenry of the year’ than a ‘citizen of the year’ award, because everyone has sacrificed and done their part to be part of the solution during this pandemic.

What did you find to be the most successful or effective part of your approach to the pandemic?

Throughout Covid, our decision-making has been very data-driven and evidence-based. We monitor the data on a daily basis and use science and the best research we have available to be very strategic about what we do. … Another [successful approach] has been pooling resources and collaborating to solve community issues. Our individual programs are excellent, but we know we can make a bigger impact by leveraging the strength of multiple programs working together.

Is there anything that you learned or that surprised you about public health over the last year?

I’ve learned how much politics can enter the world of public health. When you’re making decisions dealing with [protecting] human life, sometimes you’re stepping on people’s individual choice or civil liberty. A lot of people don’t want to be told what to do by the government; they want to be informed and then left to make their own decisions. I respect everyone’s individual choice, but unfortunately, during a pandemic or any kind of public health emergency where one person’s choice can impact the health and well-being of others, executive orders have to be made. … It’s certainly not the first time I’ve seen how public health issues can tug on people’s ideologies and philosophies, but in this pandemic, I’ve seen it played out much more significantly.

How would you describe your leadership style?

It’s very team-based. I don’t believe in being the dictator at the top saying, ‘This is the way it’s going to be.’ No one is an expert on everything; everyone has different skill sets. Innovation and creativity comes from having multiple perspectives. … Working on a large population level, we have to have perspectives from all sides to give us a bigger picture for how to inform our process and make the most well-rounded decisions that we can so we can serve the entire community.

What is the biggest challenge you face in your position?

One of the challenges is the sheer magnitude of people we’re trying to reach. … Manchester is the largest city north of Boston; it’s an urban center, and the work we do really falls under the umbrella of urban health, which comes with an entirely different level of priorities … than the suburban and rural communities that [make up] the majority of New Hampshire. … That’s why we have a division focused on family and neighborhood health. Different neighborhoods have different needs and different strengths, so just like the state [narrows down] public health to a community level, we as a city look at how we can tailor our services to meet the needs in specific neighborhoods.

What is your focus right now for Manchester’s public health?

It changes day to day, sometimes even minute to minute. It’s still all about Covid, for the most part. … We’ve moved away from the community-based testing that we’ve been doing throughout the pandemic, and now we’re heavily focused on getting people vaccinated and back on their feet. … We’re also trying to get back to [addressing] more of the basic public health [issues] that we did prior to the pandemic … [such as] school health; … refugee health; … infectious diseases other than Covid, like HIV, STDs and TB; … environmental health, [like] testing mosquitoes for Triple E and West Nile virus; water sampling; … septic inspections; … assessments of [buildings with] lead, mold or bed bugs; … community dental care; …home visits with expectant mothers; [and] opioids and addiction. … We’re also doing a lot of work in the arena of mental and behavioral health, and we actually have a behavioral health specialist on staff now.

What should people know about the current public health situation?

They can be optimistic and hopeful about the future. We’re at a better place now. Things are definitely taking a turn for the better, and there’s a lot to look forward to.

Featured photo: Anna Thomas

Educational project recognizes NH’s Abenaki heritage

The Abenaki Trails Project, launched last August, is highlighting New Hampshire’s Abenaki history and present-day Abenaki communities. It’s a partnership between the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki — a Native American tribe based in Vermont — and New Hampshire towns and organizations. Nulhegan Abenaki citizen and Hopkinton resident Darryl Peasley, who co-founded the project, talked about what it has accomplished since its launch in August 2020 and the initiatives it has planned for the future. For more, see abenakitribe.org.

What started the Abenaki Trails Project?

Back in 2010, when we were trying to get the law passed to create the Commission on Native American Affairs, I listened to some legislators say that there was no need to acknowledge the Abenaki [history] in New Hampshire because New Hampshire was just a pass-through state and no Indians actually lived here. That kind of got my blood boiling, because there were Indians who lived here, and they were Abenaki. … I thought, wouldn’t it be nice if we had a project that would educate the public about the Abenaki and let people know that the Abenaki did live here, and that some of us still live here. … Hopkinton is where I’ve lived all my life, and it had actually changed Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day on its town calendar … so we started there.

So, is there an actual trail?

When we say Abenaki Trail Project, it’s not like a trail that you would walk; we don’t want to pinpoint any specific spot. It’s more of a trail from town to town to show people where the Abenaki lived and where we live now. … We have almost conclusively found [the locations of] four different Abenaki settlements, which, today, are within the town boundaries of Henniker, Warner, Hopkinton and Bradford. … We’re hoping to make a map or brochure so that you could spend a day or two traveling from one town to the next and being in the general area.

How big is the Abenaki population in New Hampshire?

There are hundreds in New Hampshire … living among you as factory workers, laborers, computer technicians, social workers, lawyers, doctors — everyday people. … Indians in this area [don’t look like] your stereotypical western Indian … so unless someone comes out and introduces themselves as an Abenaki person, chances are you would never know.

What partnerships and initiatives has the project established so far?

We’ve partnered with the Hopkinton, Henniker, Warner and Bradford historical societies. There are a couple of archaeologists with the Hopkinton Historical Society who we’re working with. … We’ve partnered with the New Hampshire Historical Society so that, if they come up with something [about Abenaki history], they’ll ask us about it, and we can tell them if there’s truth to it or not. … We [recently had an] art show … at Two Villages Art Society in Hopkinton with around 20 to 25 artists — some are Abenaki artists and some are our community partners — who do different things like fiber art, leather art, basketmaking and pottery.

What do you have planned for the future?

If you look at the calendar of what our team is planning for the summer, just about every weekend is booked up with one thing or another. … We’re going to be participating in the Living History event in Hillsborough this summer. … We’re putting together an Abenaki regalia display for the Kearsarge Indian Museum, and members have been constructing leggings, coats, shirts and moccasins for that. … Hopkinton has asked us to involve school kids in the project, so we have a couple of teachers on our team who have started putting together a curriculum that teaches kids what actually happened [in Abenaki history].

Are there any misconceptions about the Abenaki in New Hampshire that you hope to address?

You always read in the history books that the Indians killed all these people. You just hear the bad things. Some of it is true, and some of it isn’t true. We weren’t just murderers and marauders; we helped a lot, too. … We want to make sure people hear the other side of the story.

Featured photo: Darryl Peasley. Courtesy photo.