MeHI, Lever Announce Finalists for Massachusetts Digital Health COVID-19 Recovery Challenge

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WESTBOROUGH, Mass. — The Massachusetts eHealth Institute at MassTech (MeHI) and Lever announced the eight finalists for the first Massachusetts Digital Health COVID-19 Recovery Challenge, a new program meant to identify and grow digital health tools that will help drive economic recovery from the pandemic. 
 
The Challenge is focused on finding solutions to help unpaid family caregivers manage caregiving tasks that were exacerbated by the pandemic and more easily return to work. The program is sponsored by MeHI and supported by funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration and the SPRINT Challenge Grant program.
 
All eight finalists will participate in a three-month accelerator program run by Lever, including an intensive series of lean startup workshops and tailored mentoring from experts to develop their innovative tool, streamline their business plan, and work on their go-to-market strategy. The finalists will then compete for a total of $250,000 in "tuition" at one of nine R&D centers in MeHI’s Digital Health Sandbox Network, with the winner receiving $100,000 in tuition and $50,000 to the second, third, and fourth runners up. Winners will use the tuition to complete a six-month project with their chosen R&D partner to test and validate their product or service.
 
The finalists are:
 
Beeyonder (Wayland, Mass.): Beeyonder is a guided virtual travel platform designed to offer experiences to people with disabilities or other circumstances that make travel impossible. Founded by double amputee Brittany Palmer, Beeyonder lets users and their families access hundreds of live, interactive tours at locations across the world.
 
Cigna Caregiver (Newton, Mass.): Caregiver, an intrapreneur project by Cigna, is a supportive application that offers concierge-level coaching and resources for caregivers, including counseling and planning, chronic condition management, community resources, and more.
 
Dear Mémé (Boston, Mass.): Dear Meme is an algorithmically driven provider of activity kits for caregivers and families who care for someone with dementia. Each kit is personalized based on information from caregivers and is designed to bring a shared, fun experience to people living with dementia and those who care for them.
 
Help Around Town, Inc. (Lexington, Mass.): Help Around Town is a job board and community marketplace that connects people who want flexible work opportunities with neighbors who need tasks completed. Senior citizens who need help aging in place are among its most frequent job posters and Help Around Town has matched them with people nearby who can assist them for nearly a decade.
 
Kinto (Cambridge, Mass.): Kinto is a virtual platform that offers caregiver coaching, a personalized e-learning curriculum, and peer support groups. Trained coaches develop personalized plans with each caregiver, offer advice, and connect caregivers with their peers to provide a forum that lets them share experiences, solutions, and empathy.
 
Power of Patients (Boston, MA): Power of Patients is an innovative, AI-driven telehealth app that collects data from patients or caregivers with the option to connect directly to healthcare providers. This data collection allows providers to personalize care plans and offer real-time insights into their patients’ health.
 
See Yourself Health (Beverly, MA): See Yourself Health is a peer-to-peer support platform that connects family caregivers to specialists and other caregivers using VR avatar experiences. Specialists help foster knowledge, confidence, and well-being for caregivers coping with their roles and advocating for their loved ones’ health.
 
Thriving.ai (Boston, MA): Thriving is an app that brings everyone involved in a senior’s healthcare, social care, informal family care, and professional care together to support independent living. Seniors can keep in touch with their families and the app can actively and passively collect health data, providing updates and insights to both formal and family caregivers, resulting in improved communication, better coordinated care, reduced stress, and more peace of mind.
 

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Berkshire County Homes Celebrating Holiday Cheer

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

There's holiday cheer throughout the Berkshires this winter.

Many homeowners are showing their holiday spirit by decorating their houses. We asked for submissions so those in the community can check out these fanciful lights and decor when they're out.

We asked the homeowners questions on their decorations and why they like to light up their houses.

In Great Barrington, Matt Pevzner has decorated his house with many lights and even has a Facebook page dedicated to making sure others can see the holiday joy.

Located at 93 Brush Hill Road, there's more than 61,000 lights strewn across the yard decorating trees and reindeer and even a polar bear. 

The Pevzner family started decorating in September by testing their hundreds of boxes of lights. He builds all of his own decorations like the star 10-foot star that shines done from 80-feet up, 10 10-foot trees, nine 5-foot trees, and even the sleigh, and more that he also uses a lift to make sure are perfect each year.

"I always decorated but I went big during COVID. I felt that people needed something positive and to bring joy and happiness to everyone," he wrote. "I strive to bring as much joy and happiness as I can during the holidays. I love it when I get a message about how much people enjoy it. I've received cards thanking me how much they enjoyed it and made them smile. That means a lot."

Pevzner starts thinking about next year's display immediately after they take it down after New Year's. He gets his ideas by asking on his Facebook page for people's favorite decorations. The Pevzner family encourages you to take a drive and see their decorations, which are lighted every night from 5 to 10.

In North Adams, the Wilson family decorates their house with fun inflatables and even a big Santa waving to those who pass by.

The Wilsons start decorating before Thanksgiving and started decorating once their daughter was born and have grown their decorations each year as she has grown. They love to decorate as they used to drive around to look at decorations when they were younger and hope to spread the same joy.

"I have always loved driving around looking at Christmas lights and decorations. It's incredible what people can achieve these days with their displays," they wrote.

They are hoping their display carries on the tradition of the Arnold Family Christmas Lights Display that retired in 2022.

The Wilsons' invite you to come and look at their display at 432 Church St. that's lit from 4:30 to 10:30 every night, though if it's really windy, the inflatables might not be up as the weather will be too harsh.

In Pittsfield, Travis and Shannon Dozier decorated their house for the first time this Christmas as they recently purchased their home on Faucett Lane. The two started decorating in November, and hope to bring joy to the community.

"If we put a smile on one child's face driving by, then our mission was accomplished," they said. 

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