Brookline public health officials promise more local support as President Trump’s administration slashes federal funding for programs across the country.
Dozens of residents attended Friends of Brookline Public Health’s event “High Stakes for Public Health in 2025” at the Brookline High School freshman building Wednesday night. The event was part of National Public Health Week, which included a public health carnival and a pilates class earlier in the week.
Patricia Maher, the Friends’ president, said the event is critical at a moment when public health programs are being threatened across the country.
“These are not normal times,” said Maher, a nurse practitioner. “There already are and will continue to be profound consequences for everyone but especially for vulnerable populations.”
Trump terminated $11 billion in public health grants last month, though a federal judge has temporarily blocked the cuts. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health will lose $100 million over the next year if the cuts go through, according to Governor Maura Healey’s office.
The cuts will likely not mean direct staff cuts to Brookline’s public health services, said Sigalle Reiss, director of the town’s public health department, but could create uncertainty that has “ripple effects.”
It’s possible that state grants could get redistributed, she said, or that local nonprofit partners could lose funding that limits their services.
“There’s really exciting public health work that we might have to pare down or go back to basics,” Reiss said in an interview. “There’s certain things we have to do, and there’s certain things we’d like to do.”
Maher said the best way to handle the federal cuts in Brookline is to care for people in the community – including by donating to the Friends of Brookline Public Health.
The organization raised $3,812 in a fundraising push in the fall of 2024. The money is directed to programs to assist public health such as health services for Brookline public schools and funds for the food pantry.
“Caring is a form of power,” Maher said.
Public health awards
Outstanding contributors to public health in Brookline received awards to start Wednesday’s event.
Chris Chanyasulkit, former president of the American Public Health Association, was given the Alan Balsam Public Health Leadership Award. Previous recipients include former Massachusetts Governor and Brookline resident Michael Dukakis, who was a mentor to Chanyasulkit.
Chanyasulkit assisted in the creation of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Community Relations office in the Brookline Public Health Department.
“I hope each of you leaves today recognizing that things are tough but together there’s all these great people and we’ll be fine,” she said.
Deborah Brown, president of the Brookline Community Development Corporation, received the inaugural Public Health Equity award.
Brown, who works on projects such as improving housing stability for town residents and helping fund the Brookline Food Pantry, said health and justice are intertwined.
“Equity is not a dirty word,” she said.
A fitness center, Healthworks Fitness, and a yoga studio, Down Under School of Yoga, both received the Herb Carlin Community Health Award.
Academic advice on navigating cuts
Nicole Huberfeld, a Boston University professor of health law who researches the intersection of health and constitutional law, spoke about navigating federal cuts in public health at the local level.
Huberfeld said local officials should prioritize “cost-efficient” instead of “cost-saving” public health initiatives. Public health requires significant investment to create healthier citizens, so the main focus should be on efficiency and not simply on reducing costs for the sake of it, she said.
“Almost nothing has happened in medicine or public health in the United States without partnership between the federal government and the states,” she said.
Reiss, the town’s public health director,and John Kleschinsky, the assistant director of policy and programming, talked about the new Community Health Improvement Plan.
The improvement plan focuses on four priorities: financial security, access to social and health services, affordable housing, and mental and behavioral health.
For financial security, the plan includes working with career development programs to help residents find financially secure jobs, Kleschinsky said. Access to social and health services will be improved by hiring “diverse and culturally competent” social workers and other facilitators.
“Each strategy is designed with health equity at its core,” Reiss said. “We want to make sure that resources and opportunities are distributed fairly, and that historically underserved communities receive the support they need.”
Brita Lundberg, founder of Lundberg Health Advocates in Brookline, attended the event and said she appreciated the plan’s emphasis on working with nonprofits.
“We always talk about in healthcare how things are so siloed,” said Lundberg, who is a physician. “But they are very siloed in the nonprofit world too.”
Chanyasulkit said the event established a strategy for dealing with federal cuts even though it was planned well before they were handed down.
“The theme is it starts here,” she said. “We have a plan that has actual strategies attached to each, as opposed to just lofty goals.”
Sam Mintz contributed reporting.