“The notes that really strike me are the ones that are talking directly to me or addressed to me,” Geloy Concepcion said about the submissions to his project. “These entries are not just confiding … they are talking directly from one human being to another. Every time I get those, they remind me that behind every note submitted is someone hoping I will read and listen to their sentiment.” – Geloy Concepcion

by Julia Weng and Michele Abercrombie

“In 2018, Geloy Concepcion was going through a difficult time, having just immigrated to the San Francisco Bay Area from his home in Manila, Philippines. While his wife began working at a local café, he bore the responsibility of taking care of their daughter, leaving little time for his passion for photography.

“‘In the Philippines, I shot almost every day. And then when we moved here, my wife only had two days off. She said, “Maybe you can just use one day to go around and take pictures.” So my 365 days of taking pictures became like 48 days a year.’

“It was a change that led Concepcion to turn inwards, setting him on an unexpected path to exploring the sometimes harrowing and overwhelming feelings that can accompany loneliness — in his own life at first, and then in the lives of others following the onset of the pandemic. Nearly a year-and-a-half later, those reflections are the focus of a new collection from Concepcion called Things You Wanted To Say But Never Did.”

Read this NPR article in its entirety, click here.

“CVS is adding mental health counseling to the services offered at about a dozen of its stores with HealthHUBs in Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas.” – David J. Phillip/AP

by Yuki Nocuchi

“Barber shop owner Angela Miller always hears about clients’ family dysfunctions and financial struggles, but that’s especially been the case during the pandemic.

“‘You hear everything,’ she says. Lost jobs. Lost family. She says she can very much relate.

“‘My business had to shut down for about four months, and I wasn’t really financially prepared for that,’ says Miller, who says she normally pays bills ahead of time.

“Her entire family caught COVID-19 early in the pandemic, and Miller, a 50-year-old single mom living in Philadelphia, almost died. Being socially isolated also stirred up past childhood trauma, she says. So this year, she finally sought help.

“But the first therapist she contacted didn’t return her call for a month, only to tell her that the next available appointment would take another month.

“‘And I said, “You need to change your practice because for somebody reaching out, they could be suicidal,” she says.

“Eventually, Miller connected with a therapist in an unorthodox place: her local CVS.”

Read this article in its entirety at NPR, click here.