I am pleased that, as a society, we acknowledge sacrifices that our brave men and women make in the Armed Forces. They are heroes. We have heroes here at home, namely, police, firefighters, medical professionals and educators. To that noble list, I would like to add another group of individuals who work hard, accomplish much and get little recognition for their efforts: the staff at the Department of Health and Human Services.

I am astounded by the ongoing myths and misinformation that goes on regarding people who need public help. We, as a state, need to bring correct information to the public, debunk the myths, fix what is broken, and support what is working well.

For all the negative publicity that we are made aware of, there are thousands of interactions each day that are professionally and competently accomplished by DHHS staff that make critical differences in people’s lives. Public assistance includes medical assistance for that parent or favorite aunt you might have, food stamps that help keep people from going hungry, child support to help take care of kids, and foster care to try and intervene when everything else has gone wrong.

The staff of DHHS, like other professionals, go to work knowing that the cost of caring means they will probably give a whole lot more emotionally than they are going to get back.

So, let me start what many of us should be doing by saying to DHHS staff: Thank you!

Marcel Gagne, vice chairman, State TANF Advisory Council,

Augusta