Thumbs up to the town of Old Orchard Beach for continued discussions regarding housing for summer workers in the country on J-1 student visas. Local businesses rely heavily on these young people, and it’s good to see efforts made in recent years to help ensure thier well-being.

Thumbs up to community leaders who met Wednesday to share perspectives and resources to combat opioid abuse. Opioid abuse, as participants echoed several times, is a community disease and without a complete picture of how prevention and treatment services function in the

Biddeford-Saco area, no comprehensive solutions can be sought and the numbers will only rise. The important step now is to move past visioning jargon and move towards the breakout committees – where the best work will be done – and look for ways to fund initiatives. As Superintendent of Schools Jeremy Ray put it, the community will pay for opioid abuse “one way or another.”

Thumbs up to all the area organizations providing free activities for children on Halloween and giving families options for fun, safe activities.

Thumbnails is a Friday feature of the Journal Tribune’s opinion pages. If you want to respond, feel free to write to the Readers’ Forum via e-mail (jtcommunity@journaltribune.com) or by dropping your letter off at our office.