Joli Sparkman, owner of A Stitch in Time Textiles in Southbridge, shares her story of being homeless in Nurses Hall at the Statehouse. Photo: Jordan Frias. Homeless advocates appeared at the State House on Thursday, Feb. 16, to let local policymakers know that they need an increase in state funding for the services they’ve been…
Advocates stake out, sit in at City Hall over affordable housing
All photos: Alejandro Ramirez On Tuesday night, a group of housing advocates crowded Mayor Marty Walsh’s waiting room at Boston City Hall to negotiate higher rates of affordable housing at a new development the overlaps the Jamaica Plain and Roxbury neighborhoods. It ended with a handful of activists staging a sit-in after being told to…
Davis Square bar’s Mardi Gras concert will benefit local homeless coalition
Photo: Sweet Wednesday It will be a sweet Sunday when the band Sweet Wednesday takes the stage on Sunday, February 26 to perform in a Mardi Gras-style concert to benefit the Somerville Homeless Coalition at the Burren. Donations collected at the free event, which will take place from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., will go…
HUD 101: Housing Advocates Brace For Changes Under Trump Administration
On Feb. 7, 2017, a small group came together at the First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain to learn about the change in administration at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Hosted by City Mission, the panel included speakers the Rev. June Cooper, Eric Shupin, Lynda Watson, Michael Kane and Mehreen Butt.…
First ever Winter Walk shares Homeless experiences, stories
All Photos: Evgenia Eliseeva The first Winter Walk took place Sunday, Feb. 12 seeking to address the needs of Boston’s homeless community and share the real stories and struggles of this population. As we trudge through the coldest month of the year, thankful for many luxuries we deem standard commodities, our city’s homeless individuals are…
Abuse of Homeless People at North Station Causes TD Garden to Rethink its Security
Allegations against several security guards who monitored the North Station area of the TD Garden have caused the company to sever ties with a contractor following the arrest of a man who police say viciously attacked a homeless man days before Christmas. Rene Norestant Jr., 27, of Everett was charged with two counts of assault…
Point in time count 2017
At last year’s point in time count—the city’s annual homeless census where groups of volunteers physically count the homeless folks they see in the streets—Mayor Marty Walsh had recently announced the City of Boston functionally ended veteran homelessness. This year, to a crowd of 400 volunteers, he announced that two-and-a-half years of housing first initiatives…
Boston Shows Up For Equality
On January 21, 2017, women across the world made history. Over 125,000 Bostonians and New Englanders gathered in the Boston Common to march in solidarity with communities affected most by intolerance, hate and injustice. Symbolically, the event took place the day after Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States. “United…
City of Cambridge moving inclusionary zoning amendment into law
Cambridge has created 100 units of affordable housing over the past year, a trend it is looking to continue and build upon in 2017. The Cambridge city council hopes to increase the percentage of affordable housing to 20 percent of the city’s total residential housing units by June of this year. Cambridge implemented inclusionary zoning,…
RAFT Program Prevents Homelessness, Saves Taxpayers Millions
In 2016, taxpayers in the state of Massachusetts saved roughly $137 million thanks to the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) program. By allotting $12.5 million to homelessness prevention, 1,319 clients were assisted in Boston alone. The vast savings is due to the fact that to hold a family in emergency housing for the…