Author: Robert Sondak
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Shadow Fund Organization Helps Low Income Pet Owners Pay for Medical Procedures
In 2007, Diane Sullivan was flipping through the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune when she came across a story about Robert Burke, an ex-marine who was having trouble paying for his dog Shadow’s $3,800 leg surgery. Shadow was in pain and could barely walk after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in his left leg. Sullivan wanted to help,…
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Writing for SCN: A Vendor’s Perspective
The 2008 economic recession cost me my newspaper distributor job at Boston Now and opened up new opportunities for me at Spare Change News. After selling Spare Change News for two weeks, I answered a posting by then-editor Emily Johnson stating that she was looking for someone to write a story on community gardening. I…
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HUD supports housing services for HIV/AIDS community
The Justice Resource Institute received $1.4 million in funding to support tenant-based rental assistance and other supportive services for the HIV/AIDS community in Plymouth, Bristol and Northern Essex counties earlier this month, HUD said in a press release. HUD awarded $24 million in grants nationwide to help more that 1,200 low-income persons living with HIV/AIDS…
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Boston funeral home provides free burials for the homeless
For the last 25 years, 150 homeless people yearly received a free, dignified burial thanks to a Boston funeral home. The Robert J. Lawler & Crosby Funeral Home provides a no-cost funeral with pallbearers for homeless veterans and homeless adults in greater Boston each year. The Lawler Homeless Funeral Program was founded by Robert J.…
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Boston Teams up with HUD, DOJ on Juvenile Reentry Program
The City of Boston, HUD and the Department of Justice are teaming up to help formerly incarcerated juveniles re-acclimate to society, Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s office said. Mayor Walsh announced the $100,000 program, funded through the DOJ’s Juvenile Reentry Assistance Program, in a press release on April 28. Funding will help Boston Housing Authority (BHA)…
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Helping Hands: South Shore Advocacy Group Provides Food and Clothing to Boston’s Homeless
On the Boston Common, 85 homeless people recently received food and clothes thanks to a homeless advocacy group from the South Shore. The Hingham-based community group Community Offering Practical Encouragement, or C.O.P.E, held its second annual family day to help the homeless of Greater Boston while they endured a cold and rainy April weekend. From…
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Lieutenant governor opens women’s substance abuse program at Taunton State Hospital
Photo: WikiCommons Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito unveiled a new program to help women who have been civically committed for drug treatments avoid going to prison earlier this month, Governor Charlie Baker’s office said. Polito and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders and Department of Mental Health Commissioner Joan Mikula opened the new Women’s Recovery from Addictions…
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Gov. Baker announces $5 Million investment Targeting Chronically High Unemployment
Photo: Massachusetts National Guard New initiatives to fight chronic unemployment will be included in the proposed FY 2017 budget, Governor Charlie Baker’s office said recently. Baker and Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, Ronald L. Walker II, who is also a member of the governor’s task force on persons facing chronically higher rates of unemployment,…
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Boston breaks affordable housing record
Photo: Bill Ilott The city of Boston set a new record for creating affordable housing units in 2015, Mayor Marty Walsh’s office said. The city of Boston permitted 1,022 new units of affordable housing this past year, surpassing the previous mark of 862 units in 2004, Mayor Walsh’s office said in a press release. As…
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City Council considers satellite police station in Central Square
Photo: Madeleine Ball The Cambridge city manager is exploring the possibility of creating a satellite police station in Central Square, after city councilors raised concerns about the deteriorating condition of Carl Barron Plaza this past September. The city council voted unanimously to recommend the city manager look into putting the satellite police station in Central…