Category: Social Justice
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Airport Workers Kick Off Campaign for Better Working Conditions
BOSTON, Mass.—It was five degrees below zero the night of March 17, and Giselle Torres was on her way to clean a plane. She worked for ReadyJet, a service company contracted by Delta Airlines, at Logan Airport. Cleaning planes is a thankless job, and ReadyJet doesn’t make things easier. She only gets one pair of…
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Boston Rallies for Michael Brown
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Safe Access Law Follows Buffer Zone Repeal
BOSTON, Mass.—On 26 June 2014, the Supreme Court’s decition in McCullen v. Coakley struck down Massachusetts’ 2007 buffer zone law as unconstitutional, angering millions of abortion advocates. In response, Governor Deval Patrick signed a new bill, “An Act to Promote Public Safety and Protect Access to Reproductive Health Care Facilities,”to take the place of the…
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Candidate Speaks Out on Homelessness and Poverty
BOSTON, Mass.— Mike Lake grew up in Melrose, the son of a single mother who relied on government aid and community support. According to lake, that upbringing made him a believer in the power of public services. Now, as a candidate for lieutenant governor, he supports progressive policies like increasing the minimum wage, single-payer healthcare,…
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New Report Says Challenges Remain Despite Decrease in Homelessness
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Since 2013, more homeless people have been living in permanent supportive housing and rapid re-housing than emergency shelters across the country, according to a new report released by the National Alliance to End Homelessness. This shift is largely due to the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act, a bill that…
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Bill Languishes in State House while Homeless Youth Wait
BOSTON, Mass.—For many Massachusetts teenagers, the basics of a stable life – a bed, three meals a day, regular access to health services – are a given, and often easy to take for granted. However, for the more than 6,000 high school students who are homeless and on their own in one the nation’s most…
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Criminalizing the Homeless
As the New York Times noted in its 17 July 2014 editorial, “Shunting the Homeless From Sight,” the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit struck down the City of Los Angeles’ ban on citizens living out of automobiles. We all should be grateful for the wise decision of the Ninth Circuit, which…
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Cambridge Nonprofit Ending Service Program as HUD Cuts Funds
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Since 1990, Cambridge’s homeless population has had an ally in the Community Learning Center’s (CLC) Project LIFT program, which offers Adult Basic Education, GED, and ESOL classes to the city’s homeless adults. Students can be taken in and assigned an advisor immediately, not having to wait for the monthly intake and orientation. They can…
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Waste Not, Want Not: Food Recovery Grows Out of Massachusetts’ Waste Ban
In 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency reported that America generated 36 million tons of food waste and 96 percent of that food went directly to landfills or incinerators. In the same year, the EPA also reported that 14.9 percent of homes in the US did not know where their next meal would come from. Instead…
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Not Enough
A few weeks ago SCN celebrated its 22nd anniversary. Our annual gala as usual was great: good food, a great keynote speaker, an inspiring vendor photo exhibit. Just a great night overall. And as usual, several people who spoke thanked me for what I and other founders created. It is always moving when someone leaves…