Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Opinion: Homelessness service providers need more state funding
Homelessness knows no season. Many people feel compassion for men and women experiencing homelessness during a Massachusetts winter – when mountains of snow and bitterly cold temperatures can threaten the lives of people trying to get by and living on the street. Now that spring is finally setting in, it’s easier to forget that the…
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How youth unemployment hurts the economy
Even though the economy shows modest signs of improvement, one sector needs our attention: unemployment—in particular, youth unemployment and inner-city unemployment. While Boston has an unemployment rate of 4% (according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics) and the nation has a rate of 5%, youth unemployment nationally is close to 20%. This poses a major…
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Transgender Rights in Schools: Obama Administration Releases Guidance for Proper Action
Last week, the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education unveiled “significant guidance” for public schools to follow in order to protect the civil rights of transgender students. This guidance initiative utilizes the past reforms of Title IX—an amendment which bars discrimination in all federally funded schools—to defend transgender liberties and justify any precautions that should…
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Dr. Lipi Roy Works to Serve Boston’s Most Overlooked Citizens
A decade ago, Lipi Roy was a second-year medical student at Tulane University in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina breached the levees, flooding the city and changing millions of lives. For Roy, it changed the way she looked at her work as a physician. “That’s when I got a sense of what it means to…
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Homeless Advocates Express Disappointment over Senate State Budget
Photo: Emmanuel Huybrechts Homelessness service providers across the Commonwealth are concerned they could face a tough year ahead, as the state budget proposal cuts nearly $800,000 from funds for the assistance of homeless individuals. On Tuesday, the Senate Ways and Means Committee released its budget proposal for fiscal year 2017. The committee allocated about $44…
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Officials Announce State Police Sex Trafficking Unit
On April 5, state officials announced the creation of a new human trafficking unit within Massachusetts State Police that will focus on the sexual exploitation of children, according to a statement from the office of Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito. The four-person state-police team led by veteran detective Lt. Pi Downsbrough will…
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Workforce Housing Program Receives $100 Million MassHousing Investment
Governor Charlie Baker announced a $100 million MassHousing fund for a new Workforce Housing program, aimed at supporting families that fall in between the low class and middle classes May 11. The objective of the Workforce Housing program is to assist individuals and families between 61% to 120% of area median income (AMI) by providing…
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MHSA Honors Jerry Ray at 13th Annual Fundraising Event
The Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance, or MHSA, held their 13th Annual Fundraising Event at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Boston on Thursday, May 12, 2016. MHSA is a non-profit organization, founded in 1988, dedicated to ending homelessness in Massachusetts. The William Lloyd Garrison Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Jerry Ray, the former Vice…
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Mayor Walsh Announces New Funding for Homelessness Services
Photo: Zengzhang Wang As part of his goal to end chronic homelessness in Boston, Mayor Martin J. Walsh pledged $1.3 million in his proposed budget for next year to fund homelessness services. The proposal includes $150,000 for “front-door triage,” which will allow staff at shelters around the city to find the best way to help…
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Bill Keller: Holding the Criminal Justice System Accountable
Photo Credit: Zengzheng Wang In February 2014 Bill Keller shocked the media world when he left the New York Times after 30 years to start a national conversation about the U.S. criminal justice system as editor of The Marshall Project. “This felt like an area where there might actually be a chance to make a…
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