Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Updates to McKinney-Vento Act set to take effect October 1
On December 10, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to improve the scholastic opportunities for homeless children. Along with other addendum to its precursor, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act, the act renewed and updated the McKinney-Vento Act, which has aided 1.3 million homeless children enrolled in public…
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Roslindale panhandler memorialized, family fundraising for funeral
A photo and kinds words left by a stranger has grown into a noticeable memorial on the gate surrounding the Granary Burial Ground on Tremont Street. The memorial is in honor of George B. Dagraca, a 43-year-old panhandler and heroin addict who died from heart complications on August 4. George, who is survived by three…
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Governor Baker signs bill protecting against gender-based wage discrimination
Governor Charlie Baker signed into law a bill that ensures equal pay for comparable work equal salary opportunities for all Massachusetts workers, the Governor’s office said in a press release August 1. The new law, An Act to Establish Pay Equity, aims to protect employees against gender based wage discrimination, the release read. The bill…
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Pay For Success paves the way for over 250 individuals in first year
The Massachusetts Alliance for Supportive Housing got 250 chronically homeless individuals off the streets and into housing this past year as they implemented the nation’s first Pay for Success program, the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance announced in a press release. Pay for Success, which aims to cut chronic homelessness in Massachusetts by 50 percent…
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Housing Families to distribute backpacks to once-homeless children
Now that the start of the school year is approaching, Malden-based agency Housing Families will be distributing approximately 350 backpacks equipped with school supplies to once-homeless children. The backpacks were acquired through Housing Families’ annual backpack drive, which ran from May to early August, and from various donations throughout the year. Founded in 1986 to…
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InnerCity Weightlifting: Raising the bar for at-risk youth
Photo: Chris Cardoza / Doza Visuals When Jon Feinman worked for AmeriCorps in 2005 he had an idea: use weightlifting as way to engage Boston’s inner city youth. The idea worked, and soon he was getting the attention of some of the city’s most at risk kids. One in particular, Elexson Hercules, who was initiated…
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Copley Square church displays memorial quilt for homeless dead
In late January of this year, a homeless man covered in a sheet and blanket was found dead on the steps of Copley Square’s Old South Church. Members of the church, which prides itself on its strong ties to the homeless community, were hit hard by the news and decided to turn his tragedy into…
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4,000 Miles Later: Discovering vulnerability and truth while running across the country.
People say habits are formed in 21 days. I say lessons are learned in 49. At least, that was the case for me this summer as I ran across the country with a group of 22 young adults raising money and awareness for young adult cancer. The opportunity to run for the Ulman Cancer Fund’s…
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“Underground Airlines” by Ben H. Winters: A Book Review
Mulholland Books/Little Brown & Company, Hachette Book Group; Goldsboro Books, UK Ltd. Edition S & N. Imagine if President Lincoln was shot before the Civil War took place and then, because of that and the greed of humankind, the Civil War never happened. If you were black and born into a slave state, there would…
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Silence
The party conventions are over and the candidates have been chosen (not the greatest of choices) and we now move on to the campaigns, the debates, the name calling and those annoying TV ads for the next three-and-a-half months. But wait: hear that silence, boys and girls? Crickets chirping? That, my friends, is the sound…
Got any book recommendations?