Tag: Issue 12-14-2012
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Do You See What I See?
“Imagine your son or daughter between the ages of 18-24 on the streets homeless, scared and alone. Imagine yourself in the shoes of a homeless person, where would you go to stay warm? A coffee shop, to blend in, a doorway of a department store or an alleyway?” Boston’s Homelessness Czar, Jim Greene, raised these…
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José Mateo's The Nutcracker
Born in Cuba and raised in the Bronx, José Mateo first studied ballet and modern technique at Princeton University. Mateo told SCN that he “got lucky” so to speak. “I attended Princeton the first year that is it became co-ed and they offered modern dance”, Mateo recalled walking up the steps to his dance company’s…
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Homeless Advocates Charge DHCD with Child Abuse
A broad coalition of health care providers, homeless advocates, and community groups are calling on the Department of Housing and Community Development to scuttle the new regulations guiding access to homeless shelters. Rosie’s Place, Massachusetts Immigrant Rights Association, Home for Families, Association for Haitian Women of Boston were among the organizers and supporters for the…
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Israel, Palestine, the US, & Peace
Ten days ago, the United States joined Israel and just seven other countries to vote against the U.N. upgrading Palestine to a non-voting observer state. This decision has made it clearer than ever before that the U.S. is a major obstacle to any progress towards a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. American officials had the…
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For the GOP, A Roadmap Back From Irrelevance
Republican uber-strategist Karl Rove’s election-night meltdown on live television put a human face on the GOP’s willful self-delusion. Mitt Romney, who didn’t prepare an Election Night concession speech, ran a campaign based on yesteryear’s party values, policies, and worldview. “It’s not a traditional America anymore,” moaned Fox News conservative commentator Bill O’Reilly. The wake-up call…
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Starting the Christmas Tithe
I get it. But religious leaders tend to be judgmental about many of the wrong things; they are not making moral judgments on the important questions. So I am going to be judgmental, as a religious leader, about something I just read. A recent Harris International and World Vision poll showed that Americans plan to…
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State Gives Homeless a Gift
The State House News Service recently released a brief news blurb that gave homeless people the greatest gift of all this Christmas season: hope. Just a few months ago, the Department of Housing and Community Development tightened the regulations of shelter providers, such that eligibility was restricted to only those made homeless through domestic violence,…
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Affordable Housing for the Rich?
As Christmas approaches, it seems that Santa has left something under the tree for the top 2 percent in Boston. I ran across a story last week that was about micro-apartments. For those of you who are uninformed, micro-apartments are small units that are around 300 to 400 square feet. That’s enough room for a…