Tag: Homeless Bill Of Rights
-
The Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless pushes for key legislation
With the formal session of Congress coming to a close, the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless is pushing for the passage of two pieces of legislation that promise to promote dignity and opportunity for those experiencing homelessness and poverty: House Bills 529 and 1129. The legislation, which aims to improve the state’s Emergency Aid to…
-
Homeless Bill of Rights Seeks to Lessen Inequality
The state legislature recently moved forward in efforts to legally protect the homeless from discrimination in Massachusetts. On Dec. 15, an act providing for a homeless bill of rights in Massachusetts was voted unanimously out of housing committee and referred to the Committee on House Ways and Means. The rights laid out in the bill…
-
RISING TIDE: The fight against the criminalization of homelessness
Last month, the Homeless Empowerment Project’s Vincent Flanagan, in his last action before leaving his post as executive director of Spare Change News, testified before the Massachusetts State House regarding a Homeless Bill of Rights. The law would make it illegal for an employer to discriminate based on whether an applicant has a permanent address…
-
VOICES FROM THE STREETS: These lives matter, too
On the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown being gunned down in Ferguson, a friend asked me if I was going to the protest in Harvard Square. I somewhat reluctantly said no. When asked why, I didn’t want to get into it. I simply said I was tired and really needed to go home. I just…
-
DIRECTOR'S NOTE: Homeless Bill of Rights
Vincent Flanagan, the outgoing executive director of the Homeless Empowerment Project which publishes Spare Change News, testified in favor of the Homeless Bill of Rights last week. Here’s an excerpt from his plea to the assembly at the Massachusetts State House: Our safety net has a huge hole in it. Trying to survive on what…