The Homeless

This Monday, Bill Miller, Executive Director of Springfield, MA's Friends of the Homeless, sought out the press for an all-too-familiar story-- area emergency shelters are closing and the Worthington St. Shelter, already overcapacity, is worried. Miller says that the 107 bed men's shelter has been overcapacity 15 of the last 20 days, and I know the women's 26-bed shelter is always full. On June 1st, the 30 bed, 6 nights a week shelter run by the Springfield rescue Mission will also close. Then what? Unfortunately, in terms of publicity, this has not been a great month for the shelter. On April 22, Springfield police ... Read Full Story

Congratulations! You wouldn't know it by reading the Northampton Gazette article, but skilled and persistent organizing by the new group Poverty is Not a Crime has forced the Northampton, MA City Council to table indefinitely a proposed ordinance which would have restricted panhandling to such a degree as to make it virtually forbidden, and which would have instituted impossible-to-pay fines that could have led to warrants and incarceration. Thanks also to Bill Newman of the ACLU, who also recently stood up against a Springfield City Council proposal which would have recriminalized possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. Mayor Claire Higgins said that ... Read Full Story

The following is a post from the Northampton, MA-based group Poverty is Not a Crime. Host: Poverty Is Not a Crime Type: Causes - Protest Network: Global Time and Place Date: Tuesday, January 6, 2009 Time: 4:15pm - 6:00pm Location: exact congregation location TBD The Anti-Panhandling Ordinance Is Just the Beginning! Stop the Business Improvement District! End Rascist and Classist Gentrification! Community Resources, Now! True Economic Development: For People, Not Profit! Ordinance 285-53 would restrict “aggressive solicitation” and ban solicitation in much of downtown Northampton through severe restrictions on zone. Originally directed only against panhandling, the word "panhandling" was replaced with "solicitation" in a ... Read Full Story

I started a post this afternoon which I decided not to publish after I read through it because it seemed all whiny and self-pitying. Truth is, there's a good chance I'll be laid off in the next couple of months, but I guess I'll survive..... unlikely I'll wind up in the Friends of the Homeless Womens' Shelter or starving to death in an unheated apartment... but it sucks to be 61 years old and looking for work. Later I went to an Economic Justice Committee meeting at Arise. Liz reported on her contacts with homeless families in motels and Lamont talked about his organizing ... Read Full Story

Those damn rich people were in town today, giving a round of cheers to Bay State Medical Center for hiring a union-busting law firm and to Health New England for  its membership in America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the lobbying group trying to turn health care reform into a government subsidy for their profits.   Carrying signs reading "Whatever happened to an apple a day?" and "Let them eat Advil," the Billionaires for Wealthfare went to offer their support at HNE's offices at One Monarch Place, Springfield.  That support was not appreciated, however.  The billionaires describe themselves as " a grassroots network of health ... Read Full Story