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Massachusetts Community Action Agencies Work to Meet the Crisis

With a slumping economy, steadily rising unemployment, the worst state budget situation in over half a century, and growing burdens on low-income people and working families, Massachusetts’ community action agencies (CAAs) have been put to the test in recent months as they work to fulfill their longstanding mission to combat poverty. All of the above add up to a crisis—and CAAs are beginning to see its impacts among many of the 350,000 people they serve across the state. Meanwhile, in the midst of the deepening fiscal fiasco, CAAs and their state association, MASSCAP, are struggling to retain public funding for programs that comprise critical threads of the increasingly-frayed social safety net.

Yet this spring CAAs across Massachusetts have continued to take steps—large and small—to meet the rising challenges. The following is a round-up of some of their recent activities and news, and includes links to obtain more information on some of these stories.

Tri-CAP Opens New Housing Facility in Malden

Tri-CAP, the community action agency based in Malden, is opening a new temporary housing facility in Malden for those who are now homeless. The new residence is located on Charles Street and will be operated by Shelter, Inc., a Cambridge-based nonprofit. The house is named after the late Stan Kaszanek, a longtime local advocate for the disabled.

The new facility is the result of an eight-year effort by Tri-CAP. “We wanted this to happen and worked at getting it funded and now it's a reality,” Tri-CAP's executive director Philip Bronder-Giroux told The Boston Globe.

Bronder-Giroux noted that while the Commonwealth covers emergency shelter for the homeless in hotels and while there are transitional housing shelters for families in the area, there are no facilities for individuals who find themselves homeless. He added that his agency currently has to send these individuals to emergency shelters in Boston, Cambridge, and Quincy.

Besides 11 bedrooms for clients, the new facility has a living room and common dining and kitchen facilities. It will have a 24-hour house manager and counselors who will be on-site at various times each week. The new center will be open to people in Malden, Everett, and Medford.

Groundbreaking for ABCD’s Affordable Elder Housing in Dorchester

Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD) officials, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, community leaders, supporters and funders gathered in Dorchester in early May to celebrate the groundbreaking for 45 units of elder affordable housing developed by ABCD behind its Head Start Center at 198 Geneva Avenue.

This project is funded through a federal HUD 202 grant for $5.3 million plus a grant of $500,000 from the City of Boston’s Department of Neighborhood Development, $500,000 from the Commonwealth's Department of Housing and Community Development, and $250,000 from the Federal Home Loan Bank through Boston Private Bank and Trust.

The initiative will provide 45 one-bedroom apartments for low-income elders and is expected to be completed by July 2004.

“We are thrilled to be here in Dorchester today to break ground on an initiative that will enhance the quality of life for so many low-income elder residents of this community,” said ABCD President/CEO Robert M. Coard. “Our senior citizens have worked hard all their lives, raised their children and contributed immensely to our community. We look forward to seeing them move into this much-needed housing.”

In recent years ABCD has acquired a total of $19.2 million in HUD 202 funding to develop critically needed affordable elderly housing. In addition to the 45-unit complex now under construction in Dorchester, these housing developments include a 45-unit complex in Mattapan; and 71 units at the renovated former Michelangelo School in Boston’s North End, with services on-site that include the North End Neighborhood Health Center providing assisted-living services, the ABCD North End/West End NSC providing comprehensive social support services; and a Freedom Trail museum focusing on the immigration movement.

(Above story courtesy of ABCD.)

Action, Inc. Joins with Woburn Company in Cape Ann Job Training Initiative

In May, Action, Inc., the community action agency serving Gloucester and other Cape Ann communities, launched a partnership with an area for-profit job training company to expand its services for the unemployed.

Action's employment and training program clients will now be able to utilize hardware and software from Microsoft, Sun, Cisco, Novell, CompTia and CIW. The trainers and job placement services are provided by Millennium Training Institute, a Woburn firm that also has branches in Boston and Taunton. The firm now trains between 400 and 700 people annually.

Action’s program placed over 160 Cape Ann residents in jobs in 2002, according to the agency’s director of employment and training, Rona Resnick.

Millennium, a four-year-old Woburn company, which also has offices in Boston and Taunton, trains between 400 and 700 job seekers a year.

“Action is thrilled to partner with Millennium,” Resnick told the Gloucester Daily Times. “It’s an unusual partnership, a non-profit and a for-profit. But it's going to be good for both partners and especially for the clients of both who now can use the larger combined resources to find appropriate jobs.

"They are strong in IT,” she noted, “and can bring us more courses and more software. We had limited computer capabilities, but are strong in counseling, follow-up and case management.”

For other news at Action, Inc., visit its Web site.

Fall River Students Pitch-In To Support Citizens for Citizens’ Food Pantry

Against the backdrop of the sagging economy and cuts in public services, Citizens for Citizens (CFC) has seen a steady rise in the number of people in crisis coming to its Fall River Food Pantry. This spring the area’s community action agency conducted a fundraising drive for the Pantry that raised $3,995 in cash and brought in 9,500 items as part of a challenge by the Feinstein Foundation. The foundation promised to match dollar-for-dollar any cash donations and 50 cents per non-perishable item collected during the drive.

According to Maureen Tavares, CFC’s Food Pantry coordinator, tiny Fowler Elementary School in Fall River, with about 150 students, took top honors in the number of non-perishable items collected as part of the area-wide effort to help combat hunger. The school’s principal, Joan Darcy, said that more than 2,000 non-perishable items were collected by the youngsters.

The community has responded to the growing problem of hunger in the area, Tavares noted. “Churches, schools, businesses and individuals rallied to help us meet the needs of so many,” she said.

“In behalf of all those who will benefit from the generosity demonstrated during the drive period, we wish to thank everyone for their support of this drive.” Tavares added that even though the Feinstein Foundation challenge ended April 30, the problem of hunger persists, and on-going community support for the Food Pantry and other efforts to combat hunger is essential.

For more on this story and photos, plus news on other CFC developments, go to CFC’s e-zine The Spire.

GLCAC Expands Head Start Center in Lawrence, while State Cutbacks Force Closing of Popular Program in Methuen

Greater Lawrence Community Action Council (GLCAC) held a dedication ceremony May 19 to expand its Head Start Center at 246 Andover Street in the Merrimack Valley city of Lawrence. The $707,000 project will permit the Center to double the number of children it serves. The project involves purchasing the property, renovating the existing old building, and constructing a new one. It will also entail building an outdoor playground, which will feature a bamboo forest, an underground tunnel, and a slide. For more details, read the full story at GLCAC’s Web site.

While GLCAC has been able to move ahead with this needed expansion for Head Start, at the same time it has experienced significant state cutbacks in several other programs. Mid-year budget cuts by Gov. Mitt Romney have slashed funding for GLCAC programs by a total of $400,000, which forced a cut in its Methuen Community Partnerships for Children program, forcing closure of the Bridgewalk Family Resource Center which it administers. Bridgewalk helped severely shy children learn how to interact with others. Some of the children in the program came via referrals from other special needs programs. The program served Methuen children as well as those from neighboring Lawrence, Andover, and North Andover. The closing of Bridgewalk in April has left parents in a quandry as to what to do with their children: area preschool programs are filled until the next school year begins in September. For more on this story and the parents’ reactions, see GLCAC’s Web site.

Quincy Community Action Establishes Partnership with AARP To Counsel Elderly Homeowners on the Reverse Mortgage Process

Quincy Community Action Programs (QCAP) Housing Coordinator Rona Goodman has been certified by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) to counsel elderly homeowners on the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) process. HECMs, also called reverse mortgages, are available to homeowners over age 62 who may wish to tap into their home equity to receive a lump sum distribution, monthly income, or both, depending on which plan is chosen. HECM provides eligible households with cash to pay for necessities. No repayment of the loan is required until the home is no longer the principal residence of the owner. For more information about HECM counseling in Quincy please contact Rona Goodman at QCAP (617) 479-8181, x-115.

(Above story courtesy of QCAP)

(Spring 2003)