Bay State Banner May 14, 2020

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Creating opportunities for Mildred Hailey youth pg 2

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Congress seeking health center funds Warren, Pressley lead push for $7.6 billion in emergency funding

By SARAYA WINTERSMITH

PHOTO: PHILLIP MARTIN

A couple walks across the Longfellow Bridge.

Developer selected for Boston State Hospital Advisory group picks proposal with 367 housing units

By YAWU MILLER A group of Mattapan residents appointed to vet development proposals for the former Boston State Hospital land has selected a team to build a housing complex on the last open parcel of land on the site.

Accordia/Toll Brothers, the development team selected by the state-appointed Boston State Hospital Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC), plans to build 367 units in

seven three-story buildings on the site.

CAC member Royal L. Bolling Jr. said he hopes the new housing units will set a new standard for the neighborhood.

“I think it will set a model for future development in Mattapan,” he said.

The proposal was one of six submitted for the 10-acre parcel, which fronts Harvard Street and abuts the Mass Biologics Lab and Mass Audubon’s Boston Nature

Center. Five of the proposals were for housing developments; the sixth included an urban farming operation, food waste recycling cooperative and business incubator space.

CAC members did not pick any of the developers in the first round and asked developers to modify their proposals to include elderly housing units, a day care facility and a shuttle from the

See BOSTON STATE, page 6

More than 100 Democratic members of Congress sent a letter to the top leaders of the House and Senate last Thursday seeking support for additional funding for the nation’s community health centers.

The 139 senators and representatives, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, both of Massachusetts, along with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, requested an immediate infusion of $7.6 billion in emergency funding and $77.3 billion to secure the long-term finances of community health centers.

“Throughout this pandemic, CHCs have served as one our nation’s most critical frontline providers. Serving almost 30 million rural and urban low-income people across America, CHCs provide testing and medical care within the nation’s most vulnerable and hardest hit communities,” the letter reads. “Further, as the economic ramifications of this pandemic continue to grow CHCs have become increasingly relied upon.

“Today, as many as 26 million people have lost their jobs and with it employer-sponsored health coverage, leaving millions of people without adequate access to health care,” it continues. “It is unfair and unsustainable for CHCs to meet an increased demand all while operating with limited funding and resources.”

The letter is addressed to the Senate’s Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as well as the House’s Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Nationwide, the federal government has poured billions of dollars into propping up cashstrapped health centers, bolstering their capacity to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic with expanded testing and telehealth capabilities. A coronavirus relief bill passed in March, for example, included $1.3 billion for the centers.

In Massachusetts, where about 1-in-7 residents rely on health centers for care, the 38 federally-qualified organizations last month received $36.5 million under that legislation.

The letter notes that “the East Boston Neighborhood Community Health Center has provided culturally-responsive and affordable care for more than 300 COVID-19 patients, many of whom are residents in Chelsea, MA — a majority Latinx community — in what is now the largest hot spot in the state.”

The letter points to “disproportionate infection rates in black and brown communities,” a pattern seen in partial racial-ethnic data collected on COVID-19 cases in Mass. and other parts of the country.

“As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to devastate communities across America, most

See HEALTH CENTERS, page 6

Fairmount Line gets card readers Riders will soon be able to use CharlieCards

By YAWU MILLER Back in 2006, when new stations were being planned for Mattapan Square, Four Corners and Newmarket, state Department of Transportation officials embraced the idea of transforming the Fairmount commuter rail into a rapid transit line.

Now, 14 years later, the stations are built, but the line runs at 40minute intervals during rush hour and one-hour intervals off peak

— hardly qualifying as rapid transit.

During the COVID pandemic, trains have been running only at one-hour intervals, but the line will soon inch one step closer to functioning as a rapid transit line with the installation of CharlieCard readers on station platforms.

“Ever since the T started the CharlieCard system, we’ve been working to get CharlieCard access on the Fairmount Line,” said Mela Miles, an organizer with the Greater Four Corners Action Coalition and

a member of the Fairmount Indigo Transit Coalition and the T Riders Union. “This is a long-awaited announcement.”

The readers, due to come online May 18, will allow riders to tap their cards before boarding their trains, then make free transfers to buses along the route and trains at South Station. Until now, riders without monthly passes were required to pay cash to board the trains and were not allowed free transfers.

“This is a great first step,” said 1st Suffolk District state Sen. Nick

See FAIRMOUNT, page 7

BANNER FILE PHOTO

A Fairmount Line train at the Four Corners stop.

2 • Thursday, May 14, 2020 • BAY STATE BANNER

Creating opportunities for Mildred Hailey youth

By YAWU MILLER In October last year, when a band of teens engaged in a rash of robberies along Southwest Corridor Park, street workers knew the culprits were likely from the Mildred C. Hailey public housing development, which abuts the bicycle path there.

But finding the group responsible before the police did proved difficult.

State Rep. Nika Elugardo knew how to get to the teens. She called My’Kell McMillan, an activist who lives in and grew up in the closeknit development.

“My’Kell had a relationship with them and was trying to rein them in,” she said. “He was one of the only adults they would talk to.”

McMillan set up a meeting with the culprits, who ranged in age from 13 to 18, along with Elugardo and a city of Boston street worker.

They discussed the teens’ needs, which included access to food.

“We talked about how we could nip it in the bud and bring in more resources,” McMillan said. “A lot of kids just don’t have jobs.”

The robberies stopped, but McMillan wasn’t done with youthwork. He was working as a valet and a staff member in a homeless shelter last year, but now he’s coordinating the newly-reopened Mildred C. Hailey Youth Leadership Institute, working out of a community center in the development.

The center and his job give McMillan the opportunity to give back to a community from which he says

BANNER PHOTO

My’Kell McMillan with three of the young people active in the Mildred Hailey development’s youth center. he received so much.

“The center was a safe haven for us, when I was growing up,” he said. “A home away from home.”

McMillan started the job in March, just before the statewide stay-at-home order took effect.

The space, in the basement of one of the development’s high-rise buildings, is a bit rough.

“It’s not a pretty sight,” McMillan says.

He hired an artist to create a mural on one wall. On another, he

set up a free-style space on which teens can create their own artwork. In past years, the center’s staff offered computer classes, brought in guest speakers, took kids on field trips and offered GED classes. MacMillan said the teens currently engaged with the center will determine the programming it offers in its current iteration.

He started offering tutoring programs for the teens, but when the pandemic took hold of the city,

normal activities for the center were put on hold.

Now, each Wednesday and Friday, McMillan provides meals for young people and their families and distributes face masks and supermarket gift cards.

McMillan credits Jacqui Furtado, a former youth worker in the development, with inspiring him to work with the youth currently living in the Mildred Hailey apartments.

“When I was 14, she gave me my

first summer job,” he recalls.

Back then, McMillan helped younger children in the development with their homework and took them on field trips and outings to local parks.

Over the years, McMillan remained active in social justice issues, working with the Urban Edge community development corporation and volunteering with the group Keep it 100 Percent, which advocates for affordable housing in Jamaica Plain. He also founded a nonprofit, Mack’s Sells, which collects clothing and footwear and redistributes it to people experiencing homelessness and living in poverty.

Through it all, McMillan remained involved in the Mildred Hailey community, keeping tabs on the youth growing up there.

“Most times, you see people come from these communities become successful and move out,” he said. “I want to be a living, breathing example that you can be here and be successful.”

McMillan sees the reopening of the youth center this year as an opportunity to give current young residents the same opportunities he had growing up there.

But during the current stay-athome order, working with teens means making sure everyone in their families is taken care of.

“Staying in touch with youth and their families is my priority right now,” McMillan said. “We’re trying to make sure that inside their homes and outside, the youth are safe and well-nourished,” he said.

Thursday, May 14, 2020 • BAY STATE BANNER • 3

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4 • Thursday, May 14, 2020 • BAY STATE BANNER

EDITORIAL

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Established 1965

Tara Reid’s failed attempt to disqualify Biden Sexual assault is a crime. Anyone when she was a 15-year-old student who is a victim has a right to file a at the private Holton-Arms School in criminal complaint against the alleged Bethesda, Maryland. She produced assailant. However, it is difficult to win the name of an eyewitness to the such cases, because usually, the only event and the names of seven persons witnesses of the crime are the victim who could corroborate her testimony and the accused. Under American about the circumstances. Neither she jurisprudence, the accused has the nor her witnesses were ever contacted constitutional right not to participate by the FBI in their investigation in his own prosecution. Thus, if the of Kavanaugh to provide informaaccused takes the fifth, there would tion for the Senate in their hearing. be no corroboration of the victim’s Some 36 years after the incident, statements.

Ford produced a credible account of One way to circumvent this conthe circumstances surrounding her stitutional right is for the alleged attempted rape. victim to provide such In a civilized society, a damning allegation anyone who believes It would be against a prominent they have suffered a unreasonable for those sexual assault can file person that he might feel compelled to supporting the election a criminal complaint respond, lest he appear to begin a formal of Biden in November to be insensitive to inquiry. The complaint to have their support the charge. The media is not alone disposseem to be driven by itive. The question diminished by an intention to respond of whether there has unproven accusation. equally to Tara Reade’s been a violation of law complaint against will be decided in the Joseph Biden as they judicial process. Until did to Christine Blasey Ford’s comthen, there can be no determination plaints against Brett Kavanaugh in about whether the law has been viohis 2018 Senate confirmation hearing lated. While it is indeed important to to be a U.S. Supreme Court justice. prosecute sexual offenders, we must However, there are substantial dif- also protect the criminal prosecution ferences in the quality of the evidence standards established by law. in the two complaints. Tara Reade Reade has accused Biden of sexual asserts that when she was a member assault. Biden has assertively denied of Biden’s senatorial staff in 1993, the accusation. In the absence of he put his hand under her dress and substantial evidence in support of her touched her private parts. Reade was claim, Biden could not be convicted unsure of the date, but she claims to of the charge. It would be unreasonhave filed a complaint with the Senate able for those supporting the election and she does not now have a copy of of Biden in November to have their the said complaint. So far, a search of support diminished by an unproven the Senate records has not found such accusation. a complaint. Her brother and two Before the 2020 presidential camacquaintances state that she menpaign is over there will undoubtedly tioned something to them about the be a barrage of television ads designed incident 27 years ago. to denigrate Joe Biden. It is best to Christine Blasey Ford asserted at focus one’s attention on the imporBrett Kavanaugh’s 2018 senatorial tance of electing a competent, truthful confirmation hearing that Kavanaand humanly sensitive president and ugh had tried to rape her in 1982 administration.

“With the White House so incompetent, there won’t be many of us left on Election Day.”

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OPINION

But will they convict them?

By EARL OFARI HUTCHINSON The one question on everyone’s lips was not whether Travis and Gregory McMichael would be charged with murder in the slaying of Ahmaud Arbery, but would they be convicted? When the video of the slaying went viral and showed an unarmed Arbery running, when tens of thousands expressed outrage over the killing, when conservative GOP Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said he was horrified by the video, and the case was snatched out of the police-friendly local DA’s office, it was almost a foregone conclusion that the pair would be slapped with murder charges.

A big part of the reason for questions and concerns about conviction is the tortured and very ugly history of trying to nail cops, even ex-cops like the McMichaels, for murdering unarmed blacks. There were three dead giveaways in the Arbery slaying about the tough road ahead. It took three months after his slaying to get any real legal action in the case. That was only after the grotesque video and mass rage took it out of the hands of local prosecutors who flatly said “no” to prosecution.

Next, the version of the killing heard and quoted almost verbatim in news reports was that of the McMichaels. In their telling of it, the inference lay heavy that Arbery was some kind of suspect in a series of robberies, and that he grabbed for a gun when cornered, thus the chase and killing. The only thing missing from the police/local prosecutor hideous collusion in blowing off the murder is a police- and media-orchestrated dirt-digging character rip of Arbery. That is the almost-ritual drugs, gangs, dysfunctional home and so on tarring of him, as has been done with other black victims of police violence.

So, therefore, the eternal and deeply troubling question: Will a jury convict them?

In 2010, a Bureau of Justice Statistics report found racial discrimination in jury selection is still rampant, even blatant. A Supreme Court ruling and other court rulings that ban all-white or non-black juries have been in far too many cases no more than paper decisions with little effect in ensuring a diverse jury in cases involving black defendants. That holds true where blacks have been the victims, and whites or non-blacks the defendants. That’s even more the case when the defendants are police officers.

Police have killed thousands of unarmed civilians in the decade since 2005, but according to a survey by The Washington Post and researchers at Bowling Green State University, only a handful of officers have been charged in the shootings. Virtually all have been acquitted if they ever get to trial.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics report gave a clue why it’s virtually impossible for juries to face the reality that some cops do wantonly kill. It comes down to the racial makeup and ingrained biases of jurors, no matter what their color. It did find that a racially diverse jury weighed evidence and testimony longer and more carefully, brought different perspectives and life experiences to the deliberations, and made fewer factual errors — crucial factors in cases where cops are charged with killing young blacks or Latinos.

On the other hand, a jury with no blacks, composed of mostly older middle-class whites and non-black ethnics, is much more likely to believe police and prosecution witnesses than black witnesses, defendants or victims.

In nearly every major racially-charged case in past years where blacks were the victims of white cops, back to Rodney King, defense attorneys depicted the victims as aggressors who posed a threat to the officers. They play up and exaggerate any run-ins with the law to depict young blacks as crime-prone, menacing figures. Almost certainly, they’ll dredge up the same worn script with Arbery. The idea is to subtly and openly play on the prejudices and negative beliefs of many white jurors toward young blacks.

The murder charge against the McMichaels came at glacial speed. But it came. But as time has shown, it’s one thing to indict cops, and another to convict. Will this be any different?

A big part of the reason for questions and concerns about conviction is the tortured and very ugly history of trying to nail cops, even ex-cops like the McMichaels, for murdering unarmed blacks.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst.

The other public health crisis: Gun violence in Mexico

By MARIA TERMINI Today we are all in an unimaginable state from the effects of the rapid spread of the coronavirus. Many have died, many are experiencing the painful course of this disease, and many are living in fear. Unprecedented measures have been taken to prevent and control the spread of this virus. Still, there is another serious public health problem that cannot be ignored and continues to kill in ever-increasing numbers. This is the epidemic of gun violence in Mexico, which is now experiencing its highest homicide rate in recorded history.

Last November, I worked in a border shelter and met many Mexican families forced to leave their homes. Many had experienced family members killed, tortured or disappeared, death threats, rape, or robbery of everything they owned. Because of a corrupt and broken justice system, the Mexican government cannot protect its citizens from organized criminal groups and even the military and the police.

All these entities are heavily armed, thanks to the weapons coming to them from the United States. The vigorous gun trade, legal and illegal, between Mexico and the U.S. is a big factor in the escalating violence that Mexico is experiencing. Mexico is the main importer of U.S. firearms. Many guns are manufactured in New England: Colt (Connecticut), Sig Sauer (New Hampshire), Century Arms (Vermont), Mossberg (Connecticut), and Smith and Wesson (Massachusetts).

The overall statistics of gun violence in Mexico statistics are chilling. According to Al-Jazeera, more than 61,000 people are known to have been forcibly “disappeared” in Mexico, many of them migrants. Firearms were used in more than 68,000 gun homicides in the last three years.

In 2006, the U.S. and Mexico declared war on drugs and implemented a military aid package called Plan Merida, which provided Mexico with large quantities of weapons that got into the hands of the wrong people.

continues to flourish from gun shops and gun shows from which it is easy to smuggle them across the border into Mexico.

We must do all we can to call attention to this epidemic of gun violence in Mexico and urge Congress to reduce legal firearms exports to Mexico to levels from before the war on drugs; support a federal ban on the sale of all assault weapons and high capacity magazines; and require tighter control of gun exports. Guns should not be sold to those credibly involved with human rights

The vigorous gun trade, legal and illegal, between Mexico and the U.S. is a big factor in the escalating violence that Mexico is experiencing.

The U.S. plays a primary role in this violence, as the principal source of arms flowing legally and illegally to Mexico. The U.S. exported more than $33 million of firearms, ammunition and gun parts to Mexico last year, far more than to any other Latin American country.

Guns exported to Mexico are sold to the Mexican army, which is empowered to legally distribute them to local and state police, security companies, and private non-military individuals. The Mexican army spent more than $1.4 billion between 2007 and 2017 for weapons, including grenades, assault rifles and bullets.

The 2018 budget for the Mexican army greatly increased, to $3.6 billion. The illegal gun trade also

abuses. We must make these demands clear to our legislators.

Together we can work to stop policies of warfare and violence and instead focus on development, fighting poverty, and community investment. We have clearly seen how more guns creates more deaths and suffering. We know that the war on drugs will not be won with violence. The many deaths from guns have made this clear. We can stand together for values of peace and justice in all places and oppose this gun trade which has been shown to only increase violence

Maria Termini is an artist, author and musician who has traveled extensively in Latin America. She is a member of Massachusetts Peace Action.

IN THE NEWS

RAN BLAKE Iconic pianist and composer Ran Blake is the 2020 recipient of the Boston Jazz Hero award from the Jazz Journalists Association.

Blake is one of 27 jazz heroes in 23 cities across the country chosen as “activists, advocates, altruists, aiders and abettors of jazz.”

The Jazz Journalists Association, in partnership with New England Conservatory where Blake has taught for 52 years, will present the award to Blake during a virtual event at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 23, 2020. The event will include a solo piano performance by Blake and a short interview by veteran jazz writer and JJA board member Bob Blumenthal.

“In this troubling time, as the world fights a pandemic, the JJA

is proud to celebrate the hearts, souls and efforts of these Heroes who all are of the opinion that

creative, improvised music offers substantial personal and societal benefits,” says Howard Mandel, president of the JJA. “And they do everything they can to spread that message.”

“As founding chair of the Third Stream/Contemporary Improvisation program, Ran’s impact on the curriculum and culture of NEC has been transformative,” says NEC President Andrea Kalyn. “But his full influence reaches far beyond, reflected in the work of generations of musicians who — under Ran’s guidance — were given both the tools and the freedom to develop their own individual artistry. He is a true musical hero, and we extend our warmest congratulations on this most fitting honor.”

6 • Thursday, May 14, 2020 • BAY STATE BANNER

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Boston State

At the end of the day, I hope there’s continued communication between the developers and the community.”

continued from page 1

development site to the Forest Hills Orange Line station.

Accordia is owned by Boston-based real estate developer Kirk Sykes, who along with Thomas Welch developed Roxbury’s Crosstown Center, with its Hampton Inn hotel and associated parking garage and office complex on Melnea Cass Boulevard. Opened in 2004, the hotel was the first black-owned hotel in Boston. Toll Brothers, a Pennsylvania-based luxury housing developer, specializes in large rental properties.

The team’s proposal calls for 82 owner-occupied units and 285 rental units. A total of 246 of the units would be market rate and 66 affordable. In keeping with state guidelines for the site, which formerly housed an asylum run by the state’s Department of Mental Health (DMH), 55 units will be set aside for DMH clients.

Accordia is listed as having a 51 percent ownership stake in the development, with Toll Brothers owning the other 49 percent.

State Rep. Russell Holmes said an advantage to bringing in the

health centers continued from page 1

specifically people of color and low-income communities, it is imperative to our broader public health and safety goals that CHCs receive the funding they need to effectively meet the challenges before them,” the letter reads.

The lawmakers are pushing for a big increase in additional funding to ensure the institutions have post-pandemic stability.

The letter also called for a five-year reauthorization of the

— Andrea Campbell

BANNER FILE PHOTO

Developers are planning a 367-unit development in the land adjacent to the Olmstead Green development on the former Boston State Hospital site. large, out-of-state developer is that they will likely have the resources to move the project forward even as the economy moves into a likely recession.

“In these uncertain times, they’re still able to build,” he said.

Holmes toured The Kendrick, a Toll Brothers luxury apartment complex in Needham, and said he was encouraged.

“They’re bringing that level of quality to the neighborhood,” he said.

The CAC decision, which was not publicly announced, came after a series of meetings last year with prospective developers. The CAC was formed in 1985 during the administration of Governor Michael Dukakis and is the only community-based

group empowered by the state to select developers for the Boston State Hospital site.

District 4 City Councilor Andrea Campbell said neighborhood residents should have the opportunity to review the Accordia/ Toll Brothers proposal before it is approved by the state.

“At the end of the day, I hope there’s continued communication between the developers and the community,” she said.

The CAC decision will be vetted by the state’s Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM). A spokesperson for the state’s Executive Office for Administration and Finance would not answer questions on the record about when DCAMM will issue its final decision on a designated developer for the parcel.

Community Health Center Fund, set to expire at the end of November, saying it will “not only help our health centers meet the immediate needs of all of their patients during this pandemic, but set a strong foundation for the long-term recovery that lies ahead. And, when the pandemic subsides and every single American needs COVID-19 testing, and later, vaccinations, our health centers can and will be ready.”

Saraya Wintersmith covers Dorchester, Roxbury and. Mattapan for WGBH News 89.7.

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A COVID testing site at the Bowdoin Street Health Center.

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Activists call on ICE to release immigrants

By KENNEAL PATTERSON Carlos Escobar-Mejia, a 57-year-old man who had been living in the United States for 40 years, died on May 6 of COVID-19 while being detained in an immigration facility in San Diego. Escobar-Mejia’s passing marked the first confirmed coronavirus-related death in an ICE detention center.

Sen. Ed Markey joined immigration activists on Friday in an online conversation to discuss COVID-19’s impacts on the immigrant community.

“This is a time of great challenge for our country,” said Markey. “The coronavirus has helped to lift up the rock so that we can see all of the injustice that exists.”

As of Friday, at least 788 people detained by ICE have contracted COVID-19. According to May 8 statistics, the total detained population is 29,675, but only 1,593 detainees have been tested. Nearly 50% of those who received a test were positive for COVID-19.

Research suggests that infection rates for detainees will skyrocket.

“A new statistical model released last week predicted that within three months, the infection rate in the nation’s immigration detention facilities, including right here in Massachusetts, will reach 70-99% of the detained population,” said Fatema Sumar, vice president of Global Programs at Oxfam, in last week’s conversation.

Markey advocated for the release of immigrants currently detained by ICE. “We have to release these immigrants from detention so that we provide the protection for them and anyone else that would come into contact with them,” he said.

The Federal Immigration

Fairmount continued from page 1

Collins, who has advocated for measures to increase service on the line.

“People will feel this in their wallets.

They won’t have to pay twice to ride downtown.”

Collins credited community groups and Mayor Martin Walsh for advocating for better service on the line.

For decades, the Fairmount Line ran through the Roxbury and Dorchester neighborhoods home to the majority of the city’s black population without making stops. In the 1990s, activists with the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative led efforts to persuade the T to open a station at Dudley Street.

By 2006, the MBTA began construction on the Newmarket, Four

COURTESY PHOTOS

(l-r) Patricia Montes, Sen. Ed Markey, Natalicia Tracy.

Release for Safety and Security Together, or the FIRST Act, would mandate this release. The bill would also halt immigration enforcement against individuals not deemed a safety risk. Markey said he would “absolutely” consider co-sponsoring and supporting the bill.

“It is imperative that we move legislation to protect those people who would otherwise be exposed to this disease unnecessarily,” he said.

Senators Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., unveiled the FIRST Act on April 13. Booker said that detention centers are like a “ticking time bomb.”

“They are severely at risk for a COVID-19 outbreak, considering the close quarters in which detainees are housed and a population with much higher rates of underlying health issues,” Booker said in a press release, adding, “This is really a matter of life and death.”

Deporting immigrants only worsens problems in their country of origin, noted Markey. He said that he was the first senator to call for a halting of deportations during the pandemic, nearly two months ago. Undocumented individuals should be treated as

“

People will feel this in their wallets.

They won’t have to pay twice to ride downtown.”

— Sen. Nick Collins

Corners and Mattapan Square stations. Although the administration of Gov. Deval Patrick committed to increasing service along the line by replacing the commuter rail cars with faster, lighter train cars capable of running rapid transit service, the administration of Gov. Charlie Baker backed off of that commitment.

In February, Baker administration officials agreed to study the

“part of our healthcare family,” he said.

Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, executive director for Lawyers for Civil Rights, said that there have been alarming headlines covering the deportation of COVID-19 infected immigrants.

“This is highly concerning because it indicates that immigration facilities are not doing enough to test, treat, prevent and protect,” he said.

Natalicia Tracy, executive director for the Brazilian Worker Center, said that the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the great inequalities that exist nationwide.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, sponsored by Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. and passed in late March, provided certain low-income individuals with a $1,200 recovery check. Tracy questioned why the CARES Act hasn’t worked out better to include all taxpayers.

Markey said that the federal government should assist undocumented immigrants along with tax-paying individuals.

“Any undocumented [person] should be able to get the cash assistance,” he said. “I think that we should be helping people right now to survive. It’s dangerous not

“

We can’t go back to business as usual, because business as usual means that our community will continue to be marginalized, exploited and criminalized.”

— Natalicia Tracy, Brazilian Worker Center

to help people survive.”

Markey recognized the number of essential workers that are undocumented. He said that these individuals need access to health care and “cash in their hands.”

Also of concern are the more than 300,000 U.S. residents under temporary protected status (TPS). Foreign-born individuals are eligible for TPS if they are unable to return safely to their country of origin. The majority of TPS residents are from El Salvador, Honduras, Haiti, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan.

Some TPS residents have been

feasibility of electrifying the route, a move that would enable MBTA officials to utilize electric train cars capable of providing faster service.

The Fairmount Indigo Transit Coalition takes its name from the Indigo Line name that MBTA officials were considering using for the Fairmount Line once it transforms into a rapid transit line. Progress has been slow, but Miles said coalition members are happy to see the card readers being installed.

Trains on the Fairmount Line are currently running on a once-anhour schedule, but Miles said that may change when the state’s stay-athome order is lifted. With the new card readers up and running, Miles hopes commuters will have one more reason to try the train line.

“Riders won’t have to decide to ride the train based on CharlieCard use,” she said.

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in the United States for decades but remain unsure whether the protection will remain. The government has extended the TPS end date, but it is currently set to expire for most TPS-holders on Jan. 4, 2021.

Markey is an original co-sponsor of the Safe Environment from Countries Under Repression and in Emergency (SECURE) Act, which would allow TPS recipients to apply for permanent residency.

Markey said that TPS residents are “essential to America” and should not be deported.

“Now is the time for us to give them the protections which they deserve,” he said. “It would be absolutely below common decency to not now provide them with the protection for their families that they need, as they’ve been providing the protection for our families.”

“We need bold, transformational change in our country,” said Markey, and added that “We need to dismantle the deportation army of Donald Trump,” including dramatically increasing acceptance of asylum seekers and refugees and decriminalizing unlawful entry into the country.

Patricia Montes, executive director of Centro Presente, said, “We do not want to go back to normal after COVID.” The United States’ “normal” has systematically violated human rights, she said.

“The immigration system in the U.S. has historically been an exclusive and racist system that has treated the entire immigrant community, especially immigrants of color, as a threat to national security,” Montes said.

Tracy of the Brazilian Worker Center agreed.

“We can’t go back to business as usual,” she said, “because business as usual means that our community will continue to be marginalized, exploited and criminalized.”

Help United South End Settlements help families most impacted by COVID-19

neighbor2neighbor Fund for Families

The neighbor2neighbor Fund for Families helps USES: • Engage youth in remote learning and enrichment • Provide one-on-one financial and family support coaching sessions to parents • Award mini-grants to families who’ve been impacted by COVID-19 • Enhance program quality through professional development opportunities for our staff; recently trained 13 members of our staff as Family Support Advocates to provide coaching to parents • Provide children and their families with nutritious and healthy food To donate to the n2n Fund for Families or to learn more on how we can support you, please visit www.uses.org/n2nfund or email Maicharia Weir Lytle, mwl@uses.org.

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8 • Thursday, May 14, 2020 • BAY STATE BANNER

WORKING TOGETHER TO STOP THE VIRUS SPONSORED BY: THE COMMUNITY TRACING COLLABORATIVE

What is the Community Tracing Collaborative?

What is contact tracing and how can it stop coronavirus?

The Community Tracing Collaborative was recently launched by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to protect our communities and slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Through this program, more than 1,600 callers have been hired to reach out to confirmed positive COVID-19 patients and their close contacts. The effort has already reached more than 25,000 confirmed cases and their contacts. This includes patients’ friends, colleagues and family members to help protect others who have been potentially exposed.

Who is part of this effort?

The state Department of Public Health and local boards of health have teamed up with Partners In Health, a highly trusted and respected organization that has done work to help stop previous outbreaks across the globe.

Together they created the Community Tracing Collaborative in Massachusetts.

Known as the MA COVID Team, this support center of 1,600 people consists of multilingual community members and leaders working tirelessly to stop the spread of the virus.

How can you help?

Your participation in contact tracing will not only help connect you to medical support and

resources, answering the call will also keep your loved ones and community safe. Words spread faster than the virus. Please answer the call to stop the spread of COVID-19 In our communities.

How will you know when you are receiving the call?

Your phone will receive a call and display “MA COVID Team” on the screen, or the call will come from your local board of health.

All phone calls will use the area code 833 or 857 and calls will be made daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Please answer. The greatest act of love is answering the call.

What happens during an MA COVID Team call?

If you have tested positive for coronavirus, a MA COVID Team member will call and ask you for a list of all of the people you were within six feet of during the two days before you had symptoms or received your diagnosis. The MA COVID Team will also ask for the phone numbers of anyone you identify, so they can be called and cared for.

If you feel comfortable, the MA COVID Team will encourage you to give your contacts a heads-up that they will be calling. The COVID team will then call your contacts and let them know that they have been potentially exposed so they can get tested.

The power is in your hands.

Answer the call to help trace and contain the spread of the virus.

How will the MA COVID Team provide assistance to those who are infected?

If you have tested positive and are staying at home during the isolation period, the MA COVID Team member can help connect you with a care resource coordinator who will help you get the

leadership, Massachusetts is proud to be the first state in the nation to initiate contact tracing, and your participation is critical to our shared success. Contact tracing is your way to impact the lives of many in our state and beyond and help stop the spread of COVID-19.

Through contact tracing, the

We are all in this together and by sharing information through the Community Tracing Collaborative, we can spread the word to stop the virus. support you need. Throughout your illness, a MA COVID Team member or your local board of health will check in to monitor your symptoms and needs.

How will my identity be protected?

The state will not release your name to anyone publicly or privately. Your information is strictly confidential and will be treated as a private medical record. Your information will also not be shared with other agencies or immigration officials. Beware of scammers: The MA COVID Team will never ask you for your Social Security number or insurance information.

Why does your participation matter?

Under Governor Baker’s

Commonwealth will be able to better arrange testing, as well as medical and quarantine support for you and your loved ones.

What if I don’t have any symptoms?

Should I still participate?

Many people who have COVID19 don’t show any symptoms and don’t realize that they may be spreading the virus. So, if you get a call, keep your family and friends safe by answering the call. We are all in this together and by sharing information through the Community Tracing Collaborative, we can spread the word to stop the virus.

With contact tracing in place, we can track the spread and reduce additional exposure to others by encouraging testing and

supporting quarantine and social distancing.

How will the state measure success of the program?

There are multiple ways the program will measure success: First, measuring the number of contacts reached in a timely fashion and followed through their quarantine. Second, being sure those who have been in contact with a COVID-19 patient can access testing. Third, seeing a reduction in case transmission as an overall effect of a coordinated public health response.

What else is the state doing to protect our communities?

Governor Baker recently announced a major increase in testing capacity and is working to expand bed capacity, personal protective equipment and ventilators available to health care organizations.

The state is also helping COVID-positive homeless individuals and family members who aren’t in housing that makes it possible for them to isolate and receive food.

The Community Tracing Collaborative adds to these efforts to ensure safe, high-quality care and increased testing to maximize the Commonwealth’s response to COVID-19. Remember: The power is in your hands.

Answer the call from the MA COVID Team and help stop the spread of coronavirus today.

Thursday, May 14, 2020 • BAY STATE BANNER • 9

WORKING TOGETHER TO STOP THE VIRUS SPONSORED BY: THE COMMUNITY TRACING COLLABORATIVE

Massachusetts launches public awareness campaign to stop spread of COVID-19 Massachusetts has launched a new multicultural campaign to help stop the spread of COVID in diverse communities that have been among the hardest hit by the pandemic.

Through this campaign, the Commonwealth is engaging ethnic media outlets and community influencers to get the word out to diverse residents in their own languages. This will ensure the state’s most vulnerable populations have the information and support they need to slow the spread of COVID. There is a major need for such efforts, particularly in communities such as Boston, Brockton, Chelsea, Lawrence, Revere and other major hotspots that have seen COVID rates rise to several times the state’s average.

In many of these communities, workers are considered essential and are on the front lines of the COVID crisis, working in food service, public transportation and sanitation. Latino populations also face high rates of chronic illness, such as asthma, heart disease and diabetes, that leave the immune system more vulnerable to the virus.

Governor Baker’s administration,

alongside Partners In Health, has stepped up to address this with a nation-leading outreach and education campaign. The campaign is already operating in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, Haitian Creole, Cape Verdean Kreol, Khmer, Vietnamese, Chinese, Portuguese and Arabic.

Facebook, Pandora and Hulu to reach people on their mobile devices and social networks.

The main message of the program is designed to build trust and increase participation in the Commonwealth’s new Community Tracing Collaborative.

Through this program, more than 1,600 callers have been

“Our goal is to create a community focused program that uses trustworthy sources and voices to stop the spread of coronavirus.”

Josiane Martinez, founder/CEO, Archipelago Strategies Group The goal is to reach key audiences that tested positive for COVID-19 or have come in contact with someone who tested positive, with information in their own languages and via trusted media outlets and influencers.

The campaign has already launched a series of ads on ethnic and digital media outlets such as

hired to reach out to confirmed positive COVID-19 patients and their close contacts. The program has already made more than 25,000 calls.

“Our goal is to create a community-focused program that uses trustworthy sources and voices to stop the spread of coronavirus,” said Josiane Martinez, founder and CEO of Archipelago

Strategies Group (ASG), which is working with Partners In Health to administer the public awareness campaign.

“Governor Baker’s administration has stepped up in a big way to make this multicultural campaign possible, and we know it will help save lives in our communities,” added Martinez.

The messages are being promoted through ethnic radio ads, 30-second web videos and animations in multiple languages, as well as multilingual bus shelter ads and train platform posters, to reach people where they are.

The messages focus on how the power lies in the hands of the community to stop the spread of COVID, and how participating in the contact-tracing program is among the “greatest acts of love.”

The campaign is also setting up a series of online and radio help lines, featuring hour-long live conversations between state leaders and listeners who will be able to call in with questions.

And the campaign will also tap into Massachusetts’ network of independent producers, including community leaders and

journalists who keep their cultural heritage alive by broadcasting to communities in their language of origin.

Martinez stresses that this campaign is not just a media blitz. It will also have a strong and safe community engagement component to distribute flyers, hand sanitizers and other swag at essential businesses, such as supermarkets and pharmacies, to reach people where they are with critical information.

“We will work with local leaders, nonprofits, and other influencers and amplifiers to become validators for this campaign, to ensure we are reaching deep into communities,” she added.

Along with its contact tracing program, Massachusetts considers this to be another nation-leading campaign that will help slow and stop the spread of COVID in the diverse communities that need help the most.

ON THE WEB For information on COVID-19 testing, visit:

www.mass.gov/doc/ma-covid-19-testing-sites/ download AND www.mass.gov/info-details/ covid-19-testing

Education key to preventing further COVID disparities in black communities

By DR. MARGARET RILEY Black residents of Greater Boston have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, creating a crisis that requires major education and health efforts to further stem the outbreak in our communities.

Our survival depends on it.

Consider that black residents make up just 22 percent of Boston’s population, but account for 42 percent of all COVID-19 cases in the city, according to data from the Boston Public Health Commission.

This is likely because black residents have higher instances of chronic diseases that put their immune systems at risks. They also work in jobs that are deemed essential, such as transportation, sanitation and food service, putting them in constant contact with others, through no fault of their own.

And our residents also frequently live with friends and family members in densely populated neighborhoods where social distancing can be difficult. In fact, 61 percent of Boston’s COVID19 positive patients are from Dorchester, Roxbury, Hyde Park and Mattapan.

As a Dorchester-area doctor, I often hear expressions of fear and uncertainty in the voices of my patients, especially when it comes

to COVID-19. They are anxious about the virus, as well as the programs the government has put in place to track it.

That’s why it’s so critical we give people the fundamentals about the virus and the need for tools such as contact tracing that could save thousands of lives in our communities, if used correctly.

The Community Tracing Collaborative was recently launched by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to protect residents and slow the spread of the coronavirus, particularly in black and brown communities that have been hit hardest. In collaboration with local boards of health in every city and town, the Collaborative is embarking on a first-in-the-nation contact tracing campaign against COVID-19.

Through this program, more than 1,600 callers have been hired to reach out to confirmed positive COVID-19 patients and their close contacts, and the program has already made more than 25,000 calls. This includes friends, colleagues and family members of COVID-positive patients, to help protect others who have been potentially exposed.

The state Department of Public Health has teamed up with Partners In Health, a highly trusted and respected organization that has done work to help stop previous outbreaks across the globe. Together they created the

Community Tracing Collaborative in Massachusetts, with a team of callers known as the MA COVID Team.

Our community’s participation in contact tracing will not only

When I see fathers and mothers come into my clinic at the Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center, they are seeing death and don’t know what to make of it.

They don’t understand why this

Let’s come together to support common-sense programs like community-based testing and contact tracing. help connect patients to medical support, it will also protect loved ones and family members to keep the community-at-large safe. In essence, words spread faster than the virus, and that’s why the state’s program is essential.

For the black community, in addition to contact tracing, we need very specific outreach to our populations. This must be done through organizations such as churches and community health center networks.

It’s critical that people receive simple language on the virus and how it gets transmitted through the air, nose and mouth, potentially within six feet of others. We also need to circulate statistics on how our community is being hit the hardest, to help drive the crisis home.

virus is so different from the cold or the flu. This is precisely why we need to spend the time explaining it to them through trusted voices and outlets, such as the Bay State Banner.

Our government must step up and make the COVID infection rates in the black community a project of focus. This can be done through educational placards, utilizing community health centers and churches to reinforce the need for physical distancing, wearing masks and washing our hands often. Our young brothers and sisters also need to heed the call of duty to protect their loved ones, particularly elders who are more susceptible to the virus and fatality.

Any contact tracing efforts should be respectful, minimize

PHOTO: UNSPLASH

stigma, not appear punitive and hopefully be done in a trusting partnership.

This virus has not only wreaked havoc on our families economically, it also strikes at the heart of many of the innate and universal human needs for warmth, affection, companionship and socialization.

Let’s come together to support common-sense programs like community-based testing and contact tracing, in the context of comprehensive treatment, to stem the tide of coronavirus in our most vulnerable neighborhoods.

Dr. Margaret Riley is a psychiatrist at Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center

10 • Thursday, May 14, 2020 • BAY STATE BANNER

How can contact tracing help stop the virus?

Through what's called contact tracing, the MA COVID Team will identify confirmed COVID-19 cases and call to connect them to the necessary support and resources during quarantine.

With your help, the MA COVID Team will also reach out to everyone who has been exposed.

www.mass.gov/matracingteam

Spread the word.

Stop the virus.

Thursday, May 14, 2020 • BAY STATE BANNER • 11

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Leominster technology firm gains plaudits for ‘people first’ approach

By KENNEAL PATTERSON The Small Business Administration recently named Cleartech Group the 2020 Minority Owned Small Business of the Year for Massachusetts.

Cleartech, based in Leominster, was founded in 2017 and specializes in providing technological assistance to companies throughout the commonwealth.

Tony Fields, the company’s president and founder, told the Banner that Cleartech is a “people-first” company. He said that he uses technology to give back to businesses and his community as a whole.

“In learning more about technology and learning more about how to leverage technology and help people reach their goals, I started to realize it’s an act of service,” he said.

Fields has prioritized certain values in his company vision. He’s learned some of these values from his time in the Air Force, where he served from 1992-1996, he said.

“Part of that,” he said, “was building the discipline and the service-oriented mentality that I grew into and decided more and more that I wanted to serve. Serve not just by country, but my community. Serve my family.”

The SBA recognized Cleartech for “outstanding community service” as well as revenue growth.

The company has increased its revenue by 40% from 2018 to the end of 2019.

Fields said that he was nominated for two programs in 2018: the SBA Emerging Leaders Program and the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program.

The programs were free, he said, and he learned to map out a growth plan for his business.

“By the end of 2018, I had a growth plan for 2019,” he said. His plan centered on hiring the right people, focusing on customer needs and managing the business’s financial side.

After these programs, he said, he was able to look at his business from a strategic perspective. “It was a combination of that training in 2018, getting the right people and getting them in the right places, and then leading with vision and also serving my customers and my team,” he said.

“As a result, 2019 was phenomenal growth,” he added.

Fields said that the company was in “growth mode” until March, when the pandemic hit. “Our growth plan and our vision ... took a little detour,” he said. “So as of right now, we’re reworking the plan.”

“

My advice is put yourself out there and show up, and that’s half the battle.”

— Tony Fields

In this new normal, said Fields, his team had to switch gears from focusing a lot on technology to prioritizing more of the people element.

“A lot of the past month and a half has been serving people and helping people through more than just technical changes,” he said.

The “people-first” mentality includes asking customers how they’re doing and caring for their needs. Fields said that many people weren’t set up to pivot in the midst of the crisis, so they’re going to Cleartech for solutions.

COURTESY PHOTO

Tony Fields, Cleartech Group president and founder.

Fields first opened a computer-repair franchise in Leominster in 2004. He wanted to be a part of the community in central Massachusetts, where he could be involved with his children’s’ sports games, he said.

After more than 10 years of working with the franchise, Fields’

children were nearing the end of high school. “I could take my lifestyle business and turn it into a business,” he said.

In 2017, Cleartech Group was launched. “I wanted to build it to create jobs and really support my customers in a scalable way,” he said.

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As businesses more and more depend on technology, said Fields, it allows for Cleartech Group to work in partnership with them.

“They can lean on us, trust us, we’re going to put their best interests first,” he said. “And then make sure that the technology is less of an obstacle and more of an asset to their business as they move forward.”

Looking ahead, Fields hopes to expand Cleartech into a multi-million dollar company.

He also wants to continue serving businesses in his county, in Massachusetts and throughout New England.

“One of the things that I often say is that my main goal ... is that I want to climb while pulling,” he said. “And so as I climb, I’m always pulling as many people as I can.”

Fields encouraged other business owners to “climb,” too.

“My advice is put yourself out there and show up, and that’s half the battle,” he said.

ON THE WEB Cleartech Group:

www.cleartechgroup.com

12 • Thursday, May 14, 2020 • BAY STATE BANNER

ARTS&CULTURE CHECK OUT MORE ARTS NEWS ONLINE: WWW.BAYSTATEBANNER.COM/CATEGORY/ARTS-AND-CULTURE

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Now or Never

New Repertory considers new frontier of theater

By CELINA COLBY

(above) Rap battle scene in “The Cypher.” (below) Filmmaker Letia Solomon. COURTESY PHOTO

Young, gifted and gay Black masculinity and identity take center stage in ‘The Cypher’

By COLETTE GREENSTEIN Championing underserved voices through film is at the heart of the types of stories that Letia Solomon wants to tell, but it took four years of soul-searching before she made the leap full-time into filmmaking.

In 2012, Solomon graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of California, Riverside and began working as a materials and process application engineer for Raytheon Company Space and Airborne Systems.

During the weekends and after work, she would find her way into theater and acting classes. In 2013, Solomon had an “aha moment” when she directed her first short film, which showed the behind-thescenes aspects of filmmaking. She began to realize that what she was doing was project management. “In film terms, it’s called producing,” says Solomon in a recent conversation with the Banner.

She knew she could crunch the numbers, but she also loved the arts and being creative. “At one time I thought had to choose one over the other,” Solomon says. “But once I figured out that I had a perspective to offer and it’s valid, I realized I could be all of these things and still be phenomenal, and still be a whole person that had something to offer.”

In 2015, she wrote, produced and starred in “Untold,” a short film centered on domestic violence that screened at the Black Women Film Network Summit in Atlanta, Georgia. A year later she followed that up with “Elevate,” another short film that she wrote and directed, which was about a bright African American teen living in Los Angeles who enters a robotics

“

...once I figured out that I had a perspective to offer and it’s valid, I realized I could be all of these things and still be phenomenal, and still be a whole person that had something to offer.”

— Letia Solomon

competition to win a college scholarship. The short, which was Solomon’s final film project for her course at the New York Film Academy in Burbank, California, won Best Student Film in the 2017 Philadelphia Independent Film Awards.

That same year, Solomon applied to University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. She was accepted and hasn’t looked back.

Her latest project is her thesis film, “The Cypher,” which was written by Wes Akwuobi (whom she met during their film classes) and directed by Solomon.

“The Cypher” tells the story of Khalil (played by Nigel Cox), a young African American rapper who is struggling with his identity and sexuality, all the while competing in a freestyle rap competition. The character is somewhat based on Akwuobi, who came out as gay while studying at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Since its completion, “The Cypher” was chosen to screen its world premiere in the 2020 “Shorts: Don’t Look Back” program at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the film’s world premiere shifted to Tribeca’s online film festival, which runs through May 15.

With this film, Solomon hopes that audiences will see Khalil as a human being with all of his strengths and vulnerabilities, she says, and not simply through the lens of his sexual orientation.

As of May 15, Solomon will graduate with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Film & TV production from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. She’s currently working on a feature version of “The Cypher,” and she hopes to be able to direct and produce coming-of-age dramas and comedies as well as films that focus on family dynamics and interpersonal and romantic relationships.

Despite the abrupt end to its spring season, New Repertory Theatre, like many in the Boston area, has taken its programming online to keep audiences engaged.

New Rep leaders are also considering what should change before they reopen to the public.

Artistic director Michael J. Bobbitt was enjoying a successful first season at the theater’s helm. He says New Rep saw a 26% increase in patrons and a 43% increase in revenue during the season and was beginning to build up financial reserves. But even without the physical performances, he still believes New Rep’s work is crucial right now.

“The arts can be really healing.

They can also be a really good distractor. I mean, I think I’ve finished Netflix,” Bobbitt says, laughing. “If you think about the thing that’s keeping people together, keeping people connected and keeping people entertained while they’re stuck in their houses, most of that is the arts.”

One of those entertainments will soon be a series of plays drawn from the real lives of Bostonians.

“We have asked our patrons to share with us their funny quarantine stories and then we’ll give them out to playwrights to turn into monologues or small scenes,” says Bobbitt. By the end of the month he hopes to have a few of these mini-plays live online.

Bobbitt has also been moderating a semi-weekly program called “In the Wings: An Artists’ Salon.”

During the segment, which airs on Facebook on Sundays, Bobbitt chats with creatives in different areas of theater work about their

See NEW REP, page 13

PHOTO: DJ COREY

View the trailer: www.tribecafilm.com/films/cypher-2020

Michael J. Bobbitt, artistic director, New Repertory Theatre

Thursday, May 14, 2020 • BAY STATE BANNER • 13

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Alvin Ailey for all Online programs bring Ailey classes and performances home

By CELINA COLBY The Alvin Ailey stage is dark this May, but the new online initiative Ailey All Access brings the famous company and its joyful dances into living rooms all over the country. The platform provides full-length streaming performances, dance classes you can take from home and regular interviews with the company members.

Every Thursday at 7 p.m., social distancers can tune in to an Alvin Ailey performance online, in place of the live tour shows that would otherwise be occurring. On Thursday, May 14, the series will feature Artistic Director Robert Battle’s “Mass.” Camille Brown’s “City of Rain” will air on May 21.

For those who prefer active engagement, Ailey All Access offers both dance classes, from ballet to Vogueing, and fitness classes that utilize dance techniques, for example, Zumba and a Ballet Barrestyle fitness routine. The Afro-Cuban Modern class with Noibis Licea every Sunday celebrates a rarely seen form of modern dance as well as the heritage that inspired it. Classes are offered at all age and skill levels. The cost is $12 per class with package deals available, and the sessions are streamed via Zoom.

On Wednesdays and Saturdays at 1 p.m., viewers can tune in to Instagram Live to see “Conversations With,” chats among the dancers about how they got their start in the company and what inspires them. The interviews, which feel more like casual Zoom catch-ups between friends, reveal

New Rep

continued from page 12 experience during the pandemic and their unique perspective on live performance. He’s so far spoken with playwrights and artistic directors, and on Sunday, May 17, he’ll chat with artists of color about their experiences.

Programs like that one may live on even after social distancing rules have been lifted. Bobbitt says that during a recent conference with a theater communications group, a lot of the discussion was about moving forward. “We discussed what the future of theater looks like and can we use this time to correct some business practices that aren’t working but maybe have been around for a long time,” he says.

Many of those practices limit accessibility, for example, a subscription model that hinders theatergoers financially or even the idea of going to a physical theater to see a show, which is not an option for everyone. As part of his ongoing mission to bring more diversity and inclusivity to New Rep, Bobbitt and others are taking time to consider what

Ailey All Access offers both dance classes, from ballet to Vogueing, and fitness classes that utilize dance techniques. the challenges the dancers have faced and bring the performers to a more accessible level than their seemingly mythic presences on stage. After the live stream, the sessions are available to watch on the Alvin Ailey YouTube channel.

Last Wednesday, May 6, Hope Boykin interviewed company member and Lawrence native Belén Indhira Pereyra as part of the series. Pereyra credits her early years studying dance in Lawrence, at Boston Arts Academy and with OrigiNation Cultural Arts Center with not only igniting in her the love of dance but also preserving her connection to her Dominican Republic heritage. She was able to study dances from all over the world, surrounded by other students of color, a unique experience in the dance world and an ideal training ground for her eventual role at Alvin Ailey.

Despite being apart from the other dancers during what they call this “intermission,” Pereyra says she’s using the time to recharge. She says, “I’ve never had this opportunity to get to know myself, and I’ve loved it.” And perhaps another ambitious young dancer will see Pereyra’s interview or take an Ailey Zoom class and be lit with the same fire.

(above) Belén Indhira Pereyra, Ghrai DeVore-Stokes and Samantha Figgins in Judith Jamison’s “Divining.”

PHOTO: PAUL KOLNIK

(left) Belén Pereyra and former company member Collin Heyward in Alvin Ailey’s “Revelations.”

PHOTO: PIERRE WACHHOLDE

ON THE WEB Check out the Ailey All Access offerings at: www.alvinailey.org/performances-tickets/

ailey-all-access

A MUST-READ FOR EVERY BOSTONIAN! Did you know...

One of Boston’s skyscrapers — State Street Bank — was developed by black people?

“

We have asked our patrons to share with us their funny quarantine stories and then we’ll give them out to playwrights to turn into monologues or small scenes.”

That Roxbury’s Clifton Wharton Jr. became the first black president of a major U.S. college?

Or that Boston is the headquarters of OneUnited Bank, the largest black-owned and managed bank in the country?

— Michael J. Bobbitt should and shouldn’t return after the COVID-19 restrictions.

In the meantime, New Repertory Theatre will continue searching for ways to keep its audience in good spirits. “Typically I don’t believe that hope is a good management model to use, but right now I think it’s the best tool that we have,” says Bobbitt. “So anything that we can do to fill their minds with hope and remind them that we’re here is a good tool to use.”

ON THE WEB Stay informed of New Rep’s pandemic programming: www.facebook.com/newrep

Learn about these black achievements and more in “Boston’s Banner Years: 1965-2015”

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Councilors call on city to prohibit facial recognition

By KENNEAL PATTERSON Boston’s contract with its current surveillance company is set to expire next week, and upgrades could include facial recognition software that isn’t currently used by the city. In last week’s city council meeting, Councilors Michelle Wu and Ricardo Arroyo and Council President Kim Janey addressed concerns about this enhanced technology by drafting an ordinance prohibiting facial recognition and ensuring transparency in the city’s surveillance practices.

Studies show that facial recognition software often produces false matches with blacks and Asian Americans.

“When we talk about facial recognition in racial inequity, it furthers it,” said Arroyo. “It’s been proven much less accurate for people with darker skin.”

Arroyo cited a study by an MIT researcher, which found that black women were 35% more likely than white men to be misclassified by the technology. He also noted that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) found that the software may only be accurate 30% of the time.

Janey also acknowledged studies showing inequities in the use of such software. The National Institute of Standards and Technology

found that systems falsely identified African American and Asian faces up to 100 times more than Caucasian faces, she said. In another study, the ACLU compared photos of 188 New England athletes with a database of 20,000 mugshots. The test resulted in 27 false positives.

“It’s clear that databases like the one mentioned here are not reliable for any serious use, let alone law enforcement,” said Janey. “So we have to be really careful.”

Wu said that enhanced technology must be built on a foundation of trust. In Moscow, she noted, the government can track residents through security footage and target those who aren’t abiding by quarantine rules. She said the technology is a potential risk for civil liberties and basic rights.

Arroyo agreed. “The reality is, being alive and wanting to take part in our society ... does not mean that you are consenting to being surveilled in such an invasive way,” he said.

“The racial disparities and how this technology plays out are just something that we can’t risk entangling in an already racially tilted criminal justice system,” added Councilor Kenzie Bok. The ordinance on surveillance oversight and information sharing, said Arroyo, will bring transparency and accountability to the city’s

“

The benefits of that technology right now do not outweigh the risks.”

— Kim Janey

use of surveillance technology.

The ordinance would require the mayor to publish an annual surveillance report. Walsh must also submit a proposed Surveillance Use Policy to the council for its review and approval; the policy applies to each city department that currently possesses or uses surveillance technology.

It also is aimed at protecting student privacy, said Arroyo. Residents have voiced concerns regarding Boston Public Schools (BPS) sharing student information with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “[The ordinance] details parameters for what kind of information school district officials share with law enforcement,” he said, adding, “It would prohibit the sharing of such information as immigration status, ethnicity, neighborhood of residence and languages spoken.”

Janey said that surveillance technology and electronic data gathering can disproportionately impact low-income black and

brown communities. Many different governments are “drastically” expanding surveillance technology, she said, but “the benefits of that technology right now do not outweigh the risks.”

Janey and Arroyo also called for a hearing regarding the impact of COVID-19 on the 2020 U.S. census. Boston’s total self-response rate is only at 47%, and the city is ranked 299 out of Massachusetts’ 351 towns.

“We can do better,” said Janey.

“We’re a championship city. We should be number one.”

Councilor Arroyo agreed. “Like so many other things that have been disrupted this year by the pandemic, the census is no different,” he said. “Boston is currently not doing well, or below the average of large cities when it comes to the census count.”

Janey said that the 2020 census will determine the allocation of over $16 billion in federal funding. She called it a “critical tool that has the power to impact societal infrastructure.”

“It has the potential to shape the future and how resources are allocated to communities and populations that need it the most over the next decade,” she added.

The census has a history of oppression, said Janey. The first U.S. census in 1790 had only six questions; it started by asking the name of the white male householder and ended by asking for the number of slaves.

During that time, noted Janey, enslaved people of African descent were counted as just three-fifths of a person. Native Americans weren’t counted at all. The census was used

to strip people of their personhood, said Janey.

Now, she said, it can be used to repair the harms caused by centuries of racist policies by providing communities with critical resources.

Councilor Annissa Essaibi-George offered a resolution to recognize May as Mental Health Awareness Month. Reports of anxiety and depression have recently flooded the country due to trauma caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Arroyo, who said that he has personally sought help for mental health issues, spoke in support of this measure.

“Mental health is incredibly important, especially in communities of color,” he said. “I just want to uplift that there’s always somebody listening, there’s always somebody to help.”

The month of May also marks Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

Wu acknowledged the rise in hate crimes against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community since the beginning of the pandemic.

Councilor Ed Flynn added, “Certain people are using irresponsible rhetoric that makes Asian Americans scapegoats for the spread of this virus.”

Flynn said the country needs to come together to show respect and empathy for the AAPI community.

“We’re always quick to judge people and look down upon or blame somebody,” he said. “But it’s really about bringing the best out of people and letting them know that everybody’s welcomed. That’s what America is all about.”

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Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department SUFFOLK Division

Docket No. SU20P0673GD

Citation Giving Notice of Petition for Appointment of Guardian for Incapacitated Person Pursuant to G.L. c. 190B, §5-304 In the matter of: Patience Owie Of: Dorchester, MA RESPONDENT Alleged Incapacitated Person To the named Respondent and all other interested persons, a petition has been filed by Boston M Center of Boston, MA in the above captioned matter alleging that Patience Owie is in need of a Guardian and requesting that Godfrey Owie of Dorchester, MA (or some other suitable person) be appointed as Guardian to serve on the bond.

The petition asks the court to determine that the Respondent is incapacitated, that the appointment of a Guardian is necessary, that the proposed Guardian is appropriate. The petition is on file with this court and may contain a request for certain specific authority.

You have the right to object to this proceeding. If you wish to do so, you or your attorney must file a written appearance at this court on or before 10:00 A.M. on the return date of 05/21/2020. This day is NOT a hearing date, but a deadline date by which you have to file the written appearance if you object to the petition. If you fail to file the written appearance by the return date, action may be taken in this matter without further notice to you. In addition to filing the written appearance, you or your attorney must file a written affidavit stating the specific facts and grounds of your objection within 30 days after the return date.

IMPORTANT NOTICE The outcome of this proceeding may limit or completely take away the above-named person’s right to make decisions about personal affairs or financial affairs or both. The above-named person has the right to ask for a lawyer. Anyone may make this request on behalf of the above-named person.

If the above-named person cannot afford a lawyer, one may be appointed at State expense.

WITNESS, Hon. Brian J. Dunn, First Justice of this Court.

Date: April 30, 2020

Felix D. Arroyo Register of Probate

Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department SUFFOLK Division

Docket No. SU20P0327GD

Citation Giving Notice of Petition for Appointment of Guardian for Incapacitated Person Pursuant to G.L. c. 190B, §5-304 In the matter of: Catherine E Weaver Of: Boston, MA RESPONDENT Alleged Incapacitated Person To the named Respondent and all other interested persons, a petition has been filed by Adrinne O Weaver of Roxbury, MA in the above captioned matter alleging that Catherine E Weaver is in need of a Guardian and requesting that Tracye Weaver of Washington, DC (or some other suitable person) be

LEGAL

appointed as Guardian to serve on the bond.

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The petition asks the court to determine that the Respondent is incapacitated, that the appointment of a Guardian is necessary, that the proposed Guardian is appropriate. The petition is on file with this court and may contain a request for certain specific authority.

You have the right to object to this proceeding. If you wish to do so, you or your attorney must file a written appearance at this court on or before 10:00 A.M. on the return date of 05/27/2020. This day is NOT a hearing date, but a deadline date by which you have to file the written appearance if you object to the petition. If you fail to file the written appearance by the return date, action may be taken in this matter without further notice to you. In addition to filing the written appearance, you or your attorney must file a written affidavit stating the specific facts and grounds of your objection within 30 days after the return date.

IMPORTANT NOTICE The outcome of this proceeding may limit or completely take away the above-named person’s right to make decisions about personal affairs or financial affairs or both. The above-named person has the right to ask for a lawyer. Anyone may make this request on behalf of the above-named person.

If the above-named person cannot afford a lawyer, one may be appointed at State expense.

WITNESS, Hon. Brian J. Dunn, First Justice of this Court.

Date: February 26, 2020

Felix D. Arroyo Register of Probate

Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department SUFFOLK Division

Docket No. SU20D0276 Summons By Publication

The Falmouth Housing Authority, the Awarding Authority, invites sealed bids for the admin building roof replacement work at 115 Scranton Avenue in Falmouth Massachusetts, in accordance with the documents prepared by Winslow Architects Inc. The Project consists of: Replacement of roofing system at Admin building.

The work is estimated to cost Thirty-eight thousand and five hundred ($38,500.00) dollars.

Bids are subject to M.G.L. c.149 §44A-J & to minimum wage rates as required by M.G.L. c.l49 §§26 to 27H inclusive.

This project is being Electronically Bid. Hard copy bids will not be accepted by the Awarding Authority. Bids must be submitted electronically at www.

Projectdog.com. Obtain all documents online via the job specific project number #838355. Tutorials, instructions and videos on how to complete the electronic bid documents are available online as well as in the instructions to bidders. Call Projectdog, Inc at 978-499-9014 for assistance (M - F 9AM - 5PM).

General Bids will be received until 10:00AM Wednesday June 03, 2020 and publicly opened online forthwith.

All Bids shall be submitted electronically online at www.Projectdog.com no later than the date and time specified above. Bid forms and contract documents will be available at www.Projectdog.com or reviewed at Projectdog, Inc. 18 Graf Road, Suite 8, Newburyport, MA (978-499-9014).

General bids and sub bids shall be accompanied by a bid deposit that is not less than five (5%) of the greatest possible bid amount (considering all alternates), and made payable to the Falmouth Housing Authority.

There is a plan deposit of $35 per set (maximum of 2 sets) payable to Projectdog, Inc. Refundable deposits must be a certified or cashier’s check. This deposit will be refunded upon return of all documentation in good condition within ten (10) days of receipt of general bids. Otherwise the deposit shall be the property of Projectdog.

Bich Ngoc Ha v.

Don Dan Earl To the above named Defendant: Don Dan Earl A Complaint has been presented to this Court by the Plaintiff (s), Bich Ngoc Ha seeking a divorce filed on 02/13/2020, pursuant to Supplemental Probate Court Rune 41 I, an Automatic Restraining Order has been entered against the above named parties, and that the said defendant cannot be found within the Commonwealth and that his/her present whereabouts are unknown; that personal service on said defendant is therefore not practicable, and that said defendant has not voluntarily appeared in the action.

Bidders requesting Contract Documents to be mailed to them shall include a separate check for $35 for next day delivery, payable to the Projectdog, Inc., to cover mail handling costs.

General bidders must agree to contract with minority and women business enterprises as certified by the Supplier Diversity Office (SDO), formerly known as SOMWBA. The combined participation goal reserved for such enterprises shall not be less than ten point four (10.4%) percent of the final contract price including accepted alternates. See Contract Documents Article 3 of the Instructions to Bidders.

You are required to serve upon Bich Ngoc Ha or attorney for plaintiff, Hieu T. Nguyen Esq., whose address is One Boston Place 26th Floor, Boston, MA 02108, Phone # (617) 216-1188 your answer on or before 11th day of July, 2020. If you fail to do so, the court will proceed to the hearing and adjudication of this action. You are also required to file a copy of your answer in the office of the Register of this Court at Boston.

There will be a pre-bid conference at the site at 10:30AM on Wednesday May 20. There will be no site visits by appointment other than the pre-bid conference.

Witness, Brian J. Dunn, Esquire, First Judge of said Court, this 4th day of May, 2020.

Projectdog, Inc 18 Graf Road, Suite 8 Newburyport, MA 01950 (978) 499-9014

Felix D. Arroyo, Register

The Contract Documents may be seen in person or electronically at www.

Projectdog.com:

Thursday, May 14, 2020 • BAY STATE BANNER • 15

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Bidders requesting Contract Documents to be mailed to them shall include a separate check for $35 for next day delivery, payable to the Projectdog, Inc., to cover mail handling costs.

in conformance with M.G.L. c. 7C, §§ 44 – 58, as may be amended. The BPDA is seeking Design Services from a Designer with prior experience in basement waterproofing and structural concrete slab design and includes minor plumbing and electrical modifications. The anticipated duration of the Design Services is from July 1, 2020 through January 31, 2021. There shall be a fee negotiation between the top ranked finalist and the BPDA to set a mutually agreed upon design fee. The BPDA may require the top ranked finalist with whom a fee is being negotiated to submit a fee proposal and include with it such information as the BPDA requires to provide current cost and pricing data on the basis of which the designer’s fee proposal may be evaluated. For previous studies done, please refer to the RFQ.

The Falmouth Housing Authority, the Awarding Authority, invites sealed bids for the admin building generator installation work at 115 Scranton Avenue in Falmouth Massachusetts, in accordance with the documents prepared by Winslow Architects Inc. The Project consists of: Generator Installation at Admin building.

The work is estimated to cost Sixty thousand ($60,000.00) dollars.

Bids are subject to M.G.L. c.149 §44A-J & to minimum wage rates as required by M.G.L. c.l49 §§26 to 27H inclusive.

This project is being Electronically Bid. Hard copy bids will not be accepted by the Awarding Authority. Bids must be submitted electronically at www.

Projectdog.com. Obtain all documents online via the job specific project number #838355. Tutorials, instructions and videos on how to complete the electronic bid documents are available online as well as in the instructions to bidders. Call Projectdog, Inc at 978-499-9014 for assistance (M - F 9AM - 5PM).

General Bids will be received until 10:00AM Wednesday May 27, 2020 and publicly opened online forthwith.

All Bids shall be submitted electronically online at www.Projectdog.com no later than the date and time specified above. Bid forms and contract documents will be available at www.Projectdog.com or reviewed at Projectdog, Inc. 18 Graf Road, Suite 8, Newburyport, MA (978-499-9014).

General bidders must agree to contract with minority and women business enterprises as certified by the Supplier Diversity Office (SDO), formerly known as SOMWBA. The combined participation goal reserved for such enterprises shall not be less than ten point four (10.4%) percent of the final contract price including accepted alternates. See Contract Documents Article 3 of the Instructions to Bidders.

There will be a pre-bid conference at the site at 11:30AM on Wednesday May 20. There will be no site visits by appointment other than the pre-bid conference.

The Contract Documents may be seen in person or electronically at www.

Projectdog.com: Projectdog, Inc 18 Graf Road, Suite 8 Newburyport, MA 01950 (978) 499-9014 Advertisement REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (“RFQ”) CHINA TRADE CENTER BASEMENT WATERPROOFING PROJECT Contact Information Peter Sun 617-955-2660 peter.s.sun@boston.gov

General bids and sub bids shall be accompanied by a bid deposit that is not less than five (5%) of the greatest possible bid amount (considering all alternates), and made payable to the Falmouth Housing Authority.

There is a plan deposit of $35 per set (maximum of 2 sets) payable to Projectdog, Inc. Refundable deposits must be a certified or cashier’s check. This deposit will be refunded upon return of all documentation in good condition within ten (10) days of receipt of general bids. Otherwise the deposit shall be the property of Projectdog.

The Boston Redevelopment Authority (“BRA”) d/b/a Boston Planning & Development Agency (“BPDA”), by its Chief Procurement Officer (“CPO”), requests the qualifications of an experienced, qualified, and professional architect/engineer design team (hereinafter, the “Designer”) to produce the design and provide construction administration services for the China Trade Center Basement Waterproofing Project (hereinafter the “Design Services”),

REAL ESTATE

REAL ESTATE

Bolton Affordable Housing 2 Two Bedroom Units in one duplex Price: $160,000

Keyes Farm—258 Hudson Road Renovated historic farmhouse Public Information Meeting

6:00 pm, Wednesday, May 20, 2020 Via Zoom Meeting ID: 856 3180 5472 Password: keyes

Application Deadline June 22, 2020

MAX INCOME

1—$54,950 2—$62,800 3—$70,650 4—$78,500

0 WINTER

VALLEY 0

RESIDENCES FOR THE ELDERLY, INC. 600 Canton Ave., Milton, MA

Existing applicants who have applied for project-based housing administered by FHA remain on the waiting list.

FHA will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, creed, nationality or ethnic origin, age, family or marital status, sexual orientation, handicap or disability, nor deny any family or individual the opportunity to apply for, or receive assistance under the Housing Choice Voucher Program.

Brian Connolly, Director of Finance/Chief Procurement Officer

REAL ESTATE

Affordable Housing Lottery Modera Framingham

A 160-apartment Senior Housing Community financed

by HUD for those 62 and older or physically disabled.

Includes 16 Affordable Private Assisted Living Apartments with services for an additional fee. Qualifications apply.

Studios @ 1,404*; 1BRs @ $1,577*; 2BRs @ $1,736*; 3BRs @ 1,889*

Call 617-698-3005 for more information. www.mreinc.org

Two Bedroom Apartment

Application available online at: www.mcohousingservices.com

Applicants must fall within the HUD established annual income limits for their household size. Applicants will be placed on the waiting list based on the date and time of application and will be selected based on date, time and any applicable preferences. Information regarding applicable preferences, the housing program’s tenant selection plan and current HUD income limits can be found on our website at: https://www.falmouthhousing.org/section-8-hcv.

Submission Deadline: All responses to this RFQ must be returned no later than 12:00 P.M. (noon) on May 29, 2020, to: Teresa Polhemus, Secretary, Boston Planning & Development Agency, One City Hall Square, Room 910, Boston, MA 02201-1007. Absolutely no responses will be accepted after the due date and time. Contract Award: After evaluating and ranking the finalists in order of qualifications and documenting the rationale for rankings, a contract will be awarded to the top-ranked finalist. The BPDA reserves the right to reject any or all responses and to waive any minor informalities. The award of the resulting contract is subject to approval by the BPDA Board and is contingent on the availability of funds.

266 Waverly Street, Framingham MA

For Info and Application: Pick Up: Bolton Town Hall, Town Clerk’s Office or Public Library if reopened to Public Phone: (978) 456-8388 Email: lotteryinfo@mcohousingservices.com

For this particular housing program, applicants must be age 62 or older. FHA’s waiting list will open on Friday, May 8th at 9:00 a.m. and will remain open until Friday, May 29th at 4:30 p.m. Applications must be completed and submitted electronically through FHA’s online application portal, which can be reached through our website at the following address: https://www.falmouthhousing. org/section-8-hcv. To request a reasonable accommodation in order to complete an application, please call us at 508-548-1977 or e-mail us at info@falmouthhousing.org.

Pre-Submission Respondent Conference: all interested designers are invited to attend a virtual pre-submission conference on May 15, 2020 at 10: 00 A.M. Attendance at the pre-submission conference is optional. Please email the BPDA Procurement office at BPDA.CPO@boston.gov and include Peter Sun at peter.s.sun@boston.gov to participate in the pre-submission conference. Further notice regarding the virtual pre-submission conference will be emailed to all plan holders at a later date.

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS

Assets to $75K, Units by Lottery, 1st Time Homebuyers

The Falmouth Housing Authority is pleased to announce the opening of its Project-based waiting list. This list is for STUDIO and ONE-BEDROOM units in a privately managed affordable housing development in Falmouth.

RFQ Availability: Available starting at 9:00 A.M. on May 13, 2020 through download from the BPDA’s website: http://www.bostonplans.org/workwith-us/procurement Click on the link China Trade Center Basement Waterproofing Project. The RFQ will also be available from the Office of the Secretary, Boston Planning & Development Agency, One City Hall Square, Room 910, Boston, MA 02201-1007.

AVAILABLE NOW $2,711*

* HEAT & HOT WATER INCLUDED • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Updated Kitchen with Breakfast Bar Free Parking Non-Smoking Community Ample Closet Space On-Site Management 24-Hour Emergency Maintenance Community Garden Eligible Community Rooms applicants Laundry Care Center must be Public Transportation 55+ Extensive Recreation Program Free Van Service to Local Shopping Computer Network Center and Library Resident Services Coordinator Senior Citizens / Disabled Community

For more information or if you require a reasonable accommodation during the application process, please call the Keystone Apartments Management Office.

617-282-9125 | TTY:

keystonecmj.com | cmjapts.com Professionally Managed by CMJ Management Company

CHECK OUT OUR ONLINE CLASSIFIEDS! Post your own

real estate properties and job openings. BAYSTATEBANNER.COM

*Rents subject to change. Rents do not include utilities.

One parking spot included in the rent.

Modera Framingham is a 270-unit rental community which offers a range of product types and a full suite of community amenities. The community includes flat-style apartment homes in Studio, 1, 2, or 3 bedroom layouts. Twenty-Seven (27) units will be made available through this application process at affordable prices in a mix of all apartment types. Parking is located within the community via covered garage parking and additional surface parking spaces. Unit interiors boast custom cabinetry, stainless steel appliances, woodplank style flooring, stone countertops, walk-in closets, and in-home washers and dryers. Community amenities include a clubhouse featuring leasing offices with package reception, state-of-the-art fitness facilities, media and game rooms, and a central courtyard with water feature, grill and seating areas, and flexible lawn/game areas.

MAXIMUM Household Income Limits: $67,400 (1 person) $77,000 (2 people) $86,650 (3 people) $96,250 (4 people) $103,950 (5 people) $111,650 (6 people) A Public Info Session will be held on May 20th, 2020, at 6:00pm via: • YouTube Live Stream https://youtu.be/YcGtI9tFIIE or just search “SEB Housing” in YouTube and click the thumbnail for Modera Framingham Info Session, AND • Conference call (425) 436-6200, Access Code: 862627 Completed Applications and Required Income Documentation must be delivered, or postmarked, by 2 pm on June 23rd, 2020. Applications postmarked by the deadline must be received no later than 5 business days from the deadline.

The Lottery for eligible households will be held on July 6th, 2020, at 6:00pm via: • YouTube Live Stream https://youtu.be/0122CqdBPJU or just search “SEB Housing” in YouTube and click the thumbnail for Modera Framingham Lottery, AND • Conference call (425) 436-6200 Access Code: 862627 For Lottery Information and Applications, or for reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities, go to www.sebhousing.com or call (617) 782-6900x1 and leave a message or postal mail SEB Housing, 257 Hillside Ave, Needham MA 02494. For TTY Services dial 711.

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BAY STATE BANNER

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