Bay State Banner 06-11-15

inside this week:

Planning groups weigh in on Boston’s bid to host Olympics pg A2

A&E

business news:

HIP HOP DOC ANCHORS ROXBURY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL pg B1

Mass. Diversity Coalition pushes for inclusion pg A11

plus Charles Floyd conducts the Boston Pops pg B2 Melissa McCarthy stars in spy caper pg B4 Thursday, June 11, 2015 • FREE • GREATER BOSTON’S URBAN NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1965 • CELEBRATING 50 YEARS

When your house is no longer home

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Dorchester Day parade

Poor financial decisions, scams put homeowners, heirs at risk

By SANDRA LARSON

Older Americans are entering retirement with less savings and more debt than in previous generations, putting well-being and housing security at risk for the aging Baby Boom cohort.

The picture is especially troubling for blacks and Latinos, who have earned less income and accumulated fewer assets on average over their working years. In 2013, white families in the U.S. had at least $100,000 more (the equivalent of 7 to 11 times more) in average liquid retirement savings than African American and Hispanic families, according to a recent Urban Institute report. This racial retirement savings gap has widened over the past few decades.

Len Raymond, executive director of Homeowner Options for Massachusetts Elders (HOME), sees a steady stream of

GET IN TOUCH

PHOTO: CHRIS LOVETT

n Consumer Financial Protection Bureau www.consumerfinance.gov, 855-411-2372; TTY/TDD 855-729-2372 n H.O.M.E. financial, housing and resource options counseling 800-583-5337 n Nuestra Comunidad home center 617-334-5788 or homeownership@nuestracdc.org n Urban Edge foreclosure prevention counseling Contact Gercide Luc at 617 9899351 or gluc@urbanedge.org n Elder Abuse Prevention Project 617-603-1576 or bcrimmins@gbls.org n City of Boston Home Center, “Don’t Borrow Trouble” foreclosure prevention program 617-635-HOME (4663) or

HomeCenter.DND@cityofboston.gov Massachusetts seniors with troubles threatening their housing security, from home repair, food and health care costs to property tax liens. His statewide nonprofit financial and housing counseling

See HOUSING, page A8

Mayor Martin Walsh cuts the ribbon on the Dorchester Day Parade. Looking on are state reps. Dan Hunt and Dan Cullinane, City Councilor Stephen Murphy, state Rep. Evandro Carvalho, state Sen. Linda Dorcena Forry, Grand Marshall Mary-dith Tuitt and City Councilor Frank Baker.

Organizers preparing for charter school battle New York-based education group ups the stakes

By YAWU MILLER

After incoming school Superintendent Tommy Chang announced the appointment of his new chief of staff, Makeeba McCreary, a consultant who previously worked for a pro-charter schools organization, local education activists launched a petition calling for her ouster.

That petition, titled Keep Corporate Education Reformers out of Boston Public Schools, which as of Monday had garnered 277

signatures, underscores deep distrust of McCreary’s former employer, Families for Excellent Schools. The New York-based organization has locked horns with Mayor Bill DiBlasio over charter school funding, reportedly spending $3.6 million on an advertising campaign, and last year turned out an estimated 13,000 demonstrators to the state capital in Albany to support lifting New York’s state cap on charter school expansion.

FES, which also has a chapter in Connecticut, opened its Massachusetts office last year in

the wake of a failed bid by charter school supporters to lift the Massachusetts cap on new charters. While FES staff and volunteers repeatedly have maintained that the group is not organizing exclusively in support of charter schools, their ongoing petition, which calls on legislators to “Give every child access to an excellent public school in his or her neighborhood — whether it’s a district or a charter school,” is widely seen as the opening salvo in a coming

See CHARTERS, page A14

Trailblazer in Brockton PD suit?

Case might have broader impact

By ELIZA DEWEY

PHOTO: SANDRA LARSON

Nancy Henry no longer owns the Cambridge house her family has owned for decades.

Faced with foreclosure, she is seeking senior housing.

As police mistreatment of people of color has risen to a national dialogue over the past year, one local court case reveals an apparently little-used approach to police reform.

In an ongoing federal lawsuit filed in 2012 against Brockton and its police department, Ken Williams, a former Brockton homicide detective, alleges the department has a widespread

pattern of racially discriminatory police conduct. His lawsuit departs from the typical legal approach to discrimination by making a unique legal argument: that the city has defrauded the federal government by accepting federal funds for its police department while not adhering to anti-discrimination requirements.

“What Ken is pointing out here is there may be a way to initiate police reform in addition to civil rights litigation,” says Peggy Schoen, media relations director

of the Simmer Law Group, where Williams’s lawyer Thomas Poulin works.

Williams filed his case in November 2012 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. It is being overseen by Judge Indira Talwani.

Williams alleges systemic patterns of racial discrimination within the Brockton Police Department, illustrated by a number of examples, including an incident in which he acted as a whistleblower and for which he has separate litigation pending.

See BROCKTON, page A12

A2 • Thursday, June 11, 2015 • BAY STATE BANNER

Planning groups weigh in on Boston’s bid to host Olympics

By YAWU MILLER

A coalition of planning groups is calling on state and local officials to play a lead role in planning improvements to housing, transportation and infrastructure in Massachusetts during planning for Boston’s bid to bring the 2024 Olympic games here.

So far, the nonprofit Boston 2024 has largely driven planning on bringing the games to Boston, while the broader needs of the Greater Boston region and the state have taken a back seat, according to a joint report of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance and Transportation for Massachusetts. The

groups released their report on Tuesday, calling on state and local leaders to establish a coordinated planning process for the 2024 Olympics bid.

“We have to put legacy first,” said Marc Draisen, Executive Director of MAPC, in a press statement. “It’s not just about writing a winning bid and making the Games a success; it’s about making

Cambridge College Commencement

sure our region ends up with more affordable homes, better jobs, beautiful parks, and a 21st century transportation system.

These things won’t just happen by themselves. We have to leverage the Olympic bid to make them happen, and the sooner the better.”

Boston 2024 backers have pitched the Olympics as a way to plan for and implement critical infrastructure improvements in the Greater Boston area. But their efforts have been panned by local activists who complain the planning has not been inclusive or transparent. Olympics opponents have accused Boston 2024 backers of downplaying what many believe would be substantial public investments in local infrastructure necessary for the city to host the games.

Who pays at issue

DON WEST

Cambridge-based, Cambridge College recently celebrated its 44th commencement ceremony, graduating over 500 students.

Cambridge College is an accredited, non-profit institution that has been a local leader in providing degree programs for a diverse population of adult learners since 1971. Pictured are: (l-r) President Deborah Jackson Honorary Degree Recipient Robert Lewis Jr., Honorary Degree Recipient/Keynote Speaker Andrea Jung and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Derek Davis

The MAPC-led coalition calls for private funding for sports venues and other construction projects the Olympics would require.

“Infrastructure improvements that are solely related to the Games should be financed entirely by private sources,” the report reads.

“Projects that generate shared benefits to the Games as well as long-term public benefits should be financed by a mix of public and private funds.”

The groups authoring the report are focused on long-term regional planning for housing, transportation, open space and other public infrastructure needs.

They echo Walsh’s contention that the Olympics present a unique opportunity to focus resources on long-term planning for the Greater Boston area.

“The goal of Boston 2024 is to win the Olympic bid, but our goal is to create infrastructure and thriving neighborhoods that will strengthen Greater Boston and the Commonwealth for decades to come. With coordination and good planning, these goals can be

compatible,” said Andre Leroux, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance, in a statement. “The public needs to have confidence that this is happening.”

Fiscal fuzzies

Chris Dempsey, a spokesman for No Boston Olympics, said the coalition report did little to outline the costs Olympic games would impose on the city and state.

“We have a lot of respect for the organizations that put out this report, but the document they’ve put together doesn’t include and numbers or quantitative analysis,” he said. “It’s a sort of shopping list without a bank account. That should be a concern to anyone who’s concerned about Olympics costs spiraling out of control.”

The MAPC report urged officials to make sure projects done in support of the Olympics do not displace the city’s lower-income residents.

“The Olympic venues provide an opportunity to create new and vibrant neighborhoods after the Games,” the report reads. “Before the Games, venues should be designed to avoid displacement of existing residents, tenant protections put in place, and specific and binding targets established for affordable housing at redevelopment sites. Post-Olympics, the neighborhoods should feature housing at a variety of price points, walkable and bikeable streets, parks and other amenities.”

The report also calls for infrastructure improvements at all three proposed venue sites: Widett Circle/Cabot Yards, Columbia Point, and North Allston/Beacon Yard Precinct.

“These projects will help to transport Olympic guests, and they will also make stronger neighborhoods after the Games end,” the report states. “Boston 2024 should advocate for these improvements, and contribute to their funding.”

Next Step Resource Fair

what are you doing this weekend?

Earn your bachelor’s or master’s degree in human services.

• Complete your degree in as little as 16 months • Attend classes just two weekends per month • Transfer in as many as 72 undergraduate credits • Earn credit for training and professional experience • Classes begin in September!

Join us at an information session on June 20 from 10 a.m. to noon, or call to arrange a time more convenient for you.

Call Judy Webster at (617) 242-3361, or email jwebster@springfieldcollege.edu.

Boston ThE SChrAffT CEnTEr 52 9 m A i n ST., S u i T E 1 m 4 b o STo n , m A 02129

founded in 1885, Springfield College is accredited by the new England Association of Schools and Colleges.

Thursday, June 18 11:00AM-2:00PM Dudley Branch of Boston Library 65 Warren St., Roxbury Discover your next steps at the next step resource fair! Meet face to face with employers, staff from local career centers & employment trainings.

Participants include: Home Depot, Snap Chef, Career Collaborative, Boston Fire Department and many more!

Presented by the Dimock Center and the Dudley Branch and supported by a grant from the Fellowes Athenaeum Fund

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Thursday, June 11, 2015 • BAY STATE BANNER • A3

Locals shine at Dot Day parade

By ELIZA DEWEY

No matter who you are, the Dorchester Day Parade — the annual celebratory walk down Dorchester Avenue — has something for you.

For the many residents along one of the neighborhood’s main arteries, it’s a chance to spend a sunny day outside with friends, cheering on parade marchers who represent the area’s significant cultural diversity — a point of pride for many.

For politicians and political hopefuls, it is a must-go event, a time to make sure every potential voter knows your face and associates it with friendliness and accessibility.

And for local businesses along the parade route, it’s the perfect opportunity to advertise free of cost.

This year was no different.

As local officials gathered at the parade’s head in Lower Mills, many emphasized the twin themes of unity and diversity when asked what the parade meant to them.

Councilor Tito Jackson described the day with a smile as “when the coolest part of the city comes together.”

He added, “It’s a historic day, a fun day of collaboration and strength.

The connectivity of Dorchester really represents the bonds we have – the fun and uniqueness.”

For state Rep. Evandro Carvalho, it was a kind of walk down memory lane.

“When I first came to the United States [as a teenager], I lived off Dorchester Ave,” he said. “I saw Tom Menino in the parade.”

He said that for him, the parade was part of a bigger sense of citywide pride.

“Every year we come together – not only for Dorchester, but Roxbury and Mattapan too.” He noted he had recently attended the Haitian Unity parade, another popular annual celebration hosted in Mattapan.

Day for unity

The Dorchester parade also was a chance for political hopefuls to publicly throw their hat in the ring. Mary-ditt Tuitt, who this year was the parade Chief Marshal, told the Banner that she was “in conversations” about running for state representative.

Tuitt ran for state representative for the 12th Suffolk District in 2013, and for city councilor for District 3

in 2011.

She noted that this year’s parade also held personal meaning. “[This is] an opportunity to be the second female, and first black female as the Chief Marshal for the parade,” she said, noting that she especially was excited to walk in honor of veterans, as she is one. She said these milestones were especially important on “a day all about unity.”

These cultural aspects were on display with the diverse groups marching down the street, many of them annual staples – men in Irish kilts playing bagpipes, a myriad of dance troupes including Estrellas Tropicales and Dynasty Production, and a long line of Vietnamese American civic organizations on foot and on floats – including one draped in a sign proclaiming “Thank you America!” underneath a prop of a mini-military helicopter.

This year also included a new addition — Boston 2024, the group behind the city’s Olympic bid that continues to face an uphill battle to convince Bostonians of the merits of hosting the games here nine years down the road.

A handful of members of the group marched with a Boston 2024 sign, flanked by young girls from the Dorchester Eagles Pop Warner cheerleader team. The girls chanted from their team repertoire as they escorted the group down Dot Ave. The Banner asked Boston2024 how they chose the Pop Warner group to walk with them, as well as how the group conducted multi-lingual outreach for the “I believe in Boston 2024” signs that dotted the parade route, as previously reported by the Dorchester Reporter.

Boston 2024 spokesperson David Wedge did not specifically respond to those questions, but did provide a statement similar to the one from the Dorchester Reporter story: “We are partnering with many youth sports programs and having conversations across the city and the commonwealth on the tremendous legacy a 2024 Games could leave for neighborhoods and communities.

We are appreciative of all the support we are receiving up and down Dorchester Avenue and beyond.”

BANNER PHOTO

“Mayor of Dorchester” Cam Charbonnier, Rep. Russell Holmes, Mayor Martin Walsh and parade Chief Marshal Mary-dith Tuitt pause in honor of veterans along the parade route in Fields Corner discount on any purchase.

A few doors down, the manager of O’Brien’s Market and Deli said that business was good.

“Our sales are almost twice as much as a normal Sunday,” said manager Mahadi Hasan, adding that the biggest sellers that day were drinks and candy.

Field’s Corner bar Blarney Stone took advantage of the balmy weather by opening up its entire storefront so patrons could sip beers while enjoying the passing parade. That made for easy passage when Mayor Martin Walsh stopped by to greet the patrons and someone passed their baby to him for a photo.

Nearby, Dot Café employees sold baked goods on the

sidewalk. The café, which opened in January under owner Steve Nguyen, is the new incarnation of what once was the longstanding Dippin Donuts shop.

As they marched, elected officials received a hearty welcome from onlookers, especially the Mayor, who was greeted by many residents with excited cheers of “Marty!”

He, like most politicians in the parade, zig-zagged back and forth across the street to greet people, give high-fives to kids and pose for photographs when asked.

Police Commissioner William B. Evans marched nearby, close to Walsh and Rep. Russell Holmes.

Although he did not approach

people for photos, he received a fair amount of vocal support from residents as he walked past, many of whom shouted various versions of ‘thank you.’

Prominently featured local resident Cam Charbonnier, deemed the “Mayor of Dorchester” for having raised the most funds for the parade in a competition — about $16,000. The 21-year old is one of the mayor’s advance staffers.

Whether onlookers came to see the sights, cheer on a neighbor in the parade, or simply spend time with friends, one of the best parts of the celebration for many was likely the fact that after a hellish winter, the sun stayed out all day.

Best day for business

It also was a ripe opportunity for local businesses to expand their customer base. Boston Eyeworks, near the intersection with Centre Street, offered free eye exams and a twenty percent

BANNER PHOTO

Numerous local Vietnamese-American civic groups marched in the Dorchester Day parade.

A4 • Thursday, June 11, 2015 • BAY STATE BANNER

EDITORIAL

SEND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:

By fax: 617-261-2346 From web site: www.baystatebanner.com click “contact us,” then click “letters” By mail: The Boston Banner, 23 Drydock Ave., Boston, MA 02210 Letters must be signed. Names may be withheld upon request.

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INSIDE: ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, B1-B4 • BUSINESS, A11 • COMMUNITY CALENDAR, B6 • CLASSIFIEDS, B13-B15

Established 1965

A valued investment in African democracy The decision of the U.S. State Department not to extend funding for the African Presidential Center (APC) at Boston University could be financially fatal for the organization and thus be at odds with the policy of major nations to increase their international presence.

Great nations traditionally expand their hegemony beyond their borders. The ancient Greeks extended Hellenistic culture, and Roman ruins from the age of Julius Caesar are still to be found in Great Britain. England, France, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Portugal and Italy all have established their presence in Africa, but the United States has very limited contact with Africa, the world’s largest remaining underdeveloped, habitable continent.

Since colonial days, Americans were daring explorers. In pursuit of a better life, Americans would risk packing their possessions in Conestoga wagons and head west.

There were no roads or motels, just the open prairie and looming mountains. There was also danger from trespassing on the lands of Native Americans.

American forebears were willing to use force to expand their borders. The U.S. acquired Texas in 1821, and New Mexico, California and other territories after the Mexican War of 1846-1848. Those territorial disputes ultimately were resolved by financial settlements.

During the 19th century Britain began building the world’s largest navy to protect its growing empire. By 1920 Britain controlled all of East Africa from the Cape Colony in the south up to the Suez Canal on the Mediterranean. There was no U.S. presence.

After World War II the U.S. indisputably succeeded Britain as the world’s most dominant industrial power. As African nations emerged from colonial control, the U.S. has mistakenly not enhanced its involvement in Africa to an appropriate level. One reason, perhaps, is that Americans underestimate the size of Africa. People forget that Africa is

a continent, not just a country, and it is three times the size of the U.S. One country in Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is larger than the geographic size of all Western Europe.

There is a paucity of U.S. projects to develop good relations with African leaders.

Programs are needed to inspire African politicians to focus on the elimination of poverty and provide sound economic development.

These goals can be best achieved within democratic political processes.

Mo Ibraham, a wealthy African businessman, has established a foundation to award a prize to democratically-elected African presidents who serve the people and leave office without censure. Awardees get $5 million plus $200,000 per year for life. Ambassador Charles Stith’s APC could function as a preparatory project for those inclined to win Mo Ibraham Foundation grants.

While the U.S. certainly is not averse to using its power in pursuit of its national interests, the historical record indicates a lack of U.S. involvement in Africa since the abolition of the slave trade except for arrangements to acquire the continent’s natural resources.

There was little concern about apartheid in South Africa until African Americans in Boston together with their associates protested against this inhumane policy. Gradually a national anti-apartheid policy developed.

With his Boston roots, the Secretary of State is aware of how that issue progressed.

This experience should establish that it is in the best interests of the nation for the government to support the APC or similar projects.

Such a program is not the primary financial responsibility of Boston University, whose limited endowment can hardly afford to fund the varied academic projects that the administration envisions.

The current news of political disruption in Africa is unsettling. This is no time to abandon projects with the potential to support the development of democratic governments.

“Man, it doesn’t make sense for the United States to turn its back on such a large part of the world.”

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Business as usual Here we go again. A video of a cop using violence on unarmed black folk goes viral. The video recorder, a young white boy from the neighborhood, captured the mayhem that ensued after a neighbor called the police on a daytime pool party that drew teenagers to a suburban Texas subdivision.

While many found it disturbing

to view footage of a 200-pound cop using his body mass to “subdue” a supine 14-year-old, bikini-clad girl, sadly, for us it’s business as usual. The only disrupting business as usual is the introduction of cell phone recordings, which are now become more and more common.

The video prompted the suspension of the officer, and hopefully an honest investigation into what in

INDEX NEWS BRIEFS ……………………………………......................A6 BUSINESS NEWS ………………………………...................... A11 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT …………………....................B1-B4 COMMUNITY CALENDAR …………………........................ B6 CLASSIFIEDS ……………………………………..................B13-B15

the world he was thinking. And the permanent loss of his badge.

Time will tell whether these videos produce the change so many protesters have hoped for: For American society to value black lives the same as they value those of whites.

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— M. Thompson Dorchester

Rachel Reardon

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Thursday, June 11, 2015 • BAY STATE BANNER • A5

OPINION THE BANNER WELCOMES YOUR OPINION: EMAIL OP-ED SUBMISSIONS TO YAWU@BANNERPUB.COM • Letters must be signed. Names may be withheld upon request.

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Dudley Williams and the beauty of discipline

What do you think the MBTA could do to improve service?

By LEE A. DANIELS

Offhandedly, I can’t tell you the titles of most of the dances I saw Dudley Williams, the incomparable artist who danced with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater company for more than 40 years, perform.

And I’ve no knowledge of the lexicon of dance criticism; so I can’t explain in critical terms the meaning of this or that particular movement he performed.

But I’ve long known why I’ve always been awed by the work of Williams, who died last week at 76. It was the commitment to discipline that his work conveyed.

Of course, Williams was one of the great artists—in any field—of our time. The riveting expressiveness in his every movement on stage enabled us to explore the beauty of movement—and of its opposite: a stillness that nonetheless channeled piercing emotion.

To me, his surpassing gifts were the product not only of an extraordinary artistic sensibility and training and contemplation. They were also the product of an elemental commitment to physical and mental rigor.

I admit I’ve long been attracted to discipline, in part because even as a child I felt I lacked it. No focus— that was me, mentally meandering this way and that, until I became involved in two quite different activities in my early adolescence.

One was joining a church-based “freedom choir” in my Northern city that had direct links with civil rights activists in the South. That helped me to understand the tremendous, soul-fortifying discipline that nonviolently confronting the evil of Jim Crow required. The second was my joining a summer track and field club coached by a strict disciplinarian. He had developed some of the nation’s fastest schoolboy sprinters and hurdlers of those years. The workouts—that were just short of grueling—he routinely put us through, and the sense of competence I felt in completing them produced a momentous change in me: I grew to love working hard.

In other words, the combined effect of those two activities led me to realize that a positive allegiance to working to the best of one’s ability is actually the determination to meet the challenges of the present and the future.

That, in turn, led me to see that same quality in the actions of people all around me: In the neighborhood activists, who were dedicating their lives to improving our community. In my sophomore-year high school Latin teacher, who helped me understand that a disciplined approach to the language was the key to understanding its beauty. In my parents, and those of many of my friends, whose clairvoyance in seeing the coming expansion of opportunity across the Color Line fueled their efforts to prepare their children to take advantage of it.

Words once spoken by the Olympic track champion Michael Johnson describe my point succinctly. Explaining the technique involved in one of his specialties, the 200-meter sprint, he said, “With each step, a thought.”

That attitude is a framework—not a straitjacket—for accomplishing one’s goals, or at least honestly pursuing them. It rests on not just talent but, most important, on steeling one’s emotions to endure the hard work the pursuit of perfection requires. It’s what I think Dudley Williams meant when he said in a 2005 interview in the New Yorker magazine, “Dancing is about acting, about being a liar, basically, because often you don’t feel like dancing, but it’s your job. So you get out there and you do the movement, and it’s not happening. So you work harder, you work harder, you go deep inside what you’re about.”

He made the same point on another occasion with different words, according to the June 4th New York Times obituary of him, in saying that a dancer needed a reason for every movement. “You can’t just put your hand out. You have to know what happens when you put your hand out and your body goes with it. And I dance to the music, no matter what it is ... You must listen to the music and love it, and then you can do the dance differently every time.”

So, I agree wholeheartedly with the well-deserved praise of Dudley Williams, the artist. It’s just that I would also add two words: “and disciplinarian.”

“

... [A] positive alliegiance to working to the best of one’s ability is actually the determination to meet the challenges of the present and the future.”

Lee A. Daniels’ new collection of columns, Race Forward: Facing America’s Racial Divide in 2014, is available at www.amazon.com

One thing they have to do is to take care of the rail infrastructure and let riders know they’re taking steps to get things in order. If you look at other cities, their rail systems are way ahead of ours.

Bigger buses. The buses are packed.

They pass you on the street all the time because they’re too full.

They need to answer when we make complaints. We need better interaction with their administrative office.

Afi Rock

Barbara Walker

Student Dorchester

Site Manager Roxbury

More spaces on the bus. It’s always crowded. Sometimes buses just pass you by.

A lot of bus riders don’t let disabled people sit in the seats that are marked “disabled.” The bus drivers should be able to do something about that.

They need to figure out what the problems are before they spend any money. It seems like no matter how much they spend, things don’t get any better.

Quan Nelson

Bibi Brown

Robert Thomson

Student Mattapan

Will Henry Finance Roxbury

Retired Chef Dorchester

Chef Roxbury

to be honored. For almost seventy years, Cromwell has made significant contributions to the study of African American history, particularly the previously neglected history of African Americans in Boston. Over her long career, she has been instrumental in the documentation and preservation of historic places and buildings associated with this history. Cromwell holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College, a Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, a certificate in social casework from Bryn Mawr College, and a Ph.D. in sociology from Radcliffe College.

She also holds honorary degrees from Southeastern Massachusetts University, George Washington University, Boston University, and, most recently, her alma mater, Smith College. In 1954, Cromwell became the first African American professor appointed at Smith, and then served for more than 30 years on the sociology faculty at Boston University. While teaching at BU, Cromwell co-founded the African

Studies Center in 1959 and in 1969 was appointed director of the new African American Studies program, a position she held until 1985.

When Cromwell arrived in Boston in the 1940s, the African Meeting House on Beacon Hill stood abandoned, and there was no indication that a thriving black community once populated this prominent neighborhood or the nearby West End in the 18th and 19th centuries. Cromwell’s scholarship and her advocacy throughout her career have concentrated on raising awareness of African American contributions in Boston.

IN THE NEWS

ADELAIDE CROMWELL Dr. Adelaide Cromwell of Brookline has been selected for a 2015 Massachusetts Historical Commission Historic Preservation Award.

“The Massachusetts Historical Commission is proud to recognize the extraordinary accomplishments of this year’s awardees,” said Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin, Chairman of the Massachusetts Historical Commission. “I am delighted to recognize Adelaide Cromwell with an Individual Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dr. Cromwell has brought her vast knowledge, her keen intellect, and her passion for historic places to the Massachusetts Historical Commission for more than 20 years. Because African American historical sites are often more vulnerable than others to being lost or forgotten, Dr. Cromwell’s dedication to identifying, documenting, and saving them has been a priceless asset to the city of Boston, to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and to the nation.”

Cromwell is one of 11 individuals, projects, and organizations

A6 • Thursday, June 11, 2015 • BAY STATE BANNER

NEWSBRIEFS Chinatown residents advocate for branch library “A library is critical resource for the Chinatown community, and the time for a Chinatown Library is now.” This was one of the central messages from the Chinatown Library Community Meeting hosted by the Chinese Youth Initiative (CYI) in partnership with the Chinatown (Lantern) Cultural Center Committee (CCC) on Monday, June 8 at the Josiah Quincy School.

“I grew up going to the Chinatown Library in San Francisco and want my son to be able to have that same opportunity here in Boston’s Chinatown.” Carolyn Rubin, chair of the CCC, a community advocacy group for the Chinatown Library, welcomed attendees to the meeting with a personal story that connected to the community vision of a Chinatown library as a multi-generational and multi-purposed space.

The major service needs presented from focus groups conducted by CYI of youth, parents, and elderly had a central theme of bilingual services, preserving Chinese culture and community history, as well as furthering education and skills. Among some of the spaces that focus group participants wanted to see in a library were community spaces for relaxation and programming, computer access, as well as cultural history rooms. Youth discussed the changing role of modern day libraries from spaces that primarily provide books to spaces that serve multiple generations by acting as a community cultural center, safe space for

community gatherings, resource for furthering community members’ higher education preparedness and job training while also providing access to resources for immigrants and access to entertainment and fun.

The Director of Boston Public Library branches, Christine Schonhart, the Mayor’s Chinatown/Downtown Liaison, Denny Ching, and representatives from City Councilors Wu and Flaherty’s offices and State Representative Aaron Michlewitz’s office, attended the community meeting.

Chinese Youth Initiative and the Chinatown (Lantern) Cultural Center Committee hosts concluded by asking for a commitment from the Boston Public Library, the Mayor’s Office and City Council to prioritize a Chinatown Library within next year’s budget. Youth pointed to a feasibility study conducted in 2007 in their introduction and the CCC expressed a need for the Mayor to invest in a follow up to this study through a planning grant for a Chinatown Branch Library in the City of Boston’s capital budget in the upcoming fiscal year.

Youth asked for all attendees to sign a pledge board to express their continued support and commitment to bringing a permanent branch library to Chinatown.

Baker-Polito administration launches first Community Compact applications The Baker-Polito administration last week launched the application process for the Community Compact, an opportunity

for cities and towns to enter into partnerships with the state to accomplish mutually agreed upon goals. The Community Compact is the result of Governor Charlie Baker’s first executive order signed in January which created a cabinet to strengthen the Administration’s partnerships with cities and towns. An online portal will be available to local leaders that details the process, commitments, and incentives.

“We have traveled to every corner of the Commonwealth to meet with municipal leaders and learn more about the best ways to partner with our communities, and today we’re proud to launch this application process for the Community Compact,” said Polito.

“By promoting best practices and incentivizing our cities and towns, I look forward to championing this effort to create better opportunities for our schools and communities.”

The Community Compact will offer clear mutual standards, expectations, and accountability for both the state and municipalities as both partners seek to create better government for our citizens.

Community Compact process: n A municipal leader completes the application available at mass.gov/ccc where their city or town pledges to adopt one or more best practices. Municipalities may apply once during this round, and applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. As a partnership, the Commonwealth agrees to fulfill its own set of

commitments. n All applications are reviewed by the Division of Local Services within a month of submission. n Once approved, both the municipal leader (i.e. Mayor or Board of Selectmen Chair) and Lieutenant Governor Polito will sign the Community Compact. n The Commonwealth will provide technical assistance, as needed, to the municipality to develop or implement their chosen best practice(s). n To reward those communities striving to become more innovative and accountable, the Commonwealth offers incentives through various state grants and programs. For example, the fifth annual round of the MassWorks Infrastructure Program is now open, and municipalities who have begun the process of signing a Community Compact will benefit on their MassWorks grant application.

More information on the compacts, obligations, incentives, and deadlines can be found on the FAQ page of the website.

About the Community Compact cabinet: Over the last four months, the Community Compact Cabinet — chaired by Polito and comprised of the secretaries of Housing & Economic Development, Education, Transportation, and Energy & Environmental Affairs, the senior deputy commissioner of Local Services, the assistant secretary of Operational Services, and the chief information officer of the Commonwealth — developed,

in consultation with cities and towns, the best practices included on the application. The cabinet members have and will continue to champion municipal interests across all executive secretariats and agencies, helping state agencies be better partners with municipalities and better leveraging their resources for the benefit of communities across the commonwealth.

Nuestra Comunidad hosts 19th annual Cleanest Streets Contest Forty-one streets and more than 400 Roxbury residents were expected to participate in Nuestra CDC’s 19th Annual Cleanest Streets, which took place on Saturday, June 6, 2014 between 7 AM and 2:30 PM, based at the Thomas Atkins Apartments at 225 Blue Hill Avenue in Roxbury. The Cleanest Streets Contest is a community-driven initiative that seeks to unify neighbors and beautify streets. Teams from participating streets competed for five awards: Most Creative Design; Best Landscaping; Best Curb Appeal; Nuestra CDC Street Captain; and Intergenerational Collaboration.

A cookout and CommUNITY Resource Fair will also take place between 12:30 and 2:30 PM in the Rear Parking Lot at the Thomas Atkins Apartments at 225 Blue Hill Avenue in Roxbury. The CommUNITY Resource Fair will connect community residents with programs, services, and enable them to learn about resources available in the community.

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A8 • Thursday, June 11, 2015 • BAY STATE BANNER

housing

continued from page A1 agency specializes in assisting elders at risk of losing their homes.

“The major problem for seniors is the income/cost gap,” said Raymond. “They’re on small incomes, yet costs are going up.”

He also sees a rise in the number of seniors paying mortgages as well as higher loan balances.

“When we started this work 31 years ago, most [older homeowners] had paid off their homes, or were close to that,” he said. “Today, there’s been serial refinancing, and now they’re overwhelmed.”

Predatory lending makes a comback

With low savings, rising costs and often strong attachment to their homes and their independence, it’s no wonder that elderly homeowners often look to home equity to cover expenses and pay off debts. And it’s no surprise that lenders and brokers are eager to tap this lucrative market, engaging in, if not outright swindles, aggressive sales tactics that are drawing scrutiny from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

One heavily-marketed product is the reverse mortgage, which allows seniors 62 and older to borrow against their home equity with no loan payments due until they move, sell or die. Reverse mortgages can provide a lifeline to help seniors remain comfortably in their homes, but also can have painful consequences if not fully understood by borrowers and heirs.

In television ads, aging celebrities serve as trusted spokespeople for mortgage brokers and lenders.

“I’m Henry Winkler, and I’m here to tell homeowners 62 and older about a great way to live a better retirement. It’s called a reverse mortgage,” begins one TV spot featuring the former Fonz.

The screen flashes phrases like “tax-free cash” and “trusted experts.” Winkler exhorts seniors to “take control of your retirement today.”

Attorney Betsey Crimmins directs the Elder Abuse Prevention Project at Greater Boston Legal Services. She notes that a reverse mortgage can be a “great vehicle” for a small slice of the elder population, but cautions it is a complex product ripe for financial exploitation. For instance, her agency sees unwary elders facing foreclosure after being

coaxed to take a reverse mortgage’s easy cash but then lapsing on the required monthly insurance and tax payments. In other cases, elders didn’t realize that a non-borrowing spouse — who perhaps wasn’t 62 at the time of the loan — could suddenly be on the hook for full repayment when the spouse who signed the loan dies.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has instituted new reverse mortgage rules over the past year. They require a credit and income assessment to up the odds that borrowers can afford taxes, insurance and home maintenance; limits on the size of upfront lump-sum withdrawals; and protections against eviction of non-borrowing spouses.

Still, advocates see continued potential for trouble, especially as banks have largely pulled out of the reverse mortgage market and lesser-known brokers have taken up the territory.

“So much of the marketing just feels really wrong. There’s a lot of bad information out there, and people are really vulnerable,” Crimmins said.

Crimmins and other experts noted that in the past, reverse mortgages typically were taken out by much older adults. Now increasingly, they are sought by younger borrowers who risk depleting all their home equity before they need it even more in their later years.

A new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report on reverse mortgage advertising concludes that “the incompleteness of [the ads] raises heightened concerns because reverse mortgages are complex loans used by older, often financially vulnerable homeowners.”

The report, released June 4, says seniors reported in focus group sessions that they saw reverse mortgage TV ads frequently, even several times daily, and considered them informational. Yet some believed reverse mortgages would not need to be repaid at all, or didn’t know that compounding interest can swell the loan balance. The “tax free” claims made some think they would not have to pay property taxes. The ads often portray

See HOUSING, page A9

When an elder loses a home Financial abuse affects whole families

By SANDRA LARSON

Cases of elder financial abuse are rarely clear cut; more often they present a messy trail of poor decisions, declining cognitive ability, aggressive or unscrupulous lenders and self-serving family members. But the results can be stark: lost dreams, financial ruin and even homelessness for elders or their heirs. And the loss of a long-held home not only curtails a family’s economic rise, but can fray the cultural fabric of a neighborhood.

An immigrant success story fades

Christina Soares’s great-aunt arrived from Puerto Rico in the 1940s, worked as a laundress and purchased a home on Oakwood Street in Dorchester.

When the aging aunt was slipping into dementia, Soares says, “a family member came in, isolated her, and was maxing out her credit

New Hope Baptist Church dedicates rectory

card and applying for more cards, taking out a huge loan, and finally, getting a reverse mortgage.” The old woman died, the loan came due and family members in the home, including Soares, faced eviction. Despite years of efforts by housing activists and legal aid lawyers and an offer by the Coalition for Occupied Homes in Foreclosure to purchase the house from current owner Fannie Mae, Soares vacated the now-deteriorating home last month.

In her 30s and suffering a number of health problems, Soares is now “technically homeless,” she said in a phone interview.

But beyond her own troubles, she laments the dimunition of her great-aunt’s legacy.

“My aunt was the epitome of the American dream. She worked hard, she paid her taxes. She saved her money. She bought this house, and paid for it in full,” Soares said.

“There were immoral things written into these loans. This woman never needed a loan. Her credit was perfect, and it was ruined.

This could have been prevented.”

‘All over but the crying’

PHOTO COURTESY OF SHIRLEY CARRINGTON

The New Hope Baptist Church, formerly of 740 Tremont St., dedicated its new home at 1450 River St. in Hyde Park. The dedication service was attended by District 5 City Councilor Tim McCarthy and state Rep. Angelo Scaccia along with 200 members of the congregation and surrounding neighbors of the church. The church completed the first part of a three-stage renovation process on their new Church home.

Bobby Jones, 56, has lived most of his life at 24 Upton Street in Cambridge, on a block of modest, neat rowhouses in the Cambridgeport neighborhood. He traces his family’s lineage to Robert Bonner, a founding member of the Niagara Movement, the early-20th-century forerunner to the NAACP. Another of the movement’s founders, scholar/writer W.E.B. Du Bois, once roomed a half-mile away on Flagg Street. Jones’s grandmother, Robert Bonner’s daughter, bought the Upton Street house in the 1940s.

“It’s always been family lore that this house has been the longest owned house by any of the Niagara Movement founding member [families],” said Jones.

Jones’s mother, Nancy Henry, grew up in the house and returned as its owner after her mother died in 1987. After a fire necessitated repairs, she took out a mortgage with Provident Bank, and soon fell behind on the monthly payments.

“For whatever reason, she just ran out of money,” Jones said.

“I believe she just had a mental block. She wondered why this bill was coming. She must have wondered, ‘If I pay this, how will I pay my heat?’”

When in 2007 the loan arrears

See ELDER, page A9

SEEKING VOLUNTEER DRIVERS Age 55 and over to provide dignified transportation for Boston seniors For more information, contact Tyissha Jones-Horner at 617-635-3988 or email Tyissha.Jones-Horner@boston.gov

Thursday, June 11, 2015 • BAY STATE BANNER • A9

elder

continued from page A8 led to foreclosure, Henry sold the house for $238,000 — probably significantly less than its value — to a broker, referred by a friend of a friend, someone Henry says assured her he would find her a smaller house or condominium. According to a paper trail amassed by Jones and an interview with Henry’s attorney from Greater Boston Legal Services, the shady broker paid off the existing mortgage debt, coaxed another $35,000 out of Henry and flipped the house to a “straw” buyer who went quickly into foreclosure.

Henry neither recouped her money nor gained a new house.

Instead, for the past five years she and Jones have been fighting eviction from the now-bank-owned building.

GBLS attorney Todd Kaplan said, “Our primary allegation is that [the bank] shouldn’t have lent this money because they were facilitating a scam. The court disagreed. They let them evict Mrs. Henry.”

In a recent interview in the home’s tiny living room, Jones said

he expects the sheriff to knock on the door any day.

“It’s basically all over but the crying,” he said.

The looming challenge now is to secure affordable housing for Henry, who suffers from early stage Alzheimer’s. A court-appointed guardian is assisting in the search. It is unclear whether Jones will be able to move with his mother.

Henry understands they’ll be moving out soon, leaving fewer faces of color on Upton Street. Standing on the front steps, she shared a few memories, speaking over the exuberant shrieks of children at the school across the street — the former Webster School that she herself attended some 70 years ago.

“I used to know everybody. It used to be all black people,” she said. “Now it’s a mix. Now there are students across the street, in an apartment advertised for one or two thousand dollars.”

And when Provident Bank sells this house, nestled among properties valued by Zillow and Trulia at upwards of $750,000, its price will doubtless far exceed anything Nancy Henry imagined back in the day, when she owned 24 Upton Street free and clear.

Join us

housing

continued from page A8 younger retirees enjoying active lives, obscuring the risks of taking the loans in the early years of eligibility.

In addition, some brokers have used the opportunity to push financial products the senior doesn’t need or steer borrowers toward overly large lump-sum withdrawals.

Need for financial education, risk protection

“The lenders have changed so much over the years. It’s a sales environment,” said Andora Monteiro, a housing counselor at Nuestra Comunidad in Roxbury. “To put it nicely, it’s an ‘upselling’ environment. When you get a senior who’s only ever known savings accounts, the lenders are sometimes taking advantage.”

Attorney Odette Williamson of the National Consumer Law Center noted that the new HUD rules will curb the main risks going forward, but non-borrowing spouses of elders who took reverse mortgages prior to

August 2014 might remain unaware that the loan will come due when the spouse who signed the papers dies.

“The most important thing for people to realize is it’s not free money. It’s not government money. It’s a loan that needs to be repaid,” said Williamson.

Massachusetts requires faceto-face counseling by a certified adviser before a reverse mortgage is granted. But this mandate has faced vigorous resistance from the lending industry, and advocates are keeping a watchful eye to ensure the requirement survives.

In counseling sessions, seniors and their families can be educated on alternatives to tapping home equity as well as on reverse mortgage facts, figures and cautions.

Monteiro said it’s important for elders’ families to be involved and pay attention. The reverse mortgage comes due when the elder dies, and heirs may need to take out their own mortgage to pay it off if they don’t want to sell the house.

Nearly every advocate and counselor interviewed also mentioned a darker side, where family

members are the ones abusing their elders’ trust.

“There are great families who want the best for parents. But we also see the predatory family members,” said Monteiro.

In some cases, there’s no scoundrel to blame. Costs simply get out of hand or an elder loses track of bills. Beyond keeping up with taxes and taking precautions to avoid scams, experts advise that a prompt cry for help can make a difference.

“As a group, elders come forward late in the game,” noted L en Raymond of HOME. “They’re proud, they’re independent. They come forward when it’s the last minute. In any single month we get calls from elders who haven’t talked with anyone, but are at the point where their houses are being auctioned off. If they’d come to us six months earlier, maybe we could have helped.”

Sandra Larson wrote this article through a Journalists in Aging Fellowship, a collaboration of New America Media and the Gerontological Society of America, with support from AARP. This story is part of a series on housing challenges for low-income seniors in Boston.

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Group pushes firms to diversify Mass. Diversity Coalition grew out of efforts for inclusion in state’s new gaming industry

By MARTIN DESMARAIS

The Massachusetts Diversity Coalition started with the goal to make sure that the state’s minorityand women-owned businesses got a piece of the growing gaming sector. However, the group now has bigger fish to fry — it wants to make sure that all major development projects make diversity a priority.

Headed by Warren Bacon, director of the Minority Business Development Agency Business Center in Boston, the coalition includes Bacon’s organization, as well as the Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council, Center for Women & Enterprise, Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce, Massachusetts Minority Contractors Association, Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, New England Area Conference of the NAACP and Veterans with Vision.

It is a heavy-hitting alliance that has widespread reach and influence. When they step up to talk diversity, people listen, which is exactly what the coalition expects.

Bacon said there is no better time than now — as the U.S. economy

“

In five years, if we look back and we haven’t built a much stronger diverse business community then shame on us. We are in a period of perhaps historic opportunity.”

— Warren Bacon PHOTO BY DON WEST

continues to strengthen and more and more development projects are underway in Massachusetts — to take a strong stand on diversity.

“We want to make sure there is a united voice from the diverse business community saying, ‘We are here.

We want to be involved,’” said Bacon.

The place to do this begins at the development level because as new commercial construction projects seek approval from the city and state, diversity criteria are often involved. This can mean a number of things but, typically, a certain percentage of the work needs to be contracted to minority-, women-, or veteran-owned businesses.

Meeting targets

The coalition wants to make sure this happens, push for higher numbers and help companies meet

their diversity targets by connecting them to minority-, women- and veteran-owned businesses.

If developers fail to fulfill their diversity commitments, fines may be imposed. For some, the fines are just looked at as a cost of business.

To coalition leaders, this is not acceptable.

“History is full of examples of contracts to engage minorities where the contract is won and the commitment is not followed through,” said Bacon.

“We are here to say, ‘You committed to these goals and we are going to help you achieve these goals.’”

The most common excuse given for failure to meet diversity commitments is that there are not enough minority-, women- or veteran-owned businesses available to get the work done.

Not so. And the coalition can

Massachusetts Diversity Coalition Director Warren Bacon. prove it. Its member organizations can connect with over 1,500 such businesses in all industries.

Another common complaint is that the businesses are too small and can’t handle the work that is needed. Also not so, according to the coalition.

“There are minority and women businesses that are of scale and can handle a reasonable project,” Bacon said. “And don’t ignore the little players , because one of the ways we can help is to team them with larger, diverse businesses that are very successful.”

A broadened focus

Launched in 2013, the coalition originally was called the Massachusetts Gaming Diversity

Governor tours Yankee Candle factory

GOVERNOR’S OFFICE PHOTO

Gov. Charlie Baker visited Whately’s Yankee Candle Factory. Governor Baker toured the factory and met with employees, applauding the company for its success in offering employment opportunities for the Commonwealth.

PHOTO COURTESY OF GREATER NEW ENGLAND MINORITY SUPPLIER DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

Fred McKinney, a former head of the Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council and managing director of minority business programs at Dartmouth College’s Tuck Executive Education.

Coalition and was focused on the billion dollars in development planned around the introduction of casino gambling.

The organization remains highly involved in the state’s gaming development and works closely with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission on such projects, but last fall, the coalition changed its name and broadened its focus to major development in all sectors throughout the state.

“We dropped the ‘gaming’ from our name because we realized we have a bigger mission and a bigger venue,” said Bacon.

Fred McKinney, a former, longtime head of the Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council and now recently-appointed managing director of minority business programs at Dartmouth College’s Tuck Executive Education, said it is an opportune time to expand the coalition’s reach.

“There are a lot of plans on the books that involve construction and development in Boston and the greater Boston community. We are talking about billions of dollars in the private and public sector,” said McKinney. “The people that got together to form the coalition understand how important it is for all businesses to be involved in that economic development.”

McKinney was there when the coalition got its start. He said the political climate was right to take a stand for diversity in gaming, but now all is ripe for the picking.

“It was important to go beyond the gaming because this diversity coalition is something that the Boston community has needed for many years … to ensure that all parties benefit from economic development,” McKinney added.

Bacon points to other project such as the development that Chinese National Rail is doing in Springfield as an example of the large-scale projects on which the coalition can focus.

Ultimately, a larger and more diverse business community in Massachusetts is what coalition leaders really want.

“In five years, if we look back and we haven’t built a much stronger diverse business community then shame on us,” Bacon said.

“We are in a period of perhaps historic opportunity.”

Thursday, May 21, 2015 • BAY STATE BANNER • B7

A12 • Thursday, June 11, 2015 • BAY STATE BANNER

Brockton

continued from page A1 William’s initial civil action was filed previously against the Brockton police department in March 2012. In that case, Williams claims he faced department retaliation that ended his police career following his role as a whistleblower in a case of police misconduct that reverberated across Brockton.

While both cases are ongoing and focus on related themes, it is Williams’ second case that has the potential for more wide-ranging impact on an issue that has grabbed headlines nationwide. It utilizes a legal argument that, as far as his lawyers are aware, is a first in cases of alleged police misconduct and department-wide racial discrimination.

A charge of fraud

That argument centers on allegations of fraud under the federal False Claims Act. The case argues that because the city of Brockton received federal funding through the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program – a flow of federal funding to municipal police departments that many cities use nationwide – but did not

adhere to federal anti-discrimination requirements, the city essentially committed fraud against the federal government.

Williams’s lawyers point out that FCA cases have been used before in suits against the pharmaceutical industry to encourage whistleblowers having insider knowledge of wrongdoing to come forward. The resulting loss of federal funding then triggers broad-sweeping change in the way that other punishments do not, they argue. (The Banner reached out to Williams, who deferred to his lawyers for media comment.)

“In the 1990s, it became apparent that drug companies were ignoring the FDA’s guidelines for marketing prescription drugs by actively promoting off-label uses,” reads a statement from the Simmer Law Group.

“Neither regulatory enforcement by the FDA not civil actions brought by patients who suffered harm were proving effective as deterrents.” By contrast, the statement says, the heavy fines and threat of exclusion from Medicare/ Medicaid programs resulting from Federal Claims Act cases made the industry “get the message.”

Schoen said the same logic applies to police departments.

“If you’re not willing to use a stick for [police] departments with some terrible practices …the only other recourse is to wait until one or more people die,” she told the Banner by phone. “And that’s exactly what we’ve been seeing.”

The more common method used by the Department of Justice to address local police misconduct is the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, passed by Congress in 1994 in the wake of the Rodney King beating. This was the tactic used in the recent federal investigation of the Cleveland police department, which precipitated changes enshrined in a consent decree between that city and the feds announced May 26.

Poulin added that they view the case as potentially a trailblazer for other cases of alleged police abuse and racial discrimination that have been a major topic of national conversation over the past year.

“It can raise awareness with other officers around the country,” he said. “This may be an option if they find themselves in a situation [as a whistleblower].”

Poulin and Schoen said that to their knowledge, the Federal False Claims Act has not been used elsewhere to address problems of racial discrimination in police

departments.

Poulin says that while the DOJ has not formally intervened in Williams’s case, the DOJ continues to investigate his complaint.

When reached for comment, the spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston, Christina Dilorio-Sterling, issued a statement via email that did not delve into specifics.

“The U.S. has investigated the allegations in the complaint and has decided not to intervene at this time,” she said.

Williams also has been pushing the idea of FCA with policymakers, including staff members for the Congressional Black Caucus with whom he met in February.

Court documents from Williams’s FCA case claim that “the City and the BPD have engaged in, and continue to engaged in, a pattern and practice of unlawful discriminatory police conduct directed at African-Americans, Hispanics, Cape Verdeans, and other minorities in the City of Brockton.”

The lawsuit claims that minorities are “frequently stopped, detained, searched, falsely arrested, assaulted, subjected to excessive force and disparate treatment and denied due process and other constitutional protections.”

It refers to a number of specific incidents of alleged police misconduct, including the catalyzing incident that first got Williams involved as a whistleblower, as well “non-public” cases. In this second type of case, the lawsuit argues, “the City and the BPD…are able to ‘close’ the citizen complaint, and avoid reporting these types of civil rights violations.”

On February 3, 2015, the city of Brockton and the Brockton Police Department filed a motion for Williams’ case to be dismissed. The judge’s decision on that motion has not yet been issued.

Whistleblower blowback

Williams’s more broad-sweeping suit stems from an earlier civil action he brought against the city and the police department. In that one, he claims he was punished professionally for acting as a whistleblower on a matter of police misconduct, an episode that generated lots of local attention.

As reported previously by the Brockton Enterprise and other media outlets, the initial incident occurred in November 2007, when Brockton resident Jose Semedo, a native of Cape Verde, was falsely

See BROCKTON, page A13

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Thursday, June 11, 2015 • BAY STATE BANNER • A13

Brockton

continued from page A12 arrested for larceny at his place of business by four white officers.

One officer, Sgt. Lon Elliot, allegedly made racially derogatory remarks to Semedo and acted out ape-like gestures in his face.

Williams became involved when Semedo approached him after the incident and asked for his help. Williams advised Semedo to file a complaint with the on-duty shift commander and also later testified against Elliot in a hearing on the arrest.

Elliot was fired after a February 2009 hearing on the incident.

Semedo sued the city and settled in 2013 for $35,000.

In March 2012, Williams sued the city and several other city defendants, alleging that he was professionally punished for his involvement in the Semedo case. He claims that Elliot, who was his shift supervisor at the time, refused to file a work-related injury report to the city’s worker’s compensation department following an injury that Williams received on the job. As a result, the city refused to compensate Williams when he missed a month of work due to his injury. Williams also alleges that the city refused to grant him permanent disability benefits for a longstanding, recurring work-related injury of heart disease.

While this court case was originally scheduled for a December trial date, the city filed a motion to reconsider the summary judgment shortly before trial. At the new hearing on June 15, the judge will decide again whether the elements of the case pass summary judgment.

The Banner reached out to the Brockton Police Department for comment for this story, but

spokesperson Lt. Kenneth LeGrice said he could not comment on ongoing litigation.

Stephen Pfaff, the lawyer for the City of Brockton and the Brockton Police Department in both Williams cases, spoke with the Banner by phone.

“Our motion to dismiss speaks for itself,” he said, referring to the motion the defendant filed in the FCA lawsuit in February 2015.

“We deny his allegations, and we don’t believe he can prove them.”

UMass Boston announces Just Imagine: A $100M capital campaign

Broader issues at stake

The Banner spoke with two local community leaders about the themes invoked by the two cases.

At-large city councilor Moises Rodrigues could not comment on either case because elected officials cannot comment on ongoing litigation, but he did talk about issues pertaining to race and policing in Brockton.

“I’m concerned about the fact that we don’t have police officers in the community that resemble the community they serve,” he said, adding that there are no people of color who are supervisors in the police department.

He added, however, that there were some signs of change.

“We’ve got nine young people in the academy – and seven are minorities, that’s a major step,” he said. He described the change as “ongoing, not overnight.”

Ossie Jordan, a longtime resident and community activist, said he could not comment specifically on the Williams lawsuits because he did not know enough details about the cases.

He added, however, that while he was aware of “issues in the past” with police, he hadn’t heard of such incidents recently and was under the impression that problems

PHOTO COURTESY UMASS BOSTON

Former Gov. Deval Patrick tries out a new chair given to him by UMass Boston Chancellor J. Keith Motley (center) as a token of the university establishing an academic faculty chair in his honor. Looking on is UMass Board of Trustees Chairman Victor Woolridge (gold tie). The university launched a capital campaign titled Just Imagine, aiming to raise $100 million.

The university has so far raised $52 million toward that goal.

stemmed from “a few individuals not following the laws even though they are police officers.”

Nevertheless, he contrasted what he saw as better progress on such issues in Boston compared to suburb communities.

“Boston is its own island,” he said. “When you get out to these other cities and towns, it’s a whole

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different ball game. … We’ve got some cities, where, you don’t want to drive though because you’ll get stopped, depending on what car you’re driving and your color.”

He said he was particularly impressed by the recent decision by the Boston Police Department to release publicly the video of the fatal police shooting of Angelo

West in Roxbury shortly after it happened. (The police shooting of Usamaah Rahim, along with the grainy video that recently was released publicly, happened after the conversation with Jordan.)

“People took care of business,” he said. “The film was on the TV that night. There’s been positive actions.”

A14 • Thursday, June 11, 2015 • BAY STATE BANNER

charters

meeting last year,” she said. “There were 85 of us in a recent meeting.”

The group rallied earlier this year against five proposed school closings, halting the district’s plans to shutter three.

“We’re organizing because people came together around issues, as opposed to a group coming in and showing you a Power Point presentation about why Boston has terrible public schools, with the clear implication that we need more charters,” Battenfeld said.

continued from page A1 fight to lift the charter school cap.

If the more than 10,000 signatures the group claims to have garnered so far is any indication, FES is ready to do battle.

Competition for funding

At the heart of the fight is a competition over public funding.

Charters receive their funding from the school districts in which they operate, drawing upon the average per-pupil allocation calculated for a given fiscal year.

Under the current state law, charters can claim no more than 18 percent of a district’s funding, limiting the number of charters that can operate in any given district.

Although the state is required to partially reimburse school districts for the funding they lose to charters, the state has not consistently fully funded the reimbursements, compounding the loss of funding districts face due to rising costs of health insurance and compensation.

With costs escalating in districts throughout the Commonwealth and Chapter 70 school funding declining over the last 20 years, fights over money are inevitable.

“There’s clearly an ongoing challenge as we go through year after year of budget cuts,” says Angelina Camacho, a member of the Citywide Parents Council and an opponent of lifting the charter school cap.

“The district schools are losing state Chapter 70 funding and the charters are recruiting higher-performing kids,” said Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. “Larger cities get hit

Zero-sum game BANNER PHOTO

A crowd organizers estimated at 2,000 turned out to Families for Excellent Schools’ inaugural rally in Boston last November at Faneuil Hall. The pro-charter school group opened its Boston office last year, following the defeat of a push to lift the funding cap on charter schools. really hard.”

Parents interviewed by the Banner said the schools their children attend have been losing funding for music, art, after-school programming and sports. On a larger scale, the Boston Public Schools has phased out busing for 7th and 8th graders and closed several schools in the last two years.

On a smaller level, Camacho sees a growing list of supplies her son’s school requests from parents.

“The classroom supply list gets bigger every year,” she said. “Glue sticks, hand sanitizer. Now they’re asking us for reams of paper.”

Resurgence of organizing

The pervasive budget cuts in Boston’s schools were a major factor in the resurgence of parent organizing that culminated last year in an unprecedented turnout of district school supporters who lobbied successfully at the State House against lifting the cap on new charter schools.

The charter cap-lifting push was defeated in April 2014. Last August, Families for Excellent Schools began organizing. In a November weekday rally at Faneuil Hall, the group drew what organizers said was more than 2,000 parents and students. While speakers did not advocate specifically for charter schools, they did reference FES’s claim that 77,000 children in Massachusetts attend “persistently failing schools.”

In the wake of defeated attempts to lift the funding cap, local charter school backers said they would consider a ballot referendum on abolishing it. FES officials have not said what they plan to do.

Their signature-collecting campaign, called Unify Boston, does not mention charters at all.

The FES Massachusetts Deputy State Director, Will Herberich, refused to comment for this article.

“Unify Boston is about charter and district parents coming together in a positive way. It’s time to

work together and focus on what families need: access to a great school in their neighborhood.

Now that over 10,000 people have signed onto the campaign, we’re going to work with our elected leaders to find solutions that increase the number of great schools across the city,” said Jeremiah Kittredge, Executive Director of Families for Excellent Schools, in a statement emailed to the Banner.

Ana Cecilia Torres, who attended the FES rally in November and helped collect signatures for their Unify Boston campaign, says she supports both charter schools and district schools.

“I’m excited to become part of this group because they want to bring change to the schools,” she said. “Not only charter schools, but also district schools. I want to make sure all schools are charter schools.”

Asked whether she would support lifting the cap on charter schools, Torres re-iterated that she is working to improve all schools.

“I just want to make sure every parent has access to an excellent school,” she said.

Not-so-level playing field

With four staff members in its Massachusetts office and a board thick with hedge fund managers who have helped the organization tap funders such as the Walton Foundation, the Vanguard Chartable Endowment Program and other corporate donors, FES seems well-poised to lobby Massachusetts legislators.

Groups advocating for funding for district schools in Boston — the Citywide Parents Council and Quality Education for Every Student — have no paid staff.

But Mary Battenfeld, a QUEST member who helped revive the Parents Council last year after 30 years of inactivity, said the group’s ranks are growing.

“There were five of us in a

When charter schools were introduced in Massachusetts in 1993, they were sold as a way to introduce healthy competition to school districts, bringing in innovative approaches to education that would inform the way district schools operate.

Whether or not that’s happened, district school supporters say charters operate with unfair advantages. They graduate fewer special education students and fewer English language learners.

And while many boast high college acceptance rates, many also graduate far fewer students than they admit.

Blogger John Lerner points to Boston Preparatory Charter School, which he says lost 75 percent of its students between 6th grade and 12th grade, while its test scores steadily improved.

Lerner says that pattern plays itself out at many charters.

“I wouldn’t mind that they do that, but they’re taking away money from the district schools,” he said.

Citywide Parent Council member Angie Camacho argues that the charters’ ability to effectively cherry-pick students undermines competition with the district schools.

“I agree that, in essence, healthy competition creates success,” she said. “What I don’t agree with is charter schools ability to select or manage-out students who performance affects their numbers. They should have the same responsibility that BPS has to educate every student.”

Camacho argues that Boston, a city with world-class universities and a booming economy, should spend more on educating its students.

“We all want the same thing,” she said. “We shouldn’t be cutting each other off to get at it.”

But with declining state aid, a limited political will to raise taxes and a funding mechanism that requires charters to grow at the expense of district schools, the debate on charter school expansion may well be settled at the ballot box.

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Thursday, June 11, 2015 • BAY STATE BANNER • A15

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Governor introduces T winter resiliency plan Includes $87.2 million to make sure we’re ready next time

By ELIZA DEWEY

Last week, Gov. Charlie Baker released his latest in the ongoing conversation about how to avoid another winter on the MBTA like this past snowy season.

Dubbed the self-explanatory MBTA Winter Resiliency Plan, the plan would invest $87.2 million over the next five years in snow removal equipment, infrastructure upgrades, and

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That bill would implement the much-discussed Fiscal 8 4Manage9 ment and Control Board to oversee the agency for 6 three 8 years, 5 introduce reporting and auditing requirements, 1 and lift 3 the4socalled Pacheco law as it applies to the MBTA. 9 2 7 The Pacheco law is a 1993 law that requires 2 state 5agencies 8 to engage in a cost-comparison analysis before contracting 7 9 work 3 performed by state workers to private agencies. 4Critics 1 of 6the law have long viewed it GHNS #2531 as a bow to political pressure from unions, while supporters maintain it is SUDOKU Easy a commonsense cost-control method.

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operations to improve service re- investment in winter equipment was only part of a much bigger liability during harsh weather.

At a press conference last solution to the state’s public tranThursday with the Governor and sit system.

“This is obviously not a cureInterim MBTA General Manager Frank DePaola, Secretary all,” he said. “There remains sigSUDOKU of Transportation Stephanie Pol- nificant work to be done.” lack placed the plan in contem- 5 As 6 he 2touted 9 the1 efforts 3 on 8 winter-related improvements, porary terms.

“As any Game of Thrones fan 3Baker 7 also 1 called 8 2for legisla4 5 knows, ‘Winter is coming,’” she tive action on his MBTA reform filed 9 in April, said. “This has been the mantra 8bill, 4 5 known 6 7as “An 3 Act for a Reliable, Sustainable at the MBTA.” The governor added that the 6MBTA.” 8 5 4 3 9 7

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At last week’s press conference, 1 2Baker said he 7 hoped 8 the 9 FCMB would be in place by the end 2 of1the summer.9 7 2 The governor’s winter preparedness 1 3 4 2 7 6 9 5 8 plan would 4 be1funded 3 through a mix of sources. Ac9 2 7 1 8 5 4 cording 6 3 to a statement 8 6 issued 5 SUDOKU from his office, that includes $62 2 5 8 3 9 1 6 million 4 7in federal 8formula 5 79 funds 17 for capital investments, $10 milcapi7 9 3 6 4 2 1 lion 8 in5non-federal,1MBTA 4 32 in4optal funds, and $11.72million 4 1 6 7 5 8 2 erating 3 9funds. 96 53 68 Transportation experts who GHNS #2531 GHNS #2532 spoke with the Banner viewed 1 9 3 5 6 2 9 1 3 8 7the4 Winter Resiliency Plan as a positive step.

3 7 1 8 2 4 5 9 6 7 8 5 8 4 9 5 6 7 3 1 2“I think that it is very positive 6 8 5 4 3 9 7 2that 1 the MBTA is working now to 6 will4be better 2 sure that they 1 3 4 2 7 6 9 5make 8 prepared for future winters, and 9 2 7 1 8 5 4 6 3 3 6 8 2 5 8 3 9 1 6 4that 7 the governor is recognizing 5 it will take extra funding 7 9 3 6 4 2 1 8that 4 1 7 4 1 6 7 5 8 2 3to 9deal with this properly,” said GHNS #2531 Fred Salvucci, a senior lecturer 5 at MIT 2 9and in civil engineering GHNS #2533 former Secretary of TransporSUDOKU SUDOKU Easy SUDOKU SUDOKU Easy Easy Easytation under Governor Michael Dukakis.

BANNER PHOTO SUDOKU SUDOKU 29 his 91 MBTA 13Winter 38 Resiliency 87 74Plan 4last week3at a 3press 86 Interim 62 MBTA 29 GM97Frank74 4Moderate 5 56Baker62introduces 5 5conference 1 18 with Gov. Charlie He added a note about the 8 7 1 3 4 2 9 MBTA’s 6 5 long-term future.

DePaola and Transportation Sect. Stephanie Pollack.

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FUN&GAMES 6 68 85 54 43 39 97 SUDOKU: SEE ANSWERS ON PAGE 18

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Marc Draisen, executive di6rector 4 of 2the Metropolitan 1 8 5 Area Planning Council, sounded a 7similar 5 note.

8 2 3 9 “The Governor’s winter resiliency plan is an important first 5 6 towards 2 9 1 3ensuring 8 7 4 that we step Easy 3 7 better 1 8 prepared 2 4 5 9 when 6 are future 8 4 9 storms 5 6 7 hit 3 1 our 2 winter region.

8 6 2 9 7 4 6 8 are 5 grateful 4 3 9 7that 2 the 1 We Gover1 3 is4 looking 2 7 6 ahead, 9 5 8 especially nor 9 3 7 8 5 1 9 2 7the 1 impact 8 5 4 of6 this 3 winter’s given 2 5 8 3snowfall,” 9 1 6 4he 7said in an historic 5 1 4 2 3 6 7 9 3statement 6 4 2 1to 8the5 Banner. email 4 He, 1 6 too, 7 5nodded 1 5 8 8 62 3to49long-term 3 GHNS #2531 issues.

2 “At9 the 6same5 time, 8 we7need to do more to make the MBTA to2meet 4run more 7 efficiently 3 1 and 9Moderate growing and anticipated demand and we need to ensure2that8it has 36enough 44 resources 21 93 to 6do 5 so.”

The governor’s was pre7 plan 93sented 58 to69the 7MassDOT 86 15board this week 2 1for 5 approval, 4 31 although 87not 7before 49press the2 Banner’s deadline.

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FOOD .................................................................. B5 COMMUNITY CALENDAR …................................ B6 HEALTH & WELNESS SPECIAL SECTION …......... B7 CLASSIFIEDS ……………………….......................... B13

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HEALTH & WELLNESS

ROXBURY MEN’S RECOVERY GROUP TACKLES EFFECTS OF STRESS, URBAN TRAUMA pg B7

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LNESS Cambridge clients with woman helps nu triti on go HEA LTH alELL &W s NESS Thursday, June 11, 2015

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By LAUR A ONYENEHO Powell faced on her journe many challenges Katia Powe y to weigh As direct cludin g ll realiz t loss, inneeded to or of critici sm ed she change her from family and Multicultur Health Equity members. decade ago life one day Her family al a when she lives in both the American HeartInitiatives at her Roxbu walked into the South and the she uses ry Association Caribbean, their percep her reflect apartment, stared , and proper her position as tion of at ion a means to ly educate asked, “Who in the mirror and was seen as negati her weight loss people vascular is “They though ve. disease, and on cardioToday Powel that?” ty-related t I was too other obesil is a holisti she said. ailmen skinny,” practitioner They c health tried to feed “Throughou ts. weight and who helps clients with and plates used t our health to show up me, grams, we nutriti house on prohave to move at my of Once morb on goals.

Sundays.” people and millions idly obese Powel tipped the encourage , she “big-b l recalled being make these scale at told that 350 at the age oned and changes in them to munit of 26. Her pounds “I let their curvy y,” com” was in.

Powell said. in the mirro others’ defini reflec tion do that “We can’t tion of me r was a moment Cutline defini ng my stopping point, be popula witho ut multi for her. cultur al and I had change my tions.”

“Food was to mindset. comfo I cannot keep digging my PHOTO CREDIT grave

By PARTNERS HEALTHCARE said. “I had dropp rt for me,” she Fit for purpo ed out of Powell then with my fork.” and lost PHOTO COURTESY PARTNERS HEALTHCARE Pictured herese school is Doug Lomax, leader of the “We are buildi my changed her In 2013, Powell habits Strong Men Recovery one of those job. I was becom eating ng Group, counseling to onestarted to have offering fit camps of ing She , and kept adding statist 100 people our group members.

Fit Body There are usually four workouts. Squad, a company his young replaced management ,” Powell said. or five of At the time, ics.”

She that provid them sitting in a small ared sweets calorie-dense sug- fitness she wante central progra location become a start Techtr . Powell also helped es Techtr also is the co-fou but also because ms, health circle in the d to be with medic nder of and nutriti not ition’s Conne ition, uncommon. coaching Pastor’s Parlor at Roxbury of the on “Unvented along with church’s began to realize al doctor, but soon vegeta bles from fresh fruits and trition Progra pain educahistory cted NuPresbyner Brand in housing tion. fitness leads on local to Ranso our traumaher The free that her markets. terian Church. They speak progra one of the farme rs’ andpartnot reflect and Ranso m, in which both when it ms first Alcoholics m. Techtr is a continues quietly are hosted Anonshe health educa m are ison Park her goals health did got expenAlthough eating ition to go at Madand if you weren’t paying untreated, ymous Village healthy sites it leads “Katia plays wellness coache and educa in the community. tion sive at first, close tional pursuits. that to every company helps s.

Thursd Tuesda - ways addiction, a tention you might mistake at-Her very anger indivi ay “It she y just and violence.” for everyo instru madene role in gettin to do so found duals optim sense doand their health them first of allto g the word mental Strong “It’sLomax small budge while staying on ages. it here” The Men’s for a bible study group very easy Recoveryize throu the Roxbu plan was to head about our says.for Group Though out there gh the or a prayer techno trauma and a $10 a t. She prepar start me to charge to meals ry YMCA use of wants logy. to reverse meeting. But when you worko all of these pain ed more are the constant . She bough at home, trends. Powell has up,” said Ransom. listenain,memb ership threads run- “Peop I want to peopl e no ut, but clipped coupo Lomax le have since expan says , and gradu t and made you hear words like give in slavery, men through trained work an“Since excus e all amazing “cravings,” her own snacks ded ns workoning the men’s their to of of color not tool ers with other community her pockehave “cold turkey,” “co-dependen60-90 up to 4-5 days a weekally ut,” she come stohad to mask “Not many ries, . t called according their and organi said. to Lomax phoneemotions. the group leadce,” minutes. Within people under for the ,” said Ranso the smart She also tackling zations in the language of addiction 80/20 stand ticipa istrains six month “She has Boston. betweenother “men issues” m. ”We andshe ac-lost 100 pound s 80 percen rule,” said Powel 10-25 par- Faceb ookThey’d done works use me and watch nts cording to Douglas Lomax, and like at s. how wives Twittetheir l. “It’s to be good fathers, taken in the past a time hops t nutrition, never r, the a half later, she About a year fitness husfor but fit durin think and used camps we appre and wome by their masters 20 percen language of trauma. Lomax 100 pound g her for of using bands . Powel lost anoth and lsons. and 100 and ciate her n really our phone t the physic is the health takes pride s. er they .” had to stand love, joy s preleader of the “Strong She noted percent mindset.” there and “We sion,” said al result talk sthrough “Right now and pasMen’s ReourinshameThetend that rule is changesand Rica and can I’m be not to hurt, covery Group,” that meets in the living often in food at stressful any living constr Boston Natur Elysee, founder fearschoice 175 and I’m l Febru comp and ued and allowoveral launc masking treatment; when peopl each other weekly best others maymished in their shape make. Thoug of to ary stress s her clients feelings is of a contributing whenfor health fallen at RPC, one of a growing e wanthave my life,” share our said. with Bosto als. Powell partne factor These masks thesurvival. pain.” to ier the le. h the business velopmstill a be small, number community numbers red substance abuse,” Powel n Naturals l it was offlifesty “I used to radar ent haunt de- worko programen of recovery groups making may the today. And Lomax she Lomax says. more think altothough says speaks to m Smart gether andand passionately her client the “Unfortunately, need on City consistent monia er in strugg ut videos for wome create some incub tion, but I fitness would sup- lsthe connection between less there are many areaffects atorconsider nutriwhat encou of traumatestiwastowrong port doors n who substance people who opene dtheir masks le with time help them the Afriback up. to find ways rages in Dudleymechanisms, .” try to treat stress by abuse and trauma. management can to her and insurvival American initsfact “We Square. Powel they are hopin improve community.

Lomax who comes tion Ranso self medicating. Far too . participa- “The create g that m an experience ofl merely According to Lomax, while societal joined classesnorm for often, the cial and corrections from a judi-in her help individ men, particuforces to become more access these video we result is addiction.” existing background, larly black. instead of living. uals organ tend to think of trauma ible to wome that do not Strong men, health leads is to in terms of ize be groups tough and set and goals n similar to “Strong brave have the Meeting each Thursday, Men’sthroug Recovery Group the September 11 terrorist conventional with no signs of emotion helps men the Men” inside prison h better attack Strong Men’s or to live again.” time and says he weakness.

Recovery Group inor war, in fact it can be One thing you definitely felt the need to walk the result vites participants See with men do not do POWELL, page of far more common experiences to share their in the as a black man is cry. community as they were B10 pain and struggles in that come from simply a safe and “living through That is our dilemma,” living Lomax GET IN TOUCH their trauma” as the city; experiences ranging in supportive community. Some of well.

He chose Roxbury Presbyte- recounts hearing from men who If you are from the men are re-entering interested or know anyone interpoverty to gun violence. were sexually abused society rian Church “Urban from incarceration and had ested in being for the support group a part of the Strong Men’s never spoken about it or addiction not only for 20 or Recovery because of the church’s Group, please call (617) 445-2116 30 years. Unfortunately for this is more information.

Roxbury Presbyterian Church supports Strong Men’s Recovery Group Weekly gathering tackles effects of stress, trauma

“

We talk through our shame and each other to share our pain. fears and allow The for men, particularly black men, societal norm brave with no signs of emotion is to be tough and thing you definitely do not do or weakness. One as a black man is cry. That is our dilemma.”

— Douglas Lomax

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CHARLES FLOYD CONDUCTS GOSPEL NIGHT AT THE BOSTON POPS pg B2 MELISSA MCCARTHY STARS IN SPY pg B4

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THEATER

Dreamgirls offers plenty drama, flash and energy Musical on stage through June 14

By STEVEN DUFFY

A scene from the film “Shake the Dust.”

BOND STRATEGY AND INFLUENCE PHOTO

r o h c n a s c o d p o H ip H d n a r e Black mountaine

l a n o i t a n r e t n I y Roxbur

l a v i t s e F Film

By COLETTE GREENSTEIN

A

nchored by the black mountaineering documentary, An American Ascent, along with Shake the Dust, a hip hop documentary, the Roxbury International Film Festival (RIFF) returns for its 17th year on Wednesday, June 17 and runs thru Sunday, June 28 at the Museum of Fine Arts.

Longer than its traditional five-day run at the Museum of Fine Arts, the festival this year has expanded to eleven days and has added the Shirley Eustis House in Roxbury as a new screening venue.

“The MFA suggested the extended format because there were so many great films that people had to choose and they missed seeing some films,” said Lisa Simmons, the festival’s director. “This way nothing overlaps so you don’t have to worry about missing a film because you are going to another.”

RIFF, New England’s largest film festival dedicated to celebrating people of color, is presented by The Color of Film Collaborative, and will screen more than 45 films, including features, domestic and international shorts, documentaries and youth-produced works this year as well as two workshops: one on

how to pitch your idea co-sponsored by GrubStreet, and another on screenwriting conducted by writer, producer and director, Deborah Shariff.

The New England premiere of feature documentary An American Ascent kicks off opening night. Directed by Andrew Adkins and George Potter, the film chronicles the first African American expedition to North America’s highest peak, Denali.

In June 2013, nine African Americans set out on Expedition Denali to encourage people of color to explore the wilderness, to build a legacy, and to challenge themselves by scaling the 20,320 foot summit.

ON THE WEB

For tickets and a complete schedule of the films, visit www.mfa.org/programs/

series/roxbury-international-film-festival.

For gold and silver passes and information on Dinner And A Movie, visit www.roxburyinternationalfilmfestival.com.

The project came about through the National Outdoor Leadership School’s creation of Expedition Denali as part of its push for ethnic diversity within its leadership and ranks, explained director Andrew Adkins, by phone to the Banner. An outdoorsy person who grew up on

See FILM FESTIVAL, page B4

North Shore Musical Theatre’s production of the 1981 hit Broadway musical Dreamgirls is full of energy, flash, and vocal performances that are made for the stage.

Loosely based on the story of the Supremes, Dreamgirls follows the struggles of three young black singers determined to make it big in the music industry.

As flawed diva Effie White, Bryonha Marie Parham’s powerful and fiery vocals while belting out showstoppers like “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” and “I Am Changing” are some of the best parts of the show.

Less impressive is Britney Coleman’s portrayal of Deena Jones.

Her vocals are thin, and she never attains the command of an icon.

Destinee Rea, as the trio’s youngest singer, is bubbly and provides most of the show’s comic relief. She nicely captures the inner struggles and emotions of being with a married man.

Audience favorite Eric LaJuan Summers as James “Thunder” Early is electric. He has a raw energy with so much sizzle in his dancing, he seems on the verge of combustion.

Songs like Cadillac Man, Steppin’ to the Bad Side, One Night Only, and Dreamgirls will keep your toes tapping way after the show has ended. The minimalistic set designs keep your attention on the human drama as it unfolds before your eyes.

Dreamgirls is a night full of drama, glam, and glitter, despite the occasionally distracting sound issues.

IF YOU GO Dreamgirls is now playing at the North Shore Music Theatre through June 14th. For more information about the show and to purchase tickets visit www.nsmt.org

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Charles Floyd conducts Gospel Night at the Boston Pops

By SUSAN SACCOCCIA

Bringing together the dual powers of the African-American gospel music tradition and a symphony orchestra, last Saturday’s annual Gospel Night at the Boston Pops injected Symphony Hall with jubilation and devotion.

Exciting ear, eye and spirit from the start, the Saturday evening concert alive with a sense of spectacle and occasion. The event was orchestrated by distinguished conductor, pianist and composer Charles Floyd, who has conducted Gospel Night for all but two of its 23 years.

Like the nearly 100 musicians who filled the grand stage, Floyd was attired in summer whites.

The hall was transformed, its symphony-season rows of seats replaced by cabaret-style tables and chairs.

Using his long arms and hands and expressive body to direct the orchestra, Lloyd began the program with four orchestral pieces.

The first, pastoral in tone, was Petite Suite de Concert, Op. 77 (1911), by acclaimed Afro-British composer and conductor Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. An early Bach composition, “Little Fugue in G Minor” featured clarinet and trombone, strings, brass and percussion in a sumptuous, buoyant orchestration that rose to a tidal crescendo. Following a tender rendition of “Shepherd

PHOTO BY STU ROSNER

Conductor Charles Floyd Boy” (1891) by Edvard Grieg, the orchestra performed the romantic theme of the 1960 movie “Exodus,” by Ernest Gold, moving through its surging melody like a single organism.

Next, the Blind Boys of Alabama came on stage, turning the hall into a haven of praise with an R&B backbeat. The renowned five-man gospel ensemble opened with Curtis Mayfield’s irresistible “People Get Ready.” Currents of orchestral brass joined Paul Beasely’s yearning falsetto in a majestic rendering of this ’65 hit, now an anthem.

Floyd’s bravura conducting,

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ROXBURY INTERNATIONAL

fluent in both African American and European classical musical traditions, was never more evident than in his treatment of “This May be the Last Time.”

Floyd silenced the orchestra as the Blind Boys began leading the audience in synchronized clapping to their rousing rendition of a hymn about endings of all kinds.

Energizing their dirge-like arrangement of “Amazing Grace” to the tune of “House of the Rising Sun” were potent bass guitar and drum riffs and the raspy, rough voice of Jimmy Carter as he chanted with ever-mounting

intensity its refrain, “I’m talking about grace/Amazing grace.”

A spiraling organ line introduced and accompanied “There Will Never Be Any Peace (Until God is Seated at the Conference Table)” in a treatment that kept its R&B groove intact. The Blind Boys rendering of the song by Eugene Record and Barbara Acklin, which debuted in 1974 by the Chi-Lites, unfolded like an urgent conversation between Beasely and the audience. His yellow shirt cuffs accented his fingers and hands as they reached skyward or jabbed into the audience. He alternatively crouched and sprang up while repeating the refrain, “We need peace,” his falsetto making its pulsing ascent to the coffered ceiling of the hall.

After a brief intermission, the Pops Gospel Choir — the 120voice Boston Community Choir — streamed onstage. Wearing stately blue robes with multicolored sashes, they formed four rows behind the orchestra.

Before them was the sea of whitegarbed musicians and Floyd on his podium, who swayed in unison with the singers.

Soloists, singly or in pairs and threesomes, took turns stepping up alongside Floyd to lead the songs. The first began by inviting everyone to “give God all praise.”

Joyful incantations and searing testimonials were equally convincing, as the singers made it clear that nothing in the world

mattered as much as the business at hand.

Floyd directed both the chorus and orchestra as a single vehicle of exalted expression. Interweaving organ and drum solos with cascading orchestral passages, the arrangements demonstrated the values of individuality and harmony at the core of the African American gospel tradition. Now and then, Floyd used his voice along with his body to propel the music and its multiple parts. For example, in one song, Floyd repeated the word “with, with, with, with, with” along with the chorus, until the pulsing passage reached its soaring climax by adding the phrase “with my soul.”

Floyd and the orchestra departed to a standing ovation.

The choir remained on stage and Dennis L. Slaughter, their artistic director, conducted them in two exuberant, highly rhythmic encores. The choir then shimmied off the stage.

Yet the spirit — and the music — kept moving. Slaughter then led an impromptu sextet with the choir’s musicians, visible for the first time on the otherwise empty stage. Conducted by a dancing Slaughter, the musicians — pianist and keyboardist Jerome Kyles, organist Dennis Montgomery, bassist Wayne Pittman and drummer Sean Skeete — traded and crossed rhythms until they reached and released a final exhale of exalted energy.

roxburyinternationalfilmfestival.com

FILM FESTIVAL TICKETS AVAILABLE MAY 21 at http://www.mfa.org/programs/film

OPENING NIGHT FILM:

AMERICAN ASCENT A FILM ABOUT THE FIRST ALL AFRICAN AMERICAN CLIMBING TEAM TO SCALE DENALI.

WORKSHOPS/PARTIES/ D A A M / M FA T O U R S For more information on passes & special event tickets contact info at info@coloroffilm.com

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Young actor, Travaris Spears, sees the world as his stage ON THE WEB

By KAM WILLIAMS

Known to his family, friends and fans as “Varis” or simply “V,” Travaris Spears was born on October 20, 2000 in Rochester, New York. At a very young age, he developed a charm that was engaging and magnetic. His energy and passion for performing led him to sing, dance, and even imitate his favorite artists and celebrities.

Using his gift for communicating and interacting with people from all walks of life, Travaris creates opportunities to make lasting impressions and sees the whole world as his stage.

Since 2007, Travaris has been busy at work while simultaneously maintaining excellent grades in school — something upon which his mother insists.

Professionally, the ninth grader has appeared in a Siri/Universal Record music video, in print ads, in several indie films and, in 2012, he landed a prominent role in the blockbuster film Admission.

Travaris’s charisma is contagious, and he quickly is becoming a rising star to be reckoned with. Here, he talks about his new movie, Freedom, an historical drama starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. about an African-American family’s attempt to escape from slavery.

Kam Williams: I know you are an excellent student. Did you have a good school year?

To see a trailer for Freedom, visit: https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjAQPtvA8Ak interested in history as a whole, but I love hearing about slavery because it’s a reminder or a wake-up call that I need to take my freedom seriously. I also think about how we take our freedom for granted and not celebrate the people who sacrificed and died for us, to get it. Also, freedom was very interesting because I knew I would learn a lot acting and education wise, so I knew this would be a great opportunity.

PHOTO COURTESY TRAVARIS SPEARS

Travaris Spears Travaris Spears: I had a great year in school. I learned a lot and discovered much more than I did in 8th grade about my learning style and myself in general. High school is different, more challenging. For example, I was scared of not understanding algebra but it turned out to be pretty simple after I realized that asking questions doesn’t make you stupid, and understanding how important notes are. I also learned how to speak Italian which is similar to Spanish. My freshman year was definitely a year I won’t forget.

KW: Are you still studying guitar, dance and boxing?

TS: I am still studying all three.

I have always taken private tap

dance classes with the wonderful and talented Francis Bradley. I am also taking hip-hop classes now, at the Broadway Dance Center.

I have always boxed at Gleason’s gym, and I will never stop because I am actually very passionate and competitive when it comes to boxing. And dancing? I love it.

KW: What interested you in Freedom?

TS: I have always been

KW: How would you summarize the film in 25 words or less?

TS: It’s a flashback film showing a young man, enslaved in the 18th Century, who had hopes of seeing his great-grandson and other descendants freed a century later.

KW: Tell me a little about your character, Fassena.

TS: Fassena is the great-grandfather of Samuel, who is played by Cuba Gooding, Jr. In the 1700’s,

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he had a very rough life as a young boy in slavery after his mother passed away. Fassena’s survival and hope of being free one day are dependent on the fate of Captain John Newton [played by Bernhard Forcher].

KW: What would you say is the movie’s message?

TS: I think there was more than one message ... One goal was to educate people who might not know much about slavery.

Another was to show how many lives were sacrificed during that period, what slaves actually experienced, and how mothers, fathers and young children died while hoping and fighting for freedom.

KW: What is your next project?

TS: I recently shot an episode of Law & Order SVU which will be the first episode of the new season in the fall. I am so excited and cannot wait for it to air. I’ve had a lot of great experiences during this terrific pilot season.

I feel confident that I have a very bright future ahead. You’ll see more of me soon!

call 617-261-4600 x7799 or email ads@bannerpub.com for more information

B4 • Thursday, June 11, 2015 • BAY STATE BANNER

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT FIND OUT WHAT’S HOT IN THE CITY THIS WEEKEND: BAYSTATEBANNER.COM/NEWS/ENTERTAINMENT — CLICK WHAT’S HOT IN THE CITY

film festival continued from page B1

PHOTO BY LARRY HORRICKS

Melissa McCarthy infiltrates an arms dealing ring lead by Rose Byrne (left) in Spy.

Melissa McCarthy brings the laughs in espionage caper Spy

By COLETTE GREENSTEIN

Melissa McCarthy and director Paul Feig reteam for the comedy/ action caper Spy out now in theaters.

The actress and director who previously worked together on the comedies Bridesmaids in 2011 and The Heat in 2013 have partnered for their third comedy, and it’s so worth the wait.

McCarthy plays Susan Cooper, an unassuming, deskbound CIA analyst behind many of the Agency’s most dangerous missions. But when her partner Bradley Fine (Jude Law), on whom she has a mad crush, falls off the grid and another top agent, Rick Ford (Jason Statham) is compromised, Cooper volunteers to go deep undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer and prevent a global disaster.

Laughter abounds in every scene with McCarthy playing off of a stellar cast including Rose Byrne (her costar in Bridesmaids), Bobby Cannavale, Allison Janney as Cooper’s boss, and Miranda Hart as fellow CIA analyst Nancy, and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson as himself.

McCarthy is a delight and delightful to watch. With a sparkle in her eyes and her dimples at work, she is both loveable and badass as Susan Cooper as she takes on the bad guys and Byrnes’ character Rayna Boyanov.

Jason Statham is hilarious as a superspy who thwarts Cooper at every turn, and Cooper and Hart have a warm and great rapport as agents in the field.

Spy is downright hilarious with laughs, action and thrills at every turn. It’s sure to be one of the funniest movies this summer.

the West Coast camping over the years, he noticed that most of the people experiencing the outdoors mostly were white.

Adkins was drawn to the project for several reasons but meeting the nine African American climbers sealed the deal for him in tackling this project.

“They were very particularly passionate about this issue,” says the director. “It was kind of all it took and it’s a good story.

You’re climbing a mountain.

From a story-telling perspective there’s lots of opportunities for drama. There’s a natural built-in story arc.”

In addition to An American Ascent, the festival also will include a combination of documentaries and feature films such as An Unexpected History: The Story of Hennessy and African Americans June 19 at the MFA, and on June 22 at the Shirley Eustis House, which will be followed by a cocktail reception. Directed by Llew Smith and set to an original jazz score, the documentary tells the story of the bonds between Hennessy and black culture for close to 100 years through interviews and archival footage.

Director Jennifer Abod presents The Passionate Pursuit of Angela Bowe (June 24) about black lesbian feminist

and activist Angela Bowe. On June 25, the MFA also screens Somewhere in the Middle by Lanre Olabisi, about four lovers who collide into each other’s lives as one marriage morphs into several intertwining affairs. James Pellerito and David Barba’s documentary American Cheerleader (June 26) follows the journey of two high school teams vying for the coveted National High School Cheerleading Championship.

Expanded lineup

Simmons’ goal was to find some amazing films that could carry the festival for the longer stretch of 11 days.

“It is the first year we have expanded to this many days and I was really nervous how to do it given one of the weekends falls on Juneteenth and Father’s Day, but we have programmed so you can still enjoy both,” she said The programming on Father’s Day (June 21) includes the 1969 film Gordon Parks’ The Learning Tree, at the Museum of Fine Arts, coupled with a curated tour of Parks’ exhibit at the MFA for pass holders and “for anyone who brings their dad to the screening,” adds Simmons. “We also wanted to make sure that films were inspirational and told great stories that would make people feel good in light of all the negative press that has been happening all over the country.”

Rounding out the annual Roxbury International Film Festival on Sunday, June 28 is the hip hop documentary Shake the Dust directed by Adam Sjöberg and executive produced by hip hop artist Nasir “Nas” Jones. (Nas also provides original music for the film).

Shake the Dust chronicles the influence of hip-hop music and the breakdancing culture spanning the globe from Colombia and Yemen to Uganda and Cambodia. Sjöberg weaves together the stories of rappers, DJs, and b-boys across three continents, revealing how breakdancing today acts as a positive force for social change.

And speaking of social change, the festival also offers the same opportunity.

“It’s so important for this festival to go on,” says Simmons. “Each year I say enough and each year many people say no. They say no because it provides the opportunity for people in and around greater Boston and beyond to see films that mirror themselves and that are not necessarily reflected in mainstream films.

It’s a labor of love for everyone involved. We all work for practically nothing and it’s the comments and the response of filmgoers and the filmmakers who love seeing their film on the MFA screen that keep us going. I don’t think we would have it any other way.”

Bill Blumenreich Presents

BILL BLUMENREICH PRESENTS

LAVELL CRAWFORD

O ISANG FILM L A V I T S E F

AUGUST 15

MICHAEL BLACKSON AUGUST 22

ANJELAH JOHNSON SEPT 18

NATASHA LEGGERO NOV 13

FOR TICKETS AND INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT WWW.THEWILBUR.COM

Join us in your neighborhood for free screenings of

Son Of Man

BY ISANGO ENSEMBLE

Directed by Mark Dornford-May

JUL 9 - 21, 2015

Astrology and Tarot Cards Readings and Lessons By appointment Jack Miller (617) 442-1296

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT ARTSEMERSON.ORG

Thursday, June 11, 2015 • BAY STATE BANNER • B5

FOOD

BIG BLUES

www.baystatebanner.com

CHECK OUT NUTRITION AND HEALTH NEWS ONLINE: BAYSTATEBANNER.COM/NEWS/HEALTH

TIP OF THE WEEK

Personalize your party treats From “just-because” gatherings to birthday blowouts and major holidays, you’ll have everything you need to personalize your party with these quick party tricks.

Decorate with color: Kick your party up a notch with a customized color palette that matches your unique party theme. Use the new Wilton Color Right Color System to take the guesswork out of coloring icing, fondant, cake batter and other treats. You can easily mix the colors you need to coordinate sweet treats to match your party decor.

Bake with flavor: Just like color, you can mix and match flavor to bake delicious flavor-infused treats. The Wilton Treatology Flavor System makes it easy to infuse treats with unexpected yet perfectly-paired flavors.

Follow easy drop-by-drop QuickCount flavor recipes to make unique flavor-infused desserts, like Horchata Cupcakes and Coconut Creme Brulee Cookies.

Display your way: Show off your personalized treats with The Display Your Way Cupcake Stand. The fillable core is perfect for incorporating fun party details like ribbon, candy and even matching napkins. The adjustable treat tower serves five to 25 cupcakes.

— Family Features

BY THE EDITORS OF RELISH MAGAZINE

E

very year about this time we are faced with the most delicious dilemma a cook could wish for: what to do with all those wonderful blueberries that are in season. Of course we sprinkle them on cereal, stir them into yogurt and whirl them in the blender for smoothies. Then we get out some of our favorite and head straight for the kitchen.

Blueberry basics

n A pint of fresh blueberries is about 2 to 2 1/2 cups and weighs about 12 ounces. nC hoose plump dry berries covered with powdery “bloom” — a sign of freshness. nR efrigerate berries in a covered container or bowl; wash just before using. nF reeze dry berries in a sealed container or plastic bag.

For recipes, measure them while still frozen. nO ne cup of blueberries has 4 grams fiber and 20 milligrams vitamin C.

Blueberry Walnut Streusel Pie Do not even think about cutting the pie while it’s still hot. Berry pies need some time to cool so their juices thicken.

Walnut Streusel ingredients: n½ cup all-purpose flour n¼ cup packed light-brown sugar n ¼ cup sugar cup unsalted butter, chilled n¼ and cut into small pieces n ¹ ⁄3 cup chopped walnuts

Filling ingredients: n 4 cups blueberries n ½cup sugar n 3 tablespoons cornstarch n ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg n 1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust n 2 teaspoons milk To prepare streusel, combine flour and both sugars in a large bowl. Cut in butter with fingers or pastry blender to form a streusel. Add walnuts and toss to

combine. Refrigerate.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

To prepare filling, combine berries, sugar, cornstarch and nutmeg in a large bowl. Mix with a large spoon and transfer to pie crust. Sprinkle with streusel.

Brush pastry edge with the 2 teaspoons milk. Bake 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350F and bake 35 minutes or until streusel is golden brown and juices are bubbling. Check after 20 minutes; if edge is browning too quickly, cover with strips of foil. Let cool completely on wire rack. Serves 8.

— Recipe by Jean Kressy; photo by Jessica Merchant.

EASY RECIPE

Raspberry Milk Pops n 1 ½ cups DairyPure whole milk n 1 (12-ounce) package frozen raspberries n ¼ cup honey In blender or food processor, combine milk, frozen raspberries and honey; blend until smooth.

Pour mixture into eight 4-ounce ice pop molds or plastic drinking cups. Add ice pop sticks. Freeze at least 4 hours or overnight.

— Family Features

FOOD QUIZ The term “patty cake” is an Australian name for what food?

A. Pancake B. Cornbread C. Hamburger D. Cupcake Answer at bottom of rail.

Join us on Thursday June 11 5:30-7pm for an Artists’ Reception for Self Portrait Collage: The Art of Hennigan School 4th Graders

WORD TO THE WISE Sambar: A South Indian stew made from pigeon peas, vegetables, tamarind and spices. Ground sambar powder used to flavor the stew includes spices like coriander seeds, chili powder and turmeric. Made with seasonal vegetables, onions and garlic, cooked sambar is garnished with a fried spice mixture made from curry leaves, mustard seeds, chili, fenugreek and coriander seeds.

— Cookthink

QUIZ ANSWER D. Australians call cupcakes “patty cakes.”

— More Content Now

Coming to Art is Life itself!

Be sure to check out our website and mobile site www.baystatebanner.com

Thu Jun 11 - Poets, Poetry & Spoken Word + Open Mic Thu Jun 18 - Graduation of Transitional Employment Program + Deconstructing the Prison Industrial Complex + Open Mic Thu June 25 - Michelle Cook with “Healthy Relationships and You” + The Groovalottos + Open Mic Program starts at 7pm. Come early for Dinner!

Haley House Bakery Cafe - 12 Dade Street - Roxbury 617 445 0900 - www.haleyhouse.org/cafe

B6 • Thursday, June 11, 2015 • BAY STATE BANNER

COMMUNITY CALENDAR CHECK OUT MORE EVENTS AND SUBMIT TO OUR ONLINE CALENDAR: BAYSTATEBANNER.COM/EVENTS

SATURDAY PARKARTS WATERCOLOR PAINTING WORKSHOPS The Boston Parks and Recreation Department has announced that its popular summer series of ParkARTS Watercolor Painting Workshops will return during the month of June at five Boston locations.

Local art instructors welcome artists of all skill levels to join them and capture Boston’s historic parks in bloom. The free workshops include instruction and materials provided. All classes are held from 12-2pm weather permitting. This summer’s featured instructor is Brigid Watson, a Boston-based artist, writer, and educator represented by Hallspace Gallery in Boston and four eleven studio in Provincetown. Watson holds a master’s degree from New York University and undergraduate degrees from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Tufts University. She has taught art at numerous local institutions including the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and the Eliot School. Dates and locations for the workshops are as follows: Boston Public Garden — Saturdays, June 13; Thomas M. Menino Park, 98 16th St., Charlestown — Sundays, June 14; Copley Square, Back Bay — Saturday, June 20; Kelleher Rose Garden, 70 Park Dr., Fenway — Sundays, June 21 & 28; Muddy River Round House, Riverway (opposite Short Street) — Saturday, June 27. For further information on the workshops and other ParkARTS programs, please call 617-635-4505 or visit the Parks Department online at www.cityofboston/parks or www.facebook.com/ bostonparksdepartment.

Walking Club volunteer leader. Occasionally, the Walking Club meets at other DCR sites. Some DCR sites charge a parking fee. The rangers recommend wearing hiking boots and bringing drinking water on all hikes.

THROUGH BARBED WIRE PRESENTS 4TH FRIDAY READING OF PRISONERS’ WRITINGS June 26, 7-8:30pm, monthly prose & poetry participatory event focused on the voices of prisoners through their writings, as mentoring tools to impact youth in the community towards positive decision-making. Audience participation encouraged, light refreshments, bring a friend. MBTA buses #17 to Quincy/Bowdoin or #15 to Kane Sq. Created/directed

by Arnie King. 1st Parish Dorchester, 10 Parish St., Dorchester on Meetinghouse Hill. (Call if you need help getting up the hill.) www.arnoldking.org or throughbarbedwire@yahoo.com; tel: 857-4924858. Free/Donation.

SUNDAY, JUNE 14

BLUE HILLS RESERVATION

Moderate walk, hilly terrain, 3.5+ miles. Wolcott Path to Breakneck Ledge to Chestnut Run and Border Path, return via Wolcott Path. Meet at the Blue Hills Headquarters staff parking lot at 695 Hillside St. in Milton. Sunday, June 14 at 1pm. The Southeastern Massachusetts Adult Walking Club meets each weekend on either a Saturday or Sunday at 1:00 for recreational walks. This club is open to people of 16 years of age and older, and there is no fee to join. Walks average 2 to 5 miles. New walkers are encouraged to participate. The terrain can vary: EASY (mostly level terrain), MODERATE (hilly terrain), DIFFICULT (strenuous & steep). Walks will be led by a park ranger or a Walking Club volunteer leader.

Occasionally, the Walking Club meets at other DCR sites. Some DCR sites charge aSUDOKU parking fee. The rangers recommend Easy wearing hiking boots and bringing drinking water on all hikes.

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1 9 7 Our Neighborhoods & Stories: FREE Family 1 3 4 2 7 6 9 5 8 4 1 Art Workshops! July 7, 14, 21, 28 Free fitness classes in your neighborhood from 5:30-7:30pm with free light supper 9parks 2 presented 7 1 8by Blue 5 Cross 4 6Blue3Shield 8 6 IN PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE: at 5:30. Jamaica Plain Community Center SUDOKU in partnership with the Boston SUDOKU Easy Easy 2 5 8 3 9 1 6 4Parks 7 and 5 9 THE WEST END HOUSE (Curtis Hall), 20 South St., Jamaica Plain.

5 Through 6 2 9August 1 3 22, 8 The 7 West 4 End 37Recreation 59 13 Department 86 64 22 and 91 the 78 Boston 45 1 2 Families Creating Together offers four Public Health Commission. Classes start Museum will host a new exhibit in its Main 3 7 1 8 2 4 5 9 6 2 4 6 9 3 7 8 5 1 4 1 6 7 5 8 2 3 9 6 3 FREE multi-generational workshops for in June and run through August. children ages 6-12 with and without 8 Exhibit 4 9Hall.5In Pursuit 6 7of Excellence: 3 1 2 The 7 MONDAYS: 8 9 High 5 1Intensity 4 2Interval 3 Training 6 West End House features artifacts, photo5 6 2 9 1 3 8 7 4 disabilities and their families. Children 6 8 5 4 3 9 7 2 1 9 (HIIT) 7 workout 2 1 3 at75Madison 3 1 88 2 46Park, 5 94 6Boston; graphs, oral history video and memorabilia 8 4 9 5 6 7 3 1 2 create favorite neighborhood places using Zumba at Christopher Columbus, North 1 3 4 2 7 6 9 5 8 4 1 3 2 6 89 5 46 3 95 7 28 1 7 cardboard constructions, collage, painting, representing over 100 years. Among the End; Salsa in the 1 3 Park 4 2 at 7 6Blackstone 9 5 8 club’s most distinguished alumni are 9 2 7 1 8 5 4 6 3 8 Park, 6 South 5 4End. 9 27 7 13 8 51 4 69 3 clay and recycled materials… and share FRANKLIN PARK TUESDAYS: Tai Chi2at 2 5 8 3 9 1 6 4 7 Leonard Nimoy and crooner Buddy Clark. stories of places and neighborhoods.

2 5 8 3 9 1 6 4 7 5 Symphony 9 7 Community 6 7 94 3 61 4 Park, 8 Yoga 23 1 Boston; 82 5 SUMMER SALSA The exhibit and reception are free and 4 1 6 7 5 8 2 3 9 Presented in English & Spanish with at Jamaica Pond Pinebank Promontory, 7 9 3 6 4 2 1 8 5 1 2 4 3 8 9 7 6 5 The last Friday of each month — June open to the public. The West End Museum ASL interpreters (if requested). Led by Jamaica Plain; Zumba at Gertrude Howes, 27, July 25, and August 29th 1 6 7to the 5 collection, 8 2 preserva3 9 6 3 8 7 2 5 4 1 9 creative teaching artist team. Wheelchair 4 is dedicated Roxbury. WEDNESDAYS: Yoga at Harambee from 5-7pm. For all levels, beginners will tion and interpretation of the history and SUDOKU Moderate accessible. Register for two, three or four Park, Dorchester; Line Dancing @ Franklin SUDOKU 6 2 9 1 3 8 7 4 3 5 1 8 6 2 9 7 4 learn the steps and experienced dancers culture of the53West End neighborhood. workshops. FCT is a program of Commu8 Park, 7 Dorchester.

1 32 4 4THURSDAYS: 7 1 8 2 4 5 9 6 6 9 23 7 98 5 6 1 8 6 Yoga5 at get to show off! Demonstrations by youth 8 4permanent 9 5 6 7 3exhibit, 1 2 7 8 9 5 1 4 2 3 6 The Museum’s “The nity Service Care/Tree of Life Coalition.

Symphony Community Park.

Boston; 2 3 4 99 7 52 1 65 8 76 4 83 1 6 8 5 4 3 9 7 2 1 7 1 dancers. Co-sponsored by MetaMoveLast Tenement,” highlights the immigrant To register and for more information call 1 3 4 2 7 6 9 5 8 4 1 Pond, 3 2 9 Boston.

6 5 8 FRIDAYS: 7 Yoga at The Frog ments Latin Dance Company and Franklin 9 5 6 8 7 1 2 3 4 9 2 7 1 8 5 4 6 3 8 6 5 4 7 3 1 9 2 5 3 history of the neighborhood through its 617-522-4832 or email mfcabrera53@ Bootcamp @ 5Christopher Park, 2 5 8 3 9 1 6 4 7 9 7 6 4 1 Columbus 3 2 8 Park Coalition. Dance floor will be set up in 1959; 1North 9 End; 3 Yoga 41 2 at 24 Clifford 6 7 9 3Urban 6 4 2Renewal 1 8 5 3 58 9 87 6 75 gmail.com. Additional information at www. decimation under 2 5 Park, Roxbury. in front of the main gate to White Stadium 1 6 7 5 8 2 3 9 6 3 8 7 2 5 4 1 9 two additional4 galleries feature rotating familiescreatingtogether.org.

For a full schedule of Boston Park Summer 7 8 5 6 9 3 1 4 2 3 9 near School Street & Walnut Avenue, exhibits. The Museum is located near Fitness Series classes go to www.city 6 4 2 1 8 7 3 5 9 Roxbury. For more info and help with 1 4 North Station Staniford St., SUDOKU SUDOKU EasySuite 7.

Easy SUDOKU SUDOKU Easy at 150 Easy ofboston.gov/parks or www.bphc.org. directions: www.franklinparkcoalition.org SUDOKU Moderate SUDOKU 3 5 6 1 8 8 5 6 1 2 9 9 4 7 2Moderate 9 8 68 27 Tuesday 94 1 - Friday 3 3 812-5pm; 4 7 @ 5 6 2 9 1 53 Hours: 5 7 1 4 Saturday 8 6 32 For 9 updates, 7 4 follow @HealthyBoston, or call 617-442-4141. Free.

8 11am 7 -14pm.

3 Admission 4 2 is9 free.

6 5 84BostonParksDept, 61 97 12 26 and58 #BostonMoves 75 49 33 on SPRING TOURS AT FREDERICK 4 2 3 7 1 8 2 34 75 19 86 2 4 2 5 4 9 6 6 9 3 27 48 65 91 3 7 8 5 1 2 3 4 9 5 6 7 8 1 Twitter.

7 1 2 3 4 8 5 6 9 LAW OLMSTED NATIONAL 6 7 8 4 9 5 6 87 43 91 52 6 7 7 3 8 1 9 2 5 1 74 5 82 2 93 9 56 7 1 3 4 4 2 6 3 1 6 8 SUNDAY PARKLAND GAMES 9 CONCERTS 5 6 8 IN7 THE 1 COURTYARD 2 3 4 5 3 4 6 7 9 8 1 2 HISTORIC SITE 2015 Kickoff 3:30-6pm on June 28 87 5summer, 7 7 2 2most 1 1 beau6 8 5 4 3 69 This 2 41 3one 9of9Boston’s 5 98 76 24 13 85 7 18 3 46 2 94 6 53 LINE DANCING Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic 1 9 3 4 2 5 8 7 6 2 36 4 97 5 63 7 89 1 2 FRANKLIN 5 8 4 PARK 1 at Riverbend Park, Cambridge.

Each BOSTON BOOK FESTIVAL 16 tiful 39 spaces 45 28 will 7 be6filled 9 with 5 music 8 2 in a9 46 Wednesdays 1 3 2 1 3 4 2 7 4 1 3 5 8 7 99 5 666:30-7:30pm 8 75 1 28 3 47 Site (Olmsted NHS), located at 99 Warren 7 8 5 6 9 3 1 4 2 summer since 2009, the Charles River 3 9 6 5 1 98 3 41 2 54 8 72 6 7 The Boston Book Festival, celebrating 24 concert 76 13 series 8 5Wednesdays 61 59 42 Labor 2 7regular 1 tours 8 95 free 8 4 6 6 5 3at46pm7 & 83 through 77 8 53 6 Day. 91 3 19Get 4 22fit with Street in Brookline is9offering Conservancy (CRC), in partnership with 6 Fridays 4 2at 12:30pm 1 8 through 7 3 5 August 9 the power of words, announces the full 43 2 Boston 12 8 76 3Rhythm 58 9 1 Mz.4 Rhythm 7 9&6 the 5 of the historic Olmsted design office and the MA Department of Conservation 2 5 8 3 9 21 56 84 37 9 1 5 6 9 4 7 7 6 4 51 93 72 68 34 6 81 5 13 9 42 2 78 28.

The courtyard at the Central Library programming for its inaugural free kids’ Riders and get 3 6 8 5 1 9 4 2 7 4 1ready 7 24 to 6 8show 5 97 off 3 9 8 3 2 5 1 6at your Olmsted-designed grounds on Fridays and Recreation, has offered free Sunday 91 Copley 38 65Square 4 will 2 1spotlight 1 2 8 4musi5 3 8 19 family 27 46 barbecues 35 58 2 99or7 wherever 7 9 3 6 4 72 in 37 4 66 1 85 festival HUBBUB: CREATIVE COMMOTION there’s and Saturdays at 10:00, 11:00, 1;00, 4 1 7 2 6 8 5 9 3 games on the banks of the Charles River 4 2 5 7 1 6 9 3 8 FOR KIDS, to be held Saturday, June 12 63who79represent 5 8 6a variety 2 3 3 8of9genres, 34 81 this 79 summer.

2 5 4Novices, 1 9experts, 4 1 June 6 721.5 48 cians 7 2 65 dancing 2:00, and 3:00 through along Memorial Drive by the Weeks 5 including 2 9 jazz, 7 classical, 3 4 world 6 1and8folk.

6 and7 all 1ages8 welcome, 9 3 you’ll 2 5be taught 4 20, in Boston’s Copley Square. Including SUDOKU SUDOKU SUDOKU SUDOKU Easy Easy The tours take roughly 45 minutes, and SUDOKU SUDOKU Easy EasyHard Footbridge in Cambridge. The games are 5 of6 June 2 9 features 1 3 8 7 Wednesday 4 5 6 2 9 1 3The 8 7month 4 3 5 1 8 6 2 9 7 4 3 5 1 8 6 2 9 7 4 activities for kids and families of all ages, the steps to all the latest dances.

Take admission is free.

In addition, visitors are 5 6 2 9 1 3 8 7 4 7 5 3 7 1 85 2 46 5 92 6 scheduled in the late afternoon, June 93 78 117 81 323344 852599 7661 5 4 82 4 66 9323 3 7598 7 5171 9 842 848 666 499 231 172 985 657 714 53 4 2 Hubbub offers a full day of fun-filled 16, 8 42 by 93 5Berklee 17 28 1 of7 Music 8 4 9 5 6 7performances 3 1 2 4 69 75 36 College 7 8725, 91 5228, 13 29 44 28or 35 park 66 9 at the 8 9 5 1 4bus 2 #14, 3 6 welcome to view self-guided exhibits through September. The Conservancy 3 7 1 8 4 5 9 6 7 8 5 1 6 89 255 46 438297 571422 9136 4 6 99 7 32 12 8 2 5 9 3 6 1 4 7 6 8 25 43 3 97 7 21 1 9 7 2 1 5 8 6 4 3 5 8 6 4 3 5 3 4 6 7 9 8 1 2 8 4 6 9 3 7 8 5 1 and alumni and Friday perforcreativity, inventiveness, and exploration William Devine Golf Clubhouse and walk 6 9 on Wednesdays and Thursdays from1 3 4 2 7 6students 1 31 49 23 74 62 95 58 87 6 9 5 8 4 12 35 28 94 66 57 83 79 1 4 1 3 2 9 6 5 8 7 strives to provide recreational and play 8 and 4 Saturdays 9 59 2 67 1878 5mances such as an author presentation by Mo 861 1349 2from 47 4 up 21 6the 32hill 2 4 27 678 15 786759 343artists 1 568across 563 159 746 from 11 994 3 22 87 6 3 to building 6 15 47 38 99 434 6913 by 529 independent 2 58 the 475 238 2the 12-4:00pm and Fridays activities where community members 2 56 84 32 91 18 67 43 75 9 2 5 8 3 9 1 6 4 7 5 91 74 67 49 13 32 26 88 5 5 9 7 6 4 1 3 2 8 Willems, workshops with Mitali Perkins, Boston area.

The 2015 Concerts in1the the best dance spot ever — looking 6 8 5 4 3 9 7 2 1 9 7 2 5 8 6 4 3 3 1 7 9 3 6 4 2 1 8 5 6 4 2 7 5 8 3 9 1 7 9 3 6 4 2 1 8 5 3 6 8 5 1 9 4 2 7 from 9:30am 4:00pm.

For further infor1 2 4 3 8 9 7 6 5 1 2 4 3 8 9 7 6 5 9 8 3 2 5 4 1 7 6 6 8 5 4 3 9 7 2 1 9 7 2 1 5 8 6 4 3 can enjoy the river and the parklands in 4 14 61 is 77 generously 52 86 28 35 99 sponsored 4 1 6 7 5 8Courtyard 2 3 9 3 Esh Circus Arts, Urbanity Dance, and 6 34 Ave. 82 75 For 27 51 more 46 19 93info series 6 3 8 7 2 over 5 4 1Blue 9 8 Hill and mation on Frederick 1Law3Olmsted National healthy, active, and innovative ways. CRC 4 2 7 16 39 45 28 5 72 9 674 3 941 6 513 8 8 2 9 46 5 15 8 38 3 27 26 97 11 68 99 53 42 85 74 7 6 8 6 much more. Most events are free. There

by Deloitte and the Boston Public Library help with directions, contact the Franklin Historic Site, on-site tours, and other partners with Knucklebones, a local ath9 2 7 1 8 5 4 6 3 8 6 5 4 7 3 1 9 2 9 7 9 1 7 4 6 3 5 2 8 2 7 1 The 8 complete 5 4 schedule 6 3 is 8 Park 6 5Coalition: 4 7 www.franklinparkcoali 3 1 9 2 are a handful of presentations that require programs, please visit www.nps.gov/frla 9 Foundation. letic and events company, to implement SUDOKU Hard SUDOKU complimentary online registration. For at SUDOKU 2 Monday 5 8 through 3 9 SUDOKU 7 7 Hard 6 4 SUDOKU 1 8 6or68call 3 4 617-442-4141.

8 1 4 3 2 2Moderate 1 8Free.

5 21 available 56 84Moderate 37 bpl.org/concerts.

9 SUDOKU 1 5 6 9 4Moderate 51 7tion.org 93 9 72Moderate the program. They provide equipment and or call 617-566-1689 more information visit www.bostonbook7 5 8 2 6 9 1 4 3 8 7 1 3 4 2 9 6 5 8 7 1 3 4 2 9 6 5 3 7 9 8 4 1 6 5 2 8 6 9 1 2 5 7 4 3 8 6 9 1 2 5 7 4 3 Saturday.

The site is a 15-minute walk 7 9 3 6 4 2 1 8 5 1 2 4 3 8 9 7 6 5 4 3 instruction for a variety of games — from 7 9 3 6 4 2 1 8 5 112544368297786359 fest.org. from the Brookline Hills bocce to beanbag toss, from basketball 24 Green 31 46Line97MBTA 55 2468 8 3172 2 4683 5 9719 9 55 3 68 766 72 131 83 284 19 377 42 7685 62 1354 93 2861 38 3799 11 42 89 85 45 54 57 61 26 99 74 5 2 SUDOKU ANSWERS FROM PG A15 station and also walkable from the MBTA’s to badminton. There are hula-hoops 9 5 6 8 7 91 4 52 6 63 1 84 5 7 7 1 52 2 39 3 48 4 63 7 59 2 38 4 41 1 62 7 7 5 9 3 8 6 1 8 2 9 BLUE HILLS RESERVATION #60 bus that runs between Kenmore5 6 2 9 1 3 8 7 4 5 6 2 9 1 3 8 7 4 and jump ropes, and from 5-6pm, Cam3 5 1 8 6 2 9 7 4 3 53 17 89 68 24 91 76 45 2 3 72 1 81 3 4parking 5 26 498 54 937 62 4637 72 15 85 228 48 553 97 689 6 412 46 6 927 33 753 81 589 12 4128 486 629 957 396 733 867 519 145 71 4 Easy walk, 2 miles. Loop around HoughStation and Chestnut1Hill.9Limited bridge-based Karma Yoga Studio con8 4 9 5 6 7 3 1 2 7 8 9 5 1 4 2 3 6 8 4 9 5 6 7 3 1 2 7 84 96 51 15 47 22 39 68 3 ton’s Pond and old Rte. 128. Meet at the 7 those 8 coming 5 6 6 89 5 473 35 981 78 254 13 6262 89 51 43 339 91 794 24 167 2 569 78 2 131 58 894 66 462 35 5794 768 247 121 571 854 689 432 393 17 2 is available on-site for ducts a one-hour yoga class. The game 1 3 4 2 7 6 9 5 8 4 1 3 2 9 6 5 8 7 1 3 4 2 7 6 9 5 8 4 15 38 23 92 61 59 84 77 6 Houghton’s Pond main parking lot at 840 by car. Frederick Law6 Olmsted equipment is sized for children as young 4 2 National 1 9 28 7 167 89 543 41 625 37 1994 28 76 17 813 53 445 65 372 9 988 63 5 412 79 346 17 978 24 9585 693 513 472 742 366 138 958 221 85 6 2 5 8 3 9 1 6 4 7 5 9 7 6 4 1 3 2 8 Hillside St. in Milton. Saturday, June 20 as 3 up to adults. In 2014, we were joined Historic Site was the Brookline, Massa2 5 8 3 9 1 6 4 7 5 97 79 66 43 18 34 22 81 5 3 6 8 5 7 91 3 639 47 264 19 882 56 5773 91 38 69 494 24 182 82 531 7 251 25 4 394 81 981 78 637 56 2613 215 452 344 867 921 774 687 539 96 5 chusetts home and office of America’s at 1pm. The Southeastern Massachusetts

by Olympia Fencing Center, who provided 4 1 6 7 5 8 2 3 9 6 3 8 7 2 5 4 1 9 4 1 6 7 5 8 2 3 9 6 32 83 78 21 59 45 17 96 4 4 the 1 designer 7 2 of6 48 1 15 5 79 4 23 6 6 2 8 47 5 28 9 53 3 79 1 46 4 29 3 53 9 78 6 1 1 6 5 9 2 3 7 8 8 premier parkmaker and Adult Walking Club meets each weekend demonstrations with six of their fencing the Emerald Necklace on either a Saturday or Sunday at 1:00 for members. CRC’s Sunday Parkland Games 5 72 2 15 7 84 9 9 4 3 8 2 3 5 6 4 1 5 park 2 system.

9 7 Now 3 54 2 26 3 91 8 78 1 3 9 4 65 6 7 1 16 8 84 9 63SUDOKU Diabolical administered by theSUDOKU National Park Service recreational walks. This club is open to actively engage community members of Moderate SUDOKU Moderate Moderate SUDOKU SUDOKU Moderate 3 8 73 17 39 48 24 91 66 55 2 8 7 1 3 4 2 9 6 5 8 6 9 1 2 5 5 7 9 4 3 1 8 467 95 618 22 256 79 741 34 83 as one of its 407 sites around the United people of 16 years of age and older, and all ages to enjoy the Charles River and 8 7 1 32 3 44 9825 6797 8161 352 38 442 95 259863 976681 6149 7 5 17 1 22 3 854 8 675 6 949 137 16 229 33 541 88 754 65 492 7 3 States, Olmsted NHS was for nearly9 a5cen4 2 3 7 8 9 5 6 1 there is no fee to join. Walks average 2 the parklands. All activities are free of 9 54 66 81 75 17 22 39 48 3 6 8 7 1 2 3 4 5 32 44 61 77 95 83 16 28 9 5 3 4 6 7 9 8 1 2 3 first 4 full-scale 91 9 53 4262 5378 7486 911 96 534 42 627755 788173 8692 1 1 32 5 48 4 786 7 153 9 261 392 53 481 42 868 79 536 97 615 4 9 tury the headquarters2 of the to 5 miles. New walkers are encouraged charge and the program does not require 4 7 85 58 63 92 31 19 44 27 6 7 8 5 6 9 3 1 4 2 3 9 6 5 8 6 1 4 7 2 7 8 3 198 66 355 84 517 41 929 73 22 professional landscape 9 architecture 5 6 86 office 18 7523 5639 846 49 721 17 184576 233355 3924 8 4 61 4 77 9 593 2 386 8 415 621 49 777 94 935 23 862 88 151 6 2 to participate. The terrain can vary: EASY 4 72 19 registration — anyone can attend, and 3 1 9 6 4 7 8 5 2 3 67 89 56 13 98 44 22 71 5 3 6 8 5 1 9 4 2 7 9 81 38 26 53 42 17 74 69 5 9 8 3 2 5 4 1 7 6 in the United States. 1The site (mostly level terrain), MODERATE (hilly all are welcome to participate. For more 5 9 1 4 6 9 maintains 3 44 1 2the 56 8985 9373 464 11 275 24 566282 857598 7338 9 6 44 2 65 7 271 6 539 3 898 414 24 653 79 716 61 395 32 987 8 1 7 21 4 2 3 7 8 6 5 22 93 78 31 49 65 17 86 4 2 9 7 3 4 6 1 8 Olmsted Archives, a collection of the5 Olm6 7 1 8 9 7 3 2 4 5 4 2 6 975 12 587 99 834 28 153 46 31 terrain), DIFFICULT (strenuous & steep). information and updates, email crc@ 6 7 8 1 3 7 8 5 6 9 3 1 4 2 sted firm’s plans, drawings, photographs, 7 8 5 6 9 3 3 1 9 4 6 2 5 8 31 8 94 5 62 6 57 2 8 1 1 3 4 4 2 7 7 9 Walks will be led by a park ranger or a thecharles.org, or call 617-608-1410.

3 1 9 6 4 7 4 2 9 5 6 4 2 1 8 67 43 25 19 8 7 1 3 4 5 7 9 9 3 12 46 78 95 3 2 6 8 5 SUDOKU Diabolical SUDOKU SUDOKU SUDOKU Hard SUDOKU Hard 8 5 6 2 1 9 6 5 Hard3 7 4 2 1 Hard8 The Community Calendar has been established to list community events at no cost. The 3admission cost of events must not exceed $10.

Church services and recruitment 9 6 5 3 7 6 8 5 1 39 5 64 9 82 1 57 4 1 6 9 92 4 87 2 38 7 23 5 794 581 837 226 65 94 11 47 36 7 5 8 2 6 1 4 3 3 7 9 8 4 1 6 5 2 3 7 9 8 4 1 6 5 2 1 8 4 5 2 1 8 4 at 5 (617) 2 6261-4600 3 9 7 requests will not be published. THERE IS NO GUARANTEE OF PUBLICATION. To guarantee publication with a paid advertisement please call advertising 2 3 7 8 9 4 1 7 2 6 48 4 15 2 79 3 23 7 6 8 8 49 5 25 9 56 3 71 1 646 929 353 178 81 46 59 23 78 6 1 9 4PLEASE. 3 7 1 8 Deadline 86 21NO 54 PHONE 97 3 6CALLS 8 2 FAX 5 9OR3 MAIL. ext. 7799 or email ads@bannerpub.com. NO LISTINGS ARE ACCEPTED BY TELEPHONE, 2 5 3 2 for 7 8all listings 9 1 6is 4Friday 5 5 2 9 7 3 4 6 7 list 1 78 1 3event 3 www.baystatebanner.com/ at noon for publication the following week. E-MAIL your information to: calendar@bannerpub.com.

4762 1185 7894 59 33 62 85 94 198 8 your 53 7 3 24 265 online 96 479 81 112please 38 784 59go263to 4 6 1 5 7 452 6 629To GHNS #2531

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Thursday, June 11, 2015 • BAY STATE BANNER • B7

HEALTH&WELLNESS

Special Advertising Section

Roxbury Presbyterian Church supports Strong Men’s Recovery Group Weekly gathering tackles effects of stress, trauma

By PARTNERS HEALTHCARE

There usually are four or five of them sitting in a small circle in the Pastor’s Parlor at Roxbury Presbyterian Church. They speak quietly and if you weren’t paying close attention you might mistake them for a bible study group or a prayer meeting. But when you listen in, you hear words like “cravings,” “cold turkey,” “co-dependence,” the language of addiction and, according to Douglas Lomax, the language of trauma. Lomax is the leader of the “Strong Men’s Recovery Group” that meets weekly at RPC, one of a growing number of recovery groups making the connection between substance abuse and trauma.

According to Lomax, while we tend to think of trauma in terms of the September 11 terrorist attack or war, in fact it can be the result of far more common experiences that come from simply living in the city — experiences ranging from poverty to gun violence. “Urban living

“

We talk through our shame and fears and allow each other to share our pain. The societal norm for men, particularly black men, is to be tough and brave with no signs of emotion or weakness. One thing you definitely do not do as a black man is cry. That is our dilemma.”

— Douglas Lomax

can be stressful living and stress is a contributing factor to substance abuse,” Lomax says. “Unfortunately, there are many people who try to treat stress by self medicating. Far too often, the result is addiction.”

Meeting each Thursday, the Strong Men’s Recovery Group invites participants to share their pain and struggles in a safe and supportive community. Some of the men are re-entering society from incarceration or addiction

From making do

PHOTO COURTESY PARTNERS HEALTHCARE

Doug Lomax, leader of the Strong Men Recovery Group, offers counseling to one of his young group members.

treatment; others may have fallen off the community radar altogether and need consistent support to help them back up.

Lomax, who comes from a judicial and corrections background, leads groups similar to “Strong Men” inside prison. He says he felt the need to walk with men in the community as they were “living through their trauma” as well. He chose Roxbury Presbyterian Church for the support group not only because of the church’s

central location but also because of the church’s history in housing one of the first Alcoholics Anonymous sites in the community.

“It just made sense to do it here” Lomax says. Though trauma and pain are the constant threads running through all of the men’s stories, Lomax says the group also is tackling other “men issues” like how to be good fathers, husbands and sons.

“We talk through our shame and fears and allow each other to share our pain.”

Lomax speaks passionately on the effects of trauma in the African American community. “The societal norm for men, particularly black men, is to be tough and brave with no signs of emotion or weakness. One thing you definitely do not do as a black man is cry.

“That is our dilemma,” Lomax recounts hearing from men who were sexually abused and had never spoken about it for 20 or 30 years. Unfortunately this is

not uncommon. “Unvented pain leads to our trauma and when it continues to go untreated, it leads to addiction, anger and violence.”

The Strong Men’s Recovery Group wants to reverse all of these trends.

Lomax says “Since slavery, men of color have had to mask their emotions.

“They’d watch their wives taken and used by their masters and they had to stand there and pretend not to hurt, masking their feelings for survival. These masks still haunt men today. And though some would consider their masks survival mechanisms, in fact they create an experience of merely existing instead of living. Strong Men’s Recovery Group helps men to live again.”

GET IN TOUCH If you are interested or know anyone interested in being a part of the Strong Men’s Recovery Group, please call (617) 445-2116 for

more information.

To making a diFFerence.

We’re helping a new generation of caregivers get the skills and support they need to succeed.

When Darnell Kuykendall graduated from college in 2006, he couldn’t know that the economy was headed into a tailspin. So Darnell rode out the recession in a series of jobs that paid the bills, but didn’t make full use of his education or the leadership skills he developed as captain of both his track and football teams at Bridgewater-Raynham High.

Fast forward to 2011, when Darnell applied to the Partners in Career and Workforce Development (PCWD) program. PCWD is full-time training program supported by Massachusetts General Hospital that gives participants an introduction to entry-level careers in health care, while preparing them to find, apply for, and secure positions within the Partners system of hospitals.

For Darnell, the program has led to an important role — helping to manage the MGH Operating Room MRI Suite, one of the most advanced imaging facilities in the country. It’s a career with a future. One that matters — to Darnell and to the patients he serves every day. And it’s one more example of how we’re investing in tomorrow’s workforce today.

See how we’re tackling health care’s toughest challenges at connectwithpartners.org

B8 • Thursday, June 11, 2015 • BAY STATE BANNER

HEALTH&WELLNESS

Special Advertising Section

Cambridge woman helps clients with nutrition goals

By LAURA ONYENEHO

Katia Powell realized she needed to change her life one day a decade ago when she walked into her Roxbury apartment, stared at her reflection in the mirror and asked, “Who is that?”

Today Powell is a holistic health practitioner who helps clients with weight and nutrition goals.

Once morbidly obese, she tipped the scale at 350 pounds at the age of 26. Her reflection in the mirror was a defining moment for her.

“Food was comfort for me,” she said. “I had dropped out of school and lost my job. I was becoming one of those statistics.”

At the time, she wanted to be become a medical doctor, but soon began to realize that her health did not reflect her goals and educational pursuits.

Her first plan was to head to the Roxbury YMCA. She bought a membership, and gradually trained up to 4-5 days a week for 60-90 minutes. Within six months she lost 100 pounds. About a year and a half later, she lost another 100 pounds.

“Right now I’m at 175 and I’m in the best shape of my life,” Powell said.

Powell faced many challenges on her journey to weight loss, including criticism from family members. Her family lives in both the South and the Caribbean, and their perception of her weight loss was seen as negative.

“They thought I was too skinny,” she said. They tried to feed me, and plates used to show up at my house on Sundays.”

Powell recalled being told that “big-boned and curvy” was in.

“I let others’ definition of me be my stopping point, and I had to change my mindset. I cannot keep digging my grave with my fork.”

Powell then changed her eating habits, and kept adding workouts.

She replaced calorie-dense sugared sweets with fresh fruits and vegetables from local farmers’ markets. Although eating healthy got expensive at first, she found ways to do so while staying on a small budget. She prepared more meals at home, clipped coupons and made her own snacks.

“Not many people understand the 80/20 rule,” said Powell. “It’s 80 percent nutrition, 20 percent fitness and 100 percent mindset.”

She noted that rule is often misconstrued when people want a healthier lifestyle. “I used to think it was more fitness and less nutrition, but I was wrong.”

As director of Health Equity and Multicultural Initiatives at the American Heart Association, she uses her position as a means to properly educate people on cardiovascular disease, and other obesity-related ailments.

“Throughout our health programs, we have to move millions of people and encourage them to make these changes in their community,” Powell said. “We can’t do that without multicultural populations.”

Fit for purpose

In 2013, Powell started Fit Body Squad, a company that provides fitness programs, health coaching and nutrition education. The free fitness programs are hosted at Madison Park Village every Tuesday and Thursday for everyone of all ages.

“It’s very easy for me to charge $10 a workout, but I want to give people no excuse to not come workout,” she said.

She trains between 10-25 participants at a time during her fit camps. Powell takes pride in the physical results and overall changes in food choices her clients make. Though the numbers may be small, she says her client testimonials are what encourages her to find ways to improve participation in her classes.

PHOTO BY LAURA ONYENEHO

Katia Powell (sitting, at right) lost 200 pounds and now serves as director of Health Equity and Multicultural Initiatives at the American Heart Association.

“We are building our fit camps to have 100 people,” Powell said.

She also is the co-founder of Techtrition, along with her partner Brandon Ransom. Techtrition is a health education company that helps individuals optimize their health through the use of technology.

“People have an amazing tool in their pocket called the smart phone,” said Ransom. ”We use Facebook and Twitter, but we never think of using our phones for health.”

The company launched in February when the business development program Smarter in the City incubator opened its doors in Dudley Square. Powell and Ransom joined forces to help individuals organize and set health goals through better time

management. Powell also helped start Techtrition’s Connected Nutrition Program, in which both she and Ransom are wellness coaches.

“Katia plays a very instrumental role in getting the word out there about our start up,” said Ransom.

Powell has since expanded her work with other community leaders and organizations in Boston.

“She has done workshops for me in the past and women really appreciate her love, joy and passion,” said Rica Elysee, founder of Boston Naturals. Powell partnered with Boston Naturals to create workout videos for women who struggle with time management.

“We are hoping that these video become more accessible to women that do not have the conventional

See POWELL, page B10

T:10”

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HEALTH&WELLNESS

Powell

continued from page B8 hours, like nurses, doctors, or lawyers,” Elysee said.

Boston Congolese poet and community activist Leonard Tshitenge also collaborated with Powell this year in one of his community education series called “Consciously Exposed Café,” a monthly forum featuring panels of experts discussing topics of interest to the African American community. Powell was a panelist.

“I wanted to focus on health disparities and create an environment where we can elevate

the dialogue,” he said. “I wanted her to be there to talk to the audience about staying active, to be educated, to be informed, and to ask questions.”

Powell said she is working on new ways to keep the community engaged and educated on staying healthy. She hopes that with efforts she can change the lives of others who were once in her shoes.

“No matter where they are with their health, whether they are overweight or underweight, have diabetes or cardiovascular disease, just take the time to know that they can transform their health, but it all starts off with a decision.”

Help Us Learn More About Sleep!

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Special Advertising Section

Older black lives matter, says top researcher

By PAUL KLEYMAN, NEW AMERICA MEDIA

DAVIS, Calif. — Prof. James S. Jackson says the overwhelming propensity among researchers to view data on health disparities among African Americans through the lens of race is highly misleading, and masks deeper truths about how blacks and others cope with societal stressors.

“We know that race matters,” Jackson said to scientists attending the Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research conference in April at the University of California, Davis. But the color of one’s skin is genetically irrelevant to understanding racial and ethnic disparities in health, he explained.

Jackson is the co-director of the Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research [http://mcuaaar.wayne.edu/ about.php], at the University of Michigan and Wayne State University. During his keynote address at the national research conference, he described findings that challenge the very basis of racial categories in research on health disparities.

30 years of research

Extensive research by Jackson and his colleagues over three decades shows that persistent

health disparities between African Americans and non-Hispanic whites result both from structural racism in the United States and how people respond differently to pervasive stress.

Their studies — both sociological and biochemical — have found that as they age, blacks, unlike other ethnic or racial groups, engage in “bad behaviors,” such as excessive smoking, overeating and substance abuse, that enable them to cope emotionally with their situations while also undermining their physical health.

Between African Americans and whites, Jackson said, aging matters: “You find very little disparity early in the life course.

They tend to accelerate over the life course.”

Jackson, who also directs the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, sharply criticized the research community for perpetuating the false notion that genetic differences can account for underlying health disparities.

“I think it’s very important to dispel the notion that the biology of blacks and whites is different,” Jackson stated.

Because race is such a slippery concept, he explained, it fails to serve as a reliable scientific variable that can be singled

out to help researchers better understand the root causes of widespread problems, such as a group’s apparently self-defeating behavioral choices.

People’s lived experience

Race, Jackson said, “has to do with people’s lived experience,” not genetics. He asserted that too much research on health disparities divides findings according to racial groups without recognizing the complexity of race, which reflects “a wide set of experiences that are difficult to array along a simple dimension of black and white, or Asian, or whatever kind of group you might mean.”

Health studies that segment research racially, rather than by social and cultural factors, too often lead researchers to assume that black people escape their tensions by engaging in hedonistic behaviors leading to poor health outcomes.

Jackson stressed that racial framing of health disparities has generally led researchers to conclude that African Americans merely need to stop smoking, drinking and “doing all these bad things--and everything is going to be all right.”

By failing to dig more deeply, such shallow framing both reinforces racial stereotypes and misses important social and behavioral factors that can account for African Americans’ poor health outcomes across most disease categories, such as

See OLDER, page B12

Go out. Get moving.

Whittier Street Health Center - 1290 Tremont Street, Roxbury, MA 02120 - www.wshc.org

Have fun together.

Find fun things to do in your neighborhood at

You’re invited to the

Grand Opening of the Wellness and Fitness Club

KohlsHealthyFamilyFun.org

during the 15th annual Men’s Health Summit at Whittier Street Health Center on Saturday, June 27, 11am - 1pm!

A New, Premier Health and Wellness Facility

The Fitness Club will be open to Whittier patients, health center employees, and community residents.

It will offer specialized programs and classes for members, including aerobics, yoga, acupuncture, Life Coaching, and more.

Holistic Wellness Programming

Together with the new Whittier Community Garden, the Fitness Club serves as a key component in our Prescription for Health program, which combines high quality clinical care with social supports, physical and nutrition education, and patient activation and empowerment.

Keynote Speaker and Special Guests

Dr. Gene Lindsey, CEO Emeritus of Atrius Health and Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, will deliver the event keynote speech. Special guests include elected officials, business leaders, and key stakeholders.

For event information, please contact Sorel Bertrand, Men’s Health Pro-

Kohl’s and Boston Children’s Hospital’s Healthy Family Fun Program

gram Manager, at (617) 989-3043 or sorel.bertrand@wshc.org BCH_BayStateBanner_BW.indd 1

5/18/15 10:58 AM

Thursday, June 11, 2015 • BAY STATE BANNER • B11

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B12 • Thursday, June 11, 2015 • BAY STATE BANNER

older

continued from page B10 diabetes, stroke—and overall life expectancy.

Jackson is one of 15 leading academic experts in aging and longevity who comprise the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Research Network on an Aging Society. Among the panel’s 2012 findings that Jackson called “startling” is that four in 10 black males with low educational levels, who initially live to age 25, die before they reach 65.

That compares with one in 10 in all other groups.

The news also was bad for women across ethnic or racial groups who have low versus high educational attainment. Under-educated white women live

a whopping 10.4 years less than their more schooled cousins. African American women schooled 12 years or under live 6.5 years less than well-educated lack women. The gap for Latinas is 2.9 years of life expectancy.

Beyond race

Jackson emphasized, “This is not a story about individual interventions to try to deal with individual people. These are problems of bad environments. People try to cope with those bad environments and have negative outcomes as a function of that.”

He and his research staff found that when they “threw away the designation of race” in analyzing large national health surveys, people clustered together in integrated groups, not by race, but by their propensity to

engage in healthier or less healthy behaviors.

More informed research, he said, would examine issues though the lenses of behavioral propensities, class, gender, immigration and other conditions of life as they age. “The notion of homogeneity in the research on ethnic and racial populations is not tenable,” he declared.

Jackson emphasized that although color differences are literally skin-deep, “it’s not about racelessness,” or false notions of a post-racial society.

He told researchers at the conference, “You have to understand that being in a particular racial categorization makes you vulnerable from attacks from the environment, whether that is other people or circumstances that happen to you. That’s what race does.”

Race, when it is misapplied as a research variable, obscures deeper issues that can help explain underlying social and behavioral factors and lead to potential solutions, he said.

Although Jackson’s research discounts the role of innate genetic variations by race, his studies have shown surprising biological differences between how whites and others respond to negative circumstances and how African Americans do.

White and black women

Overall, whites and others who slide into self-destructive behaviors decline in both their physical and mental health. For instance, Jackson’s research team is also trying to understand why white women with low educational levels constitute

96th Anniversary Celebration of the William E. Carter American Legion Post #16, located in Mattapan, Massachusetts – The Oldest African American American Legion Post in America A special talk by Prof. Chad L. Williams as part of the U.S. Centennial of World War I

the only demographic group in the United States that has lost years of life expectancy in the past quarter century.

Not only do they “have the worst combination of really bad behaviors in the face of stressors,” such as rising levels of obesity plus other destructive habits, but mental health problems tend to accompany their poor physical health. Not so for African American women.

Biochemical studies at Jackson’s center have shown while whites and others with a propensity for poor behaviors usually experience a cascade of hormones that set off high levels of depression and anxiety, blacks commonly have a response that goes in the opposite direction.

Jackson explained his program’s 30 years of data reveal that 80 percent of African Americans who live under high stress without delving into unhealthy behaviors are the ones who develop major depression. But those who do indulge fare much better emotionally with lower prevalence rates of emotional disorders at almost any age.

Why? He continued, “Our argument is that under many conditions, these behaviors are not hedonic at all. Instead, they reflect adaptive coping strategies that people use to deal with the stressors in their lives. And we need to understand that.”

For example, he said, “African American women have the highest probability at any point across the life course of being obese.” Past age 60, nearly 80 percent are significantly overweight — “just a phenomenal number.” Although black women tend to choose comfort food, at any age they also have the lowest probability of any demographic group of sinking into smoking, substance abuse or similar behaviors, according to Jackson.

Alternatively, he noted, African American males have the lowest probability of being obese at any age, but high rates of other poor health behaviors. He asked, if race were an inherent genetic factor, “shouldn’t we observe similar kinds of effects” for both black women and men?

Blame circumstances, not people

Date: Saturday, June 13th, 2015 --- Time: 1:00pm – 5:00pm Location: William E. Carter AL Post #16, 1531 Blue Hill Ave., Mattapan, MA Free and Open to the General Public Host: William E. Carter AL Post #16 & Co-Sponsors: Congressional Black Caucus Veterans Braintrust & William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences at the University of Massachusetts, Boston Campus & Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts For more information contact: Ron E. Armstead at 617-331-3583, or ronearmstead@gmail.com

“When people are suffering they will actually do something about it, but they may not do what’s right,” Jackson said.

People don’t passively fall into self-defeating behaviors, he said, but “will try to engage their environment in important ways, to do something about the circumstance that they see.”

Among blacks, Jackson went on, the same psychological stressors that can cause mental health problems for many, “actually may motivate people to action” that may protect them in some ways.

He urged the researcher community to adopt a theoretical approach that does not “blame people for their circumstances or blame their behaviors for their circumstances.”

Jackson continued, “People are only trying to act in response to the stimulus in their environments in terms of these chronic stressors of life. But what causes these things are having to live in the kinds of neighborhoods a lot of people have to live in, the poor housing people have, awful jobs, other kinds of circumstances they have.”

Thursday, Thursday,June June11, 11,2015 2015••BAY BAYSTATE STATEBANNER BANNER••B13 B13

BANNER CLASSIFIEDS Advocates rally in support of criminal justice LEGAL LEGAL LEGALreforms Lawmakers gather outside the Senate chamber in support of legislation that would reform the state’s criminal justice system, reducing mandatory minimums for minor drug offenses. Criminal justice reform advocates rallied outside the State House in support of the legislation, sponsored by Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz and Rep. Mary Keefe.

By BANNER STAFF

Prior to a Joint Committee on Judiciary public hearing, legislators, public safety officials, advocates, and community members joined together at a press conference on Tuesday to voice the need for comprehensive criminal justice reform in the Commonwealth.

Those present included state Rep. Mary Keefe (Worcester) and Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz (Suffolk) who spoke on their jointly filed bill, the Justice Reinvestment Act (S. 64/ H. 1429).

“Our criminal justice system is currently costing taxpayers $53,000 per year per incarcerated person without the kind of returns taxpayers should expect for that kind of money,” Chang-Díaz said. “Compare that to an average per pupil expenditure of just over $14,000. This math does not work for taxpayers or for the safety of our communities.”

“The Justice Reinvestment Act at its core is about re-examining our priorities,” Keefe said. “We need to stop focusing on severing connections between people and isolating individuals through incarceration and stigmatization,

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF SONIA CHANG-DIAZ

and refocus our efforts on reconnecting and strengthening ties within our community, and one way to do so is through gainful employment. Our work lives are one of the important ways that keeps us accountable in society and connected to our community.”

Also joining were state Sen. Cynthia Creem (Newton) and state

Rep. Benjamin Swan (Springfield) who spoke on their bill, An Act Eliminating Mandatory Minimum Sentences Related to Drug Offenses (S. 786/H. 1620).

“Mandatory sentencing for drug offenses is economically unsustainable in terms of cost to the public; and morally indefensible in the context of a just society,” Swann said.

Additionally, Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins, community advocates, and survivors of crime spoke on the need for a criminal justice system that better serves the community and the goal of public safety.

“Unless we reinvest in the communities that have been targeted, its members will be

trapped in a permanent underclass,” said Nicholas Ventura a member of the state-wide social justice organizing group Neighbor to Neighbor. “Massachusetts is supposed to be a progressive leader, but we are behind Rhode Island, New York, Michigan, and Ohio when it comes to mandatory minimums.”

BANNER CLASSIFIEDS LEGAL MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS Sealed General Bids for MPA Contract No. AP1528-C1 FY15-17 AUTHORITYWIDE TERM PAINTING CONTRACT, BOSTON, BEDFORD, AND WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, will be received by the Massachusetts Port Authority at the Capital Programs Department Office, Suite 209S, Logan Office Center, One Harborside Drive, East Boston, Massachusetts 02128-2909, until 11:00 A.M. local time on WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2015 immediately after which, in a designated room, the bids will be opened and read publicly.

NOTE: PRE BID CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD AT THE CAPITAL PROGRAMS DEPARTMENT (ABOVE ADDRESS) AT 11:00 A.M. LOCAL TIME ON TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 2015.

The work includes LABOR, TOOLS, EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS FOR SURFACE PREPARATION AND PAINTING AT ALL MASSPORT PROPERTIES ON AN ON-CALL, AS-NEEDED BASIS OVER A TWO-YEAR PERIOD. Bid documents will be made available beginning THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015.

Bid Documents in electronic format may be obtained free of charge at the Authority’s Capital Programs Department Office, together with any addenda or amendments, which the Authority may issue and a printed copy of the Proposal form.

In order to be eligible and responsible to bid on this contract General Bidders must submit with their bid a current Certificate of Eligibility issued by the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance and an Update Statement. The General Bidder must be certified in the category of PAINTING. The estimated contract cost is ONE HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS ($150,000).

Bidding procedures and award of the contract and sub contracts shall be in accordance with the provisions of Sections 44A through 44J inclusive, Chapter 149 of the General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

A proposal guaranty shall be submitted with each General Bid consisting of a bid deposit for five (5) percent of the value of the bid; when sub bids are required, each must be accompanied by a deposit equal to five (5) percent of the sub bid amount, in the form of a bid bond, or cash, or a certified check, or a treasurer’s or a cashier’s check issued by a responsible bank or trust company, payable to the Massachusetts Port Authority in the name of which the Contract for the work is to be executed. The bid deposit shall be (a) in a form satisfactory to the Authority, (b) with a surety company qualified to do business in the Commonwealth and satisfactory to the Authority, and (c) conditioned upon the faithful performance by the principal of the agreements contained in the bid.

The successful Bidder will be required to furnish a performance bond and a labor and materials payment bond, each in an amount equal to 100% of the Contract price. The surety shall be a surety company or securities satisfactory to the Authority. Attention is called to the minimum rate of wages to be paid on the work as determined under the provisions of Chapter 149, Massachusetts General Laws, Section 26 to 27G, inclusive, as amended. The Contractor will be required to pay minimum wages in accordance with the schedules listed in Division II, Special Provisions of the Specifications, which wage rates have been predetermined by the U. S. Secretary of Labor and / or the Commissioner of Labor and Industries of Massachusetts, whichever is greater.

The successful Bidder will be required to purchase and maintain Bodily Injury Liability Insurance and Property Damage Liability Insurance for a combined single limit of ONE MILLION DOLLARS ($1,000,000.00). Said policy shall be on an occurrence basis and the Authority shall be included as an Additional Insured. See the insurance sections of Division I, General Requirements and Division II, Special Provisions for complete details.

No filed sub bids will be required for this contract.

This Contract is also subject to Affirmative Action requirements of the Massachusetts Port Authority contained in the Non Discrimination and Affirmative Action article of Division I, General Requirements and Covenants, and to the Secretary of Labor’s Requirement for Affirmative Action to Ensure Equal Opportunity and the Standard Federal Equal Opportunity Construction Contract Specifications (Executive Order 11246).

The General Contractor is required to submit a Certification of Non Segregated Facilities prior to award of the Contract, and to notify prospec-

LEGAL tive subcontractors of the requirement for such certification where the subcontract exceeds $10,000.

Complete information and authorization to view the site may be obtained from the Capital Programs Department Office at the Massachusetts Port Authority. The right is reserved to waive any informality in or reject any or all proposals.

MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY THOMAS P. GLYNN CEO & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS Sealed General Bids for MPA Contract No. AP1525-C2, FY15-17 AUTHORITYWIDE TERM AUTOMATIC ENTRANCE DOOR REPAIRS, BOSTON, BEDFORD, AND WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, will be received by the Massachusetts Port Authority at the Capital Programs Department Office, Suite 209S, Logan Office Center, One Harborside Drive, East Boston, Massachusetts 02128-2909, until 11:00 A.M. local time on WEDNESDAY, JULY 08, 2015 immediately after which, in a designated room, the bids will be opened and read publicly.

LEGAL Liability Insurance and Property Damage Liability Insurance for a combined single limit of $1,000,000 (ONE MILLION DOLLARS). Said policy shall be on an occurrence basis and the Authority shall be included as an Additional Insured. See the insurance sections of Division I, General Requirements and Division II, Special Provisions for complete details.

No filed sub bids will be required for this contract.

This Contract is also subject to Affirmative Action requirements of the Massachusetts Port Authority contained in the Non Discrimination and Affirmative Action article of Division I, General Requirements and Covenants, and to the Secretary of Labor’s Requirement for Affirmative Action to Ensure Equal Opportunity and the Standard Federal Equal Opportunity Construction Contract Specifications (Executive Order 11246).

The General Contractor is required to submit a Certification of Non Segregated Facilities prior to award of the Contract, and to notify prospective subcontractors of the requirement for such certification where the subcontract exceeds $10,000.

Complete information and authorization to view the site may be obtained from the Capital Programs Department Office at the Massachusetts Port Authority. The right is reserved to waive any informality in or reject any or all proposals.

MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY THOMAS P. GLYNN CEO & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

NOTE: PRE BID CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD AT THE CAPITAL PROGRAMS DEPARTMENT (ABOVE ADDRESS) AT 11:00AM LOCAL TIME ON TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 2015.

The work includes PROVISIONS OF LABOR, INCIDENTAL MATERIALS, TOOLS, EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES TO REPAIR AND MAINTAIN AUTOMATIC ENTRANCE DOOR SYSTEMS ON AN AS-NEEDED BASIS OVER A TWO (2) YEAR PERIOD AT ALL MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY AVIATION AND NON-AVIATION FACILITIES LOCATED AT BOSTON, BEDFORD & WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

INVITATION TO BID The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority is seeking bids for the following: BID NO.

DESCRIPTION

DATE

TIME

WRA-4056

Purchase of Cleaning Bucket Machine (per Specifications)

06/23/15

2:00 p.m.

WRA-4057

Purchase of One (1) Diesel 06/23/15 Powered Aerial Lift and Service Body Truck and One (1) 6/8 Yard Dump Body Truck (per Specifications)

2:00 p.m.

Bid documents will be made available beginning THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2015.

Bid Documents in electronic format may be obtained free of charge at the Authority’s Capital Programs Department Office, together with any addenda or amendments, which the Authority may issue and a printed copy of the Proposal form.

In order to be eligible and responsible to bid on this contract General Bidders must submit with their bid a current Certificate of Eligibility issued by the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance and an Update Statement. The General Bidder must be certified in the category of DOORS AND WINDOWS.

To access and bid on Event(s) please go to the MWRA Supplier Portal at www.mwra.com.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Trial Court Probate and Family Court Department

The estimated contract cost is TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS ($275,000).

Bidding procedures and award of the contract and sub contracts shall be in accordance with the provisions of Sections 44A through 44J inclusive, Chapter 149 of the General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

A proposal guaranty shall be submitted with each General Bid consisting of a bid deposit for five (5) percent of the value of the bid; when sub bids are required, each must be accompanied by a deposit equal to five (5) percent of the sub bid amount, in the form of a bid bond, or cash, or a certified check, or a treasurer’s or a cashier’s check issued by a responsible bank or trust company, payable to the Massachusetts Port Authority in the name of which the Contract for the work is to be executed. The bid deposit shall be (a) in a form satisfactory to the Authority, (b) with a surety company qualified to do business in the Commonwealth and satisfactory to the Authority, and (c) conditioned upon the faithful performance by the principal of the agreements contained in the bid.

The successful Bidder will be required to furnish a performance bond and a labor and materials payment bond, each in an amount equal to 100% of the Contract price. The surety shall be a surety company or securities satisfactory to the Authority. Attention is called to the minimum rate of wages to be paid on the work as determined under the provisions of Chapter 149, Massachusetts General Laws, Section 26 to 27G, inclusive, as amended. The Contractor will be required to pay minimum wages in accordance with the schedules listed in Division II, Special Provisions of the Specifications, which wage rates have been predetermined by the U. S. Secretary of Labor and / or the Commissioner of Labor and Industries of Massachusetts, whichever is greater.

The successful Bidder will be required to purchase and maintain Bodily Injury

SUFFOLK Division

Docket No. SU15D0883DR

Divorce Summons by Publication and Mailing Baltazar B. Docanto

vs.

Chanty Iris Brunache Docanto

To the Defendant: The Plaintiff has filed a Complaint for Divorce requesting that the Court grant a divorce for irretrievable breakdown of the marriage under G.L. c.

208, Section 1 B. The Complaint is on file at the Court.

An Automatic Restraining Order has been entered in this matter preventing you from taking any action which would negatively impact the current financial status of either party. SEE Supplemental Probate Court Rule 411.

You are hereby summoned and required to serve upon: Baltazar B. Docanto, 475 Dudley Street, Apt. 2, Roxbury, MA 02119-1176 your answer, if any, on or before 07/23/2015. 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, if any, in the office of the Register of this Court.

Witness, Hon. Joan P. Armstrong, First Justice of this Court.

Date: May 7, 2015

Felix D. Arroyo Register of Probate

B14 • Thursday, June 11, 2015 • BAY STATE BANNER

BANNER CLASSIFIEDS

LEGAL

LEGAL

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

Docket No. SU13P1150PM

Citation on Petition for Order of Complete Settlement of Estate Estate of Joseph Farrow To all interested persons: A petition has been filed by Martha D. Mauser of Ipswich, MA requesting that an Order of Complete Settlement of the estate issue including to approve an accounting and other such relief as may be requested in the Petition. For the First and Amended First and Final Account.

You have the right to obtain a copy of the Petition from the Petitioner or at the Court. You have a right to object to this proceeding. To do so, you or your attorney must file a written appearance and objection at this Court before 10:00 a.m. on 07/02/2015. This is NOT a hearing date, but a deadline by which you must file a written appearance and objection if you object to this proceeding. If you fail to file a timely written appearance and objection followed by an Affidavit of Objections within thirty (30) days of the return date, action may be taken without further notice to you.

WITNESS, HON. Joan P. Armstrong, First Justice of this Court.

Date: May 27, 2015 Felix D. Arroyo Register of Probate

LEGAL

of Middlesex, Don F. McNeil of Boston in the County of Suffolk, Melissa McNeil-Pleasant of Brockton in the County of Plymouth, Elaine McNeil-Girmai of Boston in the County of Suffolk, Lawrence McNeil of Boston in the County of Suffolk and Enid R. McNeil of Boston in the County of Suffolk and to all other persons interested.

To the above named Defendant:

A certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon situated in that part of said Boston called Dorchester, and compromising Lot A, as shown on a plan entitled “Plan of Land in Boston (Dorchester District), N.J. Holland, C.E. dated September 25, 1920,” recorded with Suffolk Registry of Deeds, Book 4252, Page 120 setting forth that he desires that - all the following described part - of said land may be sold at private sale for not less than $300,000 (Three Hundred Thousand) dollars and praying that partition may be made of all the land aforesaid according to the law, and to that end that a commissioner be appointed to make such partition and be ordered to make sale and conveyance of all, or any part of said land which the Court finds cannot be advantageously divided either at private sale or public auction, and be ordered to distrubute the net proceeds thereof.

You are required to serve upon Josephine Hospedales — plantiff (s) — whose address is 50 Fairlawn Ave. A11, Mattapan, MA 02126 your answer on or before July 30th, 2015. 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.

REAL ESTATE

ADMIRAL’S TOWER CO-OP

SENIOR LIVING AT ITS BEST! Affordable senior apartments located on the beautiful grounds of Admiral’s Hill in Chelsea, this active senior housing co-op is within walking distance to shopping, banks, churches, and is on the MBTA bus line.

Features such as: • Scenic view of the Boston skyline • Plenty of space for outdoor relaxation • Transportation to Stop & Shop • New beauty parlor, shops & a flea market close-by • Well-maintained library • Emergency response person always available Social activities include: Bingo, Luncheons, Holiday Parties & More!!

Rent is based on 30% of income (income limits apply) to qualified seniors 62 and older and for persons 18 and over who are mobility impaired requiring the special design features of accessible units.

PROVIDING HIGH QUALITY AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR SENIORS.

Call 1-800-225-3151 • www.csi.coop

A Complaint has been presented to this Court by the Plaintiff (s), Josephine Hospedales, seeking a Complaint for Modification.

Witness, Joan P. Armstrong, Esquire, First Justice of said Court at Boston, this 15th day of May, 2015.

Felix D. Arroyo Register of Probate Court

If you desire to object thereto you or your attorney should file a written appearance in said Court at Boston before ten o’clock in the forenoon on the 25th day of June, 2015, the return day of this citation.

Witness, Joan P. Armstrong, Esquire, First Judge of said Court, this 26th day of May, 2015.

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS PROBATE COURT Case NO. SU14E0082PP

To Margery T. McNeil of Brockton in the County of Plymouth, Joan E. Mitchell of Dedham in the County of Norfolk, Prince O. McNeil of Everett in the County

Josephine Hospedales , Plaintiff v.

Valentino Hospedales , Defendant

An Amended petition has been presented to said Court by Arthur R. McNeil of Framingham in the county of Middlesex representing that he holds as tenant in common an undivided part or share of certain land lying in Boston in said County of Suffolk, and briefly described as follows:

Felix D. Arroyo, Register.

SUFFOLK ss.

Summons By Publication

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

ADVERTISE YOUR CLASSIFIEDS (617) 261-4600 x 7799 • ads@bannerpub.com Find rate information at www.baystatebanner.com/advertise

Docket No. SU99D2574

REAL ESTATE One Gatehouse Drive

(Directly off West Street SW of the intersection of Route 27 and West Street) Medfield, MA 02052

BRAND NEW AFFORDABLE APARTMENTS 1 bedroom starting at $995* 2 bedroom starting at $1,176* 3 bedroom starting at $1,345* *INCOME RESTRICTIONS APPLY The Parc at Medfield offers the ultimate in amenities including a luxurious clubhouse, fitness center, business center with computers, playground and community garden. Spacious apartment homes feature ceramic tile, wood flooring, washers and dryers available, decorator designed kitchens with silestone countertops and are wired for cable TV, internet and phone.

REAL ESTATE

Wollaston Manor

Parker Hill Apartments Brand New Renovated Apartment Homes Stainless Steel Appliances New Kitchen Cabinets Hardwood Floors Updated Bathroom Custom Accent Wall Painting Free Parking Free Wi-Fi in lobby Modern Laundry Facilities

91 Clay Street Quincy, MA 02170

Senior Living At It’s Best

A senior/disabled/ handicapped community 0 BR units = $1,027/mo 1 BR units = $1,101/mo All utilities included.

Call Sandy Miller,

Two Bedrooms Starting at $2200 888-842-7945

Property Manager

OCCUPANCY SEPTEMBER 2015 Apply at: The Parc at Medfield Leasing Office 93 West Street Tech Center, Suite A2 Medfield, MA

Affordable Rental Housing Opportunity / Selection by Lottery

1 & 2 Bedroom Apartments

For More Information -

Affordable Housing Lottery

508-242-5339 165 Winter St. - Haverhill

The Merc at Moody & Main Corner of Moody and Main Street, Waltham, MA Studios @ $1,122*, 1BRs @ $1,275*, 2BRs @ $1,415*, 3BRs @ $1,553* *Utilities not included. Tenants will pay own Gas Heat, Gas Hot Water, and Electricity (including cooking) The Merc at Moody & Main is a 269 unit rental apartment community located in the heart of downtown Waltham on the corner of Moody and Main Street across from the Waltham Common. 27 of these apartments will be made available through this application process and rented to households with incomes at or below 80% of the Area Median Income.

MAXIMUM Household Income Limits: $48,800 (1 person), $55,800 (2 people), $62,750 (3 people), $69,700 (4 people), $75,300 (5 people) and $80,900 (6 people) A Public Info Session will be held on May 27th, 2015 at 6:00 pm at 119 School Street in the first floor of the Waltham Government Building Auditorium Completed Applications and Required Income Documentation must be received, not postmarked, by 2 pm on July 7th, 2015 The Lottery for eligible households will be held on July 27th at 6 pm For Lottery Information and Applications, or for reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities, go to www.s-e-b.com/lottery or call (617) 782-6900x1 (then x5) and leave a message.

Applications also available at Waltham Public Library on 735 Main St (M-Th 9-9, Fri-Sat 9-5, Sun 1-5) and Waltham City Hall Clerk’s Office or Building Department on 610 Main Street (8:30 - 4:30, M-Fri) For details on the development and the units, please see www.LiveAtTheMerc.com

#888-691-4301

Program Restrictions Apply.

Gables II University Station Westwood, MA

Note change of date for lottery to July 1, 2015 781-794-1000 PeabodyProperties.com

Maximum Household Income Limits are: $48,800 (1 person), $55,800 (2 people), $62,750 (3 people), $69,700 (4 people) A Public Information Session will be held at 6 pm on June 30th, 2015 at the Westwood Public Library Community Room (660 High St).

Completed Applications and Required Income Documentation must be delivered, not postmarked, by 2:00 PM on August 11th, 2015 The Lottery will be held on September 2nd, 2015 at 6 PM in same location as the info session above.

For Details on Applications, the Lottery, and the Apartments, or for reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities, call 617.782.6900 (press x1 then x 3) or go to: www.s-e-b.com/lottery Applications and Info also available at the Westwood Main Library on 660 High Street (Hours: M-W 10-9, Th 1-9, F 10-6, Sa 10-5, Su 2-5).

DORCHESTER/ MILTON 1st Class Office Space Corner of Gallivan Blvd and Washington St ample parking.

$1500/mo. heated

OWNER

617-835-6373 Brokers Welcome

Forty-one 1BRs @ $1,275, Fourteen 2BRs @ $1,402 No Utilities included except water and sewer Gables II University Station is a 220 unit apartment building on 85 University Avenue. 55 of the units will be rented to households with annual incomes not exceeding 80% of AMI adjusted for family size as determined by HUD. The community at Gables II University Station features a clubhouse area with a pool, lounge, conference room, and fitness center.

OFFICE SPACE

Affordable Rental Housing Opportunity / Selection by Lottery

1 , 2 & 3 Bedroom Apartments

Gardner, MA 01440

Applications pick-up from City Hall, 95 Pleasant St., Gardner, MA or online PeabodyProperties.com; or by phone 508-430-PINE (7463) Mail completed application to: Peabody Properties, Inc., c/o 30 Pine Lottery, 536 Granite St., Braintree, MA 02184; or email to 30pine@peabodyproperties.com; or fax: 781-794-1001 Deadline: Postmarked by 7/20/15 Info Session - 6/23/15 - 2 & 6PM Lottery Drawing - 8/6/15 - 2PM Both events held at Gardner Historical Museum 28 Pearl Street, Gardner, MA

Rents*: # of Type Apts.

Rents

Program Type

1BR 1BR 2BR 2BR 3BR 3BR 3BR

$850+ $783 $975+ ** $1,294 $1,206 **

60% 50% 60% 30% 60% 50% 30%

10 2 30 6 4 1 2

Heat & Hot Water Included **Sec.8 units administered through RCAP Housing Authority

Income Limits (as of 3/6/15)*: #HH 30% AMI 50% AMI 60% AMI 1 $18,400 $30,650 $36,780 2 $21,000 $35,000 $42,000 3 $23,650 $39,400 $47,280 4 $26,250 $43,750 $52,500 5 $28,410 $47,250 $56,700 6 $32,570 $50,750 $60,900

*Rents & income limits based on HUD guidelines & subject to change. Please inquire in advance for reasonable accommodation.

Info contained herein subject to change w/o notice.

Thursday, June 11, 2015 • BAY STATE BANNER • B15

BANNER CLASSIFIEDS

REAL ESTATE

WINTER VALLEY

RESIDENCES FOR THE ELDERLY, INC. Winter Valley Residences for the Elderly, Inc., a 160-unit complex financed by HUD for those 62 and older or physically disabled, is now accepting applications.

Winter Valley Residences has studios, one and two bedroom and barrier free units. They are owned and managed by Milton Residences for the Elderly, Inc., 600 Canton Avenue, Milton, MA 02186

Contact: Sharon Williams, Manager

617-698-3005

CHELSEA APARTMENT

HELP WANTED

Are you interested in a

Receptionist

Healthcare CAREER?

Dorchester, MA

Busy Management Office seeks full time receptionist with excellent communication and organization skills; clerical and computer skills, and ability to multi-task are required. Duties include answering telephone, greeting clients, collecting rents, data entry and filing. Applicant shall be energetic and display a strong desire to succeed. Must Have HS Diploma/GED – Bilingual English/Spanish is a must. Submit resume and cover letter to United Housing Management LLC, 530 Warren Street, Dorchester, Ma 02121 or Fax at 617-442-7231 no later than June 19, 2015. United Housing Management LLC is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Urban Edge, an outstanding nonprofit community

development corporation working in Roxbury, Dorchester and Jamaica Plain, seeks new CEO. Urban Edge builds and preserves affordable family housing, commercial and community facilities; provides homeowner services, financial education, tax assistance and student loan counseling; and organizes with focus on leadership development, youth employment and civic engagement initiatives. CEO will provide external leadership, financial oversight, and internal management and engage in fundraising and strategic planning with the Board. Requires experience 384986:Layout 1 6/1/15 AMestate Page 1 in affordable housing11:57 and real development and passion for the mission. www.urbanedge.org. Send cover, resume and recent salary history to Egmont Associates, segmont@egmontassociates.com.

4+ bdrms Newly renovated, 2000+ sq ft apt in 3 fam, no smkng/pets, hrdwd flrs, eat-in kit, pantry, lg master bedroom, din and lv rm, laundry rm, enclosed frnt/bck prchs, off street prkng, T access, min to Bost.

Sec 8 OK

617-283-2081

HELP WANTED

HELP WANTED

C ambridge

Project Hope, in partnership with Partners HealthCare is currently accepting applications for a FREE entry level healthcare employment training program.

Program eligibility includes: • • • • •

Have a high school diploma or equivalent Have a verifiable reference of 1 year from a former employer Pass assessments in reading, language, and computer skills Have CORI clearance Be legally authorized to work in the United States

For more information and to register for the next Open House please visit our website at www.prohope.org/openhouse.htm or call 617-442-1880 ext. 218.

The Benjamin Healthcare Center is looking for: n Director of Nursing (DON): With at least 5 years experience as a DON; 2 years experience as a Nurse Manager; acute clinical skills; BSN preferred and n A Staff Educator/Infectious Control Coordinator: Must be a RN with 3 years clinical experience, Both must have experience in supervision and principles, practice of teaching, communication and leadership skills to work with us at our Long Term Care facility.

Please contact the HR Department at 617-738-1500 Ext 156 or 112.

City of

www.cambridgema.gov

Together. Cambridge works.

Bring your career to the City of Cambridge and, together, we’ll achieve great things. Your work will support a city rich in industry and communities alive with culture. Get together with a city that works. Work for Cambridge today. Current openings include:

SUBSCRIBE TO THE BANNER call (617) 261-4600 • baystatebanner.com

GET READY FOR

A Great Office Job! Train for Administrative, Financial

Services, Health Insurance Customer Service & Medical Office jobs.

• Assistant City Manager, Community Development • Director/Veterans’ Affairs • Greens Assistant • Participatory Budget Intern • Preschool Lead Teacher • Special Needs Inclusion Facilitators - Summer • Youth Center Teen Program Director For detailed job descriptions and application instructions on these and other positions, visit www.cambridgema.gov and click on JOBS. We are an AA/EEO Employer.

Work in hospitals, colleges, insurance agencies, banks, businesses, government offices, health insurance call centers, and more!

YMCA Training, Inc. is recruiting training candidates now!

We will help you apply for free training. Job placement assistance provided.

No prior experience necessary, but must have HS diploma or GED. Free YMCA membership for you and your family while enrolled in YMCA Training, Inc.

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Call today to schedule an Information Session: 617-542-1800

Senior Asset Manager

SUBSCRIBE to The Banner Call 617-261-4600 or visit baystatebanner.com

The Senior Asset Manager at the Massachusetts Port Authority provides senior level lease and portfolio management and analysis for Massport’s waterfront commercial and maritime real estate assets in South Boston, East Boston, and Charlestown, which are managed by the Real Estate & Asset Management Department; supervises lease management staff of 2-3; develops and manages lease data collection and analysis systems; undertakes special projects supporting the Asset Management Unit as assigned by Deputy Director, Portfolio and Asset Management.

EDUCATIONAL LEVEL B.A. degree required; M.A. preferred.

Degree concentration in business administration, economics, and/or real estate preferred.

EXPERIENCE IN RELATED FIELD 7 to 9 years’ work experience working in real estate leasing, management or development, with particular focus on lease negotiations, financial analysis, revenue and expense projection and tracking.

MASSPORT IS AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER COMMITTED TO WORKFORCE DIVERSITY You can now apply online by clicking on the job title you are interested in and clicking on the “Apply” link! http://agency.governmentjobs.com/massport/default.cfm

CODMAN SQUARE NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT CORP Mattapan Community Development Specialist The Community Development Specialist (CDS) will further affordable transit-oriented mixed use housing development and economic development in Mattapan; increase development opportunities in Mattapan and increase resident/stakeholder participation in upcoming developments as a means of limiting the displacement of Mattapan residents. The CDS is supported

by Codman Square NDC, but will primarily be based in Mattapan (at ABCD Mattapan). Key responsibilities include identifying transit oriented real estate development (TOD) and economic development opportunities in Mattapan; provide direct day-to-day project management services from project planning and financial structuring through construction completion and closeout; bsb 2x4.5 and produce funding proposals to public and private funders in support of developing TOD real estate and economic development projects. Bachelor’s degree in in real estate development, community based urban planning, or closely related fields with 3-5 years relevant experience; demonstrated real estate project management experience; thorough understanding of real estate deal structuring, finance, design, and construction management; strong critical thinking skills and negotiating skills and ability to manage conflicting points of view and bring about positive resolutions; excellent written and verbal communications skills and solid knowledge of Microsoft Office programs, including Excel required. Fluent in Spanish or Haitian Creole a plus; experience working in low and moderate income communities of color a plus, ability to engage people of diverse backgrounds. Send resume and cover letter to, Executive Director, CSNDC, 587 Washington Street, Dorchester, MA 02124 or email: tiffany@csndc.com by June 26, 2015.

SCATTERED SITE CASE COORDINATOR Housing and Homelessness Department Manage caseloads of seventeen to eighteen families living in scattered site shelter units funded through the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). Provide housing search, case management and facilities management services. Maintain inventory units, conduct inspections, monitor compliance to curfew and visitor policies and perform on-call responsibilities.

Utilize internal and external resources to support the development and ultimate transition of families. Organize, identify and/or facilitate workshops/ groups focused on financial literacy, eviction prevention, health and nutrition, substance abuse, education and/or other focus areas to enhance the growth and development of shelter guests. Track the progress of families in appropriate databases and files. Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in Management, Human Services or a related field, with one to

three years of related work experience required.

Must have experience with intake assessment and crisis intervention regarding issues such as homelessness, mental health and substance abuse. Knowledge and experience with service agencies and resources for homeless individuals and families required. Must have experience with direct service delivery and proven ability to work as part of a team to promote the goals of the program and agency. Ability to work in a busy, diverse team model setting required. Must be able and willing to travel and attend meetings and/or appointments with families to help access resources. Valid driver’s license required.

Must have excellent time management, organizational and communication skills. Bilingual skills in Spanish or Creole desired. Must be able to work sensitively and effectively with individuals of diverse educational, socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.

ABCD Inc. is an equal opportunity employer actively seeking applications under its affirmative action program.

All applications and inquiries should be directed to the Human Resources Department, 178 Tremont St. Boston, MA 02111, Fax: (617) 423-7693, or email banner@bostonabcd.org Please visit our website at www.bostonabcd.org for additional employment listings.

B16 • Thursday, June 11, 2015 • BAY STATE BANNER

Thousands of Boston Residents Support Unify Boston

In six weeks, Unify Boston organizers have collected more than 10,000 signatures, and thousands more have engaged on social media.

We, the parents and community members of Boston, pledge to work with our leaders to Unify Boston by developing a plan to:

1. Give all kids access to an excellent public

school in their neighborhood – whether it’s a district or a charter school.

2. Make sure that every child can succeed in

Boston - especially those who speak English as a second language and children with special needs.

3. Ensure that our teachers reflect the diverse

communities they serve.

Thank you all for the continued support! #UnifyBoston To join us now, visit: www.unifyboston.org and add your name!

#unifyBoston

Unify Boston

@unify.boston