Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Young people from ROCA, including Stuart Herrara, Chino Kan, Mercedes Pagan, and Jennifer Gonzales, gave performances and testimony about how the programs there had helped them.
Mary Quinn, Rene Scott Gray, and Laurie Taymor Berry talked about the struggles for equal justice for poor women at the Boston Women's Fund and Survivors, Inc.
Diane Sullivan, from Homes for Families, talked about the 2700 families living in shelter and the 700 in motels. The voucher program has not been funded and could result in more families becoming homeless.
Mary Quinn, Rene Scott Gray, and Laurie Taymor Berry talked about the struggles for equal justice for poor women at the Boston Women's Fund and Survivors, Inc.
Diane Sullivan, from Homes for Families, talked about the 2700 families living in shelter and the 700 in motels. The voucher program has not been funded and could result in more families becoming homeless.
Day three of Kip's fast was opened with a message from Pat Baker, Chair of the Massachusetts Food Stamp Coalition: "Our work continues today in honor of and inspired by Rosie's Place founder Kip Tiernan. She seeks to raise awareness of the continued growth in homelessness and hunger facing the Commonwealth, and to call on elected leaders to own their responsibility to appropriate the funds needed to ensure the Commonwealth meets these most basic human needs."
Molly Baldwin, Director of ROCA, read a letter from Ray Champlain, a prisoner who is fasting in solidarity with Kip. He delineated in his letter the cuts in rehabilitation services for prisoners and the increasing acts of violence towards prisoners.
Before we ended yesterday, Gabriella Snyder Stelmack spoke about the 24% increase in need at the Bread of Life food program in Malden. She reported that Director Tom Feagley was fasting in solidarity with Kip.
Debbie Socolar from the Boston University School of Public Health spoke about the importance of including nutrition and safe housing in the definition of health care.
Molly Baldwin, Director of ROCA, read a letter from Ray Champlain, a prisoner who is fasting in solidarity with Kip. He delineated in his letter the cuts in rehabilitation services for prisoners and the increasing acts of violence towards prisoners.
Before we ended yesterday, Gabriella Snyder Stelmack spoke about the 24% increase in need at the Bread of Life food program in Malden. She reported that Director Tom Feagley was fasting in solidarity with Kip.
Debbie Socolar from the Boston University School of Public Health spoke about the importance of including nutrition and safe housing in the definition of health care.
Former Director of the City Mission Society David King talked about his greatest fear: that we really don't want to solve the problem of hunger and homelessness. Bigger and more shelters and food warehouses for food pantries seem to announce that this problem will always be with us, that it must be institutionalized.
Jane Zerby from the Unitarian Universalist church in Jamaica Plain talked about the increasing numbers of people waiting in line for two hours for a bag of groceries at their newly founded food pantry. Jane and Bob Golden, among many who have brought in food, volunteered to take the donated food to this new pantry.
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