A message from the ABCD North End / West End Neighborhood Service Center:
Deep cuts to Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) funding threaten to close Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD) and all 13 of its sites, including your neighborhood ABCD North End/West End Neighborhood Service Center (NE/WE NSC). This would wipe out vital programs such as hot meal programs, a food pantry, supermarket shuttle, yoga classes, referrals, translations, and much more to over 2,400 low-income seniors and families in the North End, West End, and Beacon Hill.
The ABCD North End/West End NSC helps many folks from the neighborhood…Maria and John, who did not leave their apartment for four years out of fear of being evicted and having their possessions thrown out in the street…they came to live at Villa Michelangelo, ABCD’s elderly, low-income housing….Miguel, who had no English skills, no job training, nothing to eat in his apartment, and not even a winter coat. Staff at the NE/WE NSC enrolled him in English classes; got him food from the food pantry; found him a coat; and pointed him in the direction of a local hospitality training program, in which he is now enrolled…He says, “The North End/West End NSC is what kept me off the streets!”…Irene, who credits her reduced asthma, improved breathing, and overall “well being and state of mind” to weekly yoga classes…and Larissa, who says, “The North End/West End NSC has improved every area of my life. I have fuel to keep us warm this frigid winter and food on my shelves while my husband struggles to find a job in this economy. My daughter is in a nearby ABCD Head Start program and her language is growing in leaps and bounds. My mother, who is elderly, comes every day to socialize and participates in weekly hot meals. I don’t have to worry about her being lonely or something bad happening while we try to get our lives back on track.”
Would you please show your support of these much-needed programs by filling out an online petition at www.capworks.org or for more information, please contact Lia Tota, ABCD North End/West End NSC Director, at 617-523-8125, Ext. 201 or tota@bostonabcd.org Thank you for caring about your friends and neighbors!
