A unique celebration for a special group of volunteers who, despite their age, never lost sight of what they have to offer. Among them is 95-year-old Miriam Manning. We first met Manning in 2015. At 91, she set out every day for the Dorchester Headstart on Geneva Avenue, where she volunteered as a ‘foster grandparent.’ On Friday, dozens gathered at…
BOSTON – Families living on tight budgets are facing another tough week with brutal wind chills and snow in the forecast. But some households across the state can’t pay for home heating oil as their fuel assistance benefits run out. Cynthia Lewis and her husband have lived in their 100-year-old Dorchester home since 1969. All four of their kids grew…
Should someone convicted of assault for a schoolyard brawl decades ago be banned from working in child care? What if that person was charged but never convicted? A sea change in state and federal laws governing criminal background checks for child care workers, intended to improve safety in day care, could force out thousands who have a prior offense, even if they’ve…
“We don’t have any food right now … There’s no food in our house.” Family means everything to Yonealya Harris. She lives in Hyde Park with her three children and relies on her mother for help babysitting. “I work, my children come here after school, and she helps me out with them,” she said. Harris, 27, also relies on food…
An advocacy group for low-income residents in Greater Boston said Tuesday that the ongoing partial government shutdown is taking a devastating toll on millions of Americans who depend on federal food and housing aid. In a statement, Action Boston for Community Development, or ABCD, said the shutdown has hit the nation’s most vulnerable residents with “life-threatening hunger and hardship, with funding running…
Holiday toy distribution at ABCD’s South End Neighborhood Service Center, one of 14 throughout Greater Boston, enables 100 local families to make their children’s holiday special. The holiday season took a turn for the better Friday for nearly 100 low-income Boston families, as parents and grandparents gathered in the South End to pick up donated toys in hopes of making their kids’…
ABCD’s south end neighborhood center distributes donated toys to underserved children Part of the ABCD Winter Fund campaign to help low income families in greater Boston A special room in a South End brownstone has just the toy to put a smile on the face of a child. Action for Boston Community Development, or ABCD, is helping Yvette, a Northeastern…
Despite coming close to HOLIDAY CAMPAIGN goal, toys still needed BOSTON – ABCD — Action for Boston Community Development — expects to exceed this year’s Toy Drive goal, part of its Winter Fund holiday campaign. On Tuesday, ABCD said it was close to collecting the approximately 7,000 requested toys for underserved Boston families. This comes just over a week after WCVB…
BOSTON – A massive holiday toy drive in Boston is in need of help. Boston-based ABCD says it has received 7,000 requests for toys but only about 1,000 donations so far. ABCD says almost 28,000 Boston children, or 26 percent, are living in poverty in Boston. So for families making difficult financial decisions, gifts may be out of reach. Today,…
BOSTON —Action for Boston Community Development is reaching out to families, organizations and companies who want to put smiles on children’s faces across Boston neighborhoods and surrounding towns this holiday season. ABCD has received more than 7,000 requests for gifts for children in need and has just 1,000 toys on hand or promised by generous individuals and companies. Almost 28,000…