Month: February 2019

Lowell is in a housing crisis, with 57.7 percent of renters in the city paying more than 30 percent of their income on housing. The median renter’s household income in the city is $30,798 annually, while the median gross rent is $1089 monthly. There needs to be stronger support for affordable housing development and programs.  

Residents need better access to inclusive social opportunities, educational, and job training programs to improve their futures.

Those were some of the messages staff and board member of Coalition for a Better Acre shared with elected officials Monday morning at their annual Doughnuts with Delegates event. Senator Kennedy was joined by State Rep. Rady Mom, Bob Spinney of State Rep. David Nangle’s office, Mayor Bill Samaras and City Councilor Rita Mercier.

CBA is a community development corporation, which in the last 37 years has developed 476 units of affordable housing, housing more than 1,400 people and creating 33 commercial spaces. The seventh largest taxpayer in the city of Lowell, CBA pays more than $650,000 in property taxes annually and boast a portfolio of $165 million in development projects. The organization also provides programming aimed at helping families become economically self-sufficient and break the cycle of poverty.

Current projects in the works include 44 units of veterans’ preference housing in Haverhill in partnership with Veterans Northeast Outreach Center, nine units of veterans’ preference housing in Dracut; nine units of permanent sober housing on Cross Street in Lowell for women in recovery from substance abuse in partnership with Megan’s House; and 27 units of permanent sober housing at the site of the current Lowell House building on Merrimack Street, in partnership with Lowell House.

Additionally, the restoration of the grotto at the former Franco American School site is 70 percent complete. It and the new surrounding park along the Northern Canal will be completed in the spring.

“I remember CBA’s beginnings with Charlie Gargiulo (in 1982),” said Sen. Kennedy. “The agency has come a very long way since that time and it is a very good thing.”

Doughnuts with Delegates is an opportunity to fill local leaders in on what CBA is doing, but also to advocate for legislation backed by MACDC (Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations).

Sen. Kennedy has already co-sponsored two bills being backed by MACDC, including SD. 746 An Act to Preserve Community Preservation Revenue filed by Sen. Cynthia Creem that will increase the base deed fee that goes into the CPA fund from $20 to $75. Communities that adopt the CPA can use that funding to develop affordable housing, as well as preserve historical sites and open space and improve outdoor recreation facilities.

The second bill is SD 1578 An Act Relative to Neighborhood Stabilization and Economic Development filed by Sen. Brendan Crighton, which provides municipalities with more tools to address blighted and abandoned properties and stabilize distressed neighborhoods.

“I am happy to sign on to and support all of the MACDC’s priorities,” said Sen. Kennedy.

Following a discussion that touched on legislative priorities, as well as a request from CBA staff to secure funding for local non-profits to train community members to work as counters in the upcoming federal census, the elected officials were able to go upstairs to visit the most recent cohort of students in CBA’s STEP (Supported Training Education Program) workforce development program.

STEP is a 5-week soft skill, job readiness training course. Graduates receive a $300 stipend and are guaranteed job placement at a medical device manufacturing company, free transportation to and from work for one year and 18 months of follow-up case management.

In the last two years, 50 people have graduated from the program; 76 percent of whom continue working full-time.

“That is unprecedented in workforce development programs, where there is generally a 30 percent success rate,” said CBA Executive Director Yun-Ju Choi, adding the entry level retention rate at manufacturing companies at Devens, which is where the majority of STEP graduates are placed, is 37 percent. She attributes STEP’s impressive success rate to the one-on-one case management services and support offered to graduates.

Luis Maldonado, 38, was searching for a job online without much luck when he noticed a flyer for STEP. He took a chance.

“Headed to the first day of class I thought ‘this is going to be dreadful. I am already going to know everything they say and it is going to be boring,’” Maldonado recalled.

On Monday, halfway through the five-week program, Maldonado admitted he had been very wrong.

He said he has learned a lot he did not know about his own emotions, how to read and react to the emotions of others, conflict resolution, and negotiation; all skills crucial both in life and in the workplace. Additionally, he said he sees his 12 classmates as more than just potential future co-workers, but as friends and a community of support.

Maldonado’s classmate, Jimmy Princivil, echoed his sentiments, adding he has been bouncing around looking for his way in the world, moving to Texas for part of last year, but not finding his path.

“I feel through this program I will be able to advance and find my place in society,” Princivil said.

February 18-23: Lowell Kids Week https://lowellkidsweek.org/

February 22-23: Lowell Winterfest https://www.lowellwinterfest.com/

March 5: Two famous Zapotec alebrije woodcarving artists from Oaxaca, Mexico, will be visiting the Cameron center In Westford https://westfordma.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=471

Spring is Coming: It is time to sign up for a plot at the Westford Community Garden! https://westfordma.gov/482/Westfords-Community-Gardens

BOSTON – Sen. Kennedy has been named Chair of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts & Cultural Development for this Senate session.

Additionally, he has been tapped to serve as Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Community Development and Small Business; and a member of the Senate Committees on Elder Affairs; Election Laws; Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture; Higher Education; and Municipalities and Regional Government.

These assignments compliment Sen. Kennedy’s background and experience and speak to many of the areas of interest in which he is passionate.

A long-time Lowell City Councilor, Sen. Kennedy has chaired the City Council’s Economic Development subcommittee and has great interest in supporting small businesses; as Mayor of Lowell he promoted and supported dozens of cultural festivals and events including the then-new Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, The Town & The City Festival and the long-running Lowell Folk Festival. As a proud and long-time member of the Sierra and Appalachian Mountain Clubs, environmental issues are of particular concern to Sen. Kennedy.  And of course, with both UMass Lowell and Middlesex Community College being major assets to the First Middlesex District, higher education issues are always on Sen. Kennedy’s priority list.

“I am looking forward to getting to work with my colleagues in these committees to craft, support and pass legislation in all of these area that will not only benefit the First Middlesex District, but the Commonwealth as a whole,” said Kennedy. “I am pleased to have been chosen to chair Tourism, Arts & Cultural Development, as those sectors are not only fun, but also drive economic development and vitality throughout the region.”

 

Two weeks ago, his friend was stabbed to death in Lowell over less than $100 worth of marijuana. His cousin was killed under similar circumstances.

Justice Wright, 16, grew up in Oakland, California surrounded by people entrenched in gang life, drugs, violence, and prostitution.

“I had to grow-up fast, step up and be a man – everyone did,” Wright told a crowd of legislators, police, community organizers and non-profit leaders in front of the State House’s Grand Staircase Monday afternoon as Gov. Charlie Baker announced $7.74 million in Shannon Grant funding to programs in 27 cities throughout the Commonwealth targeting gang violence. “I knew this wasn’t the life I wanted for myself.  ”

Wright moved to Lowell two years ago, and says he was “finally able to have a peaceful sleep,” not having to look over his shoulder, being able to play basketball at the basketball court without being drawn into a gang, drugs, or gambling.

Wright admits Lowell has its share of problems with violence and drugs, but credits organizations like the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lowell and Lowell Community Health Center’s TeenBLOCK with keeping at-risk teens like himself on the right path.

“You can’t run from your problems, but you can rise above them and surround yourself with people who have the same mindset as you; that’s what I did,” he said, explaining he co-founded the band B6, who hope to make it big and give back to the community, and is heavily involved in TeenBLOCK’s Dance 4 Peace.

Wright is a Youth Leader of the Boys & Girls Club’s Music Clubhouse and participant in the Teen Summer Nights program, supported by the Shannon Initiative to provide a safe and positive place for teens in the city during the most vulnerable time of the year.

“If it wasn’t for the Club having my back and believing in me, I honestly don’t know where I would be,” Wright said.

Lowell will receive $581,262.41 in Shannon Grant funding this year, which is provided to the Lowell Police Department and passed through local organizations such as the Boys & Girls Club, UTEC, CMAA, and the Lowell Community Health Center that provide services and programming aimed at diverting young people from violence and gang life. Additionally, UMass Lowell, one of the Shannon Grant’s Local Action Research Partners will receive $50,000 for their Lowell site, $29,709.61 for their Lawrence site, and $29,709.61 for their Haverhill site.  

“Shannon Grant funding has been an important tool for the Lowell Police and community organizations to keep at-risk youth off the streets,” said Sen. Ed Kennedy. “I have no doubt these programs have saved thousands of lives and I’m thrilled to see the funding continuing to come to the city.”

Maryann Ballotta, Lowell Police Department’s Director of Research and Development, said from 2015-2018 programs supported by Shannon Grant funding in Lowell have served more than 11,000 young people and provided 1,300 additional patrols of crime hot spots by the force’s Gang Unit. Gang related incidents have fallen by 8 percent in the city during that time.

Ballotta said in her 12 years at the LPD she has seen first-hand how Shannon Grant funding has worked to strengthen the partnerships between the police and a variety of community organizations including: Lowell High School, The Boys and Girls Club, LCHC, CMAA, MassHire, YWCA, Lowell Recreation, UTEC, and the West End Gym.

Shannon Grant funding has been used to boost summer staffing for the LPD’s Gang Unit and fund the LPD’s Student  Police Academy for kids, as well as LPD’s Safe Summer Movie Nights throughout the city.  

“Our municipal and local partners are on the front lines of combatting the gang violence that threatens the safety and well-being of everyone in their communities,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. “It is our honor to partner with them and members of the Legislature to support a program that helps get young people back on track and makes our communities safer.”

 Looking into the audience, Polito smiled and said “I see my friends from UTEC here!”

Her shout-out was rewarded with the familiar rousing call back from one member of the crowd of “U-TEC!”

“The opportunity to support community based initiatives and learn from community based initiatives is a big part of what our role on Beacon Hill is all about,” Baker added.  

A 19^th century mill girl intently working her power loom, weaving the cloth that built a city; the iconic Boott Mills clock tower visible through her window.

Designed by Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by Phebe Hemphill, it is the image by which Lowell will be known by baristas, butchers, bakers, candlestick makers, customers, and numismatists across the nation and around world.

It was an historic day in Lowell and the Commonwealth as the Lowell Quarter was officially launched by the United States Mint at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium Wednesday morning. The Lowell Quarter is the first issued of 2019 and 46^th overall to have been released as part of the U.S. Mint’s America the Beautiful Quarters Program, a 12-year program that honors 56 national parks and sites.

“The depiction of the mill girl takes us back to the past at the forefront of America’s Industrial Revolution,” Marc Landry, the Mint’s Acting Associate Director of Numismatic and Bullion Directorate said in a statement. “The physical coin takes us to the present day manufacturing processes; and finally, the coin in its entirety takes us into the future – inspiring tomorrow’s innovators, workforce, and generations to follow.”

Sen. Kennedy, along with Mayor Bill Samaras, and City Councilor Vesna Nuon were among hundreds of Lowellians in the audience for the big reveal, but the day, like the quarter was all about the women.

Following the Presentation of Colors by the Lowell High School Air Force Junior ROTC Honor Guard, Pledge of Allegiance led by LHS Senior Class President Eunice Tabea, and National Anthem performed by the LHS Chorus, Lowell National Historical Park Superintendent Celeste Bernardo welcomed the crowd.

Remarks were made by City Manager Eileen Donoghue and former Congresswoman Niki Tsongas, as well as UMass Lowell Chancellor Jacqueline Moloney, and National Park Service Northeast Region Deputy Regional Director Rosalyn Fennell. Coalition for a Better Acre Executive Director Yun-Ju Choi and Community Teamwork, Inc. Executive Director Karen Frederick served as emcees.

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Bernardo singled-out Ellen Anstey, Manager of Administration and Engagement at UML’s Tsongas Industrial History Center, who has led the charge to make the Lowell quarter a reality for 10 years. LNHP was one of 100 options to represent Massachusetts. Anstey rallied enough support in the region for Lowell to beat out iconic sites like Boston’s Freedom Trail and Lexington’s Minuteman National Historical Park.

Anstey teamed up with LNHP Supervisory Park Ranger David Byers to work on the project the last several years, whittling down options and tweaking the design to perfection.

A trio of students from Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School spoke about the design of the quarter and how it came to be and the incredible Lowell High School band playedMills on the Merrimack to accompany a video depicting a historic dramatization of 19^th century life in the Lowell mills. 

Bernardo, Tsongas, Fennell, and Landry participated in a traditional “coin pour” tailored to Lowell, to officially launch the quarters into circulation. Tsongas dumped cloth bags of quarters into a “water wheel” like those that once powered the mills. The coins were then dropped into a trunk resembling the old steamer trunks many immigrants brought with them to Lowell from their homelands.

Following the program, 1,500 school-aged children from the Lowell area who were in attendance to celebrate, were each granted a quarter to take home. And hundreds of adults lined up to purchase freshly minted $10 rolls of Lowell quarters, including Sen. Kennedy, who will be gifting one quarter to each of his 39 Senate colleagues. 

On January 25, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito came to Lowell High School to announce $1.2 million in grant funding from the state, One8 Foundation, and Mass STEM Hub to expand and promote STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) education in 58 schools throughout the Commonwealth.

The $50,000 grant awarded to Lowell Public Schools will allow for the addition of biomedical science classes at Lowell High in partnership with Project Leading the Way, a non-profit that provides teacher training and support for STEM education. The school currently offers four popular hands-on engineering classes.

The Day Elementary School in Westford was also awarded a grant, which will bring Project Leading the Way into that school to begin STEM projects and classes for the young students there. Being able to offer these kinds of courses in our public schools greatly expands opportunities for students, exposing them to careers they may never have considered and keeping them engaged and excited about learning.

On January 22, the Lowell City Council unanimously voted to support the Promise Act, a bill co-sponsored by Sen. Kennedy aiming to make school funding more equitable statewide. Read more here:

Lowell City Council Endorses Education PROMISE Act