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Category: News

Get Ready to Pay More to Heat Your Home This Winter. Here’s Why

The price of heating oil last year was $2.08 per gallon — now it’s $3.21 With cold weather on the horizon, the cost of heating oil and natural gas is going up. It affects everyone, but especially people with a low or fixed income. People like Marjorie Sartori, who lives with her two grandsons in Malden, Massachusetts. “Usually, I can’t…

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The Red Sox’ playoff race has been great, even with their late-season stumbles

“Brad Stevens, Bob Ryan, and Michael Holley will be out front for the annual ABCD Hoop Dreams of Champions at TD Garden Nov. 2. For a chance to play on the parquet floor and contribute to a great cause, contact elizabeth.mccarthy@bostonabcd.org or call 617-620-6949.” READ MORE


Housing equity bill is urgent to hold pandemic-related suffering at bay

I applaud Timothy Scalona’s urgent call for the Legislature to pass the COVID-19 housing equity bill (“The eviction crisis is upon us — the Legislature must act,” Opinion, Sept. 9). Action for Boston Community Development has worked feverishly to meet the needs of our most vulnerable communities throughout a pandemic that has ravaged their health and stability. While some area residents have emerged…

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Massachusetts Workers’ Expiring Unemployment Benefits Won’t Solve Labor Shortage, Experts Say

More than 300,000 Massachusetts workers who lost jobs during the pandemic are about to cash their last unemployment checks this week, but experts are not expecting the end of pandemic-related jobless benefits to solve the state’s labor shortage. … Advocates are scrambling to connect hundreds of thousands of people losing unemployment checks with other aid such as food benefits, cash…

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More than 300,000 will soon lose jobless benefits in Mass. The looming cutoff reveals an economy divided by extremes

In the ultimate act of unfortunate timing, the pandemic-era unemployment benefits for some 7.5 million people will run out on or justbefore Labor Day, the federal holiday that honors the contributions of American workers. The largest such cutoff in history, affecting more than 300,000 in Massachusetts, is taking place as the coronavirus pandemic that caused unprecedented job losses escalates once again, casting a…

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Drew: Note to universal pre-k planners – we already have Head Start

Across America, many are applauding the Senate passage on Aug. 12 of a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package as a first step in advancing the largest safety net expansion since the 1960s. That legislation aims to expand health care, fund climate change programs and provide free preschool and community college among other “human infrastructure” initiatives that will increase quality of…

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An urgent message for all parents: Don’t miss out on child tax credits

President Biden’s American Rescue Plan contains a tax credit expansion that policymakers say will cut child poverty in half. Just as Social Security and Medicare nearly erased elder poverty, the Child Tax Credit (CTC) expansion has the potential to lift out of poverty more than half of the 13 million children living below the 2021 poverty level of $26,200 for…

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In the news: Sean Daughtry

At its June 23 meeting, the Board of Directors of Action for Boston Community Development elected Roxbury resident and Vertex Pharmaceuticals PAT Scientist Sean Daughtry to serve as chair for a one-year term. Daughtry joined the ABCD Board in 2013, representing the NAACP Boston Branch, and currently serves as a public sector member representing State Representative Elizabeth A. Malia. He…

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Why Is The Mass. Unemployment Rate Twice As High As N.H.’s?

At the Waterhouse Restaurant in southwestern New Hampshire, soft shell crabs were on the lunch menu and business was brisk. But General Manager Linda Quintanilha said she can’t fully re-open the restaurant in Peterborough because she can’t find enough staff. … John Drew, chief executive officer of Action for Boston Community Development, a nonprofit that provides services to low-income residents,…

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Mass. should extend moratorium over utility bills

Thank you to Hiawatha Bray for drawing attention to the end, on June 30, of the state’s moratorium on utility shutoffs (“Utility bills come due as moratorium expires,” Business, July 1). There is an array of help available for those in danger of being left in the dark, but many families and seniors will not be aware of these resources or…

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