MSNBC Anchor and Boston native Lawrence O’Donnell will be back home this weekend for a live audience chat with Tennessee Rep. Justin Pearson, who came to notoriety for his staunch advocacy of gun safety legislation earlier this year. O’Donnell has interviewed Pearson on his MSNBC show “Last Word” several times and isn’t shy about comparing the 28-year-old lawmaker to big…
Seth Fichtelberg first heard about the IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program back in 2013 while studying accounting and information systems at Boston College. When one of his professors mentioned that they served as the liaison between BC’s Carroll School of Management and VITA, Fichtelberg decided to lend his skills to helping Massachusetts residents file their taxes. Now, almost…
NESN host Tom Caron and retired Boston Globe sports columnist and author Bob Ryan talk Field of Dreams – ABCD’s annual softball fundraising event for Boston’s youth – on the TC & Company Podcast. Field of Dreams feature starts at 25:15. LISTEN HERE Want to play ball at the legendary Fenway Park for a great cause this June 30th? There are…
Getting a summer job used to mean scooping ice cream at the mall or working the drive-thru at Burger King. Then came the Great Recession, followed by a rush for teens to spend their summers padding their college résumés with coding and language camps. That changed again when the world closed for COVID-19, and then reopened. Not all adults returned…
For Boston-area renters, high rental prices, low availability and a rising cost of living are some of the challenges that can stand in the way of stable housing. And those issues have had an outsized impact on Black and Latino renters, who are also more likely to face discrimination from real estate agents and landlords, according to a 2020 study from Suffolk…
The MBTA is set to launch a new reduced fare program this week, dramatically widening the pool of people who qualify and potentially cutting transit costs in half for about 60,000 riders. In the past, the T offered reduced fares only to seniors, people with disabilities or those under age 25 with low incomes. The new program expands access to all adults…
ABCD sends its warmest thank you to the Boston Herald for its outstanding support of the ABCD Toy Drive. In particular, the heartwarming article by Marie Szaniszlo (“6,000 Toys Needed by Dec. 15,” Dec. 7, 2021) alerted hundreds of donors and helped kick off a widespread media campaign. In 10 days our toy drive climbed from 400 to 6,000 toys,…
Thanksgiving looks different for everyone in 2020, and the ABCD North End/West End Neighborhood Service Center (NE/WE NSC) is no exception! The center missed having its annual turkey feast with all the trimmings, including visits from elected officials wanting to visit with and give gifts to their constituents. However, it still strove to provide a special holiday experience for all…
Call to Action! After receiving over 6,500 requests this year and no donations so far, ABCD is looking for help. Most toys will do, but they are looking for items for kids 10 to 12. It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and what better way to celebrate than by spreading some holiday cheer to children and families in…
Poverty in Boston is changing, and as a result, the ways in which ABCD responds to poverty are evolving. ABCD’s mission remains the same – providing low-income households with the tools needed for economic success. But a deeper understanding of what poverty means today can make our work more effective. Poverty is often defined by a single number: the Federal…