For many families, home is just a motel (from Boston Globe, November 16, 2014)
The motel kids don’t know all the details that led their families to turn to the state for a roof over their heads. They just know that a motel room does not feel like home.
“I know we move a lot,” said Emma Precourt, 9, who has lived with her mother and sister in a room with two beds for 18 months at the Super 8 in Weymouth.
“I have a tough life here; I want to go home,” said Jaliyah Rogers, who is 6 and moved to the Home Suites Inn in Waltham seven months ago with her father.
“I just want to go back home and play with my toys again,” said Pauly O’Brien, 7, who has spent the last 13 months living with his parents in a small room that has a window looking out at the Econo Lodge parking lot in Danvers.
Each day, more than 3,600 children across the state who wake up in motel beds that they sometimes share with a brother, sister, or parent slip into a compartmentalized world of contradiction: mornings are often chaotic, where family members form a line to take showers, race to microwave food, and get the children dressed for school. Some kids go to nearby schools, while others are bused as far as an hour away. In the classroom, some find structure. At recess, they embrace open air.......
“I know we move a lot,” said Emma Precourt, 9, who has lived with her mother and sister in a room with two beds for 18 months at the Super 8 in Weymouth.
“I have a tough life here; I want to go home,” said Jaliyah Rogers, who is 6 and moved to the Home Suites Inn in Waltham seven months ago with her father.
“I just want to go back home and play with my toys again,” said Pauly O’Brien, 7, who has spent the last 13 months living with his parents in a small room that has a window looking out at the Econo Lodge parking lot in Danvers.
Each day, more than 3,600 children across the state who wake up in motel beds that they sometimes share with a brother, sister, or parent slip into a compartmentalized world of contradiction: mornings are often chaotic, where family members form a line to take showers, race to microwave food, and get the children dressed for school. Some kids go to nearby schools, while others are bused as far as an hour away. In the classroom, some find structure. At recess, they embrace open air.......
Days of Service to honor MLK’s Legacy (from Boston Globe, January 19, 2014)
The town of Lexington is holding its first annual Day of Service in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The event will begin with a Unity Walk from the Battle Green to Cary Hall, where there will be a presentation by several residents and a performance by the Harrington Elementary School Chorus. Participants will then split into groups for a variety of service activities. One group will volunteer at the Waltham YMCA from 1 to 3:30 p.m. to help with its Community Day program, which will provide sports, activities, games, and refreshments for area homeless and low-income families. Another group will serve lunch to seniors at several sites in town from noon to 2 p.m. Another group will make cards for veterans, the homeless, and hospitalized citizens from noon to 3:30 p.m. in Cary Hall. Participants are also invited to donate food, gift cards, books, toys, diapers, and other items to COMPASS for Kids, a local nonprofit organization, and to the Lexington Food Pantry.
Marking the 50th anniversary of MLK's visit to Lexington High (from wickedlocal.com, January 17, 2013)
Almost 50 years after Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at Lexington High School about the importance of Diversity, the town's CommUNITY group will hold a MLK Day walk and a program of celebrating King's life and legacy and highlighting the diversity at Lexington schools.