230215LCFP054
Feb. 15, 2023. Chelsea, MA.
La Colaborativa and The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute held an event to launch their Feeding Our Neighbors campaign to raise awareness about the plight of the immigrant community who lack access to basic needs and benefits and to highlight the need for both legislation and funding to restore basic food and cash assistance benefits for legally present immigrants. It was held at La Colaborativaâs Food Pantry at 63 Sixth Street in Chelsea. La Colaborativa distributes emergency food to roughly 5,000 families each week from Chelsea and surrounding communities. In January Senator Sal DiDomenico and Representatives Antonio Cabral and Judith Garcia filed bills in the Massachusetts Senate, SD 507 and House HD 2684 to provide legally present immigrants who are ineligible for federal programs with access to both state funded supplemental food (SNAP) and for families with minor children, cash assistance benefits. During the summer of 2022, more than 2,000 individuals arrived in Massachusetts, double the number who arrived a year earlier. That trend is expected to continue as numerous global economic challenges and political conflicts force more people to flee their home countries. The legislation will provide a framework for critical basic needs to help these individuals acclimate to their new surroundings and provide supplemental nutrition benefits to their low-wage earnings as well as help other immigrant families who are continuing to struggle economically since the onset of Covid.
© 2023 Marilyn Humphries
230215LCFP054
Feb. 15, 2023. Chelsea, MA.
La Colaborativa and The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute held an event to launch their Feeding Our Neighbors campaign to raise awareness about the plight of the immigrant community who lack access to basic needs and benefits and to highlight the need for both legislation and funding to restore basic food and cash assistance benefits for legally present immigrants. It was held at La Colaborativaâs Food Pantry at 63 Sixth Street in Chelsea. La Colaborativa distributes emergency food to roughly 5,000 families each week from Chelsea and surrounding communities. In January Senator Sal DiDomenico and Representatives Antonio Cabral and Judith Garcia filed bills in the Massachusetts Senate, SD 507 and House HD 2684 to provide legally present immigrants who are ineligible for federal programs with access to both state funded supplemental food (SNAP) and for families with minor children, cash assistance benefits. During the summer of 2022, more than 2,000 individuals arrived in Massachusetts, double the number who arrived a year earlier. That trend is expected to continue as numerous global economic challenges and political conflicts force more people to flee their home countries. The legislation will provide a framework for critical basic needs to help these individuals acclimate to their new surroundings and provide supplemental nutrition benefits to their low-wage earnings as well as help other immigrant families who are continuing to struggle economically since the onset of Covid.
© 2023 Marilyn Humphries