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At the suggestion of Senator Lovely, we submitted a proposal for the creation of the Office of the Tenant Advocate to Representative Sally P. Kerans. We were unable to complete a final bill in legislative language in time for the filing deadline, however, a “placeholder” bill was presented by Representative Sally P. Kerans and Senator Joan B. Lovely, cosponsored by Representative Thomas Walsh. The language has been updated by the House Counsel.

Please contact your Senator and Representative to express your support and ask them to cosponsor. 

Alas, not every child finds a safe home and sparrows do fall. A child fell while in the nest of a car, the shelter the mother could provide when she could not afford the inn.

According to the report by Julie Manganis, Mother facing charges after 2-year-old child dies of an apparent drug overdose, Vanessa Jeising carried the lifeless body of her two-year-old daughter, Lilly Iorio, to Lahey Hospital in Peabody, after they spent the night in her car. The mother has been arrested on charges relating to her daughter’s death.

​​​​​​​In Massachusetts, we urgently need an effective system of oversight that will protect the rights of tenants, including accommodations to enable disabled tenants to have safe and peaceful enjoyment of their homes. An effective solution will assure the rights of all tenants, protect them from bullying, mobbing, and discrimination, and provide sufficient housing to meet demand.

UPDATED: July 29, 2022. This information is addressed primarily to tenants of public or subsidized housing for elderly and disabled persons. COVID is an infectious disease spread by the air we share with others. The best way to control disease and protect people from infection is to use public health measures, rather than only to depend on small groups or individuals to protect themselves. I present ideas that an individual or a housing community to use to reduce the chance of infection. The news about COVID has been alarming and the advice has been confusing. Here is my understanding of how I can stay safe. Remember, I can’t give medical advice. But I can read what experts are saying and select their soundest conclusions to share with you.

We, tenants who live in public and subsidized housing, seek legislation to prevent the weakening or loss of rights that arises when public housing is put into private hands, and effective protection from bullying in public and subsidized housing. We should include all multi-family residential facilities under a single oversight agency, to assure that all citizens have all of their rights respected. Why should there be different rights depending on the landlord's source of income?

Our health is affected by pollution from burning fossil fuels. Some of us are making a stand against the installation of a new gas and oil fueled electrical generator in Peabody MA, about a mile from where I live. There has been no comprehensive public health or environmental assessment of this project which threatens the health of elderly, children, and all those with health conditions such as asthma, COPD, and heart disease. The threat to public health, the environment, and the climate is echoed everywhere.

Excitement is in the air. It is spring, people are being vaccinated, and we all anticipate a speedy end to the crisis. But wait, there’s more. It will be weeks before everyone who is willing is vaccinated, and there are variants which the vaccine may not protect us from. We all need to continue taking every precaution for weeks to come. Together, we can survive the pandemic, and the governor should reconsider his policies on reopening and enforcement. Caution is most important for elderly people, including those living in public or subsidized housing, because we are the most vulnerable to the severe outcomes of COVID. “For the two week period prior to April 14, 2021, the average age of Massachusetts residents who have died from COVID-19 was 74 years old.”

Today, on March 26, 2021, at Fairweather apartments in Peabody, a team of nurses and doctors administered a COVID vaccine to 29 people, out of a population of 80 current tenants. Some, like Glen Jalbert, and several others, had already recovered from COVID. Many of those receiving the vaccine are frail, and might not have been able to travel outside the building to a central vaccine clinic. PHOTO: Glen Jalbert, Fairweather resident, and Caroline Cubbison, resident physician at North Shore Medical, give a thumbs up after Glen is vaccinated. Sharon Cameron, Director of the Peabody Health Department, looks on.

After I had COVID I was vaccinated. COVID-19 is no joke, and I only had a mild to moderate case of COVID. I had side effects from the vaccine—they aren’t that bad—COVID is worse, and I know the difference from personal experience. Photo: Bonny Zeh's story begins with her shopping for supplies to make origami like her folded paper dog.

One unmasked tenant sitting with others in an entrance lobby said,

“Oh, isn't it great that the pandemic is almost over, that’s why we can hang out without masks.”

This conversation took place in the lobby of an apartment building of 112 units in Salem public housing for the elderly and disabled, where at least 9 tenants have current or recent cases of COVID, including one recent COVID death—a rate of 8% infections.