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Tag: community teamwork

  • Lowell’s Back Central neighborhood a ‘mini Mass and Cass’

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    LOWELL — During last Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Councilor Corey Belanger called the city’s Back Central neighborhood a “mini Mass and Cass,” referring to the area of Boston plagued by the same homeless, drug and crime crisis that has been growing for several years in Lowell’s poorest neighborhood.

    “On the back of Charles Street … the sidewalk was completely overrun, tents on the sidewalk, open-air drug use going on,” he said. “We need help.”

    Between March and September, the Lowell Police Department recorded a staggering 10,000 police dispatch entries in the densely populated neighborhood, which is roughly bounded by Appleton Street to the north, Chambers Street to the south, Thorndike Street to the west and Lawrence Street to the east.

    The police calls resulted in more than 18,000 officer call-offs, reflecting the significant resources required to manage incidents in this area. During this same period, 606 arrests were made — or on average, 100 per month — with 117 individuals arrested two or more times, and 20 individuals arrested five or more times.

    Councilors Corey Robinson and Erik Gitschier’s motion requested City Manager Tom Golden have a conversation between the council and key stakeholders centered around “challenges with our transient community.”

    Golden said he was trying to “work toward a solution” on what he described as a “revolving door” of people being arrested by the police only to be released back out on the streets by the judges at Lowell District Court.

    “There’s a lot going on here,” he said. “I can report back.”

    But councilors, while praising the city’s policing and social outreach efforts, were exasperated by the lack of coordination between the courts, state-level departments and other social and legislative agencies.

    “We need everybody together to help on this, otherwise we’re just going to spin our tires,” Gitschier said. “Send them down to the courthouse, they’re going to come right out of the courthouse and these numbers are just going to continue to escalate and escalate and no one really gets help. And that’s the sad part — people are not getting help.”

    Although not exclusively a homeless problem, based on figures released by the LPD and the Office of Homeless Initiatives, which is under the purview of the Department of Health and Human Services, the rise in arrests of homeless people tracked with the rise in homelessness.

    The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines individuals as homeless if they lack a “fixed, regular and adequate nighttime address.” Last winter’s federally mandated point-in-time count, conducted during the early morning hours of Jan. 30, reported 250 homeless people in Lowell.

    Two hundred were sheltered through Community Teamwork Inc.’s hotel program in Chelmsford, and in both regular and emergency beds provided through the Lowell Transitional Living Center on Middlesex Street in Downtown Lowell. There were 50 unsheltered people living outdoors.

    Those unsheltered people were mostly living in squalid encampments scattered throughout the city, including South Common Park, a 22.5-acre public green space in the city’s Back Central neighborhood.

    The City Council passed an ordinance in November 2024 making it unlawful to camp on public property in the city of Lowell. The civil ordinance is enforceable through the LPD, and the city sanctioned so-called “sweeps” of numerous homeless encampments, including South Common.

    In early October, one person was killed and another person hospitalized after a garbage truck backed over them on Spring Street. Witnesses said the two homeless individuals had been sleeping on the narrow, alley-like street after they had been repeatedly told to leave other parts of the city, most recently South Common.

    But even homeless people with an emergency bed at night become unsheltered during the day when the LTLC, the largest adult emergency shelter north of Boston, asks its clients to leave the premises.

    According to the LPD, complaints about trespassing increased from 519 complaints in 2021 to 1,369 complaints in 2024, a more than 150% increase.

    The shelter clients generally congregate in the Jackson Street, Appleton Street, Middlesex Street, Summer Street, and Gorham Street corridors.

    “These areas have experienced a high concentration of transient individuals, which has led to recurring public safety and quality-of-life issues,” Assistant City Manger Shawn Machado said in the motion response dated Oct. 21.

    Councilor Vesna Nuon suggested that the task force approach the city took to address gang violence in the city almost 20 years ago may be a guide to Lowell’s current crisis.

    “When we had a gang issue in the city, the juvenile court judge and others participated in this,” Nuon said. “The [District Attorney] the [Middlesex] Sheriff’s Office, [Department of Children and Families] and all those entries, joined in. The court plays an important role in this.”

    Machado’s motion response noted that the city’s Community Opioid Outreach Program had been active in the neighborhood, offering outreach and services to individuals in need.

    “Despite their daily efforts, there remains a significant number of individuals who decline the services offered,” Machado’s motion response said. “This underscores the complexity of the issue and the need for a more comprehensive, multi-agency approach to address the underlying causes of chronic homelessness, substance use, and mental health challenges.”

    Machado said Golden will extend invitations to a representative from Sheriff Peter Koutoujian’s office, leadership from the LPD, district court judges serving the Lowell area, an a representative from the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.

    “The goal of this discussion is to explore collaborative strategies that address the root causes of recidivism, improve outcomes for individuals experiencing homelessness or substance use disorders, and enhance public safety for all residents and businesses,” Machado said.

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    Melanie Gilbert

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  • Project LEARN launches Lowell Schools Fund

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    LOWELL — Lowell High School senior Cyrus Bridge’s passion for STEM education began in fifth grade at IDEA Camp, a summer partnership between UMass Lowell, Lowell Public Schools, and Project LEARN. The weeklong camp provides hands-on STEM experiences for students in grades 5-12.

    At 17 years old, Bridge is a eight-year IDEA Camp veteran, now serving as counselor.

    “I did robotics, I did computer programming, there were art courses,” Bridge said. “It’s been great exposure and formative for my career choices — showing me that I want to go into STEM education.”

    In a time of uncertain funding, rising costs, and shifting priorities, experiential learning opportunities are at risk.

    Enter the Lowell Schools Fund — a Project LEARN initiative raising private dollars for high-impact programs in Lowell Public Schools. The fund is designed to fill gaps in public funding by soliciting donations from alumni, foundations, and corporate sponsors.

    “Federal funds are drying up; grants that we depend on are being cut back or just stopped midstream,” Superintendent of Schools Liam Skinner said. “The Lowell Schools Fund will help fill these gaps, providing educational opportunities for students that complement the work happening inside LPS classrooms.”

    The fund will invest in programs that empower the whole child: priorities include literacy and early learning, college and career readiness, STEM and arts enrichment, wraparound services, and funds earmarked for teacher innovation. Funding decisions will be made jointly by Project LEARN and LPS leadership, dispensed quarterly to respond to student needs in real time and in tight alignment with district LPS priorities.

    The establishment of the fund, which aims to raise $100,000 by the end of 2025 and $300,000 by the end of the 2025-2026 school year, was announced at the Sept. 30 grand opening of the Nancy L. Donahue Learning Lab, Project LEARN’s new space on Central Street.

    “It’s a hub for curiosity, connection, and possibility,” Project LEARN Executive Director LZ Nunn said of the Learning Lab. “It’s a place where students can see themselves as future scientists, entrepreneurs, civic leaders, and professionals — and where our community comes together to make that vision real.

    “We’re closing opportunity gaps. Every student deserves the opportunity to build the skills, confidence, and networks necessary to navigate higher education and the workforce” Nunn said.

    Support for the Fund will allow these pivotal career connected opportunities to thrive. With sustained investment, students can continue to expect access to paid internships with industry leaders, hands-on STEM experiences, immersive art projects, and ongoing opportunities to grow their 21st century skills.

    “This is a good day for Lowell,” said state Rep. Vanna Howard, who had the honor of dedicating the Learning Lab’s spacious conference room to her friend and mentor, Project LEARN co-founder and Chair Emeritus Brian Martin. “His vision and dedication to this city continue to inspire not only me, but generations of young people in Lowell.”

    Martin, a former Lowell mayor, city manager, and head of Lowell High School, and his extended family, made the first donation to the Lowell Schools Fund, pledging $10,000.

    In addition to Cyrus, several Lowell High School alumni attended the event, highlighting how programs available through LPS and Project LEARN built their confidence and improved their skills.

    Sebastian Rivera (LHS ’24) participated in the Education Pathway at Lowell High, where he was able to gain hands-on experience in a third-grade classroom at the Bailey Elementary School. While reading to a group, he noticed a student struggling to comprehend. Initially Rivera thought he was speaking too quickly or the visuals were unclear. But by the end of the lesson, he realized the student’s primary language was Spanish — just like his.

    “I was so eager to connect with this student and show him the representation that was in front of him,” Rivera said. “We were able to speak in Spanish at the end of the lesson and to see his face light up with joy because he felt seen is something that I reflect back to all the time.”

    Following that rewarding teaching experience, Rivera joined Community Teamwork’s school-age program as a group leader, teaching the same student.

    “It was a full circle moment where I was like, yeah, I’m definitely in the right spot, and it solidified that I’m on the right path,” he said.

    Today, Rivera is a junior at UMass Lowell, majoring in sociology with a concentration in policy and social problems, and dual minors in education and English.

    For more information and to support the Lowell Schools Fund, visit lowellschoolsfund.org.

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  • Dracut school superintendent threatens to sue town officials

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    DRACUT — Superintendent of Schools Steven Stone intends to sue Town Manager Kate Hodges and Board of Selectmen Chair Josh Taylor, alleging defamation of character and abuse of power.

    The news was disclosed at a special meeting of the School Committee in which committee member Rebecca Duda was removed from all subcommittee assignments because of several documents she posted on social media.

    The documents were related to a purported overpayment of retirement benefits to Andrew Graham, who worked for the School Department as a post-retirement employee.

    Notice of Stone’s suit was delivered to Hodges and Taylor on Thursday night. The first public hint of the superintendent’s action came Friday morning when Shannon Rowe, executive assistant to the Board of Selectmen, posted the agenda for a selectmen’s meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 7.

    The email announced an executive session, rather than a regular session, “to discuss strategy with respect to threatened litigation in the matter of the School Superintendent vs. the Chair of the Selectmen and Town Manager as an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the public body’s litigating position.”

    The School Committee held its own special, but public, meeting on Friday afternoon to review the department’s payroll process, committee roles and the School Department, the board’s code of ethics and governance norms, and the committee response to criticism and claims.

    The meeting was called after nearly six weeks of arguments conducted primarily over Facebook, beginning in August with a description of the Parker Avenue School lease to Community Teamwork Inc.

    During that six-week interval, some school board members, a selectman and others posted a daily blizzard of criticism of each other in less-than-respectful terms. In one post, School Committee Chair Renee Young called on selectmen to remove Taylor as chairman of that board.

    Neither the town manager nor the superintendent directly participated in the Facebook fight, although their names came up frequently.

    School Committee member Linda Trouville may have spoken for many who have witnessed the social media exchanges when she said, “I’ve been taken aback by the slander I’ve seen.”

    In the course of the school board meeting, School Committee member Allison Volpe made the motion to remove Duda from all her committee assignments because she posted several public records documents on Facebook regarding Graham.

    “I respect you but I can’t trust you,” Volpe told Duda.

    In a long introductory section, Duda said, “For approximately the past month and a half, I have been researching post retiree earnings with the Dracut Public Schools and our internal processes as it relates to these employees.”

    That and similar statements may be what led to allegations of violations of School Committee norms. One of those norms reads, “The School Committee will lead by example and work to build trust. We agree to avoid words and actions that create a negative impression of an individual, the School Committee, or the district. While we encourage debate and differing points of view, we will speak with care and respect.”

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    Prudence Brighton

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