SPH to Honor 3 Organizations at Anniversary Celebration.

SPH to Honor 3 Organizations at Anniversary Celebration
Rosie’s Place, Mothers Out Front, and the Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition will receive the Beyond Health Award, the school’s highest honor, for their contributions to creating conditions that make the world a healthier place.
Three organizations that have made significant contributions to improving the health of the public will receive the School of Public Health’s 2021 Beyond Health Award.
SPH will present the award to Rosie’s Place, Mothers Out Front, and the Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) Coalition at its 45th Anniversary Celebration on Thursday, November 18 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Boston.
The Beyond Health Award is the school’s highest honor, recognizing individuals and organizations that have created the conditions that make populations healthy, and have made a difference in their work or lives by fostering new knowledge and educating others about the causes of health in a new way. The work of these organizations is more important than ever as the world continues to respond to the short and long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These organizations exemplify the compassionate, justice-oriented work that helps bring us closer to a healthier world, says Sandro Galea, dean and Robert A. Knox Professor. “We are delighted to honor them as this year’s Beyond Health awardees.”
Below is a brief look at the critical work and tireless dedication that these organizations provide to their communities every day.
Rosie’s Place
Founded in 1974 in Boston’s South End neighborhood by social justice activist Kip Tiernan, Rosie’s Place was the first women-only shelter in the United States. Since that time, the organization has grown from being a safe place for poor and homeless women to have a meal and a bed, to a community center that provides emergency and ongoing support, education, and outreach services to more than 12,000 women each year. The organization offers a wide range of services, such as housing and job search support, legal assistance, nutritious food, literacy and computer classes, and more.
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the organization’s service delivery, but Rosie’s Place remained open and continued to provide resources, support, and compassion to its guests during the health crisis. The organization doubled its Food Pantry’s capacity, expanded advocacy and legal help remotely, and renovated its physical space to accommodate additional women while maintaining social distancing.
“For the guests of Rosie’s Place, surviving a pandemic when you’re barely surviving poverty, can feel impossible,” says Jamie Doyle, director of communications for Rosie’s Place. “Every day, we meet women who feel overwhelmed and overlooked during this health crisis. For them, especially for our homeless guests, the consistency of our most basic services: showers, meals, safe and welcoming day and nighttime shelter, has never been more critical. Throughout this pandemic our doors have remained open and our help constant.”
Doyle says the organization is currently focusing its advocacy around voting rights, eviction and homelessness prevention funding, emergency shelter and housing access, and public benefit expansion, such as permanent implementation of emergency allotments of the Department of Transitional Assistance’s SNAP and cash benefits during COVID-19.
“Now more than ever, we truly are a lifeline for thousands of poor and homeless women who have nowhere else to turn,” says Doyle. “We believe that it is not enough to devote ourselves to helping those women who need it—we must also dedicate ourselves to changing the world in which poor women live.”
Mothers Out Front
Mothers Out Front is a national movement of mothers working to ensure a livable climate for their children through bold climate action. The group brings together mothers in communities across the U.S. to help them advocate for transformative climate policies at the local, state, and national level with a unified goal of achieving a just transition away from fossil fuels to clean and renewable energy. Founded by two moms in 2013, the organization embraces a decentralized model which has enabled more than 35,000 moms across the country to join its cause.
“Tackling the climate crisis can seem overwhelming, and that’s why Mothers Out Front’s approach to mobilizing moms is so unique,” says Kristine Jelstrup, a leader of MOF’s Cambridge team, as well as a natural healthcare practitioner and a mother of two. “Our moms identify climate concerns in their communities and are provided with the tools and training to push for transformative climate change and help shape public policy. Whether it’s having local school districts transition to electric school buses, pushing for a city to ban [natural] gas in new building construction, or fighting against fossil fuel infrastructure projects, these tangible campaigns and wins are helping us ensure we are working towards a fossil-free future and creating a livable climate for all children.”
Jelstrup says the same populations most affected by the pandemic were those already at disproportionate risk from the impacts of the climate crisis: low-income communities and communities of color. The pandemic has only highlighted the public health emergency caused by the climate crisis, she says.
“We saw early on in the pandemic how quickly the earth responded to having less fossil fuels burned into the atmosphere, but we are almost back to our previous levels of polluting,” Jelstrup says. “It really shone a light on the importance of holding the fossil fuel industry accountable for continuing to poison our air, water, and threaten our future well-being. We cannot guarantee a healthy future without swift action on climate.”
MIRA Coalition
Founded in 1987 and based in Boston, MIRA is the largest coalition in New England promoting the rights and integration of immigrants and refugees.
The multi-ethnic coalition is comprised of more than 130 organizational members—from grassroots community organizations and refugee resettlement agencies to faith-based organizations and human rights advocates—who provide education and training, leadership development, institutional organizing, strategic communications, policy analysis and advocacy to immigrants and refugees.
MIRA has advocated for progressive policies at the state, local and national levels, helped thousands of green card holders to become U.S. citizens, registered thousands of new Americans to vote, and provided legal services to immigrants.
These actions and resources have become even more critical during the pandemic in Massachusetts, where one in six residents, and one in five workers, are foreign-born.
“Immigrants have been at the front lines of the pandemic since it began,” says Daniel Augusto Pereira, director of communications for MIRA. “We are pressing local, state and national government bodies to recognize this and support immigrant essential workers in every way possible. This includes a pathway to citizenship, access to healthcare, and support for every community which has helped us through the pandemic.”
At the state level, MIRA’s most important efforts are focused on the Safe Communities Act and the Workforce and Family Mobility Act, also known as the Driver’s License Bill, says Pereira.
“This legislation would ensure the safety of immigrant communities in the Commonwealth and uplift and protect our universal and fundamental right to access workplaces, healthcare, and childcare,” says Pereira. “The former prevents ICE from using local law-enforcement for immigration activities, and the latter ensures that everyone who lives in Massachusetts can get a drivers’ license and be insured.” At the national level, MIRA is encouraging Congress members to support a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million immigrants living without legal status in the US.
To learn more about or attend SPH’s 45th Anniversary Celebration on November 18, click here. To support the celebration, click here.
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