This afternoon the No One Leaves Campaign kicked off its fall efforts by canvasing a number of foreclosed homes in the Dorchester area of Boston. With about 30 people from Harvard Law, BU Law, and Tufts, we broke into small groups to cover the recent foreclosed properties.

One of the first things we came to realize is the transit access inequity that exists in Boston. Each of the volunteers come from academic centers in the area that are all well-serviced by the MBTA. This resulted in the fact that only a few of us had cars to help get students around to each of the houses. While we are used to get around much of Cambridge, Boston, and Brighton with the T, we realized that doing so in Dorchester would not be as possible. Economically, Dorchester is not as wealthy as the rest of the city. I’m wondering if the lower value is due to the lacking public service or does the city not provide the service due to the lower value. It’s an interesting and difficult topic which we have discussed in our studies in urban planning and one that we directly faced today.

Aside from the transit issue, my group of six volunteers decided we would use the Red Line to at least get us to our general canvasing area and then walk around to the houses. The group of six (made up of myself and two other Tuft students, two BU Law students, and a Harvard Law student) then broke down to two groups of three. This was done so as not to scary or oppress the resident who came to the door and saw a number of people at the stairs.

This turned out to be a moot point. My group had four houses on our list of foreclosures to visit. Each house (except for two) had three units in it. It was our task to determine if the residents still lived at the house and if so, assist them by providing information about their legal right to remain in the unit as well as the community effort to buy back the property. Out of the eight doors that we went to, we only spoke with one resident (who actually did not speak any English). Another one of the homes had since been vacated, leaving us to be concerned that the bank may have wrongfully persuaded the tenant out of the building. We did leave information at all residences (except the vacated one) in hopes that the tenants would look it over either when they got home or after we left – we had a feeling people were at some of their homes when we came but chose not to answer the door.

While it was a bit of a letdown to not actually interact with a majority of the residents, we did what we could on this trip to inform them. Thankfully, we do redouble our efforts for residents who do not get a direct interaction so we (or another volunteer) may be back to try to help them out. Our biggest concern is that they don’t move out of their home unless they are fully aware of their rights and truly want to do so.

I’m still pumped and ready for the next canvasing event. Until next time…


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Former President Bill Clinton made an exciting and surprising statement yesterday – he now supports gay marriage. After a presidency that was marked by mixed support for sexual orientation equality, one of the country’s greatest presidents ever has finally acknowledged that equality should be all-inclusive.

During Clinton’s leadership, he enacted the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy as a method to open military positions to homosexual citizens. Prior to this policy, the military restricted its ranks to only heterosexuals. While the intent was noble, it has had its issues. The first of which is that be establishing the policy, Clinton simply created a bandaid to hide the military’s discrimination. The policy doesn’t actually allow you to serve if you are not heterosexual. It simply forbids officials to inquire about your orientation. If a serviceman/woman is found to be homosexual, they can be discharged. The policy did not correct and abolish the discrimination.

This was all too clear as demonstrated in the story of Private Barry Winchell. The film, Soldier’s Girl, is about Winchell who falls in love with a transgendered woman, while he is training for the military. One of his squadmates becomes enraged by the idea that Winchell may be gay and decides to get rid of the issue. After the ruthless murder of Winchell, Clinton requested a review of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. Sadly, nothing came of it.

While many may praise Clinton for bringing some equality with the DADT policy, this was completely overshadowed in 1996 when he wrote into federal law the Defense of Marriage Act – a truly bigoted article that still stands today. This legislation states that the federal government of the US only recognizes marriage between a man and a woman. It goes on to state that no state is required to recognize a same-sex relationship as marriage even if it is considered a marriage in another state. The act laid the potential foundation for a federal ban on same-sex marriage. It has been used as rationale for many states in the country to actually restrict marriages to only heterosexual.

In Clinton’s statement yesterday, he acknowledged that it is not the federal government’s place to step into the marriage discussion and that each state is free to decide on marriage rights within their own borders. While I’m glad he’s finally had this insight, it does nothing for the country that still has the Defense of Marriage Act on the books.

In the past few years, we’ve seen nearly all of New England (Maine and New Hampshire are in the works, Connecticut does not) as well as Iowa stand up for equal rights. These six states have pledged to their residents the open freedom to wed their partner, whether same or opposite sex. While this equality struggle has some great news, it is overshadowed by the 29 states that have constitutional bans on gay marriage – the biggest shock was California which repealed the gay marriage right in 2008. Over 18,000 same-sex couples were married in those five months of freedom in California.

It’s difficult to tell where the marriage equality road will lead us. Sadly, many people have allowed their religious beliefs to blind them. I know that it’s been used before, but it’s so relevant – if we allowed religious beliefs to dictate our legal rights, African-Americans and women today would not have the right to vote or own property. Regardless of whether a person believes homosexuality is a choice or genetic/natural, the fact remains that there are homosexuals. We live and breath just like everyone else. We obey the law and pay our taxes just like everyone else. And we harm no one by living our lives as who we are. If the thought of same-sex couples causes you mental distress, that is born out of your own inner workings. The oppressors have no idea what it’s like until they’ve put on the oppresseds’ shoes.

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist; Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist; Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist; Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew; Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Pastor Martin Niemöller


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Last night I went to a training session for the No One Leaves program. Started by the Harvard Law School and the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, this is an outreach program that helps to let residents of foreclosed homes learn about their legal rights. The home foreclosure crisis has hit the majority of the nation very hard. No One Leaves intends to make sure that these residents do not suffer any longer.

Thanks to Massachusetts law, residents are provided security with regard to their homes. While many banks are taking possession to private homes and apartment buildings due to foreclosures, the residents have the ability to remain in their home until they receive a fair hearing in court. Many homeowners and renters however are unaware of these rights.

Myself and at least 50 other undergraduate and graduate students attended the training session last night at Harvard. Coming from Harvard, Harvard Law, Tufts, Suffolk Law, and Northeastern, each student was certainly inspired by the stories and the potential to help. While we will not be giving legal advice, we go to the foreclosed homes to provide information for the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.

The foreclosure crisis, brought on by faulty and poorly conceived mortgages, has blindsided both homeowners and renters. The banks then make the situation worse by illegally telling residents they need to move out immediately. Thankfully, we will be able to help make sure they don’t have to actually leave. I’ll be sure to update the blog after each outreach session.


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