Housing

Activists take action

by Ben Geman

A church-based grassroots movement that's pressing Boston and Massachusetts officials to pour more cash into education and affordable housing is readying its strongest, most dramatic pitch yet.

This Tuesday, May 9, the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO) hopes to pack thousands into the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center to publicly make its case to Senate president Tom Birmingham, Boston mayor Tom Menino, and other politicians.

In recent months, the GBIO -- a coalition of more than 80 area churches, synagogues, advocacy groups, and other organizations -- has gathered upward of 100,000 signatures in support of doubling city and state housing funds to help temper the area's frightful rise in rents and home prices (see "Faith in Numbers," News and Features, February 25).

These are critical days for the group, which has been meeting with state representatives and city pols in smaller numbers for months. Legislators are currently crafting the next state budget. Although state representatives have proposed an $80 million increase in housing funds after years of cuts, the GBIO would like to see even more money put toward the problem. Similarly, the GBIO is pushing Boston city councilors to use their approval power over Menino's newly proposed city budget as leverage to win more housing funds from the mayor.

Of course, on May 9, the GBIO also plans on bringing out the people to do the convincing themselves. "There are a lot of people in the city and metro Boston that are behind us," says Dorchester resident Charles Millet, who's active in the group. "This is a real issue, and there are real victims."

The May 9 "action" at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center at Roxbury Community College, 1350 Tremont Street, begins at 7:30 p.m. Call the GBIO at (617) 825-5600 for more information.