E-Mail This Article to a Friend NEVER FORGOTTEN Stephen Collins’s living legacy BY KRISTEN LOMBARDI

The tragic news that Stephen Collins, the 51-year-old director of the Massachusetts Human Services Coalition (MHSC), is suffering from an aggressive form of cancer that he is not expected to survive has hit the human-services community hard. (See "Lying Liars," Editorial, June 4.) Collins represents something of a rare breed among advocates today, a man respected by both friend and foe because of his unstinting passion for social justice. He has devoted his life to meeting the needs of the forgotten — the welfare recipients, the homeless, the mentally ill, the mentally retarded, and the disabled — folks who are all too often pushed aside during the budget-making process.

His imminent loss, says Peter Cullinane, president of the MHSC board, "is quite a blow. We at the board have had to ask ourselves, ‘What is the impact of this?’ We already miss Steve so much."

This week, hundreds of Collins’s family, friends, and colleagues came together to honor the man and his mission. The June 29 Tribute to Steve Collins, held at the Women’s Educational and Industrial Union, in Boston, brought out pretty much everybody who cares about health care and social services in Massachusetts — from former governor Michael Dukakis to Senate president Robert Travaglini to Boston city clerk Rosaria Salerno, who presided over the marriage of Collins and his wife, Mara, just six months ago. Collins was too sick to attend the tribute, but the two-hour event gave fans and supporters statewide the chance to express their appreciation for his dedication and achievements. In his final days, advocates are lauding his "precious spirit," his "commitment to social justice," and his "lone voice" over and over again.

As Philip Johnston, who served as the human-services secretary during the Dukakis administration and now chairs the state Democratic Party, puts it, "I can count on my hand the number of people in human services who have risen to the stature that Steve has achieved. He never let obstacles get in his way. He never sold out on his principles. He is the real deal."

Liberal advocate Jim Braude is more succinct: "Steve is a stunningly ego-free, wickedly funny, and a ferociously dedicated soul."

Braude’s comments highlight what those familiar with Collins’s work recognize as his greatest contribution to the human-services community: his humor. Braude, who now co-hosts NECN’s NewsNight, describes Collins as a "walking oxymoron": a progressive who understands the beauty of satire. "Our side has worked so hard to elevate humorlessness to an art form," he says, "but Steve convinced us that being funny and caring were not mutually exclusive notions."

Back in 1990, Collins was the brain behind the MHSC’s first "rally for the really rich," at which he donned a tuxedo and adopted the persona of Thurston Morton Beechcroft Collingsworth IV to picket wealthy fundraisers while budget cuts threatened the state’s most vulnerable. Over the years, he and his colleagues in the "Rich People’s Liberation Front" have visited legislators while chanting, "Run for your cell phones. Run for your faxes. Join the fight to roll back taxes." They have offered up on silver platters copies of the Rich People’s Budget — a tongue-in-cheek spin-off of the MHSC’s People’s Budget. In 2003, Collins staged a people’s "half-baked" sale steps from Governor Mitt Romney’s first State of the State address, complete with "upside-down-priorities pie" and "nuts-to-cuts cupcakes." He outdid even himself when he constructed a giant thermometer to record every $2.50 contribution to human services made from the bake sale.

"Steve taught me that being earnest is not the best way to get people to pay attention to your message," says Deborah Weinstein, the former MHSC director who now heads the Coalition on Human Needs, in Washington, DC. "It’s not so easy to find someone with the special commitment, creativity, and humor that Steve has."

Tribute organizers hope the event’s lasting message is their appreciation for and celebration of Collins and his work — indeed, he has inspired them to carry his torch forward. Already, according to Cullinane, the MHSC has received grants that will help fund Collins’s legacy. The Boston Foundation has donated $25,000 to launch a "healing health and human services" campaign, an extension of Collins’s "cut no more" effort that aims to restore the $1 billion slashed from social-service budgets in recent years. And the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation will donate an additional $25,000 to the MHSC so it can develop ways to provide health insurance for the thousands of woefully underpaid and uninsured human-services workers in this state — an issue especially dear to Collins.

At the MHSC, the loss of this effective and compassionate man has only "solidified our commitment to this work," says Cullinane. "The coalition is looking forward to making sure that Steve’s work and his memory are kept alive."

Contributions to benefit the Massachusetts Human Services Coalition can be made in Stephen Collins’s name by visiting www.ForSteve.org or by mailing a check to For Steve, P.O. Box 390773, Cambridge, MA 02139.