Letter: Gove Street Citizens Association a long established group

Long time East Boston activist Mary Ellen Welch defends the Gove Street Citizens Association in a letter to the editor.

The GSCA is a strong neighborhood group. 

This letter is sent to correct misinformation in an article in the last issue about the Gove Street Citizens Association.  The article describes the Association as “a sort of splinter group of the Jeffries Pont Neighborhood Association.” This is not true.

The Gove Street Citizens Association operated for 35 years as a strong, effective neighborhood group representing the Mount Carmel area.  The GSCA worked very hard on many issues over the years. It organized residents about the issue of a third harbor tunnel when the route was along the railroad right of way and then at the foot of Jeffries Point through the Jeffries cove. Working with the Jeffries Point Neighborhood Association the groups lobbied the Governor and other state officials to have the tunnel surface on the airport.

The Gove Street Association worked for many years   on airport impact issues like noise and air pollution. The group lobbied at City Hall and at the State House to get the airport to implement noise abatement techniques and soundproofing of homes and schools.  All the while the GSCA worked together with other neighborhood groups making the neighborhood voice a stronger one.

Both of these neighborhood groups worked with the City to improve the zoning rules in this end of East Boston.  The idea was to control institutional expansion and allow the kind of development that would enhance the residential quality of the neighborhood. Both areas had historic overlay districts designated in parts of their areas to preserve some of the unique history of the sub neighborhoods.

During the 35 year operation of the GSCA many other ideas and issues were brought up for discussion and action. The Mount Carmel area was very strong and organized around neighborhood issues. They were recognized by all levels of government and earned the respect of all the elected officials and government agencies.

When the City was forced to close the police station and a firehouse because of severe budget cuts the East Boston citizens rallied at the tunnel for 61 days to protest the closings. The GSCA was one of the neighborhood groups to recruit volunteers to march in the protest. To have an active citizen organization to watch over a section of a neighborhood makes the whole neighborhood a stronger one. There is more information able to be circulated among the neighbors on small and large issues. 

An informed citizen is an empowered one.

After 35 years the leadership of the GSCA decided to slow down and work within other organizations to do community work. In recent months with so many new development proposals surfacing in the neighborhood it became evident that more work and citizen involvement was necessary to protect the integrity of the neighborhood. So the old leadership and the newer neighborhood residents decided to revive the GSCA as a mechanism through their voices could be heard on important issues, so, the Association reintroduced themselves to the local and State officials and to developers in the neighborhood.  Of course the intention is to work with all the other neighborhood groups on issues that affect all sections of neighborhood.  Particular attention is to be paid to the local issues in the Mount Carmel area so each voice is heard and opinions are heard and respected by all who want to do business in the area.

The community is made stronger and more effective with more people and opinions involved in decision making for their immediate neighborhood. So, the GSCA is a healthy, invigorated group of residents who only want the best for their neighborhood.
Perhaps the newspaper could reach out to the leadership and membership of the GSNA to better understand the philosophy and ideas of this strong neighborhood group with a proud history.

Sincerely.

Mary Ellen Welch

What we saw at the EB Public Library July 16

About 75 Friends of the East Boston Library showed up in the Thomas Menino Community Room to unveil the refurbished Queen Mary painting by Frederick Leonard King which was created with the support of the Works Progress Administration. With great pride song and community, the Friends restored what always belonged to East Boston. (photographs by Diane Modica).

Boston's Poet Laureate to visit East Boston Branch of the Public Library: June 27

Photo credit: Priscilla Harmel

BOSTON – June 24, 2015 – Boston Public Library and the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture announce branch visits by the City of Boston’s Poet Laureate, Danielle Legros Georges, who will travel to Boston Public Library locations this summer to meet and engage with aspiring and practicing poets throughout the city. Interested participants can bring examples of their work for discussion, or questions and comments for the Poet Laureate Program. 

“The drop-in workshops from such a highly accomplished poet are a unique learning opportunity to develop one’s skills and celebrate creativity and the arts in the City of Boston,” said Christine Schonhart, Boston Public Library’s Director of Library Services for the Branches.

The following visits take place in Boston Public Library branches:

•   Saturday, June 27, from 2 – 4 p.m. at the East Boston Branch, located at 365 Bremen Street.
•   Saturday, July 25, from 2 – 4 p.m. at the Mattapan Branch, located at 1350 Blue Hill Avenue.
•   Saturday, August 8, from 2 – 4 p.m. at the Honan-Allston Branch, located at 300 North Harvard Street.

Danielle Legros Georges was appointed Boston’s Poet Laureate by Mayor Martin J. Walsh in December 2014 and teaches at Lesley University in the Creative Arts and Learning Division. She is the author of Maroon, a book of poems, and her poems have appeared in numerous anthologies. Her essays, interviews, poems, and reviews have appeared in publications including The American Poetry Review, The Boston Globe, Callaloo, Consequence, Salamander, spoKe, Solstice, Transition, World Literature Today, and the Women’s Review of Books. A resident of Dorchester, she was born in Haiti, has lived in Boston’s Haitian community of Mattapan, Chicago and New York, and has travelled to various parts of the world.

About BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY Boston Public Library has a Central Library, twenty-four branches, map center, business library, and a website filled with digital content and services. Established in 1848, the Boston Public Library has pioneered public library service in America. It was the first large free municipal library in the United States, the first public library to lend books, the first to have a branch library, and the first to have a children’s room. Each year, the Boston Public Library hosts thousands of programs and serves millions of people. All of its programs and exhibitions are free and open to the public. At the Boston Public Library, books are just the beginning. To learn more, visit bpl.org.

East Boston Main Streets Announces East Boston Neighborhood Health Center and John Tyler as Business and Volunteer of the Year

BOSTON, MA (June 8, 2015) – On Thursday, June 25, East Boston Main Streets will join Mayor Walsh at the Strand Theatre on 543 Columbia Road in Dorchester to honor the 2014 recipients of the East Boston Outstanding Business Award and Outstanding Volunteer Award.  

“I am absolutely thrilled to be able to announce this year’s award recipients.  Both the EBNHC and John Tyler have been tireless advocates for East Boston and their partnership and friendship has greatly enhanced the impact that EBMS has been able to have on the East Boston community,” says Max Gruner, Executive Director of East Boston Main Streets.

This year’s winner of the East Boston Main Streets Volunteer of the Year Award is John Tyler for his unfaltering support and tireless work on behalf of the East Boston business district.  

In particular, EBMS would like to recognize John Tyler for his over 150 hours of volunteer time, his expertise and superior welding skill, as well as for opening up his work space to us in the construction from scratch of over a dozen magnificent tree-pit surrounds as part of a much needed and on-going beautification initiative in East Boston.
 
The East Boston Neighborhood Health Center is awarded the Business of the Year Award 2014.  The EBNHC, now in its 45th year, has been a tremendous partner to EBMS over the past 20 years.  In particular, we would like to recognize EBNHC’s untiring and innovative support of the Neighborhood Business Institute, an educational subsidiary of East Boston Main Streets.  We thank the Health Center for use of its training space and equipment, for sharing its staff’s expertise, and ongoing positive outlook and friendship of its administration throughout the planning and implementation of this unique and impactful program.
 
Both recipients will be honored by Mayor Walsh at the Annual Awards Ceremony which will take place on Thursday evening, June 25th at the Strand Theater in Upham's Corner at 6:00pm.  “We encourage members of the East Boston community to join us for this truly fabulous event and to cheer on these two outstanding and well deserving award recipients,” says Jim Buckley, EBMS board chair.
 
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EBMS is a non-profit corporation. Our mission is to create a more vibrant business district by initiating private and public improvements, promoting commerce, and supporting efforts to improve the quality of life for all who live, work and do business in East Boston.

BMC Engages Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Family and Integrative Medicine to Provide Care for Children with Chronic Pain

(Boston, MA, March 4, 2015)  – Boston Medical Center (BMC) has opened an interdisciplinary Pediatric Pain Clinic that will help patients and their parents better manage acute, complex and recurrent pain and its lasting effects. The new clinic treats patients with diseases that commonly cause chronic pain, including Sickle Cell Disease, as well as any distressing painful symptom in childhood or adolescence. The Pediatric Pain Clinic is a partnership between BMC’s Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry and is collaborating with the Department of Family Medicine and the Program for Integrative Medicine & Health Disparities.

According to the American Pain Society, chronic pain in children is the result of a complex interaction of biological processes, psychological factors, and sociocultural factors, and it is estimated to affect 20 to 35 percent of children and adolescents globally. 

The Pediatric Pain Clinic’s approach to care considers the “cycle of pain.” Recurring pain, or any unpleasant sensory experience associated with harm or injury, often leads to decreased physical activity. A lack of physical activity over time causes a child’s muscles to become shorter, weaker, and deconditioned, a process in which pain sensitivity can be more severe. A child may come to fear their pain, and thus avoid activity altogether. In turn, these events result in more pain for the child and continue the cycle.

“One of our main goals is to enable kids who experience chronic pain to participate in typical, age-appropriate activities by providing better access to chronic pain care,” said Caitlin Neri, MD, medical director of the Pediatric Pain Clinic who is a trained pediatric hematologist and oncologist. “Pain affects all areas of a child’s or adolescent’s life and can have a significant impact on the child’s relationships, schooling, and family life. If it’s not treated properly, the pain can even cause issues that appear later in adulthood.”

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is known to cause some of the most extreme, whole-body pain “crises,” as well as chronic pain that can last for weeks or months at a time. Because hematologists treat patients with SCD, they are well-versed on the negative effects pain can have on these pediatric patients.

“Our experience treating SCD patients will not only help improve access to acute and chronic pain care for these patients, but all painful syndromes that we see in BMC patients,” said Neri.

Providers will utilize an interdisciplinary approach to pain management, and its successful regimens may include: developing pain management plans with a child’s school, physical therapy and home exercise programs, coping and relaxation strategies, cognitive-behavioral therapy, as well as other integrative therapies available at BMC such as acupuncture, aroma therapy, massage therapy, and even yoga.

“Anxiety, stress, and mood issues often play a significant role in worsening a child’s pain, and so the combination of cognitive behavioral therapy and relaxation strategies are essential to effectively treat chronic pain,” said Laura Goldstein, PsyD, co-director of the pain clinic, who specializes in therapeutic interventions to improve medical coping and pain management and is trained in in biofeedback and hypnosis. “As providers, we want to give families hope and empower children to gain control over their pain.” 

“There is often a role for medications in management of pain in children, but we know that medications alone do not completely relieve severe, complex, and chronic pain,” said Neri. “Used in concert with one another, treatments including medications, behavioral interventions, physical therapy, and integrative therapies may all be necessary to address this type of pain.”

The Pediatric Pain Clinic is open for patients on Wednesday afternoons for treatment, which allocates time for families to meet with each of the clinic specialists, including a licensed social worker, as well as schedule same day, on campus appointments with BMC’s integrative medicine team. While all patient evaluations are completed at BMC, some treatment and integrative therapies could be done at appropriate community locations and clinics, and clinic staff also work closely with each patient’s primary care physician.

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About Boston Medical Center
Boston Medical Center is a private, not-for-profit, 482-bed, academic medical center that is the primary teaching affiliate of Boston University School of Medicine. It is the largest and busiest provider of trauma and emergency services in New England. Committed to providing high-quality health care to all, the hospital offers a full spectrum of pediatric and adult care services including primary and family medicine and advanced specialty care with an emphasis on community-based care. Boston Medical Center offers specialized care for complex health problems and is a leading research institution, receiving more than $118 million in sponsored research funding in fiscal year 2014. It is the 11th largest recipient of funding in the U.S. from the National Institutes of Health among independent hospitals. In 1997, BMC founded Boston Medical Center Health Plan, Inc., now one of the top ranked Medicaid MCOs in the country, as a non-profit managed care organization. It does business in Massachusetts as BMC HealthNet Plan and as Well Sense Health Plan in New Hampshire, serving more than 315,000 people, collectively. Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine are partners in the Boston HealthNet – 14 community health centers focused on providing exceptional health care to residents of Boston. For more information, please visit http://www.bmc.org.

Source: Tim Viall, timothy.viall@bmc.org, 617-638-6857