Please keep your shoes on while you’re in the library- on top of everything else it won’t help you meet new people.

take $45 of whatever i pay that goes to the WPD. fuck, take most of it.

“the benefits of the CPA — affordable housing, historical preservation and open space - are “nice to have.” But he identified other things in the city such as roads and sidewalk repairs that should be prioritized.”

That’s a false choice. CPA can’t be used for roads and bridges, but if we fund the CPA and use the funds for preservation and affordable housing, then there should be money not being spent on those things that can now be spent on roads and bridges.

The bottom line is this is a good thing to spend our money on. Lots of towns around us do it. That said, I don’t fault anyone for not trusting that the city would run it well, or for wanting to keep that $45 in their bank account.

I was thinking about that.

Meetup.com

Worcester.

"a committee"... probably consisting of cronies and yuppie Avalon developers.

Illegal “aliens” cannot qualify for section 8. Period end of story. Maybe they are TPS. Maybe they have an undocumented minor that is a part of the Ascentria program (which do get subsidized housing but not through section 8). What I can tell ou with my 15 years in the field is that when there is a major disaster in another country and refugees come over yes about 30% of them DO bump others down on the list because they literally have no home. But very few qualify for that kind of bump up to the top of the list. Also I want to mention that your client isn’t the only person struggling on the list. I have a patient who has been on the section 8 list for 6 years. He is Ghanaian. Been in the US since 2000. He is an elder and has a disability at this point. He claims “the Spanish people get their apartments right away. I’ll never get one”. As misguided as he is, he sees it happen daily. I get it. But true undocumented people not involved with a program absolutely cannot get section 8. Period. End of discussion.

If you’re into other exercise experiences, Central Rock Gym is fun for rock climbing. Very friendly and welcoming community. Also, if you are a church/synagogue/mosque-goer, there’s lots of great religious communities in the area.

Good suggestion! Thank you!

Maybe check out meetup.com and see if there are any regular groups you might join. Otherwise, take a look at the Worcester Telegram calendar/events pages and see if anything interests you. Personally, I think philanthropy is a great way to meet fantastic people so I’ll throw that out there too!!

Good call. I actually love the Worcester Library! It’s a great place to kick off your shoes and relax!

SPIN!

I was just saved by this wonderful organization.

This is kind of long, and I'm sorry, but I'm emotional since this just happened.

A little backstory: I've been out of work for months due to COVID taking a toll on me. My 12 year old son was also horribly affected after taking the vaccine.* It killed his pancreas, and his thyroid. Because of the pancreatic damage, it no longer produces insulin. 9 hours after taking the vaccine, my son was diagnosed with pediatric sudden-onset type-1 diabetes and Hashimoto's disease because of the Thyroid damage. He's now a lifelong diabetic, and has to take insulin and thyroid hormone for life.

I also take care of my 23 year old son who has cerebral palsy. He's quite active though, and mentally, he's as sharp as a tack, his physical ailments limit the kind of work he can do, but he did just get his first job at a grocery store, and I couldn't be more proud of him.

I just started working again on the 10th, and received my first paycheck this past Wednesday, the 26th. As one might imagine it didn't go far, and just enough was left over to get to the next paycheck 2 weeks from now.

To top it off, yesterday I was driving down Park Ave near WPI. There's construction happening there, and there's a bunch of exposed manholes. If you happen to get in the wrong lane, you'll have to dodge and weave to get through a minefield of manholes. Because I had a car right next to me in the next lane over, I couldn't dodge and one of the manholes tore the tire right off of one of my wheels. It destroyed the rim as well, and I'm driving on a spare.

The point of the last few paragraphs was to some of the difficulties we faced over the past year. It was exceedingly difficult at times, but we made it by sticking together and toughing it out!

SO... On Thursday, my 1 year-old cat began to show signs of illness. We were concerned and called a vet immediately, but that was first call of many just trying to find a vet that had time to see my ailing cat. In the end, I took him to VEG in Shrewsbury - where the most amazing animal hospital I've ever seen exists!

They gave me an estimate just to find out what was wrong with him, and I applied for and was denied care credit. My out of work status has seen my credit suffer alongside everything else. As sad as it was, they couldn't care for my cat, and we were sent home. I called the shelter we received our cat from, and told them the situation. Evidently, she knew a person who started an organization called Stray Pets In Need - SPIN! The lady who runs SPIN called me and offered to pay for my cat's entire hospital bill.

This bill totaled $5,480. There's NO WAY I could've paid for that. Not now, not even in a few months. We were going to lose our cat - very loved member of our family, and there was nothing I could do about it. The people at SPIN are angels, and I've dedicated a $1,000 gift to them myself as soon as I'm able to do so. It will be sooner, rather than later because I'd like them to be able to continue to do for others, as they did for me.

I'd urge anyone to check out Stray Pets In Need, and let them know how special and appreciated they really are by giving them the help they need, so that they can continue to help others in times of crisis!

Thanks for reading, reddit!

​

*Note: Despite my son's injury, I am not an antivaxxer. Not at all.

>My wife makes zip locks with socks, toothbursh, wipes, snacks, etc and female hygenic products in half. Just hands them out when somebody begs.

Yep I do this too. In the winter time I also try to include those hand warmer packets.

Do you have a card for the Worcester Public Library? They have lots of events and probably have social media pages where they post them.

Wow. That’s pretty cool.

Worcester Earn a Bike is a community bike program. They have open shop on Tuesdays 6-9PM. You can work on donated bikes or your own. It’s a nice group of folks. The season is coming to a close but there should be a few more open shop nights.

4 Knowlton Ave, Worcester, MA 01603

http://worcesterearnabike.org

Thank you! Where are they out of?

Check out Barney's Bike shop. I believe they host group rides.

I like to read, bike ride, be outdoors.

What are your hobbies? There’s lots of different social groups here

The Fix sucks. HUNDREDS of better burgers in town for less $.

Partial to Rise Above and Stand Up for Kids, but there are lots of great non-profits doing amazing work in Worcester!

Also Tory Fort Lane in Worcester! Towards the end of the dead end. https://www.facebook.com/terrorontoryfort

CASA - https://www.thecasaproject.org/

CASA Project Worcester County recruits, screens, and trains community volunteers to be appointed advocates for children that have been abused and neglected in Worcester County!

Investigate and fact-find, helping a judge learn the nuances of each child’s prospective caregiver situations.

Advocate for any medical, mental health, and educational services that a child may need while in foster care.

Monitor case progress and well-being of the child to aid in obtaining a safe and permanent home as quickly as possible.

If volunteering is too big an ask, they regularly have toy drives or collections for things to help out the kids they advocate for! Currently they have a holiday drive: https://www.amazon.com/registries/custom/owner-view?registryId=TSE0OW2Z61SZ&ref_=gr_universal_landing