MAYOR WALSH JOINS BRIGHTON MARINE HEALTH CENTER TO ANNOUNCE $200,000 HOMELESS VETERANS HOUSING FUND

MAYOR WALSH JOINS BRIGHTON MARINE HEALTH CENTER TO ANNOUNCE $200,000 HOMELESS VETERANS HOUSING FUND

Endowment will Support Gaps in Housing Funding to End Veterans Homelessness

BOSTON - Wednesday, November 11, 2015 - To honor Veterans Day, Mayor Martin J. Walsh today joined the Brighton Marine Health Center Board of Directors to announce that Brighton Marine established a $200,000 endowment to support the Mayor's Homes for the Brave initiative, with the goal of bringing a functional end to veterans homelessness in Boston. The endowment will create the Homeless Veterans Housing Fund, which will fill the current gaps in funding that can delay the process of securing permanent housing for Boston area veterans. The fund has already assisted 18 veterans by disbursing payments of up to $2,000 each.  The fund makes awards to organizations specializing in assisting homeless veterans with housing placement. "No one who has served our country should be homeless - and in Boston, we're committed to giving our veterans the resources they need to succeed," said Mayor Walsh. "I thank the Brighton Marine Health Center for their partnership in this effort. The Homeless Veterans Housing Fund is an integral tool to support our fight to end homelessness among our veterans." "Out of approximately 300 veterans in Boston without permanent housing, some 50 are holding Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) subsidized housing certificates, but many are unable to secure housing because they lack funds for costs that VASH does not cover, such as security deposits, first month's rent payments, moving costs, brokers' fees, and rental application fees," said Brighton Marine's Chief Executive Officer, Michael Dwyer.  "For many veterans, these relatively small, one-time costs can spell the difference between permanent housing and spending more time in a shelter or on the street." Veterans will be able to receive up to $2,000 from the fund. Costs considered under this fund include: Security deposits Application fees Outstanding utility debt Pro-rated rent gaps up to 15 days (to allow for vacant unit inspection if previous tenant is moving out end of month) Veteran's portion of first month rent Broker fees The City of Boston is committed to connecting Boston's military families with the resources and assistance they are entitled to. Earlier this year, Mayor Walsh released "An Action Plan to End Veteran and Chronic Homelessness In Boston: 2015 - 2018", which outlines the City's strategies to transform Boston's homeless response system in order to end veterans homelessness by 2015 and chronic homelessness by 2018. In July of 2014, Mayor Walsh announced that the City of Boston signed on to First Lady Michelle Obama's Mayoral Challenge to end homelessness among veterans.  As part of the "Homes for the Brave" initiative that was launched as a result, the City of Boston has committed to putting a functional end to veterans homelessness by the end of 2015.  Putting a functional end to homelessness means that: No veteran will be forced to sleep on the streets; When a veteran becomes homeless, it is rare and brief; and All homeless veterans will be housed or on a pathway to stable housing by the end of the 2015 At the time of the launch, there were 414 homeless veterans in Boston.  Since then, 484 homeless veterans have been housed.  New veterans continue to enter the system; however, the average length of stay in shelter among veterans has been reduced.  At the start of the initiative, 50 percent of homeless veterans left shelter in less than six months; today, that number has increased to 70 percent. Last week, the City, along with 11 partner agencies, hosted the first ever "housing surge" for veterans at the Pine Street Inn. Sixty homeless veterans met with representatives to better understand the housing resources available to them. Over the weekend of Saturday, November 7 and Sunday, November 8, hundreds of volunteers went door-to-door throughout the City of Boston to personally thank the men and women who have served in the U.S. Military and provide them with the resources available to them as veterans living in Boston. To honor Veterans Day, Mayor Walsh has lit the balcony outside the City Council Chambers red, white and blue to honor the men and women who have served our country. ABOUT BRIGHTON MARINE HEALTH CENTER Since 1940, Brighton Marine Health Center has provided clinical and social service resources to the Allston-Brighton community. Particular services focus on supporting the community's veterans and their families.  Brighton Marine currently works with the Veterans Administration and the City of Boston, and is in the process of expanding the network of agencies authorized to receive funding through the Homeless Veteran's Housing Fund.   For more information about the fund, visit Brighton Marine Health Center's website at http://www.brighton-marine.org .

Governor Baker on Veterans Day: “Thank You from a Grateful Nation”

BOSTON – Today at the Massachusetts State House, Governor Charlie Baker, Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, Major General L. Scott Rice, and Secretary of Veterans’ Services Francisco Ureña expressed the Commonwealth’s gratitude to its veterans and Gold Star Families, including Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Thomas Hudner.
GOVERNOR BAKER: The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation. One of the great things I’ve observed as I’ve gotten older is people have gotten much better about separating the serviceman or the servicewoman, and their commitment, and their dedication, and yes, their sacrifice and the sacrifice of their families, from whatever people think about the conflict. You walk through an airport, you watch the way people treat and deal with members of our armed services who are in uniform, you can see it every day. Thank you for what you’ve done, the choice you’ve made, and the commitment you made to all of us. Every day somewhere in this great country of ours, someone is told thank you from a grateful nation. We should all say it a lot, every day, as often as we possibly can, because it’s a debt we can never repay. Thank you very much.

鍾倫納11/28談仁和禮

中華多媒體協會將於11月28日（週六）下午2至4點，在中華廣教學校舉辦講座，邀每年復活節都從遷居地回波士頓探訪的鍾倫納博士，暢談“仁和禮，古與今—今天適用的禮儀和仁行“。

中華多媒體協會表示，鍾倫納曾在中華耆英會，麻州老人事務局服務多年，後喬遷他地，潛心研究，撰述，屢次應邀到香港辦講座，今年11月又再度應邀，在香港中文大學大學服務中心和珠江三角洲社會研究中心合辦的講座中，以“道德新析---仁義禮智信的古今意義”為題做了一場學術演講。

該會特地趁鍾倫納在復活節期間回波士頓探親之際，邀他演講，分享他的研究成果，包括禮意，禮儀，禮制，禮法，仁的源變和要素，孔子言行的真諦，現代社會和新的仁和禮等。

演講將以粵語進行，或許會有普通話即時翻譯。支持者包括陳德慈，曾秀芬，鍾曼怡等人，查詢可洽鍾應泰(Tom Y Chung) ，774-365-2225，電郵eastmeetswest21@yahoo.com，網站www.emw21.com。

新設計聯盟慶成立 辦講座教人分析波市房地產

新設計聯盟上週末首次聚會，並邀麻省理工學院研究員，創辦美吉屋的楊曉雯，在布魯克蘭鎮公共圖書館分享她用大數據分析波士頓房價的看法，以及奧斯頓、布萊頓一帶增值潛力大的預測。

         新設計聯盟是由葉健，樂茜，秦嵐，辛之知等四名在建築設計業工作華人剛創辦的非牟利機構，正邀約華裔設計師，建築師加入，交流設計構想，業界資訊。

         楊曉雯在會中以大數據分析波士頓房產類型，以及就業增長和波士頓房價之間的關係。

         楊曉雯根據數據指出，華人買房子的趨勢是，在波士頓市內買共管公寓（condo)的人最多，其次是劍橋市，布萊頓（Brighton），布魯克蘭，昆士市，奧斯頓，摩頓市等市鎮。昆士市，勒星頓鎮，牛頓市則是買家庭屋的人多些。

         若以房價變化來看，在2004到2014年間，漲幅最大的是劍橋市，房屋中位價格從2005年的66萬7500元，漲到2014年的120萬元，漲幅高達79.8%，交易量則下降了27.8%。

         以漲幅來排，麻州內10大漲幅最高市鎮以及其中位房價，依序為牙買加平原漲40.6%，70萬元；勒星頓鎮漲34.8%，95萬元；南波士頓漲33.3%，54萬5000元；布魯克蘭鎮漲32.6%，148萬5000元；尚莫維爾市漲27.2%，54萬5000元；康可鎮（Conco）漲26.1%，91萬4000元；貝爾蒙市漲24.9%，89萬9000元；牛頓市漲23.8%，94萬1000元；溫徹斯特（Winchester）漲23%，90萬元5000元 。

         她指出，投資房地產應該關注房價的歷史變化，並從地點，房型，時間來進一步分析淨租金回報率，以及升值潛力和風險。

         計算淨租金回報率時，先從每年淨房租收入除已購房總價，就是資金回報率百分比。每年淨房租收入等於年租金收入減去房產稅，房屋保險，社區費，維修費，空置其，分攤費，出租管理費等費用後的數目。據她所知，在同一區域內，獨立式住宅的租金回報率，基本上會低於聯排式住宅和公寓。

         影響升值潛力的因素，包括交通便利性，周邊工作機會，有無大型項目建設，政府管理是否良好等。

         至於買投資房要評估的風險包括，可能長期空置，找到的房客賴租金，篩選房客不容易等。

         選擇自住房時，要從社區平均房價，學區，鄰居結構，安全指數，交通指數，環境衛生等，來評估最適合自己的選擇。

         首先，不要買價格遠高於社區平均房價的房子，其次看房子所在的小學，初中，高中各屬於哪個學區，該學區的評估概況，包括宜避免過度競爭的“亞裔好區”，住進族裔比例較平均的社區，可能是更好的選擇。至於鄰居構成，也是影響房價的因素之一，鄰居都是家庭中位收入高，教育程度高，已婚，有小孩的話，就多半都是住在自己擁有的房子裏，大環境就更穩定。

         至於安全指數，有8種不同的犯罪率等級，5個安全等級。交通方面則有自駕車，步行，搭公交車人數比率。

         至於環境衛生上，要查看的是房子附近有沒垃圾場，放射性污染源，是不是洪水區等等。

 

圖片說明：

            左起，盧犁多，葉健，樂茜，楊曉雯，陳望，秦嵐，辛知之等新設計聯盟成員和講者合影。（菊子攝）

            楊曉雯分析買投資房，自住房應關注要項。（菊子攝）

摩頓市“別一個人過感恩節”活動 11/26舉行

摩頓市“生命麵包（Bread for Life）”將於11月26日（週四）下午兩點，在摩頓市高中餐廳（77 Salem St., Malden）舉辦“別一個人過感恩節（Don’t be Alone in Thanksgiving）”年度活動。

            這活動由生命麵包及摩頓市的安東尼，Ferryway學校，Forestdale社區教堂，Ｈoff;s烘培店，摩頓獅子會，瑪麗的外烹店，摩頓市長葛帝生（Gary Christenson），哥倫布武士會等等贊助。

            活動向所有人開放，也歡迎各界參加義工團隊，查詢可洽生命麵包781-397-0404 ，電郵 info@breadoflifemalden.org，或 781-321-0994 (晚上)，或 gpinkham@inscribe.com。

波士頓市將公開餐館清潔、安全評等

波士頓市餐館業者要注意了。市政府為加強保護民眾健康，飲食安全，打算實施公開評等辦法，以ABC等字母來幫助民眾對餐館、食肆的清潔，或食物料理過程安全程度，一目了然。

市府人員希望明年一月初推出試驗版作法。在第一年實施時，餐館的ABC級評等，只會放在網路上。

一旦辦法推動順利，這些評等就會張貼在大波士頓每一家餐館的店面窗戶上。該作法和紐約及其他城市已實施多年的做法相似。

波士頓市檢查服務組主管克里斯多弗（William Christopher）表示，標誌將盡可能做的簡單，讓人一眼就能了解餐館的健康安全狀況。

克里斯多弗表示，他最近去紐約，檢視了2010年開始實施的這辦法，他也研究了從1997起就採行這種做法的洛杉磯等城市。

在2014年內，檢查人員在1350 多家餐廳發現了二種以上會導致人們因飲食生病的違規狀況。

麻州牛頓市上個月推出類似的餐館評等做法。

波士頓環球報在五月份的一篇報導中也指出，波市府檢查員在2014年內發現一半以上的波士頓飲食服務供應商違規，包括餐館，食物卡車，小店等。

            麻州餐館協會會長陸茲（Bob Luz）謹慎回應道，這種評等可能會過於放大餐館檢查結果，許多有關食品安全的規定，並不是一般大眾一眼掃過去就能明白的，張貼字母評等，既非必要，也不見得能正確反映食肆中的食品安全狀況。

            食源性疾病，通常導致相對輕微的症狀。美國疾病控制中心估計，每年約每6名美國人中有1人會因為食源性疾病而生病。全美估計每年有128,000人因食源性疾病住院，3000人因此死亡。