By: Joe DAmore – Nov. 2018 Recently news reports – and explosive social media message decried Mayor Daniel Rivera, apparent uniliteral decisions regarding the use of the Buckley Bus Station as a staging area for feeding homeless people. He ordered that homeless people vacate the station and that a humanitarian group no longer offer dinner […]
By: Joe D’Amore – November, 2018 There are at least 350 trailers dotting the landscape of Campagnone green and the large parking lot at Pemberton Park along North Canal street in Lawrence. And the new owner of IndusPad, the former Polartec facility, has temporarily converted a portion of the facility into a congregant center offering […]
By: Joe D’Amore – May, 2018 The Federal Assault Weapon’s Ban (AWB) enacted in 1994, prohibited the manufacturing, for civilian use, a variety of fire-arms loosely categorized as assault weapons, as well as detachable, large capacity magazines. It was a subsection of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. The aim was […]
By: Joe D’Amore – Feb. 2018 Homeless population counts are now underway nationally and throughout the state sponsored by HUD and state agencies tasked with the annual census process. The goal is to identify not only numbers of homeless people but also concentrations of them so that resources and affordable housing efforts can be aligned […]
By: Joe D’Amore January, 2018 Most cities and towns that are in proximity of Lawrence including those that share municipal borders have eradicated homelessness. This does not mean that they have discovered the keys to resolving a chronic societal ill. Rather, they have intentionally created conditions that make it impossible for an unsheltered individual to […]
By: Joe D’Amore – Nov. 2017 The City of Lawrence has placed wide swathes of the population at risk with its suit against the federal government in defending dubious principles of local sovereignty. It has joined the City of Chelsea in a nationwide trend of municipalities engaging in activism. Lawrence has a proud immigrant history, […]
By: Joe D’Amore – Oct. 2017 As I write this, countless families and friends of the victims of the Las Vegas massacre are now receiving the bodies, released from official coroners after a week of inexplicable tragedy. Sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, family members and friends felled in the prime of their lives in a moment […]
By: Joe D’Amore – October, 2016 The city of Lawrence and several Cape Ann communities have an almost intractable homelessness problem not unlike other urban centers in the United States. The twin primary drivers are lack of affordable housing and an economy that does not produce sufficient jobs for people looking for them throughout the […]
By: Joe D’Amore-4-12-16 When the sun goes down and the amber street lights flicker on, the arches under the bridge where a large population of homeless people live take on a surreal, nocturnal ambiance. The muted voices of people huddled in tents and makeshift lean-tos contrast the ceaseless din of cars overhead. In the distance […]
By: Joe D’Amore – Oct. 2105 If cities and towns define extreme poverty and homelessness as a public-health issue, the public-policy responses will be quite different than what we are used to today. Consider that in all cases a homeless person, or someone who lives in extreme poverty, is marginal in most, if not all, […]
By: Joe D’Amore – Sept. 1, 2015 She was a woman in love with a man who could not help her with her addictions At the age of 11 she took her first drink and from there a nightmarish escalation materialized starting with prescription drugs, cocaine and eventually heroin. Even the methods to deliver the […]
By: Joe D’Amore – July, 2015 Our state is reeling from spiraling crises in opioid addiction and the newest statistics confirm the need for a coordinated policy response from the Governor’s office. The state Department of Public Health revealed the depth of the crises by reporting 1,008 overdose deaths in 2014 which compares drastically to […]
By: Joe D’Amore – July, 2015 Angels are descending on the city of Gloucester through an innovative program proposed by Police Chief Leonard Campanello to help people battling opiate addiction. These angels don’t have wings but they have some training, knowledge and an abundance of compassion to be at-the-ready for when an addicted person surrenders […]
SJC must split their decision in the Chism appeal The defense team for Philip Chism are mustering a complex set of motions in an all out assault to protect their client. Chism, the 16-year-old is charged with first-degree murder and rape of his 24 year old math teacher, Colleen Ritzer, at Danvers High School in […]
By: Joe D’Amore – April, 2014 There are heroes who work with foster families and children in Massachusetts and are on the front line of caring for children at risk and I met one of them recently. She related her daily experiences of witnessing deplorable conditions in most foster homes where the standard of protection […]