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© 2021 The Somerville Times. All rights reserved.
— Photos by Bobbie Toner
The 14th Annual Save Our Homes Walk took place on Sunday, June 11 to raise funds to help those at risk of becoming homeless. This year’s goal was $50,000.
All funds raised from the Walk help those at risk of homelessness, by providing assistance with security deposits, back rent or utilities, or moving costs. Each year at least twice as many requests for assistance are received than can be met.
AHOC was organized by the Somerville Community Corporation in 2001 as an advocacy coalition make up of Somerville residents and organizations including the Somerville Community Corporation, Somerville Homeless Coalition, Cambridge and Somerville Legal Services and the Community Action Agency of Somerville.
Anyone interested in contributing to the fund can do so by going online to: https://www.crowdrise.com/SaveOurHomesWalk2017
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With the cost of living in Somerville going steadily up, it will be even harder to keep many of us from becoming homeless each year.
Property taxes, water/sewer, and various other costs imposed on us by the City make it just as hard to keep a home or apartment, especially those who are retired and on fixed incomes.
For those with limited incomes, any money they manage to have in the bank will eventually be spent for the reason that bills become more expensive every year, to where that income just isn’t going to be enough to cover everything that’s needed each month.
For many people here, it’s a matter of living paycheck to paycheck, and trying to save as much as they can to get by if the worst should happen. Whatever money they can save is like pouring water into a bucket with a hole in it.
It’s great that there are things such as AHOC in place to help those who are on the verge of becoming homeless. But I feel that there should be more done by the City to prevent residents from even reaching that point, especially if they are unemployed or on fixed incomes, such as with the elderly.
If you are over 65, you should qualify for any and all tax and fee breaks available, plain and simple. Haven’t most of those folks earned it by then?
It’s too bad that it’s more often assumed that people are just trying to get something for nothing instead of that people aren’t getting enough of what they have already earned by years of hard work and paying taxes.
Somerville isn’t just for the young and well-to-do. It’s for all of us, at all ages and income levels. Let’s hope the City will reflect that by making it easier for those who have a harder time to keep what they have.
vote for the millionaire tax – if it makes it to the ballot in 2018.
Vote for the millionaire’s tax if DeLeo and Rosenberg approve its placement on the ballot in 2018… It might help keep everyone else’s taxes down.