Survey & Qualitative Research 2017-2020

Survey research: Using data from the survey done for the Commission on Bullying, we ask, "What are the elements of the situation that correlate with a community that is bully-free compared with one that has bullying and mobbing?”

Qualitative research: factors influencing persistence / control of mobbing and compliance with public health rules for maintaining 6 feet distance from others and using a face covering.

Community Norms and Governance of Housing

Abstract

Community norms can either promote a healthy, caring community or lead to a toxic community that is harmful. In public and subsidized housing for the elderly and disabled, failure to control bullying and mobbing (group bullying) creates a toxic community, while failing to prevent transmission of COVID-19 can create a deadly situation.

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Sticks, Stones, Gossip & Governance Part 2 of 2

“Oldtown” is a small city in the Connecticut River Valley in Western Massachusetts. “Beatrice,” a Black, energetic middle-age woman who is a tenant in “Oldtown Housing Authority (OHA),” is the target of mobbing, including by tenants and staff calling her a bully (although there is no apparent basis for the allegation). She is the tenant commissioner of the OHA board, appointed by the mayor of Oldtown. The legal housing provider in public housing consists of five commissioners, one of whom is a tenant. In some housing authorities, the governance system is in turmoil. How can we remedy the breakdown in trust that affects everyone: tenants, the board, the executive director, the staff, and even the public? Can we find a way to create a more collaborative, transparent community and to value constructive input from everyone? This is Part 2; see Part 1 

Sticks, Stones, Gossip & Governance Part 1 of 2

Smiling woman looks at viewer

In some housing authorities, the governance system is in turmoil. How can we remedy the breakdown in trust that affects everyone: tenants, the board, the executive director, the staff, and even the public? Can we find a way to create a more collaborative, transparent community and to value constructive input from everyone? This is Part 1; See Part 2

Testimony on H4138 the Affordable Homes Act

To the Honorable Chairs and Members of the Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures, and State Assets.

Greetings:

H4138 The Affordable Homes Act promises many benefits in housing. However, it fails to deal with the essential rights of tenants, suitable housing for all the homeless, and support for people who depend on personal care attendants. This is an appeal for the missing bills and on behalf of the invisible people.

The Nomads Need Accessible Housing

It is bitterly cold now as the nomads, women in their 70s and 80s, gather in their vans and cars in the department store parking lot on a bitterly cold night. The common thread in their stories is how they were forced out of their homes because their bodies could not tolerate smoking or other triggers of their asthma or multiple chemical sensitivity. Multiple chemical sensitivity is a condition in which the body’s immune and neurological systems cause symptoms similar to allergies, symptoms that can be disabling.