By Elaine Allegrini, Enterprise staff writer Last year’s high heating costs, combined with the ever-rising cost of living, has left a residual effect on those who live on the edge, according to area social service leaders. With the winter heating season just a cold-spell away and the holiday season on the doorstep, requests for food stamps, heating assistance and holiday …
"They give gifts and keep faith"
By Beverly Beckham, Boston Herald columnist Three time a day they stop and pray. There’s a prayer room outside the warehouse. Prayer keeps them on course. Prayer keeps them focused on God. It’s all about God at My Brother’s Keeper. You step into the warehouse, converted for Christmas into Santa’s workshop, and it’s magical. You hear “Frosty the Snowman” and …
"College students learn to give of selves"
By Michael P. Quinlan, Patriot Ledger For Jim Orcutt, there is a poor side of town everywhere he goes. In frayed apartment buildings, small rooming houses and homeless shelters throughout southeastern Massachusetts he meets people nestled in their worries and fears, barely holding on. Some are filled with quiet desperation or cynical resignation, hovering below the horizon of prosperity that …
"The hard lives of the needy made easier"
By Beverly Beckham, Boston Herald columnist The call to My Brother’s Keeper came a few days before. “What do you need?” Terry Orcutt had asked. That’s what she always says. There are no histories taken. No judgments made. Ask and you shall receive. It’s that simple. The woman needed everything, but she asked only for beds for her three children. …