Category: The Boston Sun

  • Hearing addresses needs, priorities for HUD funding

    The city held a public hearing last month to discuss “the needs and priorities” for an estimated $27 million in funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

    The funds may be invested in housing, homeless assistance and community development programs that serve low- to moderate-income residents over a one-year period from July 1 through June 30, 2027, the city said.

    The city’s HUD Action Plan covers four federal programs: Community Development Block Grant, HOME Investment Partnerships, Emergency Solutions Grant Program and  Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS, 

    The March 4 hearing was run by Rick Wilson, the city’s director of administration and finance, and Tina Griffith, Boston’s assistant director for grants management. The hearing occurred as the Action Plan enters the third of five years to develop housing and communities deeper into Boston. Two more public hearings are slated for this month, one on April 29 will be in person and another on April 30 will be virtual, according to the city’s website.

    “When we do our five-year plan, we do a really deep dive into assessing the needs and priorities based on community input, public hearings, data collection, meeting with different departments and different community leaders,” Griffith said during the March hearing. “It’s very data driven as well.”

    Boston receives annual grant funding from the four HUD programs. This year the city received $76 million from HUD, but only $27 million is expected to go into the programs, with much of the rest going to continuum of care.

    People who spoke at the meeting brought up a range of topics, including affordable housing, supportive services for the unhoused and better economic development in the neighborhoods.

    Kelly McGrath, executive director of Brighton Main Streets, said the HUD funding is critical. It enables Main Streets organizations to support small businesses, strengthen the local economy and create vibrant commercial districts, McGrath said.

    Barbara Johnson, director of development at the New England Culinary Arts Training program, said the funds have helped to double the number of people the program served each year to roughly 260. “It wouldn’t be possible without this funding. And we’re extremely grateful,” Johnson said.

    Speakers also used the hearing to criticize Governor Maura Healey’s administration and legislators for not doing enough for the unhoused.

    Leslie Credle, founder of Justice 4 Housing, criticized the governor’s new shelter bill, which Credle said “caused barriers” for families,

    “What we have found are pregnant women, even men who have their children being denied access to family shelters,’’ Credle said.  “And so they end up on our doorstep because we are the only agency that caters to incarcerated individuals returning to the community.”

    Keanna Green, CEO of Vision Life Consulting Services, which provides locals with skill training and assists with job placement, said the housing crisis she witnessed 15  years ago was still in play.

    “Too often there are individuals that really do have the motivation to do better, be better, have better, but just don’t have the opportunity and or the resources to do so,” Green said.

    Leo Moss of Bay Cove Human Services appealed for more funding for senior citizens.

    “I know the funding structure hasn’t changed quite a bit in the past few years,” Moss said. “It’s always the same. I’ve always come up here and asked for more money, but I never get it.”

    Boston is expected to announce its plans for the HUD funding in early April.

  • Hofherr looks to continue progress as Kingsley’s new head of school

    Hofherr looks to continue progress as Kingsley’s new head of school

    When students arrive at Kingsley Montessori School next fall, they will be greeted by a familiar person at the front door: Tara Hofherr.

    Hofherr, the associate head of school since 2024, will become the new head of school in July. She will succeed Steve Farley, who has had the position for eight years.

    Hofherr said, in an interview, she is grateful for the opportunity and plans to continue the work done by Farley.  

    Tara Hofherr playing with students outdoors at Kingsley School.

    Kingsley is an independent school in the Back Bay that serves more than 300 students, from toddlers to sixth graders. The school’s Board of Trustees selected Hofherr as the new head of school.

    Hofherr said being the head of school will give her an opportunity to connect more effectively with the Kingsley community, including students, their families, faculty and staff.

    “The educators here at Kingsley are really special,” Hofherr said. “That is seen and felt in small and large ways; how they show up every day at 7 a.m. to lesson plan, to prep materials, to create classroom spaces that are warm, inviting and educational, to the thought and care that they demonstrate in conversations for supporting children.”

    Hofherr recounted when she first interviewed for a position at Kingsley in May 2015. It was “unseasonably hot,’’ and she had just moved to Boston from Maryland. As she waited for the interview, she said she noticed a group of students using the school’s community space. She  was shocked to learn the children were discussing a presentation on World War II artillery.

    “I just remember sitting down there hearing this child give this incredibly articulate presentation on this incredibly sophisticated content, and thinking to myself, ‘Where am I?’” Hofherr said in an interview. “‘What is this place? What is happening here?’”

    Head of School Tara Hofherr joined students for a group selfie during an outing into the City.

    That was Hofherr’s first introduction to the Montessori-style of education, which emphasizes collaboration and hands-on learning while providing a sense of unity through multi-age classrooms.

    “We value helping students become innately curious, independent thinkers, learners and leaders,” Hofherr said.  “The environment is a huge part of how we …provide that experience for children.”

    Hofherr got the job.

    Her Kingsley journey started in technology innovation, sharing what would later become known colloquially as “The Fun Office” with the two physical education teachers.

    “I’ve known Tara from day one,” said Josh Squire, one of the physical education teachers who has worked at  Kingsley for 27 years. “I used to consider myself like the mayor of whatever community I’m in.”

    Squire and Hofherr became quick friends, a habit Hofherr repeated through the years. As she moved up the ranks at Kingsley over the past eight years, she was promoted to various leadership positions, including serving as director of the upper elementary school, becoming the associate head of school and being selected in the top position.

    She grew in each position, she said, especially during the turbulent times such as the global pandemic.

    “She brings such grace to moments of change, and she brings space to hearing others’ input, making room for anxieties, making room for tough, unresolved pieces of conversation and finding solutions in a collaborative manner,” said performing arts teacher Diana Galanakis. “That’s kind of the soul, the essence of what Tara brings to leading.”

    Laura Mendelson, an early education teacher at Kingsley, said Hofherr has an enthusiasm in the classroom that bleeds into her administrative roles as well.

    “Even as [Hofherr] transitioned to becoming an administrator, she continued to keep a foot in the classroom,” Mendelson said. “It’s easy to get caught up in the meetings and being with adults all day…but she really stays grounded and connected to the students.”

    Squire said he is confident Hofherr is the right person to lead Kingsley.

    “I’ve seen a bunch of administrators go through and [Hofherr] to me toes the best line between what’s best for families, teachers and students,” Squire said.

    Hofherr said she is ready to start her new role.

    “I am a work in progress, all minutes, all hours of all days,” Hofherr said. “I think there is an intentionality to my own trajectory that I believe is also mirrored in the intentionality with which we do everything here at Kingsley, and I love what I do. I love it.”

  • Rescuers work to combat food waste

    Rescuers work to combat food waste

    Food rescuers Jeff Schwartz and Virginie Forget stood outside the Trader Joe’s on Boylston Street  recently, gingerly stacking boxes of carefully packaged groceries into the trunk of Forget’s car.

    Containers labeled “fresh fruit” were stacked atop dozens of eggs, until they filled the entire trunk. As Schwartz and Forget closed the trunk, it was difficult to miss the eye-catching coral Food Rescue US-Boston bumper sticker, designating that this load was more than just a large grocery haul.

    It was part of a salvage program directly benefiting and feeding the community.

    Photos by Vina Berger
    Jeff Schwartz (right), of Food Rescue US-Boston, helped to load in boxes of apples, oranges and other grocery items from Trader Joe’s is loaded in the back of Virginie Forget’s car on March 19

    “We are a bread basket to ourselves and could be to the world,” said Schwartz.

    Food Rescue US, founded in 2011, is a national volunteer-based nonprofit whose mission is to combat food insecurity and food waste by recovering donated food from cafes and grocers that would normally be tossed away and giving the times to organizations that serve the needy, such as housing shelters and food banks.

    The program operates at 51 sites in 25 states plus Washington, DC.  The local program serves communities from Boston to Sharon.  

    Food waste is the leading material in US landfills and the cause of 8% of all greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.  

    Data also show that food insecurity affects more than one in three Massachusetts households, about 2 million people, according to Project Bread, a nonprofit that works to eradicate hunger.

    Schwartz said food insecurity is an ongoing issue in Boston, and many people who learn about Food Rescue US-Boston “are shocked” to find out how much food gets wasted.

    Forget, the new director of Food Rescue US Boston, said she was drawn to the grassroots nature of the organization and its critical mission.  

    A native of Paris, Forget recalled going to the farmers market weekly and buying fresh foods that are absolutely necessary. She came to the East Coast for her MBA and left to work in the food industry in California, where she said she witnessed food waste firsthand. When she returned to the region after the Covid-19 pandemic, she said she sought volunteering roles focused on combating food waste.

    “People aren’t aware of what a big problem it is,” Forget said, adding that 46 % of food waste in Boston is caused by people who buy far more food than they can consume weekly.

    They let them “rot in their refrigerators,” she said.  

    Forget joined Food Rescue US-Boston in 2023, after meeting with former director Charlie Burns, she said. She took over Burns’ role in February.

    At Trader Joe’s recently, Forget and Schwartz loaded groceries into Forget’s car that were driven to Boston Rescue Mission, a housing shelter near downtown.

    Schwartz said he found out about the local Food Rescue program through his wife Nancy and was “astonished” by how much food gets wasted.

    Schwartz, who has had one leg amputated, said that lifting a fully stuffed cardboard box of produce can be “a bit much sometimes,’’ but he gets help from Trader Joe’s staff and other volunteers.

    “People at both ends are extraordinarily helpful,” he added.

    Virginie Forget, the new director of Food Rescue US-Boston, unloads food surplus outside Trader Joe’s on Boylston Street on March 19.

    The program also uses an app that allows volunteers to check when a “rescue” is requested and when a delivery is complete.  

    Both Schwartz and Forget said their work gives them a sense of purpose, while also building a community of mission-minded volunteers.

    As Forget scrolled through the app recently, her phone rang with fellow rescuer Ann DeBiasio on the line.

    DiBiasio asked if Forget could join her and Schwartz at Levain Bakery on Newbury Street, which had a surplus of products to donate.

    DiBiaso said she moved to Boston in August from Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, and wanted something to do after her  retirement. A former food pantry volunteer in Worcester, DeBiasio is passionate about giving back to her community. .  

    Forget said she counts on word-of-mouth and the coral stickers to raise awareness about her program. She is also planning to expand rescue operations to other neighboring towns.