Desire hailed as ‘unsung hero’ for work with AFAB

On a cold snowy night in Boston’s South End, The Philanthropic Initiative (TPI) hosted the 19th Annual Neighborhood Fellows Banquet to honor Boston’s unsung heroes on March 3 (2009). The Neighborhood Fellows grants unrestricted $30,000 personal cash awards to “social entrepreneurs who often go unrecognized, but who make a vital contribution to our quality of life.”

This year Haitian-American activist Carline Desire was one of six honored with the award. She join 112 other Fellows who in total have been awarded over $2.5 million since 1991.

Letter to the Editor: Hope must be backed up with honesty

To the Editor:
I write in response to the commentary published in your February (2009) edition entitled “Change Haiti Can Believe In”. I am relieved knowing that there are people who are still deeply concerned about Haiti’s past and current conditions.
Haiti is a nation which has been punished for years by debilitating economic sanctions instituted in retaliation after its revolutionary fight against slavery which ended in the country gaining independence in 1804. Only in the Haitian community was the declaration of independence upheld at all costs.

Forry snares committee chair in State House shuffle

State Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry, a backer of as newly-crowned House Speaker Robert DeLeo, has been named the House chairmanship of the Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Business. Like other lawmakers with chairmanships, she will earn annually an extra $7,500 on top of a base pay of $61,440. In the last legislative session, she had been the vice chair of the Public Service Committee.
And as with any lawmaker who receives a chairmanship, she gains a bigger megaphone, a bigger office, a bigger staff and opportunities for increased fundraising.

Jean-Jacques helps young people plug into government

Anny Jean-Jacques isn’t leaving Boston anytime soon. And that’s a good thing.
“Five years ago I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be better to start fresh, go somewhere new?’” she remembered. “And then I thought to myself, ‘why?’ Why should I leave? This is where I was educated. This is where I was raised. I want to be able to give back to my community.”
Jean-Jacques is the Assistant Director of Governor Deval Patrick’s Office of Community Affairs. Her boss, Ron Bell, has been involved in community outreach for more than twenty years and knows a good leader when he sees one.

On and off the field, Ernst Cleophat “always ready” to win

Every school’s athletic department has one game that stands out from the rest. For Suffolk University, that game came in the spring of 1989, when the men’s soccer team played Northeastern University.
“Imagine, a Division III institution playing a Division I school,” remembered Ernst Cleophat from his home in Augusta, Georgia. “You’re talking about more skilled, talented players. But my teammates and I, we didn’t see it like that. We saw ourselves as soccer players,” he said.

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