“We are deeply concerned by the pattern of underfunding of public housing over the past couple of years," Joshua Meehan of the Cambridge Housing Authority said to me as we talked on the phone the other day. He explained to me that the CHA is preparing for a $400,000 cut in federal funding for capital projects, an 11.5 percent reduction. Capital projects are things like putting a new roof on, or replacing the boiler. Although it is one of the best-managed housing authorities in the country, the CHA is going to have to defer maintenance and upgrades for its buildings. That means structural upgrades for the Lyndon Baines Johnson Apartments and Millers River Apartments scheduled for the spring may have to be postponed. “Not funding capital projects doesn’t mean they go away. In fact, it often means they become bigger problems in the future,” Meehan said, adding, “If this pattern continues, we will lose a valuable public asset.”
The situation is no better for the many human service organizations in Cambridge that receive money through the federal Community Development Block Grant program, which is slated to be cut by 14 percent. If that drawdown happens, it will present a very tough challenge for the local commission that will have to decide which programs keep their funding, and which won’t.
Since it’s still early in the process, everybody’s waiting to see how these proposed cuts play out. But directors of Cambridge agencies are aware that next year, some person in need may have to be turned away because the resources aren’t available to support them.
Take the Margaret Fuller Neighborhood House for example. Margaret Fuller, as it’s commonly called, has been helping young kids in Cambridge for 100 years. Stop by on weekday afternoon and you’ll see (and hear) just how much they do. The house literally buzzes with activity – whether it’s the kids on the second floor who are taking part in the after-school program, or the adults on the first floor making use of computers that they can’t access elsewhere.
Margaret Fuller is a place that lives by what it gives. Its staff works hard to make sure the house is both a resource and a haven for the many who stop by, or drop a kid off, or take a class, or do any of the other things that happen there.
Yet it may have to give less next year. That might mean no more math tutoring after school for a child, or no place for someone to come print out a resume if they are looking for a job. For any agency like this, keeping the doors open and the heating bill paid is by itself a major challenge. Long-term needs are often put off indefinitely. In the case of Margaret Fuller, the 200-year old building on the corner of Eaton and Cherry Street is in such disrepair that they’re planning a big celebration in May called “A Sweet Soul Supper” to raise money for it. The event should be a good way to support the house and celebrate all the wonderful things it does.
Here’s another good agency in Cambridge that accomplishes its mission with the help of federal dollars: Food for Free. They provide healthy nourishment for people in need throughout the city. Whether they have to deliver it directly to a home, or drop it off at a pantry, they can be the difference in a life. North Cambridge itself has two pantries that benefit from their work. Shrinking resources will undoubtedly clip Food for Free’s reach.
Social service agencies across the board will have a very hard time absorbing President Bush’s proposed cuts. Forcing places like Margaret Fuller or Food for Free to cut back on programs, or making it harder for the Cambridge Housing Authority to maintain buildings in Cambridge represents misguided priorities from Washington. Tax cuts and war mean that investments in community are starved of resources. That sounds to me like we’re trying to pay our way off the backs of the poor, which in my book is morally objectionable and economically upside-down. The investment with the longest rate of return, and one that builds real strength for the many challenges we do face is the investment in human capital. We are entering the century where mental nimbleness will far outstrip brute force as a valued (and useful) commodity, and we should be doing everything we can to make sure that the United States is ready for that challenge. There is no better place to start than with the people here in Cambridge. Hampering this community ability to accomplish that goal only makes tomorrow’s hurdle higher. It means we’re left making awful choices with few good outcomes. In other words, the truism happens to be true: we can’t have guns and butter at the same time.
