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Women's Alliance: Massachusetts Low Income Women Working on Welfare and
Other Issues of Concern
Women's Alliance is an independent community organization in Framingham,
Massachusetts run by and for low-income women which allows them to work
together on issues of common concern. The group began in 1983 through a
series of coffees held in low-income housing developments to survey what
issues were most important to low-income women. It now has 500 members in the MetroWest
region (the area between Boston and Worchester). Dedication to the issues low-income women
identify as important to their lives has been the thread which ties together the diverse
issues Women's Alliance has targeted for the last 15 years.
Over the years, Women's Alliance members have acted on a wide variety of
issues, from advocating for a local youth center to challenging the
procedures used by Massachusetts' child protection agency to supporting
individual women who advocate for themselves. For example, the group
recently worked with a young woman facing eviction from her subsidized
housing unit in violation of her rights. They helped her to know her rights,
advocated for her with the building manager and helped her find a legal aid
attorney to take the case to court. The young woman then joined the group,
and recently gave her first public speech at a speak-out against restrictive state welfare
policies organized by coalition partners of the Women's Alliance. Many women become
involved with the group this way, explains Grace Grasty, Women's Alliance Vice President
and Welfare Organizer. "Women want to learn about their own rights, then they want to
become a member and speak out about violations of their rights."
Speaking against Massachusetts' punitive welfare policies has been the
group's main focus for the last few years. Women's Alliance Co-Coordinator
Grace Ross explained that the group is lucky to participate in several active
and effective coalitions. "We have some exciting coalitions in Massachusetts,
including ones with labor organizers in addition to those with other low-
income groups," she said. Recently, the coalitions collaborated on a
particularly successful action. Women's Alliance spent much of the autumn
holding vigils and sending members to speak about the dangers facing families who would
reach Massachusetts' two-year time limit on welfare benefits in December, 1998. They
reached out to churches and other groups to inform them of the impending problems and to
teach them what living in poverty means to women and their families. These efforts led to
a large rally of over 600 people in Boston Commons held on November 21st, 1998 to protest
the time limit. The rally was covered by the major Massachusetts media outlets, as
well as CNN.
Yet even more impressive than the rally's turn out are the rally's results.
For months, legislators ignored pleas that they revisit the time limits
issue. After the rally, however, legislators expressed a willingness to
consider lengthening the time limits. (Legislation sponsored by 20
Massachusetts legislators has been introduced to do so.) The rallies also
increased Women's Alliance's workload, as the demand for members as speakers
at events across the state increased dramatically.
The group also maintains projects addressing workfare and learnfare issues,
workers' rights and Massachusetts' welfare exemptions. Recently, they've
begun to focus on a new issue - police brutality in the Framingham community
-- after incidents involving race, gender and age bias. Women's Alliance
also publishes a newsletter in which members relate their personal advocacy
experiences - such as one member's first testimony at a legislative hearing.
In addition, a wide range of training events are offered to members for their
personal growth and their growth as advocates. These include recent workshops on
recovery and co-dependence, how to run meetings, how to speak to the press
and know your rights training.
For more information contact Grace Ross at Women's Alliance, 90 Irving St., Framingham,
MA 01702-7379, tel. 508-872-8714; fax 508-875-6296.
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