A Reminder - We've Moved!

As mentioned in our last blog post, Social Action Ministries has transitioned to a new name: Social Action Massachusetts. We also have a new blog!  Make sure to visit socialactionma.wordpress.com so that you don't miss our updates about faith, ethics and ending homelessness.

See you at the new blog!

-Caitlin Golden, SAM Coordinator

A New Name but the Same Mission: Introducing Social Action Massachusetts

This is the first post from our new blog, located at socialactionma.wordpress.com. Be sure to update your links and check there for the continuation of our dialogue about faith, ethics and ending homelessness!

In our March 30 blog post “What’s In a Name?”, we invited your ideas about how SAM, through the language we use and our actions, can be more welcoming to a greater diversity of faiths and spiritual or ethical practices. After much reflection, we have decided to affirm our commitment to social action across boundaries of faith, belief and practice by transitioning from “Social Action Ministries” to our new name: Social Action Massachusetts.

As we change our name, our commitment to the mission of ending homelessness remains the same, as does our deep respect for the religious communities who originally came together in 1976 to found SAM and work together to advocate for housing for our most vulnerable neighbors. Their belief in the importance of living out their faith through social action will continue to inform the work that SAM does as we encourage lively dialogue about the relationship between belief and action in conjunction with our advocacy to end homelessness. Becoming Social Action Massachusetts reflects our conviction that people of diverse religious, spiritual or ethically-based backgrounds—many of whom may not identify with the word “ministries”—all share a belief in recognizing the dignity of all human beings by working for a society in which no one is without a home. Whether you draw your beliefs and practices from traditional religious sources, humanistic values or other spiritual or ethical ideas or communities, we need you to be a part of our dialogue about social action—and a part of the solution to homelessness.

Thank you to all who have journeyed with us as Social Action Ministries. We look forward to continuing to work with you and with many others across the Commonwealth as Social Action Massachusetts!

A Call for Advocates: Changing the Public Discourse about Homelessness

In our May 16 blog post “Love in the Long-Term: Community Service and Systemic Change,” we reflected on a challenge that communities of faith and ethical commitment face when engaging in social action efforts—the challenge of approaching these efforts both with love and a critical eye toward what steps we must take to implement long-term solutions.

Click here to read the rest of this post on the new SAM blog, socialactionma.wordpress.com.

Jewish Homelessness in History: What It Teaches Us Now

This week, Joshua Stanton, Founding co-Editor of the Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue, reflects on how the Jewish historical experience of homelessness informs his understanding of housing as a fundamental human need.

I first saw a Judería when walking in the streets of Segovia, a small Spanish city just a couple of hours outside of Madrid. Though not a Jewish “ghetto” in being so tightly sealed as the Jewish areas of Venice or Rome, it delimited the section of the city in which Jews could settle.

Click here to read the rest of this post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

Interfaith Dialogue & Youth Ministry

In this blog post, originally published on the blog of the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), Rachael McNeal, a Masters in Divinity candidate at Princeton Theological Seminary, reflects on the question: “What is it about Jesus that makes you want to do interfaith work?”

Click here to read this blog post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

Interfaith Social Action as Religious Practice

This week, Honna Eichler, an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and a staff member at Interfaith Worker Justice, reflects on the reasons interfaith social action is part of her religious practice.

Click here to read this blog post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

Love in the Long-Term: Community Service and Systemic Change

In his April 21 guest post about social action and the Eastern Orthodox Church, D. Vasilis Schairer stressed the importance of “the transformative relationship between two persons” in the Eastern Orthodox tradition of social action and philanthropy.

Click here to read this post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

Honoree Spotlight: Worcester & Mayor O'Brien

This is the final installment of an ongoing spotlight series on honorees of the upcoming spring event of the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (MHSA), Home For Good: Solutions Start Here. Each year MHSA honors people and agencies making outstanding contributions to ending homelessness in Massachusetts. If you’d like to meet the honorees in person and support the MHSA mission, click here for tickets to the event.

Click here to read this blog post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

Home Again: Only a Home Ends Homelessness

This is the second installment of an ongoing spotlight series on honorees of the upcoming spring event of the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (MHSA): Home For Good: Solutions Start Here. Each year MHSA honors people and agencies making outstanding contributions to ending homelessness in Massachusetts. For more information about Home for Good click here.

Click here to read this blog post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

MHSA Honoree Spotlight: John Rosenthal

For the next three weeks, the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (MHSA) will profile on its blog the honorees of the upcoming MHSA spring event Home For Good: Solutions Start Here. We'll share these profiles with you here on the SAM blog as well. Each year MHSA honors people and agencies in our community who have made outstanding contributions to ending homelessness. Click here for more information about this event.

Click here to read this post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

Humility and Interfaith Social Action

Do collaborations across religious boundaries exclude those whose belief systems value religious or philosophical certainty?

Click here to read this post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

Social Action and the Eastern Orthodox Church: Where Do We Go from Here?

In this week’s guest blog post, D. Vasilis Schairer, a graduate student at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, reflects on the history of Eastern Orthodox involvement in social issues and poses an interesting question: if a religious tradition places value on the “transformative relationship between two persons,” what challenges does that raise for religious communities in collaborating with nonprofit or government programs?

Click here to read this post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

Federal Budget Update: FY 2011

This update on the proposed FY 2011 budget was published today on the blog administered by the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (MHSA).

Click here to read this post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

A Call for Guest Bloggers!

Last week, we began a conversation about how the language we use can help create—or at times hinder—social action efforts that are welcoming to people of all faiths and no faith at all.

Click here to read the rest of this post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

What’s in a Name? Help Us Reflect on SAM!

In recent posts, we’ve explored what it means for social action to be truly interfaith, and we’ve touched on some of the questions and challenges that arise in this work.

Click here to read the rest of this post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

Interfaith Social Action: A Common Denominator or an Opportunity for Understanding?

Interfaith work brings us into contact with people who follow the example of different religious figures and leaders, who believe in the truth of different scriptures and who follow diverse norms for religious practice.

Click here to read the rest of this post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

Evangelism and Evangelicals: An Impasse for Interfaith Social Action?

In this week's guest post, Sara Staley, a Master of Theological Studies student at Boston University, reflects on challenges and opportunities for evangelical Christian involvement in interfaith social action.  

Click here to read this post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

A Call to Action: Interfaith Support for Housing First for Families

On Wednesday, March 2, faith community representatives, service providers and advocates gathered at University Lutheran Church in Cambridge for A Call to Action: Interfaith Support for Housing First for Families.

Click here to read the rest of this post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

Join One Family, Inc. and Social Action Ministries on March 2 to Support Housing First

A Call to Action: Interfaith Support for Housing First for Families

Click here to read this post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

Support the Housing First Movement for Families

In past blog posts, we have examined the importance of housing as a solution to homelessness for unaccompanied adults. In this week's guest post, Emily Cohen of One Family, Inc. calls for support for the Patrick-Murray Administration's proposal to address family homelessness in Massachusetts through a greater emphasis on housing solutions.

Click here to read this blog post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com. 

Faith-Based Action in the White House

Legislators, service providers, advocates and volunteers know that creating movements for social action is hard work. When we work for systemic change that will help us to better serve one another—to address suffering in ways that both heal existing pain and prevent future hardship for our neighbors—we discover how important it is to stay true to the values that motivate us.

Click here to read the rest of this blog post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

For People of All Religions...and No Religion?

Interfaith work for social action often brings our communities of faith and spiritual practice into partnerships with unfamiliar groups.

Click here to read the rest of this post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

Education for Action @ The Crossing: Rescheduled

Please note that Ending Youth Homelessness: Education for Action @ The Crossing, originally scheduled for January 27, has been rescheduled due to weather. A new date will be announced in the upcoming weeks.

To learn more about The Crossing, click here.

Where Real Church Meets Real Life

This week, guest blogger Vicki Morte, Minister for Justice and Action at The Crossing, reflects on the relationship between her faith and social action.

Click here to read this post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

Why We Engage in Compassionate Action

Sarah Lipton, Boston Shambhala Publicity Manager, shares her reflections about the relationship between the center's meditation practice and dedication to compassionate social action:

Click here to read this post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

A Reception with Neil Donovan

Please join MHSA members, donors, faith community supporters and young professionals for a reception with Neil Donovan, Executive Director of the National Coalition for the Homeless.

Click here to read the rest of this post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.

Homeless Narratives & Pretreatment Pathways: From Words to Housing

This afternoon, Ending Homelessness in Massachusetts, a blog by the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (MHSA), published the blog post below.

Click here to read this post on the new SAM blog at socialactionma.wordpress.com.