Your stories, our campaigns

Transforming Local Public Health

I am proud to be working with MPHA to transform the local public health system in Massachusetts. For too long our broken system has allowed deep inequities – and the consequences have been brought home by the COVID-19 pandemic. Too many of our families, friends and neighbors are being left behind. By coming together to demand both adequate funding and fundamental policy changes, we are helping to build a public health system that will be truly effective and equitable for the residents of every city and town in the Commonwealth. Our communities deserve nothing less.“

Craig Andrade
Associate Dean for Practice & Associate Professor of Community Health Sciences at the BU School of Public Health & member of the Brockton Board of Health

Massachusetts communities deserve a 21st-century local public health system that provides strong protections to ALL residents, regardless of race, income or zip code. To achieve this vision, we must transform our current system, which is both inefficient and deeply inequitable. In a sustained multiyear campaign, MPHA and our partners in the Coalition for Local Public Health have been working to do just that.

In 2021, we made remarkable progress by securing $200M in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to invest in local public health infrastructure. Now, we are advocating for essential policy reforms, including minimum public health standards for every community, a uniform data collection and reporting system, and dedicated state funding.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the local public health workforce has played a critical role in keeping our communities safe – from carrying out contact tracing to delivering life-saving vaccines. Unfortunately, they continue to be hampered by the broken system they work within. Now is the time to transform the system and achieve lasting change.

Achieving Vaccine Equity

MPHA has been a critical partner and champion in the effort to demand vaccine equity for Black, Latinx, immigrant and working poor communities in Massachusetts. They understand that achieving our equity goals is essential to any successful strategy to contain the virus, reopen the economy, and foster true recovery.“

Dr. Atyia Martin,
co-chair, Vaccine Equity Now! Coalition

From the beginning, structural racism has shaped and been deepened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Black, Latinx, low-income and immigrant communities have borne – and in most cases continue to bear – a disproportionate burden of infections, hospitalizations and deaths. When vaccines became available, MPHA joined forces with civil rights, racial justice and immigrant justice organizations to form the Vaccine Equity Now! (VEN) Coalition, advocating for equitable policies that would direct state vaccination resources to the hardest hit communities.

Since its launch, VEN has worked consistently to hold the Baker administration accountable for decisions about vaccine access, while advocating for the establishment of equity benchmarks, collaboration with local officials and community leaders, culturally competent vaccine-related communications, transparency in the allocation of resources, and strong data collection and reporting, which are essential to measure progress towards vaccine equity. VEN also developed and released Equity Principles for Workplace COVID-19 Vaccine Policies & Safety Practices, in order to help local businesses develop and implement policies designed to promote health and well-being throughout their communities.

Stabilizing Housing

Working with MPHA has brought a valuable public health perspective to housing issues. After helping to pass the eviction & foreclosure moratorium during the early days of the pandemic, they have advocated consistently on behalf of tenants and homeowners. As representatives of the Homes for All Massachusetts Coalition, we appreciate their commitment to honoring the leadership of grassroots organizations and those directly impacted by housing instability.“

Rose Webster-Smith of Springfield No One Leaves, Isaac Simon Hodes of Lynn United for Change, Noemi Mimi Ramos of New England United for Justice, and Denise Matthews-Turner and Mike Leyba of City Life / Vida Urbana

Massachusetts’ long-simmering housing crisis has been exacerbated by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the state moratorium on evictions and foreclosures expired in October 2020, more than 30,000 evictions and foreclosures have been filed, and upwards of 110,000 renters are now behind on their rent. Current housing protections are not enough to meet the scale of this crisis and prevent even more needless displacement.

MPHA, in solidarity with the statewide grassroots Homes for All Massachusetts Coalition, is organizing to stabilize housing in the Commonwealth. A top priority is passing the COVID-19 Housing Equity bill, which would provide immediate protections for tenants and homeowners at risk of losing their homes. We are also advancing anti-displacement, tenant empowerment, and local rent stabilization legislation. Together, these policies would set us on a path for an equitable recovery by ensuring that the hardest hit communities do not continue to bear the brunt of the pandemic’s economic impacts.

Advancing Transportation Justice

MPHA has been an essential partner in the campaign for affordable and reliable public transportation in the South Coast region. Their expertise in state-level advocacy combined with their commitment to amplifying the voices of local transportation advocates make them a powerful ally.“

Sabrina Davis,
Fall River Organizer for the Coalition for Social Justice.

Massachusetts’ Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs) are a lifeline to the 55% of residents who live beyond the reach of MBTA bus and train lines. By operating bus routes and providing dial-a-ride services for people with disabilities, RTAs connect residents to medical care, food, jobs, and other critical services.

Since major funding cuts were proposed for the RTAs in 2018, MPHA has co-chaired the Regional Transit Authority Advocates Coalition, advocating successfully to protect and expand funding for public transit. In 2021, we secured $94M in state funds for RTA base operations and worked with our legislative champions to file the RTA Advancement Bill, which would ensure sustainable funding for RTAs, enhance support for capital projects, and support electrification of buses.

MPHA is also supporting the movement for zero fare busing. In 2021, we spoke out in support of several zero fare proposals and assisted the Zero Fare WRTA Coalition with coalition building and strategy development – resulting in the extension of fare free busing in Worcester through the end of 2022.

Your stories, our campaigns — 2021

Your stories, our campaigns

Transforming Local Public Health