Last Saturday, July 9, I was proud to accept an award on behalf of South Boston Online (SBOL) from Susan Lenardis, who was representing the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) as well as the Old Colony Task Force. SBOL does care about the community and attempts on a weekly basis to highlight various events and people. We are proud to have been doing so for the past two decades. Just as proud as Susan Lenardis is caring about her Old Colony Development community.
Susan has been working part time as an administration support staff person for the BHA for the past twelve years. She is originally from East Boston where she grew up in the Orient Heights BHA development and served on their local task force with her mother and twin sister. Now, as a longtime resident at Old Colony, Susan is like the Ever-Ready Bunny that keeps on ticking.
She recently created “Susan Cares”, a nonprofit, community outreach program designed by the Boston Housing Authority to service and empower at-risk and extremely impoverished residents on their path towards self-sufficiency.
“Our residents are a vast community of people including youth, disabled, veterans, and seniors, the very backbone of our community, including adults of all ages and challenges,” Susan wrote.
“The issues plaguing residents is drug and alcohol addiction, lack of skills and extreme poverty to which they feel hopeless and alone,” she added. “Most of you know that prescription drugs have destroyed many families worldwide from as young as ten years young to seventy-five years old. My ‘Teen’iors’ (initiative) would unite both Seniors and teens to teach our respected elders free online skills & games, activities & crafts such as their favorite ceramics projects and a ‘Teen’ior’s’ bowling team. But without transportation for any healthy activities that would also include college and job fair visits for residents, these dreams are just that, dreams. So our biggest goal is to obtain two community vans for said opportunities.
“The goal of the Susan Cares endeavor is to help identify and create necessary programs to empower the residents on their journey,” she further wrote. “We are desperately reaching out in order to offer a little light on that path that self-sufficiency is not only possible but that our greater community is willing to help and cares along the way. If there is any way that you can help with funds, food, donations and or gift cards as they participate in job training, addiction recovery, as well as regaining their faith that there really are people who care and are willing to help. Anything you are able to give makes a difference to our residents and we would love to help them rediscover their American dreams so that it permanently breaks the cycle of addiction and poverty.”
Please feel free to contact Susan at 857-246-2671 or at Lenardis.s@gmail.com for further information on how to contribute and help out in any manner.
