Cambridge Forum Addresses Poverty

Social activists and low-income Cantabrigians gathered last night at City Hall to testify that Cambridge is composed of more than yuppies and chic boutiques.

Welfare recipients and social activists said that homelessness, alcoholism, and unemployment were rampant in Cambridge and suggested that increased welfare benefits would help eliminate these problems.

"We question how a city can be thriving economically when thousands of its residents are without adequate food, shelter and health care," said Nancy Ryan, executive director of the Cambridge Commission on the Status of Women.

The forum was part of the statewide "Up To Poverty and Beyond" campaign, which works toward increased welfare benefits. Last April, the campaign introduced a bill which would increase welfare enough so that no residents would be living below the poverty line.

Hearings similar to this one have been held across the state during the past month, to increase public awareness and to help the campaign become more organized on the local level.