logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

NIMBY Discrimination Suit Resolved Successfully

Ruth McCambridge
October 29, 2010
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

October 28, 2010; Source: The Metro West Daily News | The town of Framingham, Mass. has finally settled a long simmering and highly contentious lawsuit with a local social service agency. The South Middlesex Opportunity Council (SMOC) filed the suit in 2007 when the town opposed its efforts to site Sage House, a recovery center for former addicts and their families and Larry’s Place, a home for disabled veterans there. The suit charged [PDF] that Framingham town leaders and a few residents were participating in a coordinated attempt to rid Framingham of its disabled population.

SMOC claimed that the town violated federal housing laws. The settlement, reached after at least one claim of financial intimidation by the town and one previous failed attempt at mediation, requires the town’s insurance company to pay $1 million to SMOC and to provide training in anti-discrimination laws to town officials. Kudos to SMOC for pursuing this in what must have been a very difficult local political environment.

The language of observers from the article exhibits the degree to which the issue has been divisive. “We’re sorry that it had to come down to this, this far in the process,” said the Rev. J. Anthony Lloyd of the Greater Framingham Community Church. He said “lots of people are broken” because of the divisive fight over how SMOC’s nonprofit social service programs fit into the community.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Jim Cuddy of SMOC obviously sees the suit as worth the friction, saying “We embrace the agreement in which both parties acknowledge the right of every person in our community to have a place to call home,” An editorial today suggests that residents of Framingham will be left with a bad taste in the mouths because of the $1 million (which, again, will be paid by an insurance company) but it is worth noting that SMOC had offered to settle the lawsuit earlier without a financial award and was turned down by the town [PDF].

I am glad to be able to write this Newswire the day after reporting that officials in Indiana may be suggesting to parents that they “dump” their disabled children in homeless shelters.—Ruth McCambridge

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
About the author
Ruth McCambridge

Ruth is Editor Emerita of the Nonprofit Quarterly. Her background includes forty-five years of experience in nonprofits, primarily in organizations that mix grassroots community work with policy change. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Ruth spent a decade at the Boston Foundation, developing and implementing capacity building programs and advocating for grantmaking attention to constituent involvement.

More about: Nonprofit News

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

Spring-2023-sidebar-subscribe
You might also like
Measuring Healthcare Equity in North Carolina
Sonia Sarkar
The Nonprofit Sector and Social Change: A Conversation between Cyndi Suarez and Claire Dunning
Claire Dunning and Cyndi Suarez
Nonprofits as Battlegrounds for Democracy
Cyndi Suarez
Remaking the Economy: Caring for the Care Economy
Steve Dubb, Adria Powell and Jenn Stowe
Race, Class, and Climate: Organizing for a Better Future in Pueblo, Colorado
Jamie Valdez
Faith as a Pathway to Climate Action
Anmol Irfan

NPQ Webinars

April 27th, 2 pm ET

Liberatory Decision-Making

How to Facilitate and Engage in Healthy Decision-making Processes

Register Now
You might also like
AOC’s “Tax the Rich” Dress Dazzles Met Gala, while...
Anastasia Reesa Tomkin
Foundation Giving Numbers for 2020 Show 15 Percent Increase
Steve Dubb
Strike MoMA Imagines Art Museums without Billionaires
Tessa Crisman

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

NPQ-Spring-2023-cover

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.