In partnership and unity, communities find the strength to uplift. Our community, the Mildred C. Hailey Apartments in Jamaica Plain personifies this. On Monday, January 8th, a large-scale arrest involving our community took place in the culmination of a two-year investigation. It is an important step to enhancing public safety at Mildred C. Hailey Apartments.
We cannot express our gratitude enough to the agencies that led the investigation – Commissioner William Evans and The Boston Police Department, Boston Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (AFT), Boston Housing Authority, and federal law enforcement agencies. Thank you for your consummate and dedicated service to helping ease daily living in our community.
I serve as the President of the Mildred C. Hailey Apartments Tenant Organization. Our work in the Tenant Organization is devoted to fostering a unified Mildred C. Hailey community. It is important that you also know the true essence of hurdles we face and how we surmount them.
The arrests are only one step in continual movement toward bettering our community. There is more work to be done. Carfentanil and heroin are prominent drugs that also continue to plague the lives of innocent Mildred C. Hailey residents. Incidents of violence occur in the complex. The encouraging news is that the Tenant Organization is actively working with programs and community partnerships to evade these perils.
Another invaluable community partnership for the Tenant Organization is with our local elected officials – Mayor Martin Walsh and state Representative Jeffrey Sánchez – among important local organizations like JPNDC, Tree of Life, and the JP Neighborhood Trauma Team, which continue to play a key role in providing resources and a helpful presence to our community.
Youth of Mildred C. Hailey are also pillars of our community. We are actively committed to providing constructive outlets for youth residents to develop into positive role models. Through local programs and partner organizations nested close to the Apartments, such as, Children’s Hospital-Martha Eliot, ABCD, and Real Kidz, the community is empowering itself to build a bright future, every day. Youth participants in these programs return in droves to help usher in the next generation of young leaders at the Mildred C. Hailey Apartments. Keeping our youth residents engaged in the community rather than being caught up in the legal and correctional system is our top priority.
Over its history, Mildred C. Hailey residents have always fostered an environment that brings people together. From the aid of the investigation and our focus on positive relationships, our residents will continue to shine as an example of what it means to be a collaborative community. We look forward to maintaining partnerships that make improvements in public safety possible.
Sincerely,
Wendy Polanco
President
Mildred C. Hailey Tenant Organization