Page 8 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2020 Safe Routes to School program seeks to make Beachmont area safer for students By Adam Swift W alking to school could be getting a little safer for students of the Beachmont Veterans Memorial School. “We were fortunate, through the Mayor’s Office and Julie DeMauro [the city’s On the Move Active Living Coordinator] to have a new Safe Routes to School program for the Beachmont School,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Dianne Kelly at Monday’s School Committee meeting. “Julie has been working on this for a number of years, and she helped us on the Safe Routes to School program at the Garfi eld School to ensure that our students are safe as they walk to and from the school.” Safe Routes to School is a state program that looks to increase safe biking and walking among elementary and middle school students by using a collaborative, community-focused approach that bridges the gap between health and transportation, according to the state website. “We want to make sure we have a good plan in place for all of the kids,” said Kelly. The focus of the plan will be on increasing safety and walkability at seven intersections near the Beachmont School. Those intersections include Bennington and Everard, Bennington and Crescent, Crescent and Winthrop, Winthrop and Donnelly Square, State and Atlantic, and Atlantic at Endicott, and Cottage. SAFE | SEE Page 9 Chelsea’s first dispensary, Western Front, opens doors to the public and to minorities seeking jobs in the cannabis industry Western Front is the second economic empowerment dispensary to open in Massachusetts CHELSEA – The adult-use dispensary celebrated its grand opening this November with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Chelsea city offi cials, with speeches by City Council President Roy Avellaneda, The Western Front performance venue founder/social justice icon Marvin E. Gilmore, Jr., 96, and Western Front dispensary cofounder/former Vice Mayor of Cambridge Dennis A. Benzan. City Council President Avellaneda praised the dispensary for providing job opportunities to Chelsea residents as well as bringing much-needed revenue to the city. The inimitable Gilmore is a Western Front manager and a local legend with a rich history of fi rsts and achievements. To name a few: World War II hero and French Legion of Honor recipient; founder of the fi rst and largest black bank in America, OneUnited; civil rights activist; founder of the original The Western Front jazz and reggae nightclub in Cambridge. He said seeing the dispensary open is a dream: “To have lived so long and to see what’s happening here and the changes being made, it’s unbelievable. From my point of view, it’s going to help this community…these young people have a way to get money in their pockets and buy homes here. Chelsea was one of the poorest cities in Massachusetts and look at it now. With all it’s achieved, it’s elegant. The sun is shining and the Lord is with us and it’s a new day. Today is our day.” Western Front may be the second minority-owned dispensary to open in the Commonwealth, but it is the fi rst to provide real change in its community. The company made the decision to pay its staff signifi cantly more than a living wage of $15 per hour, and it actively recruited candidates from Chelsea and other neighborhoods designated as Areas of Disproportionate Impact by the Cannabis Control Commission. The vast majority of employees have no history in the cannabis industry, but Western Front welcomed the challenge of training a large staff with no experience. They are committed to creating opportunities for people of color to make an impact on this new and rapidly expanding industry. Benzan, a Western Front manager, spoke of his interviews with young adults from the community and how many expressed feelings of hopelessness and depression during the pandemic. They felt locked out of an industry in which nearly 75% of active marijuana agents in Massachusetts are white. They looked at Western Front as a catalyst for change: “When customers walk into the store and say, ‘I feel a great vibe, I feel that the staff is friendly’, what they’re feeling is hope. And that is a hope that no one can destroy.” For Advertising with Results, call The Advocate Newspapers at 781-286-8500 or Info@advocatenews.net
9 Publizr Home