Boston City Council Honors 888 Member William Harvey and the BCYF Streetworker Program

The BCYF Streetworker program targets at-risk youth in the City's most violent neighborhoods. Working to keep kids off the streets and out of gangs, streetworkers themselves every day face threat to their own safety.

Last August, Streetworker William Harvey was shotworking with a group of young people in the South End.

Three of his co-workers, who were on the scene and barely escaped being gunned down themselves, Dennis Avila and Samantha Wright and Zakia Brown, immediately rushed William to the hospital. 

Fortunately, William pulled through. But his recovery from being shot at point blank range has been slow. Five months after the attack that changed his life. Harvey is now thousands of dollars in debt and his family is facing eviction because they cannot make ends meet on William's meager disability allowance of less than $300 a week.

Local 888 became aware of William's situation when we were contacted byWBUR reporter David Boeri, who was researching a story about Harvey. Local 888 Finance Director Antonio Nunes immediately began to investigate whether the SEIU 888 - City of Boston Housing Trust Fund, that he co-chairs, could provide assistance to Harvey and his family. The City initially balked at the prospect. But Antonio pressed on and with the support 888 Housing Trust Board members Rachel IIdowu and Anita Christon, the union was able to negotiate a new Trust program that will provide a grant of up to $4,000 dollars in housing assistance to any SEIU 888 member who is subject to violent attack while on the job for the City. William Harvey will be the first beneficiary of this new Housing Trust program.
 
SEIU 888 Political Director Eldin Villafane also stepped up to help. Working with Boston City Councilors Felix Arroyo and Michael Ross, Eldin helped to draft a resolution honoring William Harvey's service to the City that was approved unanimously by the City Council. More importantly, the Council has ordered hearings into the occupational risks faced by Streetworkers who are "asked to regularly put themselves in dangerous and potentially life-threatening situations" and to determine a means for "fairly compensating" all streetworkers who are injured on the job.