A note from our new MCHC President

Dear friends,

Since our founding in 2003, the Massachusetts Coalition for Healthy Communities (MCHC) has proven that citizens can be powerful when they are well-informed and when they stand firmly upon their highest principles.

MCHC was founded with the belief that truly healthy communities exist only when all their constituent systems are healthy and working together. For this reason, we believe that people concerned with different aspects of our continuing economic, environmental, and democracy crises should work together on the fundamental issues that are impeding progress toward the readily available solutions. Working across demographic and issue boundaries provides an antidote to the divide-and-conquer process that forces deserving constituencies to compete for crumbs, and settle for slightly less-harsh-defeats, instead of achieving the real solutions that are within reach.

MCHC believes achieving healthy communities requires a healthy grassroots democracy that allows people to come together to exercise more control over the conditions under which they live. To maintain our ability to speak the truth without censure, we have steered clear of entanglements with the numerous agents and institutions of the prevailing power structure. We often found ourselves the only voice raising concerns about a deal that was moving forward on Beacon Hill without any questions being asked by incumbent politicians or other public interest groups. We have often had a surprising impact simply by raising our voice and telling the truth.

With developing crises at the global, national, state and local levels, MCHC is focusing increasingly on the strategic leverage point represented by advancing community-rooted solutions at the local and statewide levels. We invite you to join with us in building momentum across the state to reverse course and create the healthy, just, sustainable future we deserve.

Emily Hardt, MCHC President