Mattie Valerie was invited to join Mass Senior Action Council by her North Shore Chapter Membership Coordinator, Mary Thompson.
Right after joining, Mattie became active, attending the membership meetings and organizing people to attend public meetings at city hall.
Chapter Board members noticed Mattie’s desire for social justice and asked her to serve on the Board. Right away, Mattie started recruiting others to join the chapter and become advocates.
When asked why she feels Mass Senior Action is important Mattie’s response is, “I like how we all come together to work on issues. I love being a part of the “sea of blue” and our group just does not have meetings, we win!”
Over the summer, Mattie represented her chapter at two city events and recruited other members to take on roles at the June chapter meeting. The first city event was at a contested state representative forum hosted by the New Lynn Coalition. Mattie asked the candidates questions important to the local community. Next, MSAC was asked by Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson to attend a ribbon cutting with the Federal Undersecretary of Transportation, Mattie spoke on behalf of Lynn seniors on the importance of infrastructure investments in our mobility, “Many people walk to the senior center. Broken sidewalks and blocked crosswalks make coming to the center dangerous. This 2.9 million investment will address many of our concerns and we will be a part of the discussion on how to use this funding.”
When it was announced that the Mass Senior Action Council would be offering a workshop to train members on recruiting, Mattie was the first to sign up. Mattie came back to Lynn to tell others what she learned, “The training taught us how to share our Mass Senior Action story and let others know their voice matters. I am excited to become an MSAC outreach Ambassador.”
And that is just what Mattie and others have done. Mattie completed the initial training and presented or represented MSAC at 2 community events. Mattie and six of her North Shore chapter family received their ambassador lapel pin at their September monthly membership meeting.
“I am so proud of MSAC. I tell everyone to be a member.,” Mattie shared with MSAC President Rosa Bentley, “When people see us show up in our blue swag, they know we are a force to be reckoned with. Together our voices are strong.”