Valerie Bonds is a former educator and a new but active member of MSAC’s Cambridge-Somerville chapter. After learning about the group from Cambridge- Somerville chapter president John Ratliff, she quickly plugged in.

My name is Dee Campbell-Tompkins. I am a Board member of the MSAC Metro North Chapter. I want to share my journey and offer information to seniors who might not know about The Aging Project, a “life line” for LGBTQ elders.

The United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. was sieged in early January 2021 and will forever be scarred in the memory banks of millions for years to come. Within the broad membership of our socially active Massachusetts Senior Action Council (MSAC), we have one particular member who is originally from the nation’s capital, MSAC Boston Chapter member, Linda Freeman.

Dot Macaione has been an advocate in the community her entire life. At 97 years young, Dot continues to support the Girls Scouts and is an active Shoe City Lions member. Her sister, Bernice Langlois, had been active in MSAC for many years encouraging Dot to join in the action but Dot did not join until she moved in 2010 after her sister passed away.

Dot said she enjoyed the meetings because they are so informative, “so many people have no idea what is going on, things that affect their everyday life, because they are not a MSAC member and do not get the information we receive at our chapter meetings.”

One reason Carmelle likes to be a member of Mass Senior Action because she cares about healthcare. She had a long career in healthcare, working for 25 years as a nurse companion. In this field, she says, she has seen a lot of health misery and suffering, especially in elders. She says, “I see how many seniors in my community are suffering, mentally and physically, and so I know how important it is to try to get services that will be good for seniors.” She knows firsthand how important it is to work together to try to obtain the resources that seniors deserve.

Mattie Lacewell has a history of social activism from her work with Fair Share to serving as the Director of  he Upper Hill Resident Council, Inc. She retired from Monson Development Center where she worked as a Mental Health Care Administrator. Mattie has been a lifelong resident of Springfield with lineage roots of Alabama. Her activism was sparked from neighborhood concerns.

John is our state board secretary and an active member of the MSAC Cambridge Chapter. In his working life, he had been active in the union movement, anti-war movement, civil rights,and LGBT movements. In 2012 he retired and moved to Massachusetts, with his husband Ted, from Florida where he had been working as a lawyer for organizations like SEIU Local 1991.

 After he retired, he didn’t want to stop being an activist and fighting for the rights of all so when he found out about Mass Senior Action, he immediately joined and jumped right into the action. John recently shared at an outreach in Cambridge, “Mass Senior Action felt like the place for me because I believe the only way we can make positive change is by coming together and collectively acting.”