Lynn students bolster Boston homeless rally

LYNN – A group of North Shore Community College students is preparing to join the ranks of housing rights advocates, policy makers and legislators at the State House on Feb. 26 to push for a solution to the state’s homelessness crisis.Hundreds of participants from a wide array of public advocacy and faith-based groups will gather for a Legislative Action Day, sponsored by the Lynn-based Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless.The number of homeless families in Massachusetts has reached a record high, said coalition spokesman Robin Estrin, noting that the action day comes at a critical time.In addition to the Lynn college students, led by organizer and social issues instructor Maggie Labella, advocacy groups supporting the coalition will hail from Boston, Brockton, Cambridge, Framingham, Haverhill, Holyoke, Lexington, Lincoln, Longmeadow, Lowell, New Bedford, Newton, Plymouth, Scituate, Waltham and Worcester, Estrin said.Last month, the state’s Commission to End Homelessness released a plan to end homelessness in Massachusetts by 2013.The rally will be in the Great Hall from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with the keynote speech by Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International slated for 10:15 a.m. The speech is entitled “Housing is a Human Right.”Among the other dignitaries expected to attend are Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray; Robyn Frost, executive director of the Massachusetts Coalitional for the Homeless; Rep. Byron Rushing, co-chairman of the Commission to End Homelessness; and Tina Brooks, undersecretary at the state Department of Housing and Community Development. Several individuals who are presently homeless will also attend, according to Estrin.