Rights “win-win” Partnership makes possible City Hall outreach office

December 04. 2007 12:00AM

 

The Human Rights Outreach Center in Worcester City Hall announced yesterday is a noteworthy example of how, even in times of tight budgets, creative partnerships can yield impressive results.

 

When the outreach center is in full operation early next month, it will be an easily accessible contact point for residents seeking the aid of either the cityís Human Rights Office, headquartered at 25 Meade St., or the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, which closed its office in City Hall in 2002. The center, located in an office on the first floor of City Hall, will house a full-time MCAD investigator and a full-time outreach staffer supplementing the Human Rights Office.

 

Getting to this point required considerable ingenuity.

 

On the political side, Sen. Edward M. Augustus Jr. and Rep. James J. O’Day shepherded legislation mandating and funding a MCAD presence in Worcester, and Councilor Michael C. Perotto spearheaded the City Council support for the project. Meanwhile, a fair housing grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to Legal Assistance Corp. of Central Massachusetts provided funding for the local outreach position.

 

Putting the outreach office in City Hall means it will be easily accessible by bus, but the prominent location is a symbolic gesture as well. As Frances R. Manocchio, Human Rights Office director, noted, it is an expression of the city’s commitment “to dignity and justice for all.” Malcolm S. Medley, MCAD commissioner, expressed a similar sentiment, calling the reopening of MCAD’s Worcester office evidence on the state level of “a recommitment to eradicating discrimination.”

 

Offering state and municipal human rights services offices in a single, central location maximizes convenience for residents while minimizing cost to taxpayers. That, as Mr. Augustus put it, is a “win-win.”