A Legacy of Neighborhood Advocacy

Growing up in Dorchester, I was fortunate to learn from my family the value of working hard: For your family, for your neighborhood, and for your principles. I am a first-time candidate for office, but working  for the betterment of our neighborhoods runs in my family – all the way back to the 1960’s when my grandfather, Richard Murphy, organized all the local neighborhood associations under one united group (Dorchester United Neighborhood Association) to advocate for a park and community buildings on acres of former landfill in Dorchester. 

Today we know the space as the Richard J. Murphy School and adjacent sports fields and playgrounds. Hundreds of thousands of Bostonians since 1965 have benefitted from his leadership and vision.

Richard Murphy's pride and joy was founding, through DUNA, a community credit union that made very small, low-low interest loans (what we now call “micro-loans”) to working people in the City. The Dorchester Credit Union was ahead of its time, and it is that same sort of Thinking Big for the benefit of every-day neighbors that I will bring to the City Council.

I followed in Papa Murphy’s footsteps of service: When I ran the Boston Marathon three times to raise $50k for addiction recovery and mental health programs at the Gavin Foundation; When I rallied support and raised a record amount of money  for the Dorchester Day Committee as their honorary Mayor; When I brought yoga and mindfulness teaching into my Boston Public School classrooms; And when I go out before dawn most mornings to share sunrise over Boston Harbor photos with thousands of City residents who believe, as I do, that there is so much good going on in Boston’s neighborhoods.

I learned how to lead and how to stand up for all of us from my family. My years giving back to Boston convinced me that the City Council needs to listen more to the voices of our neighborhoods.