'Next!' Claire Nicholson called to a half-dozen people chatting like old friends on chairs and a pew in St. Paul’s Church last Tuesday morning. One by one, they walked between cupboards and a row of tables, filling a brown paper bag with fresh corn, potatoes, bread, pastries, canned fruit and soups.

"For these women, life is a struggle. They are poor. Looking for a job. Uneducated. Single mothers. Homeless. Disabled.

They share that struggle on their blogs.

Recently launched by the nonprofit Crittenton Women’s Union in Boston, the Voices Project Blog is a place where struggling women can share their hardships and triumphs, voice opinions and offer one another encouragement and advice." ...
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BOSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL
April 20 , 2007
Meeting a 'double bottom line'

"A CFO at a nonprofit is facing the increasingly stringent requirements weighing on the private sector" ...
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THE BOSTON GLOBE
April 15 , 2007
Hey, here's one preschool that's jumping

"One of the better programs in the city to get 3- to 5-year-olds prepared for school uses college students as preschool mentors." ...
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THE BOSTON GLOBE
March 9, 2007
Young parents lobby for programs

"Just as 14-year-old Estella Hernandez started her freshman year at Chelsea High School, she had another new beginning, the birth of her healthy baby boy. " ...
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WOMEN'S BUSINESS BOSTON
March 2007
Beth Babcock Strategizes for Women's Self-Sufficiency

"For Beth Babcock, working in health and human services was a no-brainer. "I come from a long line of teachers, college professors, preachers and doctors," she says.

Taking the lead of the newly formed Crittenton Women's Union as its first president and CEO last spring was a no-brainer as well. "It was like catnip," she admits.

In turn, Babcock, whose doctorate degree is in nonprofit organizational strategy, couldn't have been a better choice for leading the merger of the Crittenton and The Women's Union." ...
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NORTH ADAMS TRANSCRIPT
February 20, 2007
Report: 'Realistic' poverty threshold higher than federal

"NORTH ADAMS — State Rep. Daniel E. Bosley, D-North Adams, has filed legislation to replace federal poverty-level standards with a 'self-sufficiency guideline' — an attempt to help the working poor maintain vital services as they move toward independence. " ...
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THE BOSTON GLOBE / OPINION
February 15, 2007
At the base of the ladder out of poverty

"FINANCIAL SECURITY for a single mom with two kids requires more than $58,000 annually ("Better living through job help," Editorial, Feb. 12). Crittenton Women's Union, which issued the report you cite, is widely respected for its leadership in offering workers opportunity for learning and career growth as a ladder to climb out of poverty." ...
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THE BAY STATE BANNER
February 15, 2007
Massachusetts residents leaving for new borders

"Take it from Brad Singleton.

He'll tell you he is living the good life. A native of Roxbury, Singleton has lived in the South for nearly 13 years, and at the moment, he has no intention of returning home. " ...
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THE BOSTON GLOBE / EDITORIAL
February 12, 2007
Better living through job help

"Year after year, the news is the same: it's expensive to live in Massachusetts. Just to cover bare bones costs, a mother with two children needs to earn $58,133, according to the latest version of the Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Standard, just released by the Crittenton Women's Union, a local nonprofit organization. First compiled in 1998, the standard has been a public policy alarm clock, repeatedly ringing a reminder that families across the state aren't earning as much as they need." ...
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GLOUCESTER DAILY TIMES
February 9, 2007
Study says single parents need higher salaries to provide basic needs

"A single mother of a preschooler and two school-age children living in Gloucester needs to be earning $33.92 an hour to adequately support them, a recent study says." ...
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MASSNONPROFIT.ORG
February 2, 2007
Crittenton Women's Union Says Cost of Self-Sufficiency Rises

"Crittenton Women's Union today released its latest Self-Sufficiency Standard for Boston, which shows that in 2006, the cost to live in Boston for a family of three—single parent, preschooler and school age child—was $58,133 annually, up from $51,284 in 2003, an overall increase of 13%." ...
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CAPE COD TIMES
February 2, 2007
Barely making it on Cape

"As a single mother of a nearly-8-year-old boy, Bernadette Ponce of Dennis knows it isn't always easy to make ends meet on Cape Cod. " ...
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THE REPUBLICAN—SPRINGFIELD
February 2, 2007
Study sees disparity in needs vs. income

"SPRINGFIELD - A single parent living in Greater Springfield with a pre-schooler and a school-age child would have to make three times the state minimum wage of $7.50 an hour in order to get by without grants, subsidies or other assistance, a report issued yesterday said." ...
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BOSTON.COM / THE BOSTON GLOBE
February 1, 2007
Single mother? You need to make $58K in Mass.

"To make ends meet, a single mother of two children in Boston needs to earn $27.53 an hour, or nearly four times more than the current Massachusetts minimum wage of $7.50 an hour, a new report said today." ...
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THE BOSTON GLOBE(Front Page)
April 6, 2006
Nonprofit mergers catch on in region

"The wave of mergers rippling through the corporate world is also washing into another sector: Nonprofits ... One of the more striking mergers will be completed in July when two venerable Boston charities that help at-risk women and families, The Women's Union and Crittenton, combine."
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THE BOSTON GLOBE / EDITORIAL
March 14, 2006
United for women's lives

"WELCOME TO the wedding of two Boston nonprofit agencies, where the sum of one plus one is meant to equal one -- but a better, stronger one. As they announced last week, Crittenton, a human service organization, and the Women's Union, which provides services and advocacy, intend to merge on July 1."
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THE BOSTON HERALD
March 10, 2006
Nonprofits merge to aid poor

Two historic Boston nonprofits that help low-income women and at-risk families reach economic self-sufficiency will merge. The Women's Union and Crittenton Inc. will become the Crittenton Women's Union on July 1. "Together we can be a stronger voice in the community and the state,"...
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THE BOSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL
March 10, 2006
Nonprofits Crittenton and Women's Union announce merger

Crittenton and The Women's Union announced Thursday the two nonprofits will merge operations to form The Crittenton Women's Union. Elisabeth D. Babcock, former president and CEO of HEARTH -- a Boston-based charitable organization that provides advocacy and outreach to find permanent housing for elders -- will be the new organization's president and CEO.
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