Press Release  South Boston Probation Provides Warmth to City's Homeless

Boston — A group of South Boston District Court Probation Officers will go out in the community and hand out socks and other cold weather gear to homeless men and women along Albany Street, Massachusetts Avenue, and West Broadway Street on Tuesday, December 19, at 11 am. Boston Police from Precinct C-6 will be joining South Boston District Probation.

This Probation community initiative is part of the 3^rd Annual Sock Drive which is conducted by South Boston District Probation. Also coordinating Sock Drives are the other seven divisions of the eight Boston Municipal Courts (BMC) which include Brighton, Central, Charlestown, Dorchester, East Boston, Roxbury, and West Roxbury. The Probation Departments have collected socks, gloves, boots, snacks, toiletries such as soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, moisturizers, and sanitizers.

The Probation Sock Drive was first launched by Renee Payne, a Regional Supervisor for Probation Services for the eight Boston Municipal Court divisions, who learned several years ago that socks are one of the most needed item for those who are homeless.

“We experience extremely cold weather in Boston and it‘s difficult to keep warm even when you are properly dressed for the elements. The BMC Probation Departments-- with assistance from other court departments, friends, and family-- work together to collect socks and other cold weather gear for the homeless to be distributed in communities. Our Sock Drive motto is ‘Helping Hands for Warm Feet,’’’ said Payne.

“Probation and the courts are part of the communities we serve. We have recognized through our day to day interactions with clients—those who are homeless and those who are struggling to make ends meet—that there is often a need for these items,” said Probation Commissioner Edward J. Dolan. “We have provided socks, hats, and gloves to clients in need who come into the office. Some divisions go out into the community and distribute them on the street or drop them off at shelters and other facilities. We are an agency that works very hard to help people and the Sock Drive is one of the ways we give back to the community.”

The Massachusetts Probation Service is a department of the Massachusetts Trial Court and the administrative office for the Office of Community Corrections and the Massachusetts Trial Court Community Service Program.

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