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Robert M. Coard 1927 - 2009 |
Your dedication and determination, your big heart and indefatigable spirit, have been the source of enduring hope and opportunity for the most vulnerable in our city, state and nation.
-A Tribute to Robert M. Coard
More than 1,500 enthusiastic supporters crowded the Boston Marriott Copley Place on October 30, 2009, to honor the man whom U. S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy called an irresistible advocate and who inspired a Boston Globe columnist to reflect: …because of him, elderly residents in gentrified neighborhoods got affordable housing, needy youth got summer jobs, Boston got the two-year Urban College and two ABCD alternative high schools.
Bob Coard served as President/CEO of ABCD for 41 years. His tireless, inspired work on behalf of the less fortunate, his intellectual acumen, political savvy and indomitable will, came to symbolize the antipoverty, community action movement in America. He built people and created institutions, including the Urban College of Boston, National Community Action Foundation and Community Action Program Legal Assistance Program (CAPLAW).
To honor Bob’s memory and continue his all-important legacy, ABCD has established the Robert M. Coard Hope & Opportunity Fund to ensure that his mission to provide pathways out of poverty and lasting institutions that serve the poor will continue.
Your donation to this fund will help provide innovative and enduring interventions that make a difference in the lives of those struggling to find their way to self-sufficiency: help with college tuition or books for an ABCD alternative high school graduate; an oil delivery for the 80-year-old who has exhausted his fuel assistance benefit; a rent deposit for the family struggling to get out of a homeless shelter and into their own home; summer jobs for teens whose very lives depend on that opportunity. These are just a few examples of how the fund will assist those who turn to ABCD for help.
With your help, the Robert M. Coard Hope & Opportunity Fund will be there for people when they need it most – just like ABCD. Thank you for your support.
If you have any questions, please contact:
Pamela Nedbalek
ABCD Government & Industrial Relations
617.348.6238