A gathering, designed to celebrate Springfield’s Bantu-speaking refugees from Somalia, while calling for more accountability from landlords, drew some 60 participants, including City Council President Michael Fenton.

“I am here to correct an injustice to the Somalis, and to Adan Abdi. You are all welcome,” said Fenton, a reference to a speaker from the Somali Bantu Community of Springfield at the event, as well as ongoing debate within the city of whether the federal government should settle more refugees here.

Directly addressing Bollo Mohamed, who spoke through a translator at the event, as well as other Somali Bantus, like Dugsiya Ahmet and Asli Abdullahi, all of Springfield, Fenton promised to work for legislation to “crackdown” on delinquent landlords, so tenants are not blamed for code violations, or displaced by them. The state’s sanitary code governs what is habitable housing, along with city and federal codes.

The July 24 event was organized by the Pioneer Valley Project, a coalition of some 26 religious, labor, education and other groups that has addressed social issues in the city since 1997. It was held at 515 Union St., which had housed a Somali Bantu family prior to its condemnation in May. Organizers said Fenton’s inclusion as one of the speakers spoke to a needed collaboration.

“This commitment to work with city leaders is the beginning of exploring ways to address this issue of housing, and specifically those who own units in Springfield, rent them to make money off them, but don’t maintain them and often don’t live in the city,” said Tara Parrish, prior to the event. Parrish directs the project whose board members include representatives from Sinai Temple, Holy Cross Parish, the Springfield Education Association, among others.

Parrish said more than 70 homes have been condemned in Springfield this year.

“The issue of 515 reminds us that we do have real problems, involving a lot of condemnations,” Parrish said. “The Somali family is back in an established home, but they were displaced to Greenfield, at a crucial time in their kids’ education at the end of the year. Their story has been repeated in other condemnations that don’t make the news, but we are repeating again at the site, where the family was displaced, that it is important for Springfield to be a city where everyone feels welcome, and that we are committed to addressing housing issues with the city.”

The Somali family of 12 was removed to a shelter hotel, after city officials condemned the Union Street rental that is now under repair. They were relocated to a duplex, at 185-187 Northampton Ave., this week, after an agreement was reached in Springfield City Housing Court between lawyers for the family and property manager David Sims who denied that he willfully ignored code violations at the Union Street property.

Last June, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno wrote the U.S. State Department, requesting that no more refugees be settled in Springfield. He cited cases of such families being housed in substandard units, and their numbers creating safety and educational concerns. It was this framing of the discussion that drew push back at Thursday’s event from speaker, after speaker.

Abdi, who came to Springfield, from Somalia, in 2005, told the crowd that “Somalis are not the problem.”

“I have lived in this city for 10 years and have seen a lot of good, and a lot of bad,” Abdi said. “I know the city has a lot of problems, but we want solutions. We do not want to be pointed at as the problem, and always in need of help. This is a difficult time for everyone.”

The message carried over to signs, like the one held by Springfield resident and landlord Tomeco Kelly that read, “Springfield is a city for all of us and not just a city for some of us.”

Kelly, a member of Carpenters Local 108, was at the event with union member Rocky Thompson.

“As a leader in an organization that is a member of the project, I am here to convey that everyone in the City of Springfield should be embraced and welcomed in the City of Homes, and that the equally important message that landlords, who allow their units to fall into such disrepair that people are made homeless, they will not be embraced,” said Thompson, who was among the speakers.

Timothy Collins, president of the Springfield Education Association, told the crowd that he was “proud of the city, but times ashamed what city officials have done.”

“Rather than fingering blame (at the refugees), we should call people together,” said Collins, citing “predatory landlords,” federal programs which settle refugees without the “necessary support” and the need in the state for “living wage jobs” among the issues.

“We need to fight for what is right and just for all those who reside in our city. We are all human beings.”

Other speakers included Jane Virgilio, project president, the Rev. Mark Flowers of Mount Calvary Baptist Church, and the Rev. David Lewis Sr. also of Mount Calvary, who gathered participants, at the conclusion, to hold hands in a line and shout “Unity in the Community, Houses for Everyone.”

As hands were released, Abdi was asked his reaction.

“I am very blessed to get this much support,” he said. “It is a very welcoming community.”

MASS LIVE

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