Healthcare and predatory lenders: why Gardner area women say these are their biggest needs

Emilia Cardona, The Gardner News
Updated ·4 min read

Women from across the North Central region gathered to testify on issues affecting them at a public hearing hosted by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women (MCSW) on March 28.

The regional public hearings are one way MCSW engages with the general public and collects information on issues Massachusetts women face daily. The hearing was held at the Mount Wachusett Community College Gardner campus.

Sarah Glen-Smith, MCSW Chair, said the commission includes all testimonies collected during public hearings in the yearly reports submitted to the state. The North Central Mass. public hearing in Gardner was the first one of the year.

Several North Central Mass. women spoke up about experiences with systemic sexism, from inaccessible healthcare treatment to predatory loans and mortgages that are targeting single mothers.

On Thursday, March 28, at Mount Wachusett Community College, The Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women held its annual regional public hearing to collect testimonies from local women on the issues they face daily. The MCSW consists of 19 appointed volunteers.
On Thursday, March 28, at Mount Wachusett Community College, The Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women held its annual regional public hearing to collect testimonies from local women on the issues they face daily. The MCSW consists of 19 appointed volunteers.

What are healthcare issues faced by North Central Mass. women?

It's been over six months since the Birthing Center at the HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital in Leominster closed, and many pregnant people across the North Central Mass region are struggling to find medical services.

Miko Nakagawa, an Athol resident and nurse for 26 years at UMass Memorial Health in Leominster, said the region already feels the effects of the closure from last September and will worsen. She cited the Gardner parents who delivered their baby in the AC Hotel in Worcester as an example of the effects of the closure and how overwhelmed the staff at the regional hospitals are.

Nakagawa said that with the Leominster birthing center closed, regional maternity centers and hospitals are overwhelmed, and more field deliveries will occur if nothing is done to solve this problem.

"I'm really concerned that the devastating impacts that we are beginning to see will result in deaths of mothers, babies, and eventually other people's deaths," she said. "We live in a lower-social economic area, and if you look at Athol, we have nothing; it's a really scary world out here in North Central for women's healthcare."

Nakagawa said this region of Mass does not just lack birthing, maternity, or Obstetrics and Gynecology centers, but many medical services like cardiology, which impacts the well-being of women and everyone.

Single mothers are targets for predatory loans and mortgages

Grace Ross, from Mass Alliance Against Predatory Lending (MAAPL), said predatory lenders target women of all races who are in search of buying a home. She said immigrant women and single mothers, who are unfamiliar with the process of buying a home, are exploited and tricked into these unreasonable mortgages.

At the hearing, Ross said she wants the MCSW to support and take action on legislation to crack down on predatory lenders. She said many women don't know their rights as homeowners and can't afford a lawyer, so they rely on the government and organizations like MAAPL to help them.

The MAAPL is a statewide non-profit coalition of over 70 organizations that advocates for the rights of homeowners and tenants. Ross said predatory lenders are stripping the wealth of women in Massachusetts by trapping them in impossible mortgages. She said the MAAPL also provides legal help to anyone who falls for predatory lenders and can't afford a lawyer.

Here are some strategies used by predatory lenders to be aware of:

  • Loan flipping occurs when the lender convinces the borrower to refinance their mortgage by trapping them in a new long-term, high-rate-interest loan.

  • Balloon payments: A large one-time payment after the end period of the loan.

  • The contract declares extra fees or penalty-free if the loan is paid early.

  • The payment structure is inconsistent.

What's next for the commission?

After gathering the testimonies of several women at last week's public hearing, the commission plans to find ways to advocate for the topics that the North Central Mass women addressed.

Smith, the MCSW chair, said the commission considers all testimonies at public hearings and will find a way to push for reform at the State House to address the several topics addressed.

The mission of MCSW is to advance women toward full equality in all areas of life by promoting rights and opportunities for all women in Massachusetts, regardless of race, economic status, immigration status, ethnic background, sexual orientation, etc.

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Women's issues in greater Gardner are access to healthcare, predatory loans