My name is Mary Barjolo, and I am a tenant of Worcester Common Ground at 7 Bellevue from 1998 through the present.  Before moving, I was 8 months pregnant with my daughter, Harriet.  I had her at 7 Bellevue street on the second floor, and now she is 16 years old.  When I moved to Bellevue street with my twin boys, they were 3.5 years old, and now they are 20, and they are in college at Quinsigmund.  When I started renting from WCG, they became family for me and my children, and also for some family members that I introduced to WCG who later became tenants also.  From the start, they have been so wonderful, and they are like a real family to me. 

For my boys, it was nice because the staff of WCG was like an extra group of babysitters.  Sometimes, I was looking for them, and they were downstairs playing with Yvette and her dog Simba, eating cookies, jumping up and down, running around with the dog! It was a great way for them to grow up! And now, they are at college, happy, and had a safe place to call home which made it easier for them.  They love the WCG employees — they still ask me how everyone is doing! So my children are all so happy for WCG, to have known them as they were growing up. 

And like I said, we are a family! So, on behalf of Worcester Common Ground, I would like to say thank you for coming.  May God bless you all.