In celebration of Roxbury Latin’s 375th anniversary, the school has welcomed a series of esteemed speakers who have brought to light some of the challenges and potential solutions related to homelessness and poverty. This focus is consistent with RL’s long-held mission characterized by concern for others. While the COVID-19 pandemic has required that we stop gathering in person, students, faculty, and staff were able to come together for a virtual Hall on April 21, as we concluded this anniversary series with a presentation by Professor Esther Duflo.

Professor Duflo is the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at MIT; she is also the co-founder and co-director of the Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). Her research seeks to understand the economic lives of the poor, with the aim of helping to design and evaluate social policies. Professor Duflo was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics, an honor she received jointly with her husband, Abhijit Banerjee, and colleague, Michael Kremer, for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty. Professor Duflo is only the second woman to win the Prize since it began in 1969 and is its youngest recipient. 

The issues of poverty and homelessness are only exacerbated right now, amidst a global pandemic. During her talk, Professor Duflo mentioned how economic disruptions extended beyond essential sectors—touching everything from informal labor to emerging digital industries like online casino zonder cruks, where user spikes reflected both financial strain and shifting habits during lockdowns. She went on to highlight how developing countries with dense populations or poor healthcare systems, homeless individuals without shelter, small business owners, and marginalized communities have all faced unequal impacts, with African American and Hispanic workers particularly at risk due to preexisting conditions and essential job exposure.

Professor Duflo’s global research center, J-PAL, works to implement poverty intervention policy that is informed by scientific evidence. Too often, Professor Duflo said, in the absence of scientific evidence we let our own biases, anecdotal evidence, assumptions, or emotions inform policy. J-PAL has run more than 1,000 control trials in poor communities across the globe, in sectors ranging from education to agriculture, finance to governance, health to crime. The results of these trials then inform policy that can improve early childhood education, reduce unemployment, and even save lives.

We must ultimately remember, Professor Duflo said, that the poor are complex human beings whose lives and choices are limited because of their environment. Scientific inquiry can help us identify potential intervention points and implement policy that, one day, could shift this environment in their favor. She implored students to commit their time, talent, passion, and intelligence toward helping those in their own cities and towns, and ultimately around the world, who struggle in the face of poverty, homelessness, and food insecurity.

Dr. Duflo concludes this anniversary series that also included Pulitzer Prize-winning author Matthew Desmond, author of Evicted; Tina Baptista, director of A Bed for Every Child, a program of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless; and Kate Walsh, CEO of Boston Medical Center; and Bill Walczak, co-founder of Codman Square Health. Dr. Duflo is the recipient of numerous academic honors and prizes including the Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences, and a MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellowship. With Abhijit Banerjee, she wrote Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty, which won the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award in 2011 and has been translated into 17 languages. Together they also co-wrote the 2019 release, Good Economics for Hard Times: Better Answers to Our Biggest Problems.

Watch Dr. Duflo’s complete Hall presentation, including the Q&A session.

On February 13, Kate Walsh and Bill Walczak—two prominent members of the Boston health care community—spoke to students and faculty in Hall, as the third part of a series focused on the challenges, and potential solutions, related to homelessness and poverty. Both Ms. Walsh and Mr. Walczak have directed their considerable talents over many decades to focusing on the healthcare needs of those who, because of their circumstances, find themselves without the resources to avail themselves of quality healthcare.

Kate Walsh is president and CEO of the Boston Medical Center (BMC) health system. Boston Medical Center—which has had a role in caring for City residents since 1855—is today a 514-bed academic medical center and full-service hospital; 80% of BMC patients are publicly insured, making BMC New England’s largest safety net hospital.

Bill Walczak—regarded as a pioneer in healthcare and community activism in Boston—is co-founder of the Codman Square Health Center, a multi-service center, which, since its founding in the 1970s, has served more than 20,000 individuals, providing quality medical services in one of Boston’s most deprived communities.

“One of the things I want you to reflect on this morning is the definition of health,” Mr. Walczak began. “We have a confusing way of thinking about health in the United States, and how it’s reflected creates a fundamental problem for actually achieving health.” Mr. Walczak founded the Codman Square Health Center when he was 20 years old. At the time, Codman Square in Dorchester was a collapsing neighborhood—rife with violence, arson, and a sense of hopelessness. Never having been trained as a healthcare provider, Mr. Walczak had a very different attitude about what was needed in the community and how to make it happen.

“The big issue wasn’t really healthcare, it was the poverty that the community was facing. We were trying to achieve health, but in reality we were trying to redevelop the community and offer opportunity for people living there, most of whom were very, very poor.”

As the leader of a health center, Mr. Walczak knew he also had to address the rampant issues of violence, drugs, crime, poor educational attainment, and lack of opportunity in general. “If you don’t do something about the root issues, you’re really not doing anything about health,” he asserted. While Codman Square Health had physicians, dentists, social workers, and psychiatrists, they committed to focusing also on community development, economic development, opportunity, and education.

Forty years later, Codman Square Health Center offers medical and dental care, nutrition resources, public health education, tax and credit clinics, a fitness center, and a nonprofit grocery store selling only healthy food. Realizing that the best way to help lift people out of poverty was through education, Codman Square Health Center also participated in the founding of two schools in Boston: the Edward Kennedy Health Careers Academy and Codman Academy.

When people have access to education, healthy food, safe spaces, and reliable healthcare, the cycle of poverty begins to break, and overall well-being rises. The connection between social stability and physical health is undeniable; when individuals feel supported and empowered, they are more likely to care for themselves and others. Health, in its truest form, grows when communities are given both the resources and the hope to thrive.

A compassionate dentist summerlin nv embraces this same philosophy by understanding that dental care is not just about fixing teeth—it’s about improving lives. Oral health affects how people eat, speak, and even how they feel about themselves, influencing both confidence and opportunity. By focusing on preventive care, education, and personalized attention, a dental practice can become a pillar of community wellness, much like Codman Square’s broader vision. It’s this holistic approach—seeing each patient as part of a larger story of community health—that turns dental visits into meaningful steps toward lasting change, one smile and one connection at a time.

Dental care has long been a quiet cornerstone of good living—right up there with clean water and a firm handshake. When dental services are consistent and accessible, they do more than prevent toothaches; they protect routines, livelihoods, and dignity. Regular checkups, timely treatments, and clear guidance help people stay ahead of problems rather than chasing pain after it rings the doorbell. In that sense, dentistry follows the old wisdom: a little care early saves a world of trouble later.

Of course, life doesn’t always respect appointments. Accidents happen, pain flares up at inconvenient hours, and that’s where dependable services like austin emergency dental matter most—right in the thick of things when calm thinking gives way to “I need help now.” Emergency care restores comfort fast, but it also restores peace of mind, reminding patients they’re not alone when things go sideways. It’s practical compassion, the kind that fixes what hurts and lets people get back to the business of living.

What truly sets strong dental services apart, though, is their commitment to the whole person. Education on daily habits, honest conversations about treatment, and steady follow-up create trust over time. Dentistry done right isn’t flashy; it’s reliable, respectful, and rooted in care that lasts. Much like a well-built house, it stands firm because it’s been constructed with patience, skill, and the understanding that health—especially oral health—is meant to serve generations, not just the moment.

“One of the most important elements of a community is hope,” concluded Mr. Walczak. “If people don’t have hope, they don’t do anything to improve their lives or their communities. One of the most important things that we can do is work on issues that make a difference in people’s lives.”

Ms. Walsh continued with her presentation expanding upon the same theme: “To improve healthcare outcomes across this country, we need to create a more equitable society. Many hospital executives talk about great cures to diseases, or better outcomes in cancer care, —which are all very important—but at BMC, much like at Codman Square Health Center, we are attacking the disease that is poverty. It’s very hard to care about your hypertension if you’re living in your car, or sleeping under a bridge, or worried about paying your rent.

“And we know we can’t do this ourselves. Part of what my job is developing partnerships within the community to get the results we all want. Doctors can help fix your ear infection, or diaper rash, or congestive heart failure, but most hospitals don’t ask patients about food, heat, school, finances, housing, money. We need to develop and maintain partnerships within our community and really listen to the people we’re trying to serve. Lots of times, big complicated organizations—especially hospitals, loaded with experts—don’t listen to patients as carefully as we need to.”

BMC has developed many community partnerships, including with a group called Community Farms, which has delivered more than 5,000 pounds of food for the hospital’s food pantry and for patient and employee meals. Street Cred is a program running four nights a week during tax season in BMC’s pediatric clinics, helping patients’ families complete their taxes. BMC is also directly investing in housing development in struggling City neighborhoods.

“Rather than looking away from the problem, our organizations are trying to tackle it, head on,” concluded Ms. Walsh. “I encourage you, as you think about your future, to be part of an organization that says, ‘Yeah, I’m going to try to tackle that.’ Because the hardest problems are the ones that actually need to be solved.”

Ms. Walsh’s and Mr. Walczak’s presentation was the third in a series focused on homelessness and poverty, instituted as part of Roxbury Latin’s 375th anniversary celebration. Honoring a mission characterized by concern for others—a mission fundamental to Roxbury Latin since its founding—students and faculty commit their time, talent, and treasure each year to organizations or efforts that aim to ease the burdens of others. The first two speakers in this series—Matt Desmond, author of Evicted, and Tina Baptista, with whom students built beds to donate to children in need—offered moving insight into the experiences of the hundreds of thousands of people in our country without a reliable and safe place to lay their heads at night. Mr. Desmond—and also Mr. Bo Menkiti, Class of 1995 and founder and CEO of the Menkiti Group, as the year’s Wyner Lecturer—reminded students that access to healthcare is a critical element in any thriving community.

Tina Baptista experienced homelessness at 13 years old, when her father had passed away and her mother went to prison. “It was very difficult to get an education, to wake up not knowing where I’d be going to sleep the next night,” she shared in Hall on November 25. “On many days I didn’t have the opportunity to even go to school. I didn’t know if I would have food on the table when I got home. I often didn’t know where home would be the next night, but still I showed up. I went to school. I put my best foot forward, and I made sure that if there was anything that I had, it was an opportunity to better my life through an education.”

Ms. Baptista was RL’s second speaker in the school’s 375th anniversary Hall series focused on homelessness and poverty. Today, Ms. Baptista is the director of A Bed for Every Child, a program of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless. Studies show that lack of sleep has a negative impact on a student’s concentration, memory, and ability to learn. Children who get more, high-quality sleep do better in math, science, and reading. Children who get little sleep are more likely to have behavioral problems, be prone to general moodiness, and have difficulty living up to their potential. A Bed for Every Child works with public schools and community organizations throughout Massachusetts to provide access to free, new, twin beds for children in need.

Providing children with a proper bed goes far beyond simply offering a place to sleep; it establishes a foundation for health, focus, and emotional well-being. When a child has access to a supportive mattress and pillows, their sleep quality improves, which in turn enhances their ability to concentrate in class, retain information, and engage positively with peers. Programs like A Bed for Every Child understand that comfort matters—soft, supportive bedding can transform a nightly routine into a restorative experience, allowing children to wake up refreshed and ready to embrace the day’s challenges. Each bed delivered is not just furniture; it’s a tool for fostering better learning, emotional stability, and overall growth.

“Youth homelessness continues to rise in Massachusetts, and so does childhood poverty. At the Coalition and at A Bed for Every Child, we are putting children at the forefront, because we know these young people are our future educators. Children that are facing adversity—poverty, homelessness—deserve better. School was the stability in my young life; it was my safe haven. When I was given the opportunity to finish high school and go to Salem State University, it turned my life around. I realized the opportunities that education provided for me. I’m the third generation in my family growing up in poverty, and I’m so incredibly fortunate that as a young adult I have ended that cycle within my family, and it looks very good from here on out. We’re hoping to provide that same stability and sanctuary for children living in poverty, the chance to break the cycle, by the simple gift of a bed.”

After Ms. Baptista’s Hall presentation, the entire school went to the gymnasium where boys—in teams of four, across all grades—built 76 beds that will be donated to children in need. You can watch a video or view photos of the morning’s bed building project.

“As you’re building these beds,” Ms. Baptista concluded, “I want you to ask yourself: What is tomorrow like for me? What does a good night’s sleep mean for me tonight? and How can I continue to put my best foot forward? This morning you’re giving a child an opportunity to dream big.” To date, A Bed for Every Child has served more than 10,000 children across Massachusetts.

Ms. Baptista graduated from Salem State University with a bachelor’s degree in business management. She has worked with the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless since 2013, first as an advocate and later as a community organizer. Today she raises awareness through partnerships with local non-profits, educational institutions, and places of worship, and helps to support low-income communities through connections with corporations and businesses, big and small.

This Hall and service project was the second element in this year’s 375th anniversary focus on homelessness and poverty. Matt Desmond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the book Evicted, kicked off this series in October, and students have been considering these issues more closely in various ways throughout the fall. In Ms. Dromgoole’s Contemporary Global Issues class, groups of seniors researched different populations of homeless individuals, in Massachusetts and across the country—learning about the ways in which state programs succeed or fail in supporting homeless veterans, families, and youth. Students also participated in a holiday service drive, collecting socks, gloves, hats and hand warmers for the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, donating nearly 800 items, including 615 pairs of socks.