. good morning everyone and welcome to urban update. on the show this morning the first community health center in the u.s. celebrates 50 years, also, what are the issues facing our homeless population, and what the state can do to fight the growing crisis. but up first p last week's terrorist attacks on france have brought to the forefront many complex issues around how the u.s. should respond with the war on terrorism. the resettlement of syrian

alienation that enables radical groups to recruit. we've invited an interesting panel that consists of bill keeler, who is a professor of international relations and history at the party school of global studies at boston university. also award winning and published photographer, who was in paris at a book signing just hours before the attacks. over the past two years she has been photographing the syrian refugees. lastly we have olivia picks. he is born and raised in paris and he is an independent international consultant based in cambridge who has also spent time in africa and can lends son light on the challenges of integration of december

enfranchised groups in the countries such as france or u.s. , let me start with you. as a, -- what are you feelings about the thoughts what we've been witnessing this past week? >> it's profound sadness. this was something that really brought my spirit down a lot, and it's very sad, and also, i was not that much surprised after all, because it had been lots of talks in france about something of that -- maybe not of that magnitude but of that order happening and there have been other foiled attempts, which was the one cur curtailed by some u.s. marines. >> now, you were in paris at your book sirenning just a couple of hours before the

can you sort of give us your take on the immediate aftermath of what you saw, felt, and heard in the city? >> i sadly lived that many times. i livered the civil war in lebanon, 2006 attacks at the war between israel and he has la baa. and this again. the place was mobbed with people, it was very happy, i was signing my book. i mean it was a happy moment, and then i was at a party when it happened and my daughter was at my mother-in-law's apartment in paris, and there was something very interesting because the night before we were t a dinner and i get out of dinner and i have all these texts asking me if my parents are okay in beirut and the knicks day i'm getting tensions asking me if my you are washington daughter and i were other than. so there was something extremely disturbing and scary and i had

do i stay where i am, do i go where my daughter is, and i had learned from lebanon if you don't leave rightaway and go home typically you get stuck, so eventually i was lucky to get a ride, because you can find abouters and taxis or anything, it was pretty eerie. >> i belt it was. >> and very sad. >> professor, i mentioned off the top that this is really raised a lot of complex issues, and i guess in your view p what are some of the more important issues that this has brought to the surface by these just shocking terrorist attacks? >> i think france was selected by isis for this attack for a number of reasons, number one france is it will most supportive of all the european countries of the united states' policy in syria, that is they-mile-an-hour in the bombing events.

secondly h france is a very secular country, much more than we are, they would not have in god we trust on our coins, they would health department have a chaplain giving an invocation at the french national assembly. they really believe in a very sharp separation of church and state, which is the opposite of what isis stands for,. thirdly h there is it will issue of the discontented muslim minority in france. they're very heavily situated in the suburbs of paris and other big cities. they're not doing well economically and they're not as integrated into france society as muslims are in the united states. so i think that those three issues really go along way to explain why they chose to hit

>> olivier, tack to me how you feel social work economics factor into what we're talking about here in paris. >> yes. it has certainly played a factor. it's not the only one but it is one of them. due to the ongoing crisis, but also from the past decades with lingering unemployment, and the the -- this has created a constant bed of not poverty, exactly, because there are a number of programs that mediate that, but there's a fairly large number of unemployed and that

let's say the immigrants or their descendants. the poorer part of the population, as it is everywhere else. and that has played a role in disenfranchising them. and there is also the fact of ghettoization. there's been a sort of concentration of these populations in certain areas where the original french population, that equals for example, some of my great grandfathers and mothers, have moved away from there. >> one thing i wanted to -- you've actually photographed in beirut syrian refugees. i want to talk a little bit about this whole issue, because this is not only an issue because of this t, we see what's happening with the refugees flooding into europe and now there are discussions about

whether they should or shouldn't come here to the united states, what are your thoughts about what you have seen with your eyes photographing? i was actually working on a whole different project in lebanon, not on the syrian refugees and this was in 2014, i realized every time i'm walking on the street they're at every street corner, and there are kids that look like my kids, i peek the same language but they're not school they're on the street. they're begging, they're shining shoes. and i started talking to those kids and thigh loved get the attention because a lot of people didn't want them there. lebanon is a country of 4 million people and now i have over million refugees, already very poor, i'm sorry, not poor but economically and politically unstable country. >> what about, professor keeler p what about like your thoughts on this? this whole issue of the syrian

refugees. we see what's happening in europe and now since the attacks, the debate has started here in the united states of should we or shouldn't we allow the syrian refugees to tv -- come? >> i think it's important to remember the perpetrators of the attack were not syrians, they were from belgium. some french citizens as well. so just to look at these poor syrian refugees and assume that they're all going to be isis gee haddists is absurd. and i think in the united states we've noted a number of governors are pushing back against the president in his attempt to bring some refugees in. >> governor baker has expressed some reservation. he's not totally against it. >> that's right, he's in between there. but you get people like senator ted cruz saying we should only accept christian refugees from

that kind of rhetoric is has no place in your of discourse. >> olivier your thoughts on allowing refugees to come in? >> it's not for me to say what the usa should do, but -- >> you live here. >> well, i would welcome them, certainly, as i would in france, because france p quite similarly to the united is a large immigration country. one citizen out of four in france has a foreign grandparent or -- so we know what it is. and these people are the victims of extremism on both sides. >> what about the argument is that the safety factor, you hear some of them say 10,000 peaceful refugees come here and one of them is a terrorist, that's one too many. is that a valid argument? >> that's a fair thing to say indeed because the

responsibility of those who are in power is to make sure that people are safe. so it is fine to say that, but it is final also to say woe welcome them, but we have to screen, we have to make sure -- there's a number of criteria you can implement. >>, professor keeler, what do you think? >> t. >> these refugees are running away from the exact same thing. they're running away from isis, they're running away from terror. >> but if one of them is a tryster. >> 99.9 percent of them are okay do we punish them all? >> well, some say that one person can do a lot of damage. >> but as professor said they can be ingrown. professor? >> i think the emphasis has to be on dealing with internal threats in france. these people are until france they're not coming from syria. most of them. >> occasionally you're right,

come in. but there's a lot of discontented muslim youth in france. >> what about in the united states? >> from the united states p we have -- >> so i guess you're in favor -- >> it takes two years for a refugee to get approved to come to the united states, compared a few weeks really, in europe. very careful vetting p yes, you complaint be 100 percent certain but it's a big effort to do so. >> and we have one quick thought. >> regarding france, what i'm afraid of is that we would further sigmatize the population that's already there, that's already suffering from disenfranchising, and who -- the vast majority is fairly well integrateed into french society.

one percent of one percent of that population that is troublesome. >> i feel the same. t they are innocent kids but if they stay on the streets and they're not provided with education, they're not provided with any help they are targets to be recruited and this breaks my heart to see that. >> we'll leave it there. thank you all for coming in, and thank you for the wonderful discussion about a very troubling time that we're all going through . well, coming up next, the interesting story of how the community health care model has its roots in the civil rights movement more than 50 years ago, all the details right here on

. earlier this month, geiger gibson community health center celebrated 50 years of being the first community health center in the u.s. with a golden anniversary gala. what began with root in the civil rights movement as the nation's first community health center in 1965 has grown into a

people in more than 9,000 locations. and it all began on columbia point in dorchester. the center was renamed in 1990 for its founders, dr. jack geiger and dr. gibson with a new building and a new mission to make sure that low-income folks have access to quality health care. s the my pleasure to introduce you to daniel dangerous cool, also with us a retired 34 year employee of the health center and a 60 year residents of columbia point. welcome to urban update. thanks for coming in. and the congratulations on 50 years. wow. dan, let's start with you, some brief history, not only the first community health center in the country, but it has root in the civil rights movement and the most people don't know about

that. what can you tell us about that. >> well the founders were instrumental in organizing the medical community of the medical arts. they net during marchs back in the 1960s, jack had been toll south africa and had visited with doctor sydney cark, who had founded the community health centers that served the apartheid townships in south africa. within jack came back to the country and met up with count gibson, they made the determination to start programs like that for the low-income people in this country. >> amazing, before i go to you, who i guess lived through all this. we have got a video we want the take a look at which captures what you talked about. dan, let's take a quick look. >> it was not a hopeful time.

ambulances would have been the wouldn't come into the community without a police escort. >> there was a lot of fear in the city. there was really no health care vision at all. >> going to city hospital, sitting for hours waiting. you never saw the same doctor, wouldn't have any place else to go. >> one long look at mississippi and i realized i didn't have to go to africa or southeast asia or latin america. poverty in lack of access to health care, we all had that problem here . jack geiger saw community health care as an essential part of the civil rights movement. it began with residents being organized and led to empowering communities. both doctors jack geiger and count gibson who were from tufts medical school, envisioned community-based neighborhood health centers that would treat

> wow. that's a piece of history there. and you're like a walking history book yourself, 304 years at the center and 60 years at columbia point. gosh, how are you feeling these days? blessed. >> okay. now, you lived those days when it was really amazingingly difficult to get quality health care at columbia point. >> yes, i did. ands i say, the police department should have been sent flowers when we opened, because we had the call them anytime there was an emergency to take children to the hospital. and that's what was such a blessing when that health center came.

on the street and so many things that would happen, it would take time to wait for the police to come to get there, or to get someone to the hospital and that's whyhealth center coming was heaven sent . now, dan, over the years, there have been many changes, challenges, an important merger and the renaming of the founders, geiger gibson community health center, tell me more about all this. >> all the community health centers in the country, there's a common misto serve everybody regardless of their ability to pay. that leads to financial pressures, and in 1984, the columbia point health center ran into some serious financial danger that are they might not be able the continue. i was sitting at my desk in december of 84 and got a call from the columbia point health center saying we need to talk about a merger because we're

now, as you know in that era, that section of dorchester was community. it was on the face of it an unlikely memorier, but the two boards of directors got together and looked past their obvious differences and form, foundation came with a common purpose of we need to preserve community health center services in our neighborhoods. >> for you, many others it has not only be a place of health care but also a source of income and employment. you worked there 34 years. >> yes, i did, and not only was it -- i only but many other people had a chance to work there, including my children. one became a nurses from the training there, another became a dental assistant from training there, and it was wonderful for people to be able to get employment there to move on to

something else. they would have never expected to be doing other than being home and just raising children. >> darks you just had your 50th success? i understand it was. success. it was a 2-day celebration. we had over 300 people there. residents of columbia point, staff medicals, alumni, former staff members. the mayor, martin walsh was our state representative, and so now that -- >> and finally i guess, the last thing i would like to ask you, 50 years a model for my understanding thousand centers. what was the key -- what was it about this health center that allowed it to become a model for so many others to follow? >> the community health center model that jack guyinger and count gibson founded in which they interested ted kennedy in sponsoring at the federal level truck a cord. it provided employment, it

provided health services regardless of ability to pay, and served in a big gap in rural and urban areas across the country . okay i'm going to leave it right there. thanks for coming in. and congratulations on 50 years >> thank you. >> a great model for so many others . when we come back, the growing number of homeless men and women and what you can go to help.

. over the years ago, providers of homeless services have had to expand their programs to ensure success in moving men and women out of homelessness. these organizations depend on support from a state budget line item that givers $44 million to providers across the commonwealth. but experts say that the funding is just not enough. boston's annual home lessen us is shows that the number of people living in emergency

statewide, the number of homeless is up eight percent since 2012. now providers are collaborating in a group called the coalition for the homeless, individuals to reach out to state leaders about the need for funding. urban update welcomes two leaders of bod ton homeless programs who will billion speaking about what the state can do to fight the growing crisis. she's worked in this field for the last 25 years under her leadership, st. francis house has become a model of service. >> and we also have reverend john. for for than 20 years he has served as president of the boston rescue mission and served on the executive board of the massachusetts she felter and housing alliance, welcome to urban update. and thanks for coming in, karen, let me start with you, with more about this coalition for homeless individuals and how it got started. >> sure, probably about three

years ago, we started to see this significant increase in the numbers of people experiencing homelessness, and i think the challenge there was while we were seeing more dun dung adults, more elderly, what we warrant seeing was an increase in funding to take care of these people. and so a small group of us got together and realized for 14 years we hadn't seen any increase in first-degree murdering, so while the numbers were increasing thes were not. and we were actually become very innovative about the ways we would help folks but it really reached a point where we need to bring the message to our state legislature and our elected officials officials and help them understand that the number of people who were homeless were expanding and the resources were not. so three years ago we formed a coalition, and now we're a statewide entity, and so

we have rivers from the western part of the state, from quincy and it's probably over a dozen of us now reaching out . now, could both of you, you talked about a few of the things at st. francis house and the boston rescue mission do on a daily basis to help people who are homeless. perhaps you first, the john. >> sure, absolutely. what's important to understand is that we don't only serve meals and shelter people. this is important part of it, because we need to meet people where they're at, when they come to us, but we provide an array of very intensive programs to help people break the cycle of homelessness, we provide job programs, we provide substance abuse programs. make sure success rate on substance abuse programs helping people break the cycle of homelessness is 70 percent, we help people move back with their families, get jobs, find housing. >> we have to get this clip in here of a woman named rose and

her journey, let's look at this video and we'll talk about it on the other side. roll it. signal from st. francis helped me be a person again. i got a job there, i got a therapist, i got a psychiatrist. it helped me with food stamps, clothing. everything was here. >> she came to st. francis house looking for a second chance. we went through intensive 14 weeks and graduated the program and blossomed into a wonderful leader, not only to the current students but also to the alumni that come in. >> okay, very interesting video there. karen, one thing i wanted to ask you about the thing that you need is money. you need help. what's happening with the legislature is in the. >> so we're going into a new budget year now, the legislature

will be discussing what the budget will be for the upcoming year, it will be incredibly important that our elected officials understand that people who are homeless need resources and that those resource help and they're the cycle of homeless people for people 0 we would love to have our elected officials embrace an increase in the line item funds programs, and anybody who's watching the show can call somebody . and give our viewers, just look at some information on the screen where they can get nor information, and reverend, very briefly, what's the most important thing you would like everyone to take away from this segment today. >> well, i think with the increase of heroin addiction, it's important to be able to provide more funding to help people break that cycle of addiction, and homeless people struggle with this addiction, it's important for us to provide some support for that.

good luck in getting help with with a very important issue. well that's this edition for urban update. have a great sunday, everybody. it's the holidays. and of course, everyone wants to get online at once. to watch things. buy things. but slow internet makes it hard. that's why it's time to get fios. it has the fastest internet and wifi available. with speeds from 50 to 500 megs. and right now, you'll get 50 meg fios internet, tv and phone for 79.99 a month online for your first year. and with a 2 year agreement, we'll give you all the premium movie channels for a year. plus, 400 dollars back. so go online or call now.