Today Mayor Thomas M. Menino was pleased to join BHA Administrator Bill McGonagle to rename the Cathedral public housing development in the South End after former resident leader Ruth Lillian Barkley.
 
“People like Ruth Barkley make our city such a great place to live,” said Mayor Menino. “She gave so much of her time and energy to her community; she will be sorely missed and I am honored to name the Cathedral development after her.”
 
A tireless community activist, Ruth Barkley moved into the Cathedral public housing development in 1965 to raise her family.  Volunteering much of her time towards furthering rights for tenants and advocating for those “who didn’t have a big enough voice to made a difference on their own,” she became Chairperson of the BHA’s Tenants Policy Council.  Early in her tenure as Chairperson, she advocated for a grievance or hearing panel to which residents could bring their complaints for mediation with the housing authority.  She was successful in advocating for implementation of the panel, which still hears resident grievances to this day on a weekly basis. 
 
“Ruth was a wonderful and tireless resident leader and a great friend for many years,” said BHA Administrator Bill McGonagle.  “Whenever I think of Cathedral, I think of Ruth and the many, many hours of her time that she volunteered to this community.  From this day forward, the Cathedral Apartments will be known as the Ruth Lillian Barkley Apartments at the BHA.”
 
To many in her community she will also be remembered for her work for over 40 years as Chair of Cathedral Tenants United Inc. (CTU) Task Force where she developed and maintained the CTU’s mission, to improve the physical and social conditions of the Cathedral Housing Development of the Boston Housing Authority (BHA), by ensuring that the Cathedral development provides safe, sanitary, decent and affordable housing.  As Chair of the Task Force, Ruth was awarded a 501(C)(3) and used this status to apply for additional funding opportunities to afford residents opportunities in everything from job skills to health promotion.   In fall 2010, Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) featured Ms. Barkley in its Dean’s Report, Health Disparities: Narrowing the Gap through Community Partnerships, for her leadership in health education and health promotion at Cathedral development.  She was also know for bringing food programs to the development and coordinating Thanksgiving dinners for residents and summer food programs for local children.
 
In addition to her work at the development, Ms. Barkley also served on the BHA’s Monitoring Committee and Resident Advisory Board, working closely with other resident leaders and BHA staff to further the BHA’s mission and advocate for BHA residents throughout the city.