Boston business leader inspired to change lives in brother’s memory

APPEAR IN COURT AT A LATER DATE. FOR 100 YEARS, THE GROUP, KNOWN AS THE NEW ENGLAND COUNCIL, HAS BROUGHT PEOPLE TOGETHER WITH ONE FOCUS IMPROVING LIFE IN OUR REGION. LAST NIGHT THEY HELD THEIR ANNUAL EVENT. IT’S A GATHERING OF LOCAL LEADERS IN BUSINESS AND HEALTH, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE, AND ALL NONPARTISAN. AT THE CENTER OF IT ALL. YOU KNOW THAT GUY IN THE MIDDLE. YOU’VE INTERVIEWED HIM MANY TIMES. OUR FRIEND WOODY. OKAY. A MAN WHOSE JOURNEY WE’RE TALKING ABOUT, THE GUY IN THE GREEN TIE. HIS JOURNEY IS ROOTED IN HOW HE WAS RAISED IN SAVIN HILL. MR. JIM BRETT. JIM, BRET WILL TELL YOU IT STARTED WITH HIS MOTHER, MARY ANN. SHE CAME HERE FROM IRELAND WITH A SIXTH GRADE EDUCATION, LIVING ON A FARM, NOT KNOWING ANYONE HERE IN THE 1920S. JIM IS FROM A WELL KNOWN, BELOVED LOCAL FAMILY. HIS PARENTS CAME FROM IRELAND AND RAISED THAT FAMILY IN SAVIN HILL. THE FIRST CHILD WAS MY BROTHER JACK, AND JACK WAS BORN WITH A DISABILITY AND WHEN HE WAS BORN, MY MOTHER WAS GIVEN THE OPINION OF THIS ALMIGHTY, ALL KNOWING, ALL KNOWLEDGEABLE DOCTOR SAYING, MRS. BRETT, WE WILL TAKE YOUR SON. HE HAS A VERY SEVERE DISABILITY AND HE WILL NOT LIVE LONG, AND WE WILL TAKE THE BURDEN FROM YOU. PUT HIM IN AN INSTITUTION. IN 1934, MARY ANN TURNED TO THE DOCTOR AND SAID NO. AND THEN SHE STOOD UP AND SHE TURNED TOWARDS THE DOCTOR AND SAID, YOU SAID THE BURDEN TO BE LIFTED. IT’S A BLESSING. MY WHOLE LIFE HAS CHANGED BECAUSE OF MY BROTHER JACK. MY BROTHER JACK HAD AN IQ OF ABOUT 6063, BUT HE BECAME MY TEACHER AND PEOPLE WOULD SAY, HOW CAN SOMEBODY WITH AN IQ OF 63 BECOME YOUR TEACHER? BECAUSE HE TAUGHT ME WHAT IT’S LIKE TO LIVE WITH DISABILITIES. AND I JUST SAID TO MYSELF, I WILL MAKE A COMMITMENT TO THE REST OF MY LIFE, TO MY MOTHER, THAT I’LL BE AN ADVOCATE FOR SO MANY JACK BRETT’S OUT THERE THAT HAVE NOBODY AS THEIR VOICE OR ADVOCATE. JIM HAS DONE THAT AND THEN SOME. HE WAS A STATE REP FOR 15 YEARS, RAN FOR MAYOR OF BOSTON AND IS NOW THE PRESIDENT AND CEO OF THE NEW ENGLAND COUNCIL. AND HIS LIFE’S DEVOTION TO HIS BROTHER AND HIS MOTHER LED TO WELL-DESERVED RECOGNITIONS FOR JIM. HE WAS APPOINTED BY THREE PRESIDENTS TO SERVE ON THE PRESIDENT’S COMMITTEE FOR PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES. EVERY MEETING THAT I HAVE, I HAVE A NOTEBOOK ON MY DESK, AND THERE’S A PICTURE OF MY BROTHER JACK, AND THAT’S SOMETHING I’VE NEVER LOST FOCUS OF. JACK PASSED AWAY IN 2010, BUT HIS LEGACY LOOMS LARGE THROUGH HIS FAMILY, AND JIM, WHO KEEPS HONORING THAT PROMISE TO HIS MOTHER, ADVOCATING FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, HELPING THEM GET ACCESS TO DENTAL AND HEALTH CARE. GOD HAS A PLAN. JACK DIDN’T COME INTO MY LIFE. I DON’T KNOW IF I’D BE INVOLVED IN DISABILITIES. SO GOD HAD THIS WONDERFUL PLAN PLANTING MY BROTHER IN MY LIFE THAT MADE ME CREATE MY MY WHOLE LIFE AROUND DISABILITIES. A FAMILY FILLED WITH LOVE AND A MOTHER LEAVING LESSONS THAT HAVE TRANSCENDED TIME. JIM LOVES TO TELL THE STORY. WHEN JACK WAS IN A PROGRAM AND DREW A PICTURE THAT REALLY ILLUSTRATES THE LOVE AND SUPPORT THE ENTIRE FAMILY HAS FOR EACH OTHER, THE GENTLEMAN CALLED ME AND SAYS, YOU’RE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS. YOUR BROTHER DREW SOMETHING IN THE WORKSHOP. I SAID, MY BROTHER, THE COUNSELOR SAID TO ME, HE DREW SOMETHING AND I ASKED HIM, WHAT ARE YOU DRAWING, JACK? AND HE SAID, I’M DRAWING MY BROTHER JAMES. HE NEVER DID ANYONE BUT ME. I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT THERE’S NO BILL, THERE’S NO HARRY, THERE’S NO PEGGY, THERE’S JUST JIM. BUT YOU NOTICE, YOU KNOW, OVER MY HEAD. AND THEY GO, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, THAT’S THE SON. I SAID, IT’S ARTISTIC INTERPRETATION. I THINK JACK WAS SAYING IT’S A HALO. I THINK HE SAID IT’S A HALO. THAT’S JUST ME. BUT THAT IS SPECIAL BECAUSE IT’S THE FIRST AND ONLY TIME HE EVER DREW ANYTHING. IN MANY WAYS, HE HAS GIVEN ME A CAREER OF BEING AN ADVOCATE. JIM’S OTHER LOVE WASN’T THAT BEAUTIFUL. HIS DEVOTION. I THINK HIS RIGHT. THANK YOU. HIS OTHER LOVE IS THE MARY ANN BRETT FOOD PANTRY. IT’S AT SAINT MARGARET’S CHURCH IN DORCHESTER. OF COURSE. IT’S NAMED AFTER HIS BELOVED MOTHER. IT IS OPEN SATURDAY MORNINGS. THEY DISTRIBUTE FOOD AND CLOTHING AND TOILETRIES AND TOYS TO PEOPLE WHO REALLY NEED IT. THEY SERVE 500 FAMILIES A MONTH, AND JIM WILL NOT TELL YOU, BUT SO MANY PEOPLE REACHED OUT TO ME TO SAY, IF NOT FOR JIM BRETT, THAT FOOD PANTRY WOULDN’T BE OPEN AND LOOK AT ALL THE LIVES THAT HE CHANGES. HE AND HIS WIFE AND A