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On Martin Luther King Day, Monday, January 21, the values of Dr. King and Cambridge will be on display in our city. Every year since 2010, Many Helping Hands 365 has organized the Martin Luther King, Jr. Cambridge Day of Service, drawing thousands of volunteers together for an afternoon of service projects at Central Square locations. It has become one of the largest community service events in New England. Volunteers of all ages and backgrounds work on projects aimed to help people in need in our community. Neighbors work side by side to deliver donated food to local food pantries, make valentines for seniors, sort winter clothing for shelters, design and sew fleece blankets and scarves for the homeless children, teens and adults, and deliver them to shelters. Photo by Randy Goodman Last year the impact was incredible, reaching more than 10,000 people in need in our community: 400 bags of groceries were donated by neighbors in Huron Village, an effort that involves dozens of high school students from Cambridge Rindge and Latin School as collectors and deliverers to thirteen food pantries; 660 fleece blankets and scarfs were designed and sewn for homeless children and adults and then delivered; 1,700 toiletry kits were delivered to the homeless and those in shelters, thanks to donations from local hotels; 3,500 Valentine Cards were made and delivered to local seniors, [...]

Bob Moses is a “big picture” person whose life work has been continental in scope.  A civil rights leader described as an inspiration by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Bob launched the Algebra Project in Cambridge with the proceeds of a MacArthur Fellowship (known as the “Genius” grant) he was awarded in 1982. Bob, Maisha, and Janet Moses Civil Rights are important to Bob and Janet, his wife and partner at the Algebra Project, but equally important are the very specific and very local needs of children—their own and those in our community. The Algebra Project began when Bob realized that structural gaps in local education blocked access to key upper level math courses for certain children – specifically low-income children and children of color. He began teaching math to kids at the MLK School on Saturdays and after school, beginning with his daughter, Maisha, and her classmates. Bob has always been an important presence in the community, says Khari Milner, who grew up with the Moses children in the neighborhood known now as “The Port.” Today, Milner carries the same Moses family-like focus on effective education as co-director for Cambridge Agenda for Children Out-of-School Time [...]

Domestic Violence is hard to talk about and deeply personal. It’s also pervasive and universal, affecting people of all backgrounds, including Cambridge residents. While the executive director of Transition House, domestic violence was Risa Mednick’s adversary.  She knows first-hand a problem this big can’t be solved by a single domestic violence organization quietly working alone. “Historically, shelter was seen as the antidote to domestic violence, but it’s a tiny drop in the bucket of possible responses,” said Mednick. “It’s not the solution to an issue that’s driven by a culture of misogyny, violence and inequity.” Transition House provides transitional housing for about 100 people every year and serves over 1,000 community members of all ages and backgrounds with a wide range of support services, education, training, and prevention tools.  Cambridge Community Foundation has funded Transition House since it started more than 40 years ago as the first domestic violence shelter on the East Coast and only the second in the country. Under Mednick’s leadership, Transition House analyzed what was and wasn’t working in domestic violence prevention and re-committed to finding solutions.  As a result, the organization looked for reliable partners to create new strategies to both deliver services to [...]

CEOC: A Passionate Advocate With a Very Wide Reach Volunteer Fernende Desir offers a box of cereal to a client at the Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee food bank. People carrying shopping bags line up early at the basement door of 11 Inman St. four days a week. What brings them here is the hope of taking home a box of free groceries to help feed their families for another few days.     For some, the food pantry at the Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee (CEOC) is the difference between having a meal that day or going to bed hungry. Volunteer Fernende Desir is very aware of the difference the small agency is making in the community every day as she prepares each food parcel with bread, fruits and vegetables, canned goods and maybe a carton of eggs or a pack of hot dogs.   Volunteer Fernende Desir helps clients at the Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee food bank.  “Oh, my God they are a blessing. I am blessed, blessed, blessed,” said Desir, wearing a white apron, slipping a baguette into a plastic bag. “There are good people here with good hearts. They understand people’s problems and they help.”   The CEOC is a one-stop shop for Cambridge residents in need of immediate help, and assistance navigating the complicated web of federal and local social service programs available to them. For more than 50 years, the agency has provided a wide [...]

Lives in Limbo: Trauma, Healing and the Immigrant Experience REGISTER HERE Monday, October 29 Wong Auditorium, MIT Tang Center, Building E51 2 Amherst St, Cambridge 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Immigration policies, along with anti-immigrant rhetoric at the local and national levels, have generated trauma with lasting impacts on children, families and residents who consider the United States their home.  In this CCF forum, researchers, primary care physicians, and mental health practitioners will discuss the impact of current immigration policies on the health and wellbeing of immigrant populations, offering practical strategies for individuals coping with trauma and the clinical teams supporting them. Admission is free; voluntary donations to the Cambridge Legal Defense Fund for Immigrants are welcome. The lecture hall is at the corner of Amherst and Wadsworth Streets, a two-block walk from the Kendall Square/MIT MBTA Station. Parking is limited. For detailed directions, visit the MIT Building E51 webpage. Forum Speakers Renee D. Boynton-Jarrett, MD, ScD Primary Care Pediatrician, Boston Medical Center Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine Founding Director, Vital Village Community Engagement Network Diya Kallivayalil, PhD Staff Psychologist, Outpatient Psychiatry Department, Cambridge Health Alliance Co-author, The Trauma Recovery Group: A Guide for Practitioners Smith Guillaume [...]