In memory of 19-year-old Cantabrigian Xavier Louis-Jacques, the first-ever Legends Live Forever Scholarship was awarded last month to a CRLS graduate.

April 15, 2021 | Cambridge, MA—Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui announced today plans to launch a new Guaranteed Income Pilot Initiative, providing much-needed support for Cambridge’s most vulnerable residents. The initiative will offer $500 no-strings-attached monthly payments to 120 eligible single caretaker households over an 18-month period beginning in August. Participants will be chosen by lottery.   The Cambridge RISE (Recurring Income for Success and Empowerment) project is spearheaded by Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui, Vice-Mayor Alanna Mallon, Councillor Marc McGovern and a wide consortium of nonprofit partners throughout the City, including the Cambridge Community Foundation, Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee, Just-A-Start, and the Cambridge Housing Authority. The payments will be handled/managed through UpTogether (formerly called the Family Independence Initiative), the distribution partner for Cambridge RISE.   In Cambridge, one out of every 10 families with children under the age of 18 live below the poverty line, while one in three female-headed households with minor children live below the poverty line. Cambridge residents who are Black or African American and those who are of Hispanic or Latinx origin are twice as likely to live under the poverty line, with the pandemic exacerbating the health and wealth gaps amongst race and gender.  According to a new research