Celebrating our nonprofits
A feature story from our 2019 annual report.
December 2019
November 2019
The Cambridge Community Foundation infuses $672,500 into Cambridge through nonprofit grants
Photo courtesy of Playworks New England November 26, 2019—Cambridge, MA The Cambridge Community Foundation announces it will infuse a total of $672,500 into the nonprofit sector in Cambridge, Massachusetts through its fall grantmaking and new investments in focused areas. Fifty-six local nonprofits will receive a total of $357,500 in grants from the Community Fund to help address a wide range of needs in Cambridge, including hunger and homelessness, and other housing challenges; youth and early childhood education and services, work force training, and services for elders. Grants also invest in preserving our city’s artistic and cultural vibrancy. The Foundation, in partnership with its donor partners, is also distributing an additional $315,000 this fall to strategic investments in three important areas: Equity and opportunity bolstering out-of-schooltime programs for middle schoolers through the Agenda for Children supporting the expansion of the Becoming A Man (BAM) guidance program for young men into Cambridge Rindge and Latin School investing in Cambridge Housing Authority’s Work Force program over three years to ensure low-income youth in Cambridge can access the award-winning program of educational, job, and career and college prep help expanding the HomeStart program in Cambridge to support low-income residents seeking affordable housing increasing mentorship [...]
The impact of the United Legal Defense Fund for Immigrants’ first year
Photo courtesy of De Novo Center for Justice and Healing. Amid the current immigration crisis in our country, the stories of the people in our own community who are deeply affected by tightening immigration policies demonstrate the urgency of this issue. “Tania”, a teenage mother, suffered abuse and neglect at home and threats of gang violence in her native country. She escaped Central America, but only because of legal support from De Novo, can she now safely rebuild her life here in the U.S. “Paul”, who fled the Khmer Rouge genocide as a child, has raised his children in Massachusetts. Now at risk of deportation, Paul has gotten the help he needs from Greater Boston Legal Services to stay in the home he’s built with his family. Tania, Paul, and so many others in our community rely on free or low-cost legal services to be able to safely stay in the country. The United Legal Defense Fund for Immigrants is the local giving platform to help these vulnerable community members receive the legal services they need to lead safe lives in refuge. The critical role of the United Legal Defense Fund for Immigrants In March 2018, the Cambridge [...]
September 2019
Cambridge summer programs give all kids access to learning and fun
Cambridge summer programs give all kids access to learning & fun Summer experiences for urban kids run the gamut—from sleep away camps and specialty classes like Mindcraft coding or art, to nothing at all, which means some kids end up on digital devices sitting at home or caring for younger siblings. Research tells us that kids from low-income families suffer from a summertime opportunity gap—a lack of access to learning opportunities—that becomes an educational gap, with kids losing two months of reading and math skills each summer. So why shouldn’t all Cambridge kids, regardless of their parents’ income, have access to summer learning experiences? The good news is, in our city, they can. Thanks to nearly a dozen of our nonprofit partners, and many other programs, Cambridge kids have access to summer enrichment opportunities regardless of their economic background. The Cambridge Community Foundation is a partner of the Summer Fund, a collaborative that supports a network of high-quality summer programs for under-served communities in Cambridge and the Greater Boston Area. In Cambridge, the Summer Fund contributed $72,000 to support 1,054 local kids in camps. We are also long-time financial supporters of nearly a dozen local nonprofits that give hundreds [...]
Education as equalizer: a conversation with Elissa Spelman, Executive Director of Breakthrough Greater Boston
Research reminds us that education and opportunity go hand in hand. That’s why learning is so important—even over the summer. We caught up with Elissa Spelman, executive director of Breakthrough Greater Boston (BTGB), one of our nonprofit partners, to talk about the importance of out of school time learning and the challenges we need to overcome for kids in our community. As a city, we’re fortunate to have a wide array of summer programs for school-aged kids, ranging from the Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program, to CitySprouts, Cambridge Camping, the Cambridge Community Center, and other nonprofits funded by the Cambridge Community Foundation. Why is summer learning so important? The school year calendar was established to support an agrarian economy so kids could work in the fields in the summer, but it’s not what is best for learning. For students, summer is a long expanse of time when activities can vary widely, everything from traveling abroad or attending an expensive overnight camp to sitting on the couch, watching TV or caring for younger siblings. Research shows there’s dramatic learning loss in the summer. Low income students lose an average of two months of reading and two months of math every [...]
June 2019
Cambridge Community Foundation honors five groups with first-ever ‘Social Innovation Award,’ supporting local interventions to big social issues
2019 Cambridge Community Foundation Social Innovation Award recipients. From left to right, front row: Geeta Pradhan (CCF); Reham Zeroual (CRLS, Black Student Union); Lorraine Thornhill (CCF). Second row: Meron Teklehaimanot (Sisters Unchained); Corinne Espinoza (Good Bank); Rupa Bastola and Jyoti Sinha (South Asian Workers' Center); Mackda Henok (CRLS, Black Student Union); Lori Lander (CCF). Back row: Janaki Blum and Gerald Manning (South Asian Worker's Center); Kevin Dua (CRLS, Black Student Union); Lisette Williams (Cambridge Trades Task Force); Mayor Marc McGovern. Photo by Allegra Boverman. On Friday, May 31, the Cambridge Community Foundation (CCF) announced the recipients of its first-ever Social Innovation Award during its Cambridge Community Foundation Salutes 150 Cambridge Nonprofits event. Cambridge Mayor Marc C. McGovern named Sisters Unchained, a program supporting teenage daughters of incarcerated parents, as the first-place winner. The program, founded by three young women, two of whom are Cambridge Rindge and Latin School graduates, was awarded $5,000, and joined by four runners-up—The Black Student Union at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School; Cambridge Trades Task Force; the Good Bank; and the South Asian Worker’s Center— each receiving $1,000. The five award-winners offer innovative solutions to big social problems such as mass incarceration, systemic [...]
April 2018
$1.3 Million CCF Grants – FY18
$535,000 awarded to 62 local nonprofits this spring The Cambridge Community Foundation (CCF) is distributing $535,000 in grants this spring to more than 60 nonprofits, including $130,000 for the Family Independence Initiative (FII), the largest grant in this cycle, to help advance social and economic mobility for local low-income families. This is the second cycle of grant making this year, bringing CCF’s support of local non-profits to over $1 Million dollars to date. Every year, the CCF distributes approximately $1.3 Million to support community organizations throughout the city, CCF’s special initiatives, and organizations supported by donor-advised funds. The only foundation focused exclusively on the needs of Cambridge residents, CCF and its nonprofit partners support a wide range of services, and, this year, focused on addressing the urgent needs of local residents, including immigrant families and workers. “We are seeing growing community needs related to issues of economic security and immigrant issues that threaten the wellbeing of families, children, workers and the immigrant population in Cambridge,” said Geeta Pradhan, president of the Cambridge Community Foundation. “We received a record number of requests from 100 organizations seeking funding this spring. The Foundation and its donors are committed to helping as many [...]
