Performances that spark dialogue in Cambridge.
A spotlight on the recent work of beheard.world, a Cultural Capital Fund grant recipient.
September 2021
August 2021
Educators are supported with an award-winning idea.
Educators connect with nature and one another through Our Fire Collective. At the close of the 2021 school year, one national study said one in four teachers was considering quitting, citing pandemic-era stressors: remote learning for teachers and students, technology glitches, and concerns about COVID-19 exposure. And in our community, Our Fire Collective, a 2020 Imagined in Cambridge! Social Innovation Award winner, was there to help them. This young organization has been offering healing retreats for K-12 educators who work in high-needs communities and struggle with second-hand trauma and burnout. Prior to the pandemic, creators Naqibah Al-Kaleem and Jesse Leavitt saw their teacher friends struggling, and developed overnight nature retreats for educators. With the pandemic the program evolved. It now offers a six-month-long series of fully outdoor, daytime retreats for educators, offering individual healing and the opportunity to develop deep connections together. "Educators are so bogged down with schedules and the rigor of their work, they don't have time for "extra" - but self-care shouldn't be extra. If you keep giving, giving, giving, you have to have moments to heal as well. The pandemic has allowed a lot of educators to say, 'It's part of sustaining our work to take care of ourselves,'” said Naqibah. Thank you, Naqibah and Jesse, for giving local educators space where they're [...]
July 2021
Bold, beautiful social innovation: Sisters Unchained
As our search continues for the next Imagined in Cambridge! Social Innovation Award winners, we caught up with 2019 awardee, Sisters Unchained.
Our community speaks to housing unaffordability.
A look inside Cambridge Housing Authority's new report, "Stories of the Can't Wait List".
28 great grassroots ideas get cash support.
Through the new Imagined in Cambridge! Fund, we've awarded $14,000 in microgrants to local social innovators, thanks to generous seed support from Verizon and a local family.
Bringing bikes and community back to life.
Our new nonprofit partner gives free bikes, empowers neighbors.
Reclaiming joy: Nonprofits delivered transformational services throughout the pandemic.
There are some powerful stories behind the $674,000 we gave to programs across 28 nonprofits this year, thanks to generous support from the State.
June 2021
Cambridge Pride.
In Cambridge, we celebrate the diversity in all its forms, and honoring our LGBTQ+ communities, particularly during Pride Month, is part of our city's story.
Celebrating Juneteenth.
Photo by Sam Seidel. “To me, Juneteenth matters because it says: Keep going, the future you want is coming.” (Veronica Chambers, author, 2020) These words resonate with our work at the Foundation, today and every day. Though we our community and country are still working towards true liberation, Juneteenth is a reminder to keep working; keep digging for solutions; and keep fighting for racial justice. With the equitable future we seek for Cambridge within our grasp, we commit to learning and growing both as individuals and as an organization. For this Juneteenth, the first ever observed as a holiday statewide and in Cambridge, we’re sharing our reading list with you as well as community celebrations offered this weekend by some of our nonprofit partners. We hope you’ll join us in celebrating the history abolition in Cambridge and in diving into personal learning and growth! Our team's reading list Adrienne: Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston Atsede: Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde Geoff: Stony the Road by Henry Louis Gates Jenny: Jubilee by Margaret Walker Lauren: Caste by Isabel Wilkerson Liz: Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates Michal: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi Minjee: Playing in the Dark by Toni Morrison Juneteenth events in Cambridge Thursday, June 17, 6pm: Cambridge Public Library's Celebrating Juneteenth: [...]
April 2021
The Cambridge Community Foundation awards $533,000 in grants to local nonprofits this spring
In response to sustained demands on nonprofits in Cambridge, the Cambridge Community Foundation (CCF) increased allocated funds for its spring grantmaking by 50%, supporting nonprofits involved in youth programs and education, housing, hunger, homelessness, elder services, the arts, COVID-19 relief, and racial justice.