Press Release

Cambridge’s growing housing crisis is putting a financial burden on many people in Cambridge, and renter households in particular. From low-income to moderate and middle-income families, everyone is feeling the squeeze. The cost of housing in Cambridge is staggering: The median market rate of a single-family home in Cambridge was $1,377,500 in 2017. A condominium in Cambridge cost on average $730,000 in 2017. The average rent for a Cambridge apartment was $2,337 for a one-bedroom unit, $2,689 for a two bedroom and $2,827 for a three-bedroom unit in October 2018, according to Zillow.com’s rent index. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, in Cambridgeport a renter must earn $44 dollars per hour in order to afford a two-bedroom apartment, more than three times the current Massachusetts minimum wage ($12/hr. as of 1/1/2019) Why is this happening? What does it mean for our families? And what can we do to address such a complex problem? CCF spoke with leaders in the local housing arena to gain insight. This is what we learned. Why is this happening? There was a time when Cambridge lost residents to suburban towns, but today, the desire for urban housing is on the rise. People

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