Spoonfuls Food Distribution at Cambridge Community Center
CAMBRIDGE, MA | April 22, 2025 – In response to unprecedented demand for community services, the Cambridge Community Foundation (CCF) has awarded a record $1.5 million to 161 nonprofits serving Cambridge residents, representing a nearly 65 percent increase from last year’s $920,500 in Community Fund grants. This is possible thanks to CCF’s endowment which is fueled by generations of philanthropy in Cambridge, and deep partnership with its Donor-Advised Fund holders and other local donors.
“This funding cycle reflects what we’re seeing across Cambridge—a nonprofit sector that’s being asked to do more with less at a time when community needs are intensifying,” said Geeta Pradhan, president of the Cambridge Community Foundation. “This isn’t just about keeping nonprofits afloat—it’s about strengthening the civic fabric that makes Cambridge resilient.”
The grant distribution represents the Foundation’s transition to a more holistic annual Community Fund cycle, designed to provide a more comprehensive view of the city’s nonprofit ecosystem. Recent research conducted by CCF in partnership with the Cambridge Nonprofit Coalition revealed that while Cambridge’s nonprofit sector collectively generates over $15 billion in annual revenue, it faces significant challenges. Sector-wide revenues decreased by 6 percent between 2018 and 2023, while expenses increased by 10 percent during the same period. These financial pressures come as 68 percent of Cambridge nonprofits report increased demand for services.
Nearly half of this year’s grant funding came from the collective commitment of the Foundation’s generous supporters, the largest number in CCF history. One such is Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, whose funding is directed towards the nonprofits addressing post-secondary education and workforce development initiatives that create pathways for Cambridge residents.
“As a proud member of the Cambridge community, Google is thrilled to support Cambridge Community Foundation’s work helping local nonprofits expand educational and workforce development programs for residents,” said Ethan Gauvin, Google’s Head of Government Affairs and External Engagement in the Northeast. “Cambridge is a national hub for innovation, research, and technical talent, and the grant to the Foundation is part of Google’s commitment to ensure that these benefits and opportunities are made available to everyone.”
This year’s grants support a wide range of community needs, with Child & Youth Development receiving the largest allocation at $341,500 (23 percent). Other major categories include Arts & Culture ($298,500), Education ($245,500), Community Building & Engagement ($143,000), and Health & Wellbeing ($168,000).
“This is our single biggest year for Community Fund grants,” said Christina Turner, vice president of programs and grantmaking at CCF. “When we look at what’s happening across grant categories, we can paint a clear picture of Cambridge’s current needs—especially from organizations providing day-to-day life-sustaining services. The depth of funding requests reflects not just organizational needs, but the changing landscape of services our community members rely on.”
Among this year’s grantees, Newtowne School received its first-ever Community Fund grant to host the inaugural “Newtowne Learning Exhange,” a conference for early childhood educators this June. Following the Reggio Emilia approach, Newtowne integrates community exploration directly into their curriculum, bringing children into Cambridge neighborhoods to learn about civic engagement from an early age.
“We talk about community engagement all the time, but what does it look like when you actually bring kids into the community and make that your curriculum? This idea of truly engaging young children and their families in being a part of making change is especially timely,” said Dr. Caitlin Malloy, executive director of Newtowne School.
Innovators for Purpose, which received an increase to their previous CCF funding, has expanded its programming beyond its core immersive experience to reach hundreds more Cambridge youth through partnerships with local schools and community institutions.
“This grant enables us to maintain our deep, transformative work while expanding our reach to more students each year,” said Michael Dawson, co-founder and executive director of Innovators for Purpose. “Our students don’t just learn STEM skills—they initiate projects addressing real community challenges, from educational inequities to increasing representation in AI. In today’s uncertain climate, we’re creating a safe space for young people to grow into socially conscious innovators—empowered to transform their concerns into solutions that benefit us all.”
This year’s grants were informed by a panel of 43 community reviewers who evaluated applications during a robust two-week process.
“As a community reviewer, I found it inspiring to discover so many organizations working to strengthen Cambridge,” said Janaki Stern, a first-time community reviewer. “The process opened my eyes to nonprofits I’d never heard of, and working alongside other reviewers with different perspectives helped me think more deeply about what our community truly needs.”
In conjunction with this record funding, CCF has streamlined its grant process from two Community Fund grantmaking cycles to a single one this year, creating a more unified, strategic response that matches the scale of the challenges facing the city’s nonprofit sector. In addition to moving to a singular funding cycle, the Foundation piloted “Renewal Grants” this year, which enabled organizations who have a track record of community impact and partnership with the Foundation to renew their funding without submitting a full application.
Meeting a need of this magnitude requires partnership from the Foundation’s cohort of Donor-Advised Fund holders, and other local funders. The Foundation expresses its deepfelt gratitude to every supporter who contributed to this pool. They are:
Bartle Boghossian Family Fund, Cosulich Family Charitable Fund, Sy Danberg, Endries Family Fund, Gardiner Family Fund, Google.org, Johnson Family, Abram and Debbie Klein, Kowalski Loveall Fund, Lander Family, Laskin Fund for Cambridge, Daniel Raizen, Ralph W. Chapman Jr. Memorial Fund, St. Onge Family Fund, Upland Gardens Fund, Henry and Janet Vaillant, Viney Wallach Foundation, and Wernick-Hansman Family Fund.
The Community Fund grants represent just one component of CCF’s comprehensive approach to community investment. In 2024, the Foundation deployed $4.4 million in total community investments, including $1.2 million toward strategic initiatives like the Food Access and Security Initiative and the development of a robust arts and culture strategy. This year’s Community Fund grants come at a pivotal moment for Cambridge. By stepping up with unprecedented funding and fostering strategic partnerships, the Foundation is not only responding to immediate needs but also strengthening Cambridge’s collective capacity to address complex challenges ahead.
FY25 Community Fund Grant Recipients
| Category | Organization | Award Amount | Grant Summary | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arts & Culture | Boston City Singers | $3,000 | General operating support. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Cambridge Art Association | $5,000 | The expansion of CAA's free professional development programs to all artists in the region; and increase the number of partially and fully sponsored spots in paid programs, including the annual Portfolio Review weekend. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Cambridge Jazz Foundation | $10,000 | Funding to assist with the 9th annual jazz festival. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Central Square Theater | $15,000 | Support across two producing seasons that includes three main stage professional productions; companion community connectivity pre/post show programs; a multi-tiered Community & Education Program. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | CW Taekwondo at Boston (Boston Taekwondo Project) | $2,500 | Financial support to low and mid-income families for movement arts education through taekwondo. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Jose Mateo's Ballet Theatre | $7,500 | Provide high quality arts programming for Cambridge residents with sequential arts training and Dance for World Community. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Multicultural Arts Center | $7,500 | The "Artist in Residence" program will offer emerging artists a six-month residency, with rehearsal space, a stipend, professional development, several workshops to solicit feedback on works in progress, and mentorship from artists and other professionals in the Multicultural Arts Center community. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Shelter Music Boston | $3,000 | Providing live classical music concerts in homeless shelters, recovery centers, and similar sites serving adults and children in need. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | The Dance Complex | $25,000 | General operating support. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Tunefoolery Music, Inc. | $3,000 | Open mics at two sites and monthly live music at two senior facilities in Cambridge. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Jean Appolon Expressions | $12,000 | dance programs for all ages and abilities, including performances, classes, and STEAM education, while expanding a new dance center. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Revels Inc. | $5,000 | numerous programs including RiverSing, a free program of music, dance, puppets and celebration held at the Weeks Footbridge and participation in the annual Summer Solstice celebration in partnership with Harvard Museums of Science and Culture. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Dance in the Schools | $6,000 | professional dance teaching artists in Cambridge public schools, providing free dance-based educational sessions to strengthen cultural awareness. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | TC Squared Theatre | $5,000 | New Play Festival, which highlights 20 ten-minute excerpts from plays. The Festival provides artists with a chance to present their work as well as a way to reach new audience members and grow community bonds. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Cambridge Symphony Orchestra | $5,000 | the 50th season of Masterworks, Family Concerts, and Holiday Pops, fostering community and inclusivity with low-cost or free options. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Sambanismo Experience LLC | $5,000 | 3-day, multicultural gathering built around live dance workshops, dance battles, and live DJ parties. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Asian American Ballet Project | $5,000 | the June 2025 concert, Receding and Reemerging, examining how we interact with our past and future. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Global Arts Live | $15,000 | planning for a performing arts internship program, offering Cambridge youth paid employment and mentorship in the event industry. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Cambridge Hip-Hop Collective | $10,000 | outdoor community hip-hop events for local rappers, singers, producers, musicians, and others who wish to collaborate in a public, improvised format. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Cambridge Community Chorus | $3,500 | the ongoing operations and activities of the Cambridge Community Chorus. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Passim | $5,000 | live music experiences and nurturing a vibrant, inclusive music community, including 45 free, outdoor summer shows across Cambridge. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Boston Symphony Orchestra, Inc | $1,500 | three High School Open Rehearsals and three Youth Concerts for Cambridge 4th – 12th grade students. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | VLA DANCE | $7,000 | the presentation of thought provoking and accessible productions, dance outreach and advocacy with a focus on uplifting Black and queer stories, and the continued development of three productions: In The Space Between, For Nina, and As Much As I Need: As Much As I Want. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | CoDesign Collaborative | $5,000 | free design education for youth, empowering them to solve social challenges through creative problem-solving and access to tools and resources. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Gallery 263 | $3,000 | outreach to and workshops for local ethnic cultural associations, school art programs, and studio programs, allowing for use of the gallery to display their work. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Kevin C. Kynock Foundation for the Arts | $1,000 | an immersion trip for 30-35 students to see a live performance in Boston, based on their interests. Additionally, an artist will be brought to the school to perform for a larger assembly of students at the school (65 or more). | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Central Square Business Improvement District | $20,000 | new arts initiatives, including a gallery, lighting installations, and a music studio, fostering creativity and community engagement in the district. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Plays in Place, LLC | $3,500 | a series of one-act plays about Kittie Knox, creating a vehicle for theater groups and bicycling clubs to stage theatrical performances which reflect on the history of race and gender around the topic of bicycling. The performances will be at Cambridge Crossing in Fall 2025. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Rasik | $5,000 | a live concert and workshop/ lecture demonstration by Dr. Neena Prasad, a renowned artist from Kerala, India who will be touring the United States with a group of live musicians in September-October 2025. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Boston Poetry Slam Inc | $5,000 | the NorthBeast Regional Poetry Slam & Festival, a two-day poetry slam and festival that will take place on July 12–13, 2025 at the Foundry in Cambridge. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | The Click | $5,000 | dance education initiatives including weekly drop in classes, the Community Contemporary Repertory Experience program, and community engagement workshops. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Cambridge Carnival International, Inc. | $10,000 | Cambridge Carnival International, a vibrant cultural festival celebrating Afro-Caribbean heritage through music, dance, and art, along with year-round programs like the Cambridge Youth Steel Orchestra, Pan in the Park summer series, and community workshops. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Boston Dance Alliance | $7,500 | programs and services for local dancers and dance companies in Cambridge. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Gather Hear Inc | $2,500 | free classical concerts for homeless women, performed by professional artists and MIT students. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Liars and Believers | $10,000 | creating accessible theater experiences, including the development and production of a new play in 2026. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Castle of our Skins | $5,000 | an ensemble and composer residency program highlighting prominent Black composers, fostering cultural exchange and education through partnerships with music institutions. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | MetaMovements | $5,000 | Salsa In The Park, featuring performances, social dancing, a percussion corner, follow along dances and Salsa lessons for all, including a class specifically designed for the Deaf, Blind, and/or Hard of Hearing. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Street Theory Collective | $10,000 | underserved, emerging creatives and bring their artistic expressions to a wider audience via a community arts center in Cambridge’s Central Square. The center will host artists-in-residency, co-create public art, offer master classes, and hold community events. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Midday Movement Series | $15,000 | the Justice in Dance Initiative, which will serve the holistic needs of Cambridge’s contemporary dance community, particularly BIPOC artists. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | Baryo Collective | $5,000 | immersive cultural experiences for third-culture individuals in the U.S. and pop-up events combining storytelling, media, and food experiences. | ||||
| Arts & Culture | American Repertory Theater | $10,000 | theater experiences, as well as free community programs and education programs for students. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | Bridges Homeward | $5,000 | General operating costs related to the provision of social services to Cambridge residents, predominantly clients of the Developmental Disabilities program. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | CitySprouts | $5,000 | The evolution of our Cambridge Young Leaders Program (YLP), a tuition-free Out of School Time program that engages youth ages 10-14 in gardening, science, leadership and community. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | Cradles to Crayons | $3,000 | Everyday Essentials program, which provides clothing and other basic essentials to vulnerable children. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | East End House | $25,000 | Promote the well-being, academic achievement, and successful transition to adulthood of children and youth from under-resourced families in Cambridge and surrounding communities. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | Girls' LEAP | $2,500 | Implement the community program in collaboration with a sponsoring Cambridge community partner during school year '23-'24. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | Horizons for Homeless Children | $5,000 | High quality play opportunities with trained, caring volunteers. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | Maria L. Baldwin Community Center | $10,000 | Full and partial scholarships for children to attend after-school and summer programs. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | Reach Out and Read | $5,000 | Provide books, training, quality assurance, technical support, and evaluation to 5 sites in Cambridge. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | Youth Guidance | $10,000 | Becoming A Man (BAM) and Working on Womanhood (WOW), school-based counseling and mentoring programs that improve the socio-emotional skills and behavioral competencies of students in grades 6 - 12 who have been exposed to traumatic stressors and face social, behavioral, and/or emotional challenges. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | Work Force Program [Cambridge Housing Authority] | $25,000 | the nationally recognized Work Force Youth Program, an after-school educational enrichment, college prep, and work-readiness program which annually serves over 350 teens and young adults that reside in CHA properties. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | Enroot, Inc. | $25,000 | immigrant students with mentorship, academic tutoring, and career readiness programs, fostering long-term success and community integration. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | Cambridge Camping Association | $20,000 | CCAccess scholarships, tailored camp matching, camp readiness, transportation, camp supplies and case management for 150 Cambridge children. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | Community Art Center, Inc. | $25,000 | arts enrichment for children, teen media programs, and public art initiatives, while providing emergency resources for families in need. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | Cambridge Girls Softball League, Inc. | $1,000 | league student expenses for the Spring, Summer and Fall. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | Cambridge Basketball Lab | $10,000 | planning, operational outreach, marketing efforts, Coach-Mentor scheduling/supervision, family communication, and financial planning/management for Cambridge Basketball Lab. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | Actors' Shakespeare Project | $7,500 | scholarships for Cambridge residents participating in the annual Summer Youth Intensive (SYI). SYI brings together youth and interns to rehearse, design, and stage a full Shakespeare production. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | All Court Enrichment (ACE) | $7,000 | the expansion of Cambridge summer programming. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | Playworks New England | $5,000 | ongoing professional development training to King Open Day staff members to help ensure safe and healthy play opportunities during the school day. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | My Brother's Keeper Task Force Inc | $25,000 | high-impact community programming that will provide a bridge between young adults (ages 18-30) and parents, offering comprehensive life skills education, financial literacy training, and personal development support. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | Community Boating, Inc. | $3,000 | an environmental science program for youth, teaching ecology and sailing on the Charles River, including cyanobacteria bloom monitoring. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | Boston Comic Arts Foundation Limited | $5,000 | comic workshops in Cambridge through Bridges Homeward and STEAM workshops at The Foundry. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | Breakthrough Greater Boston | $25,000 | the delivery of Breakthrough's Middle School, High School and College Success programming. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | Active Social Communities DBA Volo Kids Foundation | $5,000 | free and accessible high-quality community-based sports integrated with social-emotional learning at the Cambridge Community Center. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | JOYweavers Inc | $10,000 | a five-week summer program for 35 children (5-13 years old) and 8-10 days of camp on weekend days throughout the school year to sustain camp relationships, designed to be inclusive for children impacted by trauma and other social-emotional challenges. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | Queenality Cares | $2,500 | mentorship program providing crucial resources, opportunity, and skills to young women and underrepresented groups who aspire to succeed in the entertainment and media industry. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | Asian American Resource Workshop | $5,000 | AARW’s Cambridge & Somerville South Asian Leadership Training (C-SALT), a program for South Asian youth and young adults based in Cambridge between the ages of 16-25 to become community organizers through a South Asian lens. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | Cambridge Community Television (CCTV) | $25,000 | the general operations of the Youth Media Program (YMP) and the development of the Media Fellows Program for 18-24 year olds. | ||||
| Child & Youth Development | Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) | $5,000 | a six-week, full-day summer camp that includes academic instruction and summer recreation to low-income children ages of six to 13. | ||||
| Community Building & Engagement | Community Dispute Settlement Center, Inc. | $10,000 | To support our integral work in Cambridge including: mediating with consumers and merchants and landlords and tenants, work with youth in the Cambridge Juvenile Court; conflict coaching with members of the Cambridge community; provision of Conflict Skills Workshops to Cambridge-based groups and work with Cambridge schools and youth groups. | ||||
| Community Building & Engagement | Mass Audubon - Habitat Education Center | $5,000 | Free nature education programs and events to connect the Cambridge community to their local greenspaces and each other. | ||||
| Community Building & Engagement | New England Bangladeshi American Foundation | $4,000 | cultural, educational, and empowerment programs for the Bangladeshi and South Asian communities in Cambridge. Initiatives include the Sunday Islamic and Bangla School, women’s empowerment workshops, cultural events, and senior support services. | ||||
| Community Building & Engagement | Joint Family | $5,000 | an inclusive, community engagement program that seeks to connect individuals of different ages and backgrounds to connect, learn, and deliberate on pressing issues, like artificial intelligence through guided, interactive sessions that bring together a diverse group of experts and participants. | ||||
| Community Building & Engagement | South Asian Worker's Center | $2,500 | fostering a supportive network for low-income South Asians, particularly women and girls living in public housing in the Boston area and to better integrate them into US economic and social life. | ||||
| Community Building & Engagement | The Foundry Consortium | $15,000 | access enriching programs, events, and experiences at little to no cost. As a community hub, thousands of residents—particularly artists and makers— will engage with the space in a more equitable way and help expand reach in the community. | ||||
| Community Building & Engagement | Project Citizenship | $10,000 | free citizenship services year-round, including hosting Cambridge Citizenship Day on June 11, 2025. This effort will ensure residents have access to citizenship eligibility screening, application assistance, legal review and more. | ||||
| Community Building & Engagement | CultureHouse | $5,000 | a Harvard Square arts kiosk, offering free programming and fostering community connection through artist compensation, staffing, and supplies. | ||||
| Community Building & Engagement | Cambridge Neighbors | $7,000 | memberships for low- to-moderate income elderly individuals who live alone in Cambridge and who are without the necessary resources or connections to thrive. | ||||
| Community Building & Engagement | YWCA Cambridge | $10,000 | organization–wide technology upgrades including website overhaul, wireless network connectivity improvements, cybersecurity bolstering, and updates to the phone system to ensure consistent & reliable responses to the community. | ||||
| Community Building & Engagement | Cambridge Local First | $6,000 | the inaugural 617 Day Small Business Summit and Community Block Party and storytelling initiative. | ||||
| Community Building & Engagement | Everybody Gotta Eat Projects | $15,000 | an annual community BBQ event providing free meals, school supplies, and vendor opportunities, alongside financial literacy workshops. | ||||
| Community Building & Engagement | History Cambridge | $6,000 | a pop-up neighborhood history center, engaging diverse groups through exhibitions and events to build social cohesion. | ||||
| Community Building & Engagement | Black History in Action for Cambridgeport | $25,000 | BHAC's foundational planning, along with increased programming and community collaboration. | ||||
| Community Building & Engagement | Lawyers Clearinghouse on Affordable Housing and Homelessness, Inc. | $10,000 | legal assistance to homeless, low-income, and at-risk Cambridge residents and nonprofits that serve them through Legal Clinic Programs (including the Criminal Offender Record Information Sealing and Tax Lien Foreclosure Clinics), Nonprofit Assistance Program, and Access to Justice Fellows Program. | ||||
| Economic Security | Adbar Ethiopan Women's Alliance | $5,000 | Building the organization's capacity to achieve its mission of empowering low-income and underserved constituents. | ||||
| Economic Security | Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee | $25,000 | General operating support for CEOC's many programs, allowing the expansion of wraparound services and programs. | ||||
| Economic Security | Compass Working Capital, Inc. | $15,000 | Continue and expand comprehensive financial coaching and savings program for families in HUD-assisted housing. | ||||
| Economic Security | Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers (MAPS) | $9,000 | Supporting the Immigrant Integration Services (IIS) Program and the Cambridge Senior Center. | ||||
| Economic Security | Self Esteem Boston | $3,000 | 3 (6-hour) cycles of "You're Worth It" and "Skills for Success psycho-educational recovery support and skill building programs for 400 women, at the Caspar/Baycove Womanplace transitional residential recovery program in Cambridge. | ||||
| Economic Security | Center for Women & Enterprise | $5,000 | free entrepreneurship training for low-income women, providing resources and tools to help them launch and grow businesses, generate income, and create jobs. | ||||
| Economic Security | Women of Color Entrepreneurs (WOCE) | $6,000 | Cambridge women of color entrepreneurs, including providing 1:1 mentorship, technical assistance, online programming, pitch review, and peer support. | ||||
| Economic Security | Economic Mobility Pathways | $20,000 | intensive coaching for low-income residents, helping them achieve financial stability through debt reduction, education, and career advancement. | ||||
| Economic Security | Second Chances, Inc. | $7,500 | the provision of empowering, free clothing, shoes, and accessories to approximately 650 people residing in Cambridge and experiencing poverty, homelessness, and crises while reusing and recycling more than 300,000 pounds of clothing and textiles. | ||||
| Economic Security | Sustainable Business Network of MA | $10,000 | a vibrant ecosystem for Black-owned businesses in Cambridge through workshops, advocacy, and community building. | ||||
| Economic Security | Found In Translation | $9,000 | interpreter career development, from training to job placement, providing language services and professional advancement. | ||||
| Education | Cambridge Center for Adult Education | $5,000 | Supporting, maintaining, and growing organizational operations. | ||||
| Education | Cambridge School Volunteers, Inc. | $7,500 | Providing classroom support for the elementary coding program Scratch, tutors for the BRYT Program at CRLS and evening of tutoring at the main branch of the Cambridge Public Library. | ||||
| Education | Science Club for Girls, Inc. | $8,000 | The continued expansion of high-quality, hands-on, free out-of-school-time STEM education and mentorship programs for underrepresented girls and gender-expansive youth. | ||||
| Education | Young People's Project | $15,000 | Programs offered to Cambridge students working to close the racial academic achievement gap. | ||||
| Education | Tutoring Plus of Cambridge, Inc. | $12,500 | Expansion of the 1-on-1 tutoring program at the Fresh Pond Apartments site. | ||||
| Education | Prospect Hill Academy Charter School | $10,000 | helping middle and high schools students secure summer and after school enrichment and internship opportunities located in and around Cambridge. | ||||
| Education | Slave Legacy History Coalition | $5,000 | growth of the organization and its efforts to amplify the histories of enslaved people and their descendants. | ||||
| Education | Upstander Project | $5,000 | an immersive learning experience for those who seek a deeper understanding of the history and contemporary reality of the Original Peoples of this land. The 2025 Academy will be attended by 25 faith and community leaders who are passionately committed to truth-telling and repair work. | ||||
| Education | CYCLE Kids, Inc. | $2,500 | student kits for Cambridge elementary schools, enabling children to participate in biking and healthy eating programs through educational materials. | ||||
| Education | uAspire | $10,000 | the college affordability program, which served 500 low-to-moderate income Cambridge students during the ‘24-’25 academic year. Students will be supported as they apply for financial aid, make college choices, and navigate affordability systems. | ||||
| Education | Amphibious Achievement | $1,500 | sustaining and expanding the Amphibious Achievement program, helping more high school students close the achievement gap through mentorship and athletics. | ||||
| Education | Navigation Games | $5,000 | orienteering-based outdoor experiential education to school-aged children, through partnerships with school districts and other youth-serving organizations. | ||||
| Education | Tech Goes Home | $10,000 | the pilot of the online Learner Portal in the city of Cambridge for Early Childhood learners and their guardians to advance intergenerational digital literacy, access to online resources, and progress STEAM learning. | ||||
| Education | Just A Start | $25,000 | the Adult Career Training (ACT) Program (formerly Career Connect), which provides low- to moderate-income adult students with tuition-free education and training to enter sustainable careers in the Biotechnology and IT industries. | ||||
| Education | Newtowne School | $7,000 | the first conference for Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) on Saturday, June 14, 2025 at Newtowne’s Cambridge location, near Harvard Square. The conference is unique in structure in that it centers ECEs as experts and offers a space where powerful ideas can be exchanged. | ||||
| Education | Innovators for Purpose | $25,000 | STEM and design programs for underrepresented youth, providing technology and resources to foster innovation and equity. | ||||
| Education | The Loop Lab | $15,000 | the Media Arts Apprenticeship and Studio, which provides first-class hands-on training and fellowships at partnering organizations. Apprentices will be trained in Music Production, Audio Recording/Editing, Video Editing, Audio Mixing, Camera Operation and Technology. | ||||
| Education | Cambridge Math Circle, Inc. | $5,000 | scholarships for Cambridge students to attend CMC’s summer math program. | ||||
| Education | The Beautiful Stuff Project | $4,000 | the Treasure Box Curriculum, which focuses on meaningful free play and creative engagement, in the libraries of CPS elementary schools to support the increased numbers of early learners with the launch of the Cambridge Universal Preschool Program. | ||||
| Education | Read to a Child | $2,500 | Read Aloud Mentoring Program at the King Open School and Morse School in Cambridge, where 60 K-4th graders are paired with adult volunteers for weekly, in-person or virtual, one-on-one mentoring sessions centered around the adult reading aloud to the student. | ||||
| Education | New School of Music | $1,500 | scholarship program which helps make music lessons and full-day summer programs accessible to a diverse group of Cambridge families. | ||||
| Education | Nurtury Early Education | $5,000 | high-quality early education and child care for economically marginalized Cambridge families. | ||||
| Education | MIND BLOSSOM INC | $5,000 | 12 week mental health education program for staff at the Cambridge Community Center (CCC). This program will equip CCC staff members with evidence-based tools to address mental health challenges, fostering resilience and well-being across their community. | ||||
| Education | Action for Boston Community Development, Inc | $6,000 | sustaining and expanding ESOL programming of intermediate ESOL instruction that integrates workforce development activities. | ||||
| Education | blackyard | $15,000 | blackyard's Black Liberation Homeschool Co-op, Creative Space - a maker space for children, and community organizing work with the Black Student Union and families. | ||||
| Education | Potencia Inc. | $5,000 | a pilot 10-week program to serve 50 Cambridge residents who are aspiring to improve English communication skills and confidence. | ||||
| Environment | Charles River Conservancy, Inc. | $4,075 | Make the Charles River and its parks a well-maintained network of natural urban places that invite and engage all in their use and stewardship while advancing the goals of the 2019-2024 strategic plan. | ||||
| Environment | Charles River Watershed Association | $7,000 | water quality monitoring, invasive species management, and climate resilience projects, ensuring a healthier Charles River for Cambridge communities. | ||||
| Environment | Green Cambridge, Inc. | $18,000 | youth-led programs to increase urban canopy cover, community-grown food, and Alewife Reservation accessibility. | ||||
| Food | Outdoor Church of Cambridge | $1,500 | Food outreach programming. | ||||
| Food | Project Manna [Massachusetts Avenue Baptist Church] | $5,000 | Provide meals from the Soup Kitchen and offer groceries to families from the Food Pantry program. | ||||
| Food | St James Helping Hand Pantry | $10,000 | the provision of healthy and culturally appropriate food to clients. | ||||
| Food | St. Paul's Parish food pantry | $4,000 | implementation of pantry best practices and the purchase of additional food and supplies. | ||||
| Food | Community Cooks | $10,000 | volunteer-cooked meals for Cambridge partners, addressing food insecurity for 2,000+ neighbors monthly through a network of 700+ volunteers. | ||||
| Food | Rescuing Leftover Cuisine Massachusetts | $7,000 | increasing scope and impact of food rescue services through partnership development, targeting areas of increased food insecurity, and gaining feedback from the people we serve. | ||||
| Food | Spoonfuls | $10,000 | food recovery and hunger relief operation in Cambridge through partnering with grocery stores, farms, and other vendors who provide donations of excess food that would otherwise end up in the waste stream, which is then delivered to nonprofit partners. | ||||
| Health & Wellbeing | Adolescent Consultation Services | $10,000 | Providing direct mental health services to children and their families who are served by Cambridge Juvenile Court. | ||||
| Health & Wellbeing | Bridge Over Troubled Waters | $8,000 | Street Outreach and Mobile Medical Van Programs to runaway, homeless, and at-risk youth in the city of Cambridge. | ||||
| Health & Wellbeing | CASPAR, Inc. | $15,000 | Funding to support the program operations of the Emergency Services Center and Shelters in Cambridge, which includes two overnight shelters, a seasonal warming center and the First Step Street Outreach Team. | ||||
| Health & Wellbeing | Community Conversations: Sister to Sister, Inc. | $7,500 | To address the growing community need for culturally relevant, equity focused health strategies, Community Conversations will assess the community’s evolving health needs; retool their program delivery system to be safe, engaging and robust in a variety of settings and build infrastructure for organizational growth and sustainability. | ||||
| Health & Wellbeing | Community Servings | $7,500 | Nutrition Program for Cambridge Residents Affected by Critical/Chronic Illnesses. | ||||
| Health & Wellbeing | De Novo Center for Justice and Healing Inc. | $12,000 | Free civil legal assistance and mental health counseling for low-income people. | ||||
| Health & Wellbeing | Emerge | $5,000 | Program to enable people with low incomes to address abusive behavior toward partners and children. | ||||
| Health & Wellbeing | Harvard Square Churches Meal Program | $4,000 | Toiletry products through the weekly Thursday night meal program. | ||||
| Health & Wellbeing | Paine Senior Services | $7,000 | Services for clients who cannot pay a fee and who would otherwise refuse needed help. | ||||
| Health & Wellbeing | Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services | $10,000 | In-home mental health services for older Cambridge adults through the Connect Program. | ||||
| Health & Wellbeing | We Heal Ourselves with Love & Empowerment (WHOLE) | $10,000 | BIPOC men, women, older adults, and caregiver-centered mental health groups, community-based panel discussions in partnership with other organizations, well-being based workshops with local providers, quarterly Mental Health First Aid Trainings. All offerings are free of charge. | ||||
| Health & Wellbeing | Soca Fusion | $8,000 | free dance classes for ages 3+ at the Community Arts Center in Cambridge, featuring Soca, a genre deeply rooted in Black cultural traditions. | ||||
| Health & Wellbeing | FriendshipWorks Inc. | $15,000 | matching socially isolated older adults with volunteers, expanding capacity to foster meaningful connections and reduce loneliness. | ||||
| Health & Wellbeing | Cambridge Holistic Emergency Alternative Response Team (Cambridge HEART) | $10,000 | health and wellbeing activities including mobile crisis response, and HEART’s ongoing community cohesion events. | ||||
| Health & Wellbeing | Province of St. Mary of the Capuchin Order | $5,000 | outreach trips 3 days a week that provide physical nourishment and spiritual support on the streets of Cambridge. | ||||
| Health & Wellbeing | Urbanity Dance | $5,000 | Dance With Parkinson’s program (DWP) at Youville House Assisted Living in Cambridge, helping to combat isolation, improve quality of living, address mental health concerns, and decrease disability through dance for its most senior and underserved populations. | ||||
| Health & Wellbeing | The Nature Connection | $4,000 | increasing access to nature through 36 therapeutic nature programs for 100 Cambridge residents to improve mental health, social connection, and a relationship with nature. | ||||
| Health & Wellbeing | Cambridge Community Center | $25,000 | the Strengthening Families Together Project (SFTP) that provides community-based behavioral health services and reduces structural barriers to treatment, increasing access to behavioral health supports for youth and families. | ||||
| Housing | Heading Home | $5,000 | General operating support. | ||||
| Housing | Homeowners Rehab, Inc. | $20,000 | Implementation of the Community Investment Plan (CIP). | ||||
| Housing | HomeStart, Inc. | $10,000 | To sustain HomeStart's housing search, stabilization and eviction prevention services in Cambridge that help low-income at-risk individuals and families experiencing homelessness and housing crisis get back on the path to long-term housing stability. | ||||
| Housing | Metro Housing Boston | $15,000 | Program costs in the Housing Supports program that provides a portfolio of housing services tailored to the unique needs of low-income Cambridge residents. | ||||
| Housing | On the Rise, Inc. | $6,500 | Creating a safe and supportive community that fosters self-determination and wellbeing for women, transgender, and nonbinary people on their journey through and beyond homelessness. | ||||
| Housing | Transition House | $10,000 | General operating support for high-quality housing continuum services and community partnership programming in Cambridge. | ||||
| Housing | Y2Y Network, Inc | $10,000 | General operating to maintain operations at Y2Y Harvard Square. | ||||
| Housing | Hildebrand Family Self-Help Center | $10,000 | providing shelter, community resources supportive services, and stabilization services for families experiencing homelessness. | ||||
| Housing | The Home For Little Wanderers | $7,000 | Youth on Fire, a drop-in center for homeless youth in Harvard Square that provides a wide range of services including food, showers, computer access, life coaching, referrals to other community supports and more. | ||||
| Housing | Caritas Communities | $15,000 | programming for formerly homeless Cambridge residents to stabilize in housing, gain independence, and improve their lives. | ||||
| Housing | Furnishing Hope of Massachusetts, Inc. | $5,500 | to provide essentials for families referred by Cambridge social service agencies, ensuring stability and dignity. | ||||
| Housing | Casa Myrna Vazquez, Inc. | $5,000 | trauma-informed services, including legal aid and housing advocacy, for survivors of domestic violence. Partnerships with local organizations will help survivors avoid homelessness and build long-term stability. |
