SCC News

Gilman Square Community Meetings

Come join neighbors as we get together to lead a grassroots, community planning effort in Gilman Square! At our last meeting, we identified community values around: affordability; local jobs (hire local people, have decent wages, don’t compete with small neighborhood businesses); maintaining diversity (economic and ethnic.); anti-displacement; encourage walking; and active community involvement. If you would like to get involved, please contact Mashael Majid at 617-776-5931 x 228 or mmajid@somervillecdc.org.

First Financial Literacy Class of 2012 Graduates!

After six weekly sessions of learning, sharing, and setting goals (some of which have already been accomplished!), SCC's first Financial Literacy class of 2012 got together with SCC staff to celebrate their graduation on April 23. They shared inspiring stories, lots of laughter, and great food - each participant brought something to share this time, and I think it's fair to say it was the best meal ever had at a Financial Literacy graduation! We look forward to continuing to learn together in our Financial Literacy Support Group.

Our next class, Employability Skills and Financial Literacy, will begin on June 11. Please call Thais at x233 if you want more information!

Heartfelt Good-Byes From a Staff Member and Intern

After 6 wonderful years developing affordable housing with the Somerville Community Corporation, I have decided to move-on to new adventures and have accepted a position at Beacon Communities in Boston. As a Development Director at Beacon, I will be doing similar work to my role here at SCC, managing all aspects of the development of affordable housing. The first project I will be managing there is Georgetowne Homes, which is the renovation of a 967 unit expiring use property in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Boston. It was a very hard decision to leave SCC, but I feel that the variety of project types I will be exposed to and the funding sources I will use at Beacon will enable me to be even more effective at creating green, healthy, stylish and affordable homes for the large number of people who need it.

I can’t express emphatically enough how much I appreciate all that I’ve gained personally and professionally from my work at SCC. I have learned and grown a tremendous amount and feel even more deeply connected to the community that I have called home for the last 13 years. The heart and passion of my co-workers is awe inspiring. I constantly feel motivated and energized by the dedication that so many people in the community have to making Somerville a place that everyone can afford to live. I feel grateful to the residents of SCC’s properties who I have come to know and admire. And I am so proud of all that we accomplished together in making Saint Polycarp Village a reality.

It has been a pleasure working with all of you, and I know that I will continue to interact with many of you for years to come. I am not leaving Somerville, so I look forward to seeing you at SCC events and at other happenings around the city. ~Courtney Koslow

Thank you SCC—for being an excellent crew of Somerville folks to think with, plan with, organize with, and strategize with: keep making Somerville a great place to live and work! SCC has a first-class mission and an amazing group of leaders, and I am grateful for being able to contribute to this mission for the last 8 months through work on SCC Membership. I worked with the Membership Committee and the rest of the SCC staff to improve SCC’s relationships with its members and constituents. SCC is on its way to a more unified and powerful movement for equality and justice in Somerville. Getting people involved and building leaders is at the core of SCC’s work toward social justice. May all the wonderful SCC work areas continue to become more unified and more successful at preserving affordability and maintaining diversity in Somerville! ~Alex Froom

SCC Membership and T-Shirts!

Become an SCC Member! SCC is an organization of relationships-people with a passion for social justice. When we are members together in an organization, we access collective power and have a greater impact in our community. When we work together, we get more accomplished. To become a member please contact Alex at 617-776-5931 x235 afroom@somervillecdc.org or Shannon at 617-776-5931 x238 sleblanc@somervillecdc.org.

Along with our renewed membership efforts we are happy to announce that new SCC T-Shirts are out and beginning to pop-up around Somerville at community meetings, membership activities, and other events around town. The SCC T-Shirts are a symbol of our united effort to maintain diversity and preserve affordability in Somerville. Get your T-Shirt today and wear it at important SCC community events! Suggested donation: $10 Contact: Shannon at sleblanc@somervillecdc.org

SCC New Member Open House Draws a Crowd!

On Tuesday, April 24, New SCC Members conversed and networked with SCC leaders, staff, and Board members. The SCC offices in Union Square came alive with relationship building, conversation, and laughter. To learn about SCC’s work and the many ways to get involved, new members mingled with SCC leaders and board members. Two SCC Board members—Jeannette Amazeen-Thomas and Regina Bertholdo—introduced SCC’s mission to preserve affordability and maintain diversity in Somerville, and explained the ways SCC works toward this vision. The open house provided an opportunity for Somerville residents to connect and build community, network and build collective power!

Help Support SCC's Work on 181 Washington Street

On Wedesnday June 6th, SCC will hold the 4th community meeting about our proposed development of rental housing and commercial/retail units at the former Boys and Girls Club in Union Square. Residents of the proposed building would be working members of the community, teachers, nurses, construction workers, etc. At the last meeting many neighbors and supporters spoke of the need for a diversity of housing sizes and types to house the diversity of Somerville residents. We need to keep the momentum up and win more neighborhood support!

At this June 6th meeting, we will present designs and reports on traffic and parking, and discuss neighborhood suggestions. We are committed to working with neighbors as we design and eventually build a mixed use development, housing working families at a range of incomes as well as new retail spaces, that is also energy efficient and an asset to the neighborhood.

Please show your support for this proposal by:

Visiting the website everyonessomerville.org and signing in as a supporter.
Putting an “Everyone’s Somerville” sign in your window and asking neighbors and nearby stores to do so as well.
Come to the Community Meeting on June 6th at 6:45 PM at the Argenziano School 290 Washington Street in Union Square.

To find out more, contact Mary Regan at 617-776-5831 x 230 or mregan@somervillecdc.org.

Construction Begins at 75 Cross Street!

SCC has started construction on 75 Cross Street, in East Somerville. Once completed 75 Cross Street will provide 8 new apartments that will be permanent homes for formerly homeless families in East Somerville. The development will have 6 two-bedrooms and 2 one-bedroom apartments The families will pay 30% of their income towards rent. Supportive services will be provided by the Somerville Homeless Coalition. Construction is expected to be complete in late fall and we hope to have families moved into the new units by the end of the year. A ground breaking ceremony will take place on May 30th at 3:30 pm at the property.

Career Development Opportunities at SCC

Quick Quiz:

1.) Are you currently looking for work?

2.) Are you unsure of what kind of work would best fit your skills and interests?

3.) Have you gotten stuck while filling out applications that ask you to attach a resume because you haven’t created or updated your resume?

4.) Have you been sending out your resume but have trouble getting an interview?

Answers:

If you answered yes to any of these questions, call Blyss Cleveland (x239) or Thais DeMarco (x233) at SCC to set up an intake for a referral to our in-house career developer! Our career developer has tools to help assess your interests and can provide advice about training and educational opportunities that will make you more competitive in the job market. You can also start from scratch on a resume or review your existing resume. Career development can help you best market your skills to land the job you want.

9th Annual Save Our Homes Walk

This years 9th Annual Walk to Prevent Homelessness will be held on Sunday May 20th, 2012. If you would like more information please contact Jen at 617-623-6111 x241 or visit our walk website.