SCC’s Annual Dinner: A Full and Festive Evening
Without question, SCC’s most valuable resource is its people—the leaders who spend countless hours building influential campaigns; the job seekers who attend our Networking Café, and make their rounds to say hello to staff; the real estate partners who make sure our bricks go up; our board and community members who bring an event like this to life; the donors who extend our mission even further—we couldn’t do it without you. Our Annual Dinner reminds us just how lucky we are to have all of you under our metaphorical roof—and literally under the roof of the Armory. What a fantastic and full crowd to reflect our vital community!
The theme of the evening was “weaving the past, present and future”. Kids and adults found their way to a table, where they could weave a piece of yarn into a collective fabric; Live jazz spun through the crowd; and a power-point tapestry showed the interlaced accomplishments of the year. We heard testimonies from Darin Zollarcoffer, who shared his story of moving from a homeless shelter into one of SCC’s 100 Homes properties, and from Janeth Janampa, a recent participant of SCC’s Leadership Development Institute and of First Source Jobs—who was recently offered a job at Encore Casino! We also gave awards to some well deserving community leaders:
- Hazel Hughes Award to Mary Jo Connelly for her tireless dedication to Somerville workers, and her leadership in Jobs for Somerville and First Source Jobs
- Norris Weston Award to East Boston Savings Bank for their enduring and flexible leadership in supporting the 100 Homes Program
- Visionary Leader Award to Fred Berman for outstanding service to SCC and Somerville as a dedicated member of SCC Board of Directors, 1998-2019
We introduced our new “Unsung Heroes” project, which aims to feature unsung heroes you know from Somerville throughout the year commemorating SCC’s 50th Anniversary. We featured Frances Caruso as our first hero, who recently passed away. She quietly dedicated her time to foundational civic activities, including helping to start the East Somerville Health Clinic in the 1970’s.
If you would like to nominate an unsung hero, please send the name of the person you would like to nominate and why you are nominating this person to SCC_50th@somervillecdc.org with the subject line: Unsung Hero.
What a night! It is always wonderful to see you all and celebrate together.
