SEE YOU TONIGHT!
SCC Summer Member Picnic 7/16
|
Bring the whole family to the Argenziano School tonight from 5:30-8:30 for a summer evening's picnic dinner, music and mingling with your fellow SCC members and friends.
Be sure to bring your favorite talent for our 1st ever members-only Open Mic Talent Show! Details here
|
Thursday 7/18:
Support Increasing Funds for Affordable Housing in Somerville!
|
This Thursday, July 18th in the Aldermanic Chambers at City Hall, 6pm, come show your support for increasing the Housing Linkage Fee from $3.91 per square foot over 30,000 square feet to $5.15 per square foot over 20,000 square feet. Your support matters, and this increase is one more way to help fund desperately needed affordable housing in Somerville. (This meeting will be immediately followed by the Planning Board meeting dedicated to our 181 Washington Street proposal).
|
SCC at ArtBeat
Saturday 7/20
|
Look for SCC at this year's Somerville ArtBeat festival on Saturday, July 20th! This year's theme is "micro" and we will be there with a table spreading awareness for the collection of "micro" issues in Somerville that collectively affect our community on a macro scale (small business development, local jobs, affordable housing, access to food and transportation, health, etc). Come find us and enjoy a beautiful, festive day in our community!
|
New Financial Literacy Class Starts 8/7
| |
We are excited to announce an upcoming financial education class at SCC! Over the course of eight weeks, participants will gain important information and skills to help them navigate their financial lives more successfully. The class will meet on Wednesday evenings from 6:15-9:00 pm, and a support group will be offered after graduation so participants can continue to hone the knowledge and skills acquired in class. Graduates will receive a $200 stipend to get them started on a successful financial path! The class will be open to people who live and/or work in Somerville.
Class dates: 8/7, 8/14, 8/21, 8/28, 9/4, 9/11, 9/18, 9/25. Language: English. Dinner and childcare offered. To register, please contact Shannon Erb at x238
|
Save $Money$ with SCC's Individual Development Accounts
| |
Hey Somerville residents: how would you like to earn $2 for every $1 you save! Through one of SCC's Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), you can! Now available, IDAs are matched savings accounts created for a specific purpose- in our case, so participants can save for college or professional training. The match incentive works like this:for each dollar a participant saves, two dollars are provided as a match (up to $1,000 in savings and $2,000 in match funsds for a total of $3,000). Participants must be income-eligible ($22,980/one person, $39,060/two people, $47,100/four people, $55,140/five people), TANF recipients, OR eligible to receive EITC. For more information, please contact Shannon Erb at (617) 776-5931 x238
|
|
SCC Membership
|
SCC is an organization of relationships- people with a passion for social justice and for improving quality of life for everyone in Somerville. 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. Please consider becoming a member today, which you can do online or by contacting Julia at
|
|
Ongoing Meetings
| |
Our many groups and committees meet regularly and are usually open to newcomers! Please click on the calendar image below to see the what's happening this month!
|
|
|
| Greetings! |
Summer is in full swing here in Somerville, and we hope that you have found clever ways to stay cool! Here at SCC, we have kept the heat on through the ongoing permitting review process before the Planning Board for 181/197 Washington Street while also making some major progress (victories, actually!) in our Jobs for Somerville Committee negotiations with MassDOT for local jobs with the Green Line Extension (see below!).
 We are very much looking forward to the opportunity TONIGHT to relax and enjoy some good food and music with our members at the annual SCC Summer Member Picnic. From all of us at SCC, happy Summer!
|
|
Update on 181/197 Washington Street Permitting Process:
Planning Board to Revisit Proposal Thursday 7/18
|
On June 20th, the SCC/Cathartes joint proposal for redevelopment of 181/197 Washington Street went before the Somerville Planning Board in a packed room at the Lowell Street VNA that included public testimony from over 30 people. While both supporters and opponents of the project as proposed packed the room, the spoken testimony was about 2-1 in favor of the project. At one point, SCC volunteers unveiled a string of nearly 100 postcards signed by Somerville residents in support of the project and spanning the length of the room! Read the Somerville Journal article about this hearing here.
Several dozen SCC supporters gathered before the hearing for a rally outside the building doting the now widely recognized "Everyone's Somerville" letters and also performing a skit that illustrated the effects of gentrification on working families. See our photo album from this night on Facebook. Thanks to all who came out and participated in this exciting evening!
Thanks to you, over 180 letters and postcards of support were submitted to the public record over the two weeks that followed the June 20th hearing, and six Letters to the Editor were published in local news outlets supporting the project. Read some of them here, here and here. We also worked together with Somerville Community Action Television (SCAT) to produce a short series of filmed testimonies from various stakeholders in Somerville (from neighbors to Ward 3 politicians) expressing their support for the project- click to check out the short video!
Last week, on July 11th, the Planning Board met again to discuss the project but no votes were made. They are expected to reconvene this Thursday, July 18th, at City Hall at 7 pm, and may vote at this time.
Please come to this meeting (at City Hall on July 18th at 7 pm) to show your support for this valuable opportunity to create long-term affordable housing for working families in Somerville!
With the Green Line Extension scheduled to start running to Union Square in 2017 and property values already up over 120% over five years, the time to take action to ensure that progress in Somerville does not result in displacement of existing residents from Somerville is NOW.
|
|
Victory!
MassDOT Agrees to Sign Contract with Jobs for Somerville to Ensure Local Green Line Jobs
|
On July 8, Jobs for Somerville members had a very successful meeting with MA Secretary of Transportation Richard Davey and MBTA General Manager Dr. Beverly Scott, as well as other state officials and stakeholders for the Green Line Extension project. The goal of the meeting was to discuss how we can collaborate to bring concrete benefits in the form of good local jobs to Somerville residents from the construction phase of the new Green Line Extension (currently underway near Union Square!).
 Pictured Above: Julia Leiva, Rene Mardones, Karen Narefsky, Mary Jo Connelly, Van Hardy, Secretary of Transportation Richard Davey, MBTA General Manager Dr. Beverly Scott, and Kelvin Mejia
The construction phase provides an excellent opportunity for Somerville workers to receive training and placement in union construction jobs that could be the foundation for lifelong careers. At the meeting, MassDOT agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Jobs for Somerville, the construction unions, the contractor, and other stakeholders to ensure that local workers are trained and hired for the Green Line Extension construction. This is a great victory for us! We hope to finalize the MOU by early fall, so stay tuned! If you are interested in learning more about Jobs for Somerville committee and fighting to make sure Somerville residents get good jobs in our city, please contact Rene Mardones rmardones@somervillecdc.org or 617-776-5931 x226.
|
|
Congrats Financial Literacy Graduates!
|
We are happy to announce the graduation of SCC's latest Financial Education class. Over a total of 15 hours of instruction, conversation, self-assessment, and fun, class participants acquired essential information and skills and developed an awareness of the ways in which financial systems and structures affect their lives. Congratulations, graduates!
|
|
New!
SCC and Partners to Survey Food Systems in Somerville
|
O
This summer, SCC in partnership with the Tufts Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, the Gilman Square Land Use Committee and many others, is launching a comprehensive survey and workshop series to take a critical look at food systems in Somerville. The Food Economy Engagement Tool (FEET) Survey aims to take a broad look at participants' relationships with food, in their neighborhoods, in their wallets, in their families and in their employment.
 Our goal is to have 25 to 30 participants fromr diverse backgrounds in this survey, as well as participating in a few workshops over the course of the summer about the local food economy, with a specific eye and ear toward new immigrants, youth, working class folks, and the elderly. Ultimately, the data from this summer project will advise a community engagement process around the vacant Star Market space near Temple St. in Somerville. At present, there is no extensive neighborhood-level assessment of shopping habits, and therefore no data-based understanding of the ways the vacant Star Market space has affected the eating habits of local residents, both who live in the Winter Hill area and those who do not. The goal is to use this summer work to tell the story of this neighborhood in order to affect how it will change. This project will aid the community process in advocating for local, affordable groceries in the area, giving practical advisements to City officials as well as to the landowner of the space.
Join us for our first workshop on July 25th! Contact Lexi at (617) 776-5931 x 235 or asasanow@somervillecdc.org
|
|
