New Advisory Council for Food Pantry Network

In early July, the Cambridge Food Pantry Network, led by CEOC, launched our new Advisory Council. The 11 council members represent 6 Cambridge neighborhoods, speak 8 languages among them, have lived in Cambridge for anywhere from 6 months to over 30 years, and have each had personal experience with food insecurity.

The Cambridge Food Pantry Neighbor Advisory Council (CFP-NAC) will share their stories and use their expertise to provide feedback and recommendations for all of the participating food pantries. Advisory Council members will be empowered as community leaders to seek feedback from other Cambridge residents and advocate for change with elected officials.

$350,000 in New Grants

Thank you to the Eastern Bank Foundation and Liberty Mutual Foundation for your generous recent grants and your ongoing commitment to our mission!

The Liberty Mutual general operating grant provides $100,000 a year for three years in support of CEOC wraparound services to meet basic needs. The $50,000 Eastern Bank financial empowerment grant supports CEOC's Financial Freedom Parties, which kicked off in July, as well as a new initiative to help Cambridge residents build or regain credit and increase access to financial services. 

Journey to Hope Continues to Grow



Launched in fall of 2023, Journey to Hope: CEOC's Wellness Support Service now has two new providers, La'Shell Thompson and Rabeya Akther, who were trained by experienced staff (pictured: Jenny Andre-Jean, Yemi Kibret, Lauren Shebairo, and Rachel Plummer) using a train-the-trainer model. Because Rabeya speaks Bangla in addition to English, we have increased our linguistic capacity to five languages! If you or someone you know could use this service, please click here to send a note.

Health Fair for Ethiopian Community

In late June, CEOC hosted a Health Fair attended by nearly 30 Ethiopian senior residents. Two of CEOC’s Amharic-speaking staff, Yemi Kibret and Sofia Berhe, facilitated the event, with the help of a professional interpreter. Joined by the Cambridge Public Health Department and Cambridge Health Alliance, we were able to provide information on nutrition, oral health, physical activity, hypertension, and maximizing SNAP dollars.

CEOC Addresses State Poverty Commission

On June 11th, Executive Director Tina Alu testified at the Greater Boston Hearing of the Massachusetts Poverty Commission. She shared about our work, the harmful narratives people hold about those in poverty, and the transformative power of guaranteed income that we have seen firsthand through Cambridge RISE and Rise Up Cambridge.

Randy Albelda, a CEOC Board Member, serves on the Poverty Commission and kicked off the hearing by giving a brief overview of the history of poverty in our communities. We were honored to be included with dozens of anti-poverty advocates who spoke, and we are grateful to have two Cambridge natives and fierce anti-poverty policy champions chairing this commission—thank you, State Senator Sal DiDomenico and State Representative Marjorie Decker!