Cambridge Community Foundation

04/29/2026

Could social housing be a promising solution to the state's affordable housing crisis? And how could redevelopment authorities play a role?

A new research paper co-funded by CCF, Cambridge Redevelopment Authority, and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston explores these urgent questions at a time when complex housing challenges in cities like Cambridge require seeking creative solutions.

The paper, discussed in an April 14 public panel and issued by Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, defines social housing as “homes serving a broad range of household incomes in which the public sector has an active role in planning, financing, and ownership, and which are managed to ensure long term affordability.”

“How do you bring in new housing in a way that supports residents who have been there for a while and residents who are new to the area—and helps them create a web of connections that strengthens the community as a whole?” said Emily Keys Innes, an urban planner and president of Innes Land Strategies Group. “Redevelopment authorities can have that higher view of how to connect disparate pieces into the greater whole.”

CCF President Geeta Pradhan said over time Cambridge has lost much of its middle—with the housing market increasingly accessible to the wealthier, and the City’s commitment to affordable housing serving as an important source of stability for lower-income populations.

“But we also need housing for those who live and work in our communities—for municipal employees, nonprofit workers, teachers, and those who support our local economy and work in our labs and local industries," Geeta said. "Social housing holds that promise and the opportunity for greater social cohesion. We look forward to working with our partners to make it happen.”

Learn more or read the full paper:

CCF President Geeta Pradhan speaks at an April 14 event, "Beyond Urban Renewal" at Harvard Kennedy School. High-cost cities like Cambridge are losing middle-income families due to the lack of housing affordable to them. This pressing challenge is the subject of a new paper exploring how redevelopmen...

04/28/2026

CCF's annual Community Fund is our broadest investment in Cambridge nonprofits, and our widest lens on the city. This spring, 157 organizations received a total of $1.37 million across child and youth development, arts and culture, education, housing, food security, health and wellbeing, economic security, community building, and the environment. That breadth is how we track what's changing in Cambridge and where the need is growing.

It's also a shared investment. Donor-advised fund holders and other local funders expanded what was possible this year by co-investing alongside CCF and contributing 46 percent of this year’s funding pool, allowing us to reach organizations we otherwise couldn't. We're grateful for every person who chose to be part of that.

We built renewal grants and consolidated the Community Fund into one cycle because we wanted the process to embody the values we hold around trust-based philanthropy. Trust runs through every part of this program. Reviewers give their time and knowledge. Nonprofits open their work to outside assessment. Donors invest without directing the outcome. We try to honor all of it—in how we design the application to minimize administrative burden, how we give feedback to applicants, and how we stay present as partners throughout the year.

Congratulations to this year's grantees and thank you to everyone who made this cycle possible. Learn more about our FY26 Community Fund partners in our press release: https://cambridgecf.org/community-fund-2026

04/27/2026

LINES AROUND THE BLOCK are just one challenge in keeping all Cantabrigians fed. Another is that not everyone can get to the pantries.

Every Thursday afternoon, Paul Seabury, senior logistics manager at Food For Free, loads a truck with boxes of groceries at the organization’s warehouse in Somerville as part of the Just Eats program funded by CCF. When he pulls into the parking lot of Walden Square Apartments, an affordable housing development near Danehy Park, residents are already waiting. Boxes are opened on the spot. Neighbors trade vegetables, compare what they received that week, and swap dinner ideas. “It’s like a different kind of farm to table,” Paul says.

Through conversations with our Food Access and Security Initiative partners, we learned just how much strain the increased needs in the community were putting on food-delivery programs. In addition to funding Just Eats, we awarded an additional $50,000 to Food For Free in October 2025 to help stabilize the emergency food transportation pipeline and keep food moving to those who needed it most at a time of unprecedented demand.

📸 Maria Pierre at a Food For Free delivery to Walden Square Apartments. Photo by Mark Ostow.

Read more of the story at https://cambridgecf.org/2025-annual-report/

04/24/2026

LONG BEFORE THE SNAP CRISIS, more and more people were coming to the Cambridge Community Center food pantry every month. “The line used to be around the block,” says LB Battle, CCC’s operations manager. “It broke our hearts to see people coming at 8 or 9 in the morning in the cold when we didn’t open till 1 p.m.”

Through our Food Access and Security Initiative, the consulting firm More Than Food was brought in to share best practices. One idea CCC adopted was a randomized number system to shorten the lines and wait times.

Today, CCC’s food pantry is organized around 22 “stations” lined up on folding tables, each stocked with identical bags of groceries. As people gather out front before the doors open, volunteer Sylvester Nicholas, 86, hands out cards numbered 1 to 120, allowing people to move through the line in small groups instead of competing to be served first.

The system transformed both the experience and the efficiency of going to the pantry. And for Sylvester, it means more than calming people’s nerves and shortening wait times. “I can’t sit at home doing nothing all day,” he says. “This gives me a purpose.”

📸 Sylvester Nicholas at the Cambridge Community Center. Photo by Mark Ostow.

Check out the full CCF 2025 Annual Report at https://cambridgecf.org/2025-annual-report/

04/23/2026

IN LATE OCTOBER 2025, with SNAP benefits about to be cut for 10,000 Cambridge residents, the picture was grim. Food pantry visits had surged—over 200 percent in some cases—and families that had never needed help before were showing up at pantries. We knew we needed to act fast, and we weren’t alone.

Cambridge’s city manager, Yi-An Huang, called a meeting with CCF and the city’s other core food-security partners. Forty-eight hours later, the day before SNAP benefits were set to expire, the City of Cambridge and CCF announced a commitment of $500,000—$250,000 each—to address the crisis.

Working with the Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee, Cambridge Public School District (Official Site), the Cambridge Housing Authority, and the Council on Aging, CCF and the city rapidly distributed $300,000 in grocery gift cards to SNAP-eligible families with children, older adults, and residents with disabilities. The remaining $200,000 went directly to food pantries facing heightened demand.

📸 Fresh Pond Apartments residents at a free grocery-card distribution led by CEOC. Photo by Mark Ostow.

04/22/2026

ONE IN THREE CAMBRIDGE RESIDENTS experiences some form of food insecurity. Hunger is a persistent and urgent pressure in our community, even as Cambridge benefits from a tremendous group of organizations working to improve access to healthy food. As more families turn to pantries and food programs, those organizations have been asked to do more, move faster, and stretch limited resources further. CCF saw an opportunity to strengthen the system and, with it, the entire social safety net. Rather than focusing on any single organization, we invested in the connections among them, supporting the people, infrastructure, and shared practices that allow food to move efficiently.

In 2023, CCF launched the Food Access and Security Initiative, investing $1.1 million over three years to support eight food organizations and the Cambridge Food Pantry Network to strengthen core operations, expand programs that reach families directly, and reinforce the logistics that keep food moving across the city. We also bring our food-system partners together regularly so they can share best practices and bolster the emergency food pipeline together.

Stay tuned this week for three stories exemplifying that impact.

Check out the full CCF 2025 Annual Report at https://cambridgecf.org/2025-annual-report/

📸 by Mark Ostow

04/15/2026

Three days left! ✨

Our Imagined in Cambridge! Social Innovation Award gives winners $5,000 to grow their innovative projects and create real change in their community.

Individuals and small groups are encouraged to apply; no 501c3 required. Apply now — the opportunity closes this Friday, April 17!

https://cambridgecf.org/imagined-in-cambridge-award

04/07/2026

Our 2025 annual report, Good in the Making, focuses on the people who are stepping up to make good happen in Cambridge and our role in moving that optimism, creativity, and possibility forward for our city's well-being. The report brings this civic leadership to life through stories and stunning photography by Cambridge photographer Mark Ostow.

You’ll read about how we champion innovative thinkers and lead research to educate and advance solutions across the city, and learn about the little-known ways we bolster the nonprofit sector beyond grantmaking. The stories show our footprint in the community, the ripple effect thoughtful partnerships can have, and the magic that happens when Cambridge residents—from donors and community reviewers to neighbors who consistently turn up to help others—show their care for one another.

There has never been a more important moment for CCF to step up its efforts and do what community foundations are built to do. We’re incredibly grateful for the people whose generosity and commitment make it possible for us to be a resource the community can always call upon, a partner in developing new and innovative solutions, and an investor in positive change, today and for generations to come.

This story is all of ours. Explore our first-ever, interactive online annual report at https://cambridgecf.org/2025-annual-report

A special thanks to photographer Mark Ostow, and his studio manager Lily Feinberg-Eddy, for capturing the spirit of a city making good together.

04/06/2026

Explore Cambridge's world of arts, one event at a time.

We've curated a list of spring events hosted by our Culture Connects Cambridge partners and invite you to support these nonprofits organizations. This is just a sampling of ways you can experience the beauty and power of Cambridge’s diverse arts and culture this season.

Follow us and local arts partners to learn about many more great, upcoming events in the community!

Get links to all of the passport's events on our website: https://cambridgecf.org/culture-connects-cambridge/

03/27/2026

Join us April 14! Presenting new research on social housing.

This special event will unveil research co-funded by CCF, Cambridge Redevelopment Authority (CRA), and Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston on social housing and redevelopment authorities, using Cambridge as a core case study. We're inviting residents, city officials, researchers, and community stakeholders to come together for a thoughtful discussion on the findings and recommendations.

Established in the mid-1920s, redevelopment authorities in Massachusetts today retain significant powers to carry out urban housing projects, including eminent domain. This has led housing advocates and policymakers to explore whether redevelopment authorities might be uniquely positioned to help cities and towns now promote new social housing—mixed-income developments in which the public sector holds a lasting ownership stake.

Join us to hear from researchers about their findings, followed by a panel of practitioners and officials who will discuss the report's implications for communities across the state. This event is co-sponsored by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, CRA, and CCF.

Due to limited space at Harvard Kennedy School, we encourage you to register below for the livestream option or join the waitlist for in-person seating: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beyond-urban-renewal-tickets-1984632319693