Reports | Somerville Community Corporation

2020 SCC Annual Report

Because of your partnership and commitment, as well as the dedication of our incredible staff and board during this tumultuous and challenging year, SCC has proven our resiliency and we pledge to continue the fight for equitable development throughout our city.

We began 2020 ready to engage more residents, expand our programming, and serve Somerville’s most at-risk communities with access to affordable housing, economic equity, and good jobs. We were also getting ready to commemorate our 50th Anniversary, saying farewell to longtime CEO Danny LeBlanc and welcoming new CEO Gonzalo Puigbo. Then the pandemic hit. Our superhero staff pivoted to address the immediate concerns of our most vulnerable neighbors — helping hundreds navigate the unemployment process and apply for rental assistance. We fought hard for affordable homes and local businesses. Still, the disproportionate impact of COVID-19, its uneven economic recovery, and the lingering systemic effects of racist policies exacerbated people’s urgent needs in ways we have yet to fully grasp. Although we have so much to learn, SCC, our members, residents, supporters, and partners already know the fundamentals of community. As the world fell apart, we stayed true to our proven course: advocating for affordable housing, equitable development, economic opportunity, and supporting our community. Due to intractable budget concerns, we unfortunately had to let go of valuable staff in 2020, but as an organization, SCC recommitted to its mission and to our communication and transparency. From requiring us to protect each other by social distancing, to bringing us together in mutual aid, this year not so gently reminded us that our health, safety, and wellness are all interconnected. We are only as strong as the communities to which we belong. On behalf of the SCC Staff and Board of Directors, thank you all for inspiring and challenging us to press on. Thank you for being our everyday heroes.

Gonzalo Puigho
CEO

Recent Annual Reports

2020 SCC Annual Report: Community Heroes United
2019 SCC annual report: Together into the Future
Check out our 2017 SCC annual report: Linking Our Community to the Future, and learn how our members are working with the community to position Somerville. Mass., for a future which supports socioeconomic, racial, ethnic and linguistic diversity.
Read our 2016 SCC annual report: Breaking Barriers, Building Together.

Studies Commissioned or Conducted by SCC, Our Partners or Interns

Our strategy and approach to community development is informed by a wide variety of sources including research studies, people in our neighborhoods, movements in other cities, and local organizations and partners. Below, we’ve included some of the written studies and reports that inspire our work. The list is by no means complete, as movements and strategies are constantly growing and changing and more is always being written. We encourage you to explore these materials and to contact people and organizations with questions.

SCC 2020 Annual Report

Somerville Community Corporation: Community Heroes United Because of your partnership and commitment, as well as the dedication of our incredible staff and board during this tumultuous and challenging year, SCC has proven our resiliency and we pledge to continue the fight for equitable development throughout our city.

Union Square East Community Vision

Union Square is a neighborhood in transition. With the arrival of the Green Line, major redevelopment efforts, and a neighborhood plan in the works, local residents in Union Square East - the area between Prospect, Medford, South, and Washington streets - got together to think of ways to influence the changes that reflect their values and needs. SCC worked with neighbors, Davis Square Architects, and Enterprise Community Partners on this community vision.

2019 SCC Annual Report

Together into the Future | Oh how we’ve grown… We started an organization from scratch in 1969 with $5 in our pockets under a leaking roof, in order to meet the basic needs of our most vulnerable neighbors. We grew and evolved as Somerville did — focusing on affordable housing and good jobs, adding mediation services, strengthening our community — to become the SCC of today, impacting thousands of people each year through our outstanding programs and dedicated organizing work in collective pursuit of enduring social and economic equity.

Link Somerville Equity Standards

After meaningfully engaging over 1,000 people to create and prioritize community principles for the Green Line Corridor through our CCP initiative, Link Somerville is excited to introduce the Link Somerville Equity Standards – a set of community-generated metrics for good development in Somerville with respect to local jobs, open space, mobility, affordable housing, and land use. The Link Somerville Equity Standards bring together different groups over a common agenda so that important work in our community is not done in isolation, but instead reinforced through collaboration.

SCC Strategic Plan January 2019 – December 2023

SCC initiated strategic planning in the fall of 2017 by forming a Board/ Staff Strategic Planning Committee that led the process. Consultants Laurie Gould and Diane Gordon conducted research and gathered stakeholder feedback from nearly 80 people. The Board and Staff met in a day-long retreat in January to begin to set a vision for the future and identify priorities. Task Forces were formed early in 2018 to develop the details of the plan’s content…

2017 SCC Annual Report

Check out our 2017 SCC annual report: Linking Our Community to the Future, and learn how our members are working with the community to position Somerville. Mass., for a future which supports socioeconomic, racial, ethnic and linguistic diversity.

SCC Strategic Plan 2014-2017

Somerville Community Corporation’s Strategic Plan for 2014-2017 builds on the previous three-year strategic plan by taking a close look at the critical challenges and issues we face in order to sharpen our approach to achieving our intended impact: SCC Strategic Plan for 2014-2017 (PDF). SCC has determined that preserving and enhancing the remaining economic, racial, and ethnic diversity of our population is the overarching priority that drives our work today. This decision was made after…

The Dimensions of Displacement: Baseline Data for Managing Neighborhood Change in Somerville’s Green Line Corridor

The Green Line Extension may benefit the City of Somerville in many ways, but it may also cause displacement of low- and moderate-income residents, finds this critical report released February 2014 by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) in partnership with the City of Somerville, Somerville Community Corporation, Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership (STEP), Friends of the Community Path, and Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance. The Green Line Extension through the City of Somerville will dramatically improve transit mobility for both residents and businesses. A…

Project for Public Spaces – Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper (LQC) Placemaking in East Broadway

In 2011, the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance (MSGA) announced Great Neighborhoods, an exciting and innovative partnership launching in five Massachusetts communities. Through the generous support of the Barr Foundation and Ford Foundation, MSGA is partnering with local stakeholders and Project for Public Spaces (PPS) to create Great Neighborhoods that will transform the lives of more than 100,000 residents through economic development, transportation and environmental initiatives, housing development,design and planning.

Community Corridor Planning: Green Line Extension Through Somerville and Medford

Report on Summary of Results of the Community Workshop on the Green Line Extension Through Somerville and Medford. June 2010

Somerville Equitable Transit-Oriented Development Strategy

This report was prepared for SCC by Reconnecting America, the Center for Transit-Oriented Development. The report analyzes and offers strategy ideas to address the major impact the new Green Line Corridor and Assembly Square T-stop wi have on land uses and development.

East Somerville Initiative Report: Preventing Displacement

The East Somerville Initiative was a two-year, community-based planning process that provided a concrete example of how to involve residents in discussing and planning for the future of their community. Over 350 people were involved in developing and implementing an Action Plan to "proactively improve conditions in East Somerville while taking strong steps to minimize the displacement of the diverse population of people who live here." Spring 2008.