Our Community Partners

Website

www.aboutfresh.org

Mission

We are on a mission to strengthen communities by getting fresh food to the households that need it most. Healthier communities

• Year round food security
• Positive health outcomes
• A more resilient and equitable health care system

Vision

We are working toward a future where everyone has enough food to be healthy, happy, and hopeful.

Values

Retail Access

• Geographic proximity of healthy and unhealthy food retailers and restaurants to a community. 

Culture and Built Environment

• Collection of history, food/nutrition literacy, and built environment that influences our beliefs and attitudes toward food.

Purchasing Power

• Total amount of available time and money a household has to spend on healthy food.

Website

https://ace-ej.org/ 

Mission

ACE builds the power of communities of color and low-income communities in Massachusetts to eradicate environmental racism and classism, create healthy, sustainable communities, and achieve environmental justice.

Vision

Systemic change means moving beyond solving problems one by one to eliminating the root causes of environmental injustice. ACE is anchoring a movement of people who have been excluded from decision-making to confront power directly and demand fundamental changes that protect in the intergenerational longevity of protected classes, so together we can achieve our right to a healthy environment.

Values

Build equality and a community that works, lives and supports the growth of the next generation together. We are impactful, respectful, conscientious, compassionate.

We envision a neighborhood in which the entire neighborhood comes together to address the needs of their families and communities with self-determined value and conviction. Families are economically and financially self-sufficient, contributors to their community at the level they are comfortable.

Website

https://www.bhchp.org/ 

Mission

The mission of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP) is to ensure unconditionally equitable and dignified access to the highest quality health care for all individuals and families experiencing homelessness in our community.

Values

Compassion: Our committed staff care for our patients with the highest level of empathy, deeply understanding the struggles of their challenging lives.

Effectiveness: Our highly skilled caregivers coordinate and deliver the most effective care to our patients, addressing complex medical and behavioral health conditions that are difficult and profound.

Dignity: We strive to restore human dignity to our patients, treating them with respect and a genuine admiration for their courage and resiliency in enduring poverty and homelessness.

Innovation: We pioneer and develop best practices that address the complex and changing needs of our patients, share our knowledge, and support the adoption of these practices throughout the country.

Equity: We promote equity as a guiding principle in all that we do, holding it as integral to each of our program’s goals and priorities.

Website

https://www.boston.gov/government/cabinets/boston-public-health-commission/about-health-commission#content 

Mission

To work in partnership with communities to protect and promote the health and well-being of all Boston residents, especially those impacted by racism and systemic inequities.

We achieve our mission by providing and supporting:

• accessible high-quality community-based health and social services
• community engagement and advocacy
• development of health-promoting policies and regulations
• disease and injury prevention
• emergency services
• health promotion
• and health education services

Vision

The Boston Public Health Commission envisions a thriving Boston where all residents live healthy, fulfilling lives free of racism, poverty, violence, and other systems of oppression. All residents will have equitable opportunities and resources, leading to optimal health and well-being.

Values

EQUITY:

Equitable redistribution of resources

Challenge multiple forms of oppression

TRANSPARENCY:

Transparent communication practices

Use best available data to inform decision-making

ANTI-RACISM:

Commit to anti-racism as an action

Value and support Black, Indigenous, and People of Color

PEOPLE-CENTERED:

Invest in our employees

Build a culture of belonging

COLLABORATION:

Authentic and inclusive partnerships

Engage multiple partners, practice teamwork, and value everyone

Mission

To provide high quality, comprehensive, multi-disciplinary, patient and family centered to those who live and work in Jamaica Plain and the city of Boston, regardless of ability to pay.

Vision

• Continue to be recognized as a leader in the delivery of high quality, integrated family-oriented health care and as a model program for community-based primary care within the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, and Mass General Brigham Systems.
• Continue to offer successful programs training practitioners in the provision ofcommunity-based, culturally appropriate health care, while still maintaining a focus on the delivery of primary care.
• Maintain a leadership role in developing programs designed to improve the health status of Jamaica Plain and the surrounding communities.

Values

• Recognize the inter-relationship of clients’ medical, social, emotional, and economic needs. Develop holistic service plans and provide coordinated, multi-disciplinary services to meet these needs.
• Commit to excellence. Continuously strive to provide high quality care as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible, while maintaining our overall mission to provide care for all who need it.
• Demonstrate a continuous ability to respond to changes in local communities and the health care environment.
• Value diversity. Treat all clients and staff with dignity and respect. Strive for integrity in all our interactions.
• Provide on-going training for staff to allow them to develop their skills as fully as possible.
• Expect and encourage teamwork. Work to ensure growth, development, and job satisfaction for all employees.
• Build on our long history of community involvement, begun in 1970, by aggressively developing outreach, education, and school-based programs designed to improve the health of the community, with particular focus on those segments of the community that are currently underserved.
• Encourage and support the training of students from a variety of disciplines in the family model of care within the health center’s primary

Website

www.servings.org

Mission

Our mission is to actively engage the community to provide scratch-made
medically tailored meals to individuals and their families experiencing critical or chronic illness and nutrition insecurity. We commit, in all our programs and business practices, to prioritize racial and economic justice and health equity.

Vision

We envision a world in which everyone has access to the nutritious food they need for health and wellbeing as a fundamental right.

Values

Our Registered Dietitians customize individual meal plans, which can include a combination of up to three medical diet types. Our goal is to be there for our clients when they need us the most. Clients can receive our meals for as long as needed and may go on and off our service as their medical needs change, much like a prescription.

Website

dimock.org

Mission

With a mission to heal and uplift individuals and families, we endeavor to redefine the model of a healthy community by creating equitable access to comprehensive health care and education.

Vision

The Dimock Center’s services are designed to build the capacity of the ‘whole person’ and address the full scope of the physical, developmental,and behavioral needs of our community.

Values

Our Health Services are innovative in their approach to comprehensive care. Here, patients have a team of doctors, medical personnel and staff working in coordination to help them become and remain healthy and strong. Doctors and nurses, nurse practitioners and case managers, eye care specialists and dentists – our highly qualified experts all work together to ensure that patients and families have the resources they need, from birth through life. We treat the ‘whole person’, offering services that ensure that the people of our community enjoy their best lives.

Website

https://www.dsni.org/ 

Mission

The Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative's (DSNI) mission is to empower Dudley residents to organize, plan for, create and control a vibrant, diverse and high-quality neighborhood in collaboration with community partners.

Values

• Collective Resident Leadership and Control
• Community Political Power and Voice 
• Mutual Shared Accountability and Responsibility
• Vibrant Cultural Diversity
• Fair and Equal Share of Resources and Opportunity
• Development Without Displacement 

Website

www.familyvan.org

Mission

The Family Van reduces health disparities in Boston through by bringing curbside screenings, health coaching and referrals for health and social services to the people. By traveling directly to areas where need is greatest and fostering an atmosphere of trust our program removes barriers to care and improves the health of Boston’s most vulnerable residents. By making preventive services available to those with the greatest healthcare needs and providing an alternative to costly emergency department visits, we save healthcare costs. Our work includes free health screenings such as blood pressure, blood sugar,cholesterol and HIV, as well as free lifestyle counseling and health education in various languages. Please visit our services section for a comprehensive list of services available on the Van.

Vision

To create healthy communities, reduce health disparities and save money through:

• Serving the neighborhoods with the largest prevalence of preventable disease
• Enabling individuals to prevent and manage disease through providing screening, counseling and onward referral
• Training the next generation of culturally competent and diverse
• health professionals

Values

To educate, counsel, and assist community members in strengthening and protecting their bodies, minds, and communities.

Website

thefoodproject.org

Mission

The Food Project’s mission is to create a thoughtful and productive community of youth and adults from diverse backgrounds who work together to build a sustainable food system. Our community produces healthy food for residents of the city and suburbs, provides youth leadership opportunities, and inspires and supports others to create change in their own communities.

Vision

We envision a world where youth are active leaders, diverse communities feel connected to the land and each other, and everyone has access to fresh, local, healthy, affordable food.

Website

https://fw4elders.org/ 

Mission

FriendshipWorks is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to reduce social isolation, enhance the quality of life, and preserve the dignity of older adults in Boston, Brookline, Newton, Somerville, and Cambridge. FriendshipWorks has four decades of experience matching older adults with caring volunteers for meaningful, long-term friendships and emotional support, help with household tasks, and assistance navigating medical appointments.

On May 2, 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy issued an Advisory about the Epidemic of Loneliness and Social Isolation. He reported that social connection is a fundamental human need – as essential to survival as food, water, and shelter. FriendshipWorks offers five highly personalized programs - all free of charge to participants - with an emphasis on one-to-one connection and companionship: Friendly Visiting, Medical Escorts, Friendly Helping, PetPals, and MusicWorks.

Our Programs

• Friendly Visiting: Matches older adults with caring volunteers for friendship and support through weekly visits.
• Medical Escorts: Accompany older adults on their much-needed medical appointments.
• Friendly Helping: Assists with short-term tasks or errands such as organizing, shopping, or picking up prescriptions or library books.
• PetPals: Brings the unconditional love of pets to nursing homes, assisted living residences, and senior centers.
• MusicWorks: Provides live music to elders in residential buildings for socialization and connection.

Vision

FriendshipWorks will be the gold standard for effectively addressing
elder isolation through volunteerism and that our work here will have made us a leader and a resource for others in developing elder friendly, intergenerational communities in Boston, New England, and the United States.

To learn more about FriendshipWorks, visit www.fw4elders.org.

Website

haleyhouse.org

Mission

Haley House uses food with purpose and the power of community to break down barriers between people, empower individuals, and strengthen neighborhoods. We believe in radical solutions: solving problems at their root by challenging attitudes that perpetuate suffering and building alternative models.

Vision

Haley House is dedicated to helping those made vulnerable by the harshest effects of inequality move toward wholeness and economic independence.

• We offer collaborative living and working environments that:
• Build communities and connections across boundaries
• Model creative alternatives that confirm the intrinsic dignity and worth of each person
• Challenge the attitudes and structures that perpetuate suffering

Values

We seek to honor the intrinsic goodness and dignity of every person and challenge systems of privilege and injustice in our society. We believe in the possibility of transformation through personal relationships and engaged communities. We encourage spiritual exploration and affirm its ability to transform people’s lives and, in the end, our world.

Website

harvardstreet.org

Mission

Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center (HSNHC) serves as the primary health resource to our community, through the delivery of comprehensive patient-centered medical care. We believe all people have the right to high quality, available, accessible healthcare regardless of a person’s ability to pay for service.

Our trained and caring providers, nurses, and medical assistants are dedicated to ensuring that high-quality care is being delivered to all we serve. The health center constantly strives to maintain a culture of continuous quality improvement by implementing evidence-based best practices in order to achieve our organizational mission, vision, and goals. HSNHC is committed to treating patients, families, and staff with dignity, while communicating and sharing information effectively; thus serving as a leader of innovative population health initiatives.

Values

To deliver on our mission, and to achieve our vision, we rely on core values to guide our work, namely:

• Dedication to staff and clinicians
• Meaningful and impactful engagement with patients and families
• Stability within the community and organization

Website

www.hydesquare.org

Mission

We amplify the power, creativity, and voices of youth, connecting them to Afro-Latin culture and heritage so they can create a diverse, vibrant Latin Quarter and build a just, equitable Boston.

We support youth as they…

• Explore, master, and celebrate Afro-Latin culture through art;
• Learn, grow, and achieve academically and in life; and
• Develop into changemakers and advocates for themselves.

We envision a city where all youth reach their full potential and are reflected in Boston’s culture and leadership.

Values

• Respect & Inclusivity
• Curiosity & Creativity
• Awareness & Action
• Community & Compassion
• Honesty & Integrity
• Excellence & Accountability

Website

jpcentresouth.com

Mission

Our business and retail districts have a significant impact on the culture of our neighborhood, and businesses and residents alike contribute to their vitality and strength. When businesses succeed, they introduce new jobs and new opportunities. They support community activities and organizations. Strong retail districts strengthen the neighborhood and increase safety. And in supporting these local businesses, residents end up creating a thriving “main street,” which sustains the culture of neighborhoods like Jamaica Plain.

Vision

Our organization, with the help of businesses and residents, endeavors to sustain our lively community with economic vitality, placemaking, and advocacy.

Values

• Economic Vitality: Assisting and attracting both existing and new businesses to achieve a lively, diverse, and equitable center of commercial and community activity.
• Design: Using an inclusive design approach to improve access for people of all ages and abilities. Improving the district’s appearance and creating an inviting atmosphere by addressing public safety, litter, and transportation issues, and promoting storefront and public improvement projects.
• Promotion: Conducting marketing, communications, and events to increase visibility and patronage of the local economy and community engagement.
• Organization: Fostering an adaptable organization with broad community engagement, robust partnerships, and active volunteers.

Website

jri.org

Mission

Justice Resource Institute works in partnership with individuals, families, communities and government to pursue the social justice inherent in opening doors to opportunity and independence.

Values

JRI has not pursued a strategy of following trends, but has instead initiated programs and developed models that have set trends and shaped systems. JRI does not grow through serially developing similar programs; instead, we operate a few exemplary programs of each model. Our work has compelled the development of more improved, more effective, more easily workable, and more solidly replicable models. In addition, we have increased the diversity and stability of our agency through merger, acquisition and partnerships that further our community goals and strengthen our services. 

JRI is dedicated to addressing the most confounding challenges of both the human services and educational systems and the persons and families these systems were created to serve. JRI pursues the social justice inherent in opening doors to opportunity and independence. Although our range of services is as varied as those we serve, our approach is uniformly characterized by compassionate support, innovation, and community leadership. JRI seeks new knowledge and improved evidence-based practice, in research and in the field, in order to inform our continuous search for excellence in service.

Website

https://ldbpeaceinstitute.org/ 

 

Bio & history

Clementina Chéry co-founded the LDBPI in 1994 to honor his legacy and continue the peacemaking work he led.

The work of the LDBPI began with The Peace Curriculum, to teach the value of peace to students and ways to deal with murder, trauma, grief and loss. The Peace Curriculum was recognized by the United States Dept. of Justice for its contribution to Boston’s juvenile crime reductions, and as an innovative and effective primary prevention strategy in the report “One City’s Success Story.” 

In 1996, the City of Boston, the Boston Police Department and other local government  agencies began referring survivors of homicide victims to Clementina to guide them through the aftermath of the murder of a loved one. Clementina witnessed the way families were denied access to needed support and services if their loved one was “known to police” or had a “criminal history”. She worked to ensure that all survivors were treated with dignity and compassion regardless of the circumstances. 

With support from the Boston Public Health Commission, Clementina founded the Survivors Outreach Services (SOS) program to deliver consistent and coordinated services to impacted families. Today, the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute serves as an integral partner to the City of Boston and other cities across the country in transforming society’s response to homicide.

Website

www.mhhm.org

Mission

No resident of Mission Hill should struggle alone. That’s why the Mission Hill Health Movement partners with City of Boston, Mission Hill Fenway
Neighborhood Trust, and many other organizations to help with food,
illness, and resilience.

Vision

No resident of Mission Hill should struggle alone. That’s why the Mission Hill Health Movement partners with City of Boston, Mission Hill Fenway Neighborhood Trust, and many other organizations to help with food, illness, and resilience.

Values

The MHHM focuses on 4 major areas:

1. Improving health through increasing the availability and consumption of fresh
2. fruits and vegetables.
3. Supporting Mission Hill residents in preventing and managing chronic illness.
4. Having young adults (22-45) take leadership in promoting community health.
5. Creating a resilient and healthy Mission Hill environment and community.

Website

www.madison-park.org

Mission

Our mission today remains true to our history—to foster a vibrant, healthy Roxbury neighborhood that supports the well-being and advancement of the community.
At Madison Park Development Corporation, we are building healthy communities. MPDC is a leading developer of affordable housing and one of the largest community development corporations in Massachusetts. We take a multi-dimensional approach to community development by offering impactful programming for youth development, health and community wellness, public safety, resident leadership, civic engagement, and arts & culture.

Vision

MPDC is a major developer of quality affordable housing in Roxbury and Boston.
Our housing developments are professionally managed by several different property management companies, which are responsible for rental opportunities.

Mission

At the Center for Community Health and Health Equity (CCHHE), we believe that your health should not depend on where you were born, where you live or your economic status. To this end, we are committed to advancing systems of care, research, and community programs that elevate the health status of the communities we serve. Our programs address real life issues that can affect health outcomes among the diverse populations in Boston.
CCHHE’s commitment goes well beyond our doors and out into our local communities, serving those who need us most. We are especially committed to partnering with our neighbors in Mission Hill, Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, and Dorchester. Working together with our community health center partners, community-based organizations, and other departments at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, we have successfully implemented programs aimed at reducing violence, improving birth outcomes, increasing rates of colorectal cancer screening, and advancing education opportunities for young people.

Values

Our commitment includes:

• Addressing and reducing health care disparities
• Increasing access to care for vulnerable populations
• Expanding innovative community and school-based programs
• Fostering social and family support systems
• Improving knowledge of healthy habits and behaviors
• Enhancing educational and career opportunities
• Supporting individuals who suffer with partner abuse

Website

bostonmainstreets.org

Mission

As you begin to understand Mission Hill neighborhood, the statement “we are everywhere” becomes more clear.
This community is part of the life story for many incredible people who were fortunate in being born, raised here or who lived here in Mission Hill at a point in their life. The epic stories of Kevin Fitzgerald live on and inspire many to do their best to make him proud. This neighborhood is a tight-knit, urban, thriving community where one can engage, learn, grow and participate in a rich cultural setting.
Though many have left, they stay connected. You never know who you will run into when wearing your “Mission Hill Main Streets” tee shirt swag or connecting on social media but it is guaranteed that the conversation and memories will flow as “we are everywhere.”

Website

www.roxburyyouthworks.org

Mission

Roxbury Youthworks, Inc. (RYI) is a 37 year old community-based, minority non-profit organization. Our mission is to help youth caught in cycles of poverty, victimization and violence transition successfully into adulthood.

Values

Our values have been designed to govern agency-wide interactions, communication, and our work is based on the following seven principles:

• Social Justice
• Quality Relationships
• Respect
• Understanding
• Integrity
• Success
• Love and Caring

Website

www.urbanedge.org

Mission

Urban Edge is dedicated to strengthening communities and families. Together, we build affordable housing and vibrant, prosperous neighborhoods.

Vision

Urban Edge is a national leader in the community development field, known for innovation and excellence. With its heart in Egleston and Jackson Squares, a vibrant, inclusive and culturally and economically diverse area of Boston, Urban Edge works with others across the City of Boston and region to promote high quality, sustainable and affordable communities. Public, private and non-profit entities turn to Urban Edge for its advice and expertise, and as a partner in undertaking complex and transformative urban projects.

Website

www.wab2g.org

Mission

We Are Better Together Warren Daniel Hairston Project (WAB2G) connects and heals women and girls affected by homicide and incarceration to prevent the cycles of violence and victimization.

Vision

WAB2G is committed to helping individuals and communities by connecting them with the support they need to heal and prevent those actions and narratives that dehumanize and stigmatize. That’s why we believe we are better together.

Values

• Accountability
• Advocacy
• Compassion
• Transformational Healing
• Prevention
• Resilience

Website

www.wegotusproject.org

Mission

To fellowship in community, learn in community, and get through this pandemic in community because “We Got Us.”

The We Got Us Empowerment Project is a grassroots collective of Black community members, healthcareprofessionals, students, and allies dedicated to educating our communities about COVID-19 and ensuring their access to the vaccine. Our purpose is not to convince, but to empower our communities with timely, accessible, and scientifically accurate information grounded in evidence so they have the tools to make informed health decisions. We recognize our community’s distrust of the medical institution as dignified due to the historic and ongoing abuse of our communities at the hands of medical racism. We are committed to elucidating these atrocities and doing the work to help dismantle the systems of oppression that led and continue to lead to inequitable health outcomes—and currently, vaccine access. To accomplish our objectives, we will fellowship in community, learn in community, and get through this pandemic in community because “We Got Us.”

Vision

We Got Us seeks to empower our communities by connecting them with trusted health professionals to share accurate information about the vaccine. The We Got Us Community Collective is a national online directory of health professionals who are committed to volunteering their time to join churches, community groups, schools, etc. for conversations about the vaccine.

Values

Empowerment Through Education 
Our objective is to bring accurate science information to our community both locally and nationally in an accessible way.

Convey Not Convince 
We seek not to convince our communities to get the vaccine but rather to convey the information they need to make the best health decisions for themselves and their community, with special consideration of their personal values and circumstances.

Public Health First 
We believe public health is the #1 tool for ending the pandemic, therefore we will empower our communities with public health education, PPE, and sanitizing material for the protection of themselves and their community. In addition to working toward policy initiatives to advance and improve public health infrastructure beyond the pandemic.

Website

www.wshc.org

Mission

In order to ensure that Whittier Street Health Center’s programs and services achieve the mission and vision articulated by the organization’s leadership, we make a pledge to the community we serve to:

• Care for our patients as we would our loved ones: with expertise, compassion and respect;
• Personify initiative, innovation and tenacity in addressing community health priorities;
• Demonstrate that we foster an environment of diversity, reward excellence and added-value, and encourage good citizenship amongst employees;
• Work well with our colleagues and our community to advance the well-being of our clients;
• Exhibit leadership on critical issues in ways worthy of the public’s confidence;
• Demonstrate accountability, integrity, and resourcefulness in our financial stewardship.

At the heart of Whittier Street Health Center is a set of core values that permeate our customer service, patient care and staff interaction:

• Respect for Patients, Team and Self
• Cultural Agility
• Passion for Life
• Education of Staff and Residents
• Patient-Centric Care
• Advocacy
• Preserve Patient Dignity
• Trust and Trustworthiness
• Joy at Work
• Best Place to Work and Serve