Building Communities
Changing Lives

May 2023

Dear Friends and Supporters,

We are excited to be celebrating our three "Champions of Community Action", Richard Chávez, EVP, Enterprise Bank, Cathy Mercado, Executive Director at the Merrimack Valley Housing Partnership, and Stacey Thompson, Lowell School Committee Member and Director of Learning and Workforce Development at the Lowell Community Health Center, tonight at our SOLD OUT Spring Celebration.

It is sure to be a great evening for all and would not be possible without the generous support of our many Sponsors who are listed below. We are so thankful that they continue to support us each year which allows us to continue to do the work we do.

In addition to our Spring Celebration, May has been a busy month as you will see from all of the news below.

We thank you again for all of your support and look forward to seeing many of you tonight!

Gratefully,
We are excited to announce that Community Teamwork's Greenmont Senior Residences in Dracut is one of 27 housing projects selected from across Massachusetts that has been awarded funding by the Healey-Driscoll Administration. The project is being sponsored by Common Ground Development Corporation.



Pictured Right
Alison Manugian - Dracut Community Development Director, Ann Vandal - Dracut Town Manager, Steve Joncas - Director of Real Estate at Common Ground Development Corp., Karen Frederick - CEO Community Teamwork, Marie Sweeney - Common Ground BOD, Rachelly Bartolotta - Senior Project Manager at Common Ground Development Corp., Governor Maura Healey, Attorney Jay Lee - Common Ground BOD, Alison Genest - Chairperson Dracut Board of Selectmen
Pictured Below:
Tom Golden, Lowell City Manager, Steve Joncas – Director of Real Estate at Common Ground, Jennifer Maddox – Undersecretary of the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, State Representative Rady Mom, Paul Ratha Yem – Lowell City Councilor and Karen Frederick – CEO at Community Teamwork
May is Community Action Month
#IAmCommunityAction
Economic insecurity is a problem. Community Action Programs Offer Solutions.

Did you know that there are 23 Community Action Agencies (CAAs) serving the families of Massachusetts with programming to create opportunities, increase self-sufficiency, and, ultimately, end poverty?

Community Teamwork is one of them. Together we form the Massachusetts Association for Community Action - MASSCAP. CAAs exist in virtually every county in the U.S., numbering more than 1,000 nationwide.

We asked some of our employees, what does community action mean to you? Their reflections appear below:
Melanie Bixby
Deputy Division Director, School Age - Child & Family Services

Community action means opportunity, motivation and hope arising from a holistic understanding of human need and thoughtfully responsive service. 
Chris Santos-Gordon
Deputy Division Director Energy & Community Resources

Community action means advocating for those who sometimes can’t advocate for themselves and ensuring that community members are served with dignity and compassion.
Gladys Santiago
Program Support Specialist – Financial Education Center

Community action means helping the community and making a difference in people’s lives. It's sometimes hard work, but it's always meaningful.
Susan Trottier - Administrative Assistant – Resource Center
Community action means helping people, giving them resources and finding them housing.
Sam Rous
Senior Desktop Support Specialist

Community action means helping out people. For us (IT Dept.), the staff at Community Teamwork is our client. I like what we do to help the staff and, in turn, what the organization as a team can accomplish in the community – and that’s the whole point. It is the BEST feeling to help other people.
Kristina Virella
Case Manager – SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery (SOAR); Formerly with the Secure Jobs Program

Community action means helping people. I have always been in human services. It is a good feeling to know you made a difference in someone’s life – even if it’s a small difference.
When I worked for Secure Jobs I helped people get a job. One person I remember came from a shelter with nothing and I helped provide them with the training to get a job. This particular person came back and gave me a bouquet of flowers to thank me. What a feeling! I understand they may come here for a particular/singular reason – but I always tell people to ask me ANY questions they may have about other things and I will get the answer.

Debbie Enman  
Administrative Assistant/Reception – Resource Center

Community action means ALL community action organizations should help ALL kinds of people and problems – not just some. We help everybody here – whether the person is in our region, downtrodden and regular people. We don’t discriminate against anybody and if we can’t directly help them, we find them the resource that will.
Asian, Asian American, or Pacific Islander (AAPI)
Small Business Spotlight - Food Shines
LIVE LOVE MO:MOs

Indian Curries & Kathmandu/Nepalese spiced, homemade dumplings
at their best!
My name is Bahadur Singh Ayer, and I am originally from Nepal. I have lived in the US since 2015 and started the Food Shines restaurant in 2020 - a challenging time to start a new restaurant! I am grateful to be able to bring my own culture and food of Nepali Indian cuisine to our customers. You can read my story below.

The Entrepreneurship Center Announces New QuickBooks Program for Small Businesses

The Entrepreneurship Center (E-Center) is launching a new program - QuickBooks for Small Businesses - available to businesses in Middlesex and Essex Counties. The QuickBooks Program offers small businesses educational training and usage of accounting software to enhance their ability to manage and grow their companies, providing increased ability for economic success. Through a group setting of classes and one-on-one thereafter, business coaches will provide ongoing support to small business owners to ensure they are on the right track.

For more information on the QuickBooks Program, please visit our website

E-Center QuickBooks Program: English flyer
YouthBuild Back at it Again!
It was demo day at McPherson Park – clearing the old dugout roofs to install new ones. The Tuesday Crew from Lowell Habitat for Humanity joined CTI's YouthBuild construction team at McPherson Park to rebuild the softball field dugouts! Amazing work was done by the whole team!

Big thanks to Mark Byrne and the City of Lowell Public Works team for collaborating with our Youth for this project!

Fair Housing Program at CTI
Community Teamwork introduces its new Fair Housing Program. Everyone is entitled to housing without discrimination. Discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, family status, disability, and source of income are all prohibited.

The Fair Housing Program offers free Fair Housing trainings (virtually or in-person). Fair Housing is housing without discrimination. Tenant and advocate trainings focus on rights, self-advocacy and enforcement. Trainings for housing providers (landlords & property management) focus on rights and best practices. Every Thursday, the Fair Housing Program also hosts an open house where questions can be answered virtually.


CONTACT THE COMMUNITY TEAMWORK FAIR HOUSING PROGRAM

Contact us at (978) 654-5736 or fairhousing@commteam.org OR





Calling all Housing Provider Partners in Lowell and Lawrence

Community Teamwork is looking for 2 and 3 bedroom units in Lowell, Lawrence, Haverhill and surrounding towns.
 
Units must be deleaded. We can offer longer term leases. This is a special program in which CTI is the “Tenant” and responsible for paying the rent (some extra benefits to the owners).
 
If interested, please send the following information:
Address, # of BR and requested rent.
 
Please email your responses to Avi Glaser aglaser@commteam.org












For more news, please visit https://www.commteam.org/news-events/news/
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If you find yourself in a position to help, your contribution will aid our efforts on every front as we work together to defeat COVID-19, care for our clients and families in their hour of greatest need, and emerge stronger than ever.