About Us
The Community Action Agency of Somerville (CAAS), a private non-profit agency incorporated in 1981, is the legally designated anti-poverty agency for Somerville. The mission of CAAS is to reduce poverty among local families and individuals while working to counteract, and whenever possible eliminate, the societal conditions that cause and perpetuate poverty.
Key Results in FY 2010:
• Piloted a job readiness training program in collaboration with the Somerville Center for Adult Learning Experiences (SCALE).
• Enabled over 300 residents of Somerville and surrounding communities to apply for food stamps and emergency assistance at CAAS instead of traveling to DTA offices in Revere (one hour by public transit).
• Prevented homelessness by providing legal assistance to 345 families who had received an eviction notice. Three out of four families kept their homes, and CAAS helped the others to find new homes and obtain funds to pay their rent.
• Through an innovative Medical-Legal Partnership, provided legal assistance to 72 additional families whose health was endangered by their housing conditions.
• Organized tenants at a public housing development to elect a tenant association board that speaks up about the residents' concerns to their landlord, the Somerville Housing Authority.
• Alerted over 100 households that the homes in which they were living were under foreclosure. Helped tenants negotiate with the new owners so they could stay in their homes.
• Helped over 1100 immigrant workers to avoid lead poisoning through presentations at churches, health fairs, ESOL classes, and day labor sites, and through English- and foreign-language radio and television programs.
• Provided early education, child care, and comprehensive services to 359 children ages 3-5 and their low-income families.
• Continued to convene and support coalitions of community organizations that make Somerville a better place to live.
