Community Resource Directory

Association for Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP)

The Association for Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP) is a 41-member trade association made up of nonprofit Medicaid-focused health plans. ACAP’s mission is to represent and strengthen nonprofit, safety net health plans as they work with their communities to improve the health and well-being of vulnerable populations.

www.communityplans.net

Massachusetts Public Health Association

The Massachusetts Public Health Association (MPHA) is a statewide membership organization of people working to protect the health and safety of all our Commonwealth’s residents. MPHA is working for a healthy Massachusetts by promoting laws, policies, and programs that protect the health of our families, communities, and workplaces.

www.mapublichealth.org

Partnership for Healthcare Excellence

The Massachusetts-based Partnership for Healthcare Excellence is the first statewide effort in the nation to focus specifically on patients — helping them play a greater role in improving their health care. The Partnership educates the public about variation in health care quality and provides consumers with information and tools to improve health care for themselves and their family members. The Partnership motivates consumers to advocate for overall health system changes that improve quality of care. Tufts Health Plan is a member of a broad coalition of organizations supporting the Partnership.

www.partnershipforhealthcare.org 

Casa Myrna Vazquez

Casa Myrna Vazquez is Greater Boston’s leading nonprofit working to end domestic violence in the lives of women and children. They operate three shelters in Boston for women and children made homeless by domestic violence. The agency’s comprehensive range of programs include legal advocacy, community-based advocates, financial literacy education, support groups in both Spanish and English, and individual counseling. Casa Myrna also operates SafeLink, the only statewide toll-free domestic violence hotline in Massachusetts, with 24/7 access to multilingual advocates providing crisis intervention, safety planning, and referrals to local shelters and community-based programs (877-785-2020). Agency staff are also available to provide education and prevention programs about domestic violence and teen dating violence. Call 617-521-0100 for details.

www.casamyrna.org  

Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of Boston

As one of the largest providers of social services in Massachusetts, Catholic Charities responds to the needs of the poor and working poor, provides supportive services to children and families, and assists refugees and immigrants as they become active participants in their communities. Catholic Charities offers approximately 140 programs and services in 40 locations across eastern Massachusetts, helping nearly 200,000 people each year.

www.ccab.org

The Guidance Center, Inc.

The Guidance Center, Inc. is the leading area provider of innovative, family-centered programs for children. They provide an array of integrated services to help children and families cope with emotional, social, and behavioral difficulties, as well as a range of disabilities. The services we offer can begin as early as during pregnancy and can continue through a child’s adolescence into young-adulthood.

www.guidancectr.org

Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC)

Massachusetts Advocates for Children, formerly Massachusetts Advocacy Center, is a private nonprofit organization dedicated to being an independent and effective voice for children who face significant barriers to equal educational and life opportunities. MAC works to overcome these barriers by changing conditions for many children, while also helping one child at a time. For nearly 40 years, MAC has responded to the needs of children who are vulnerable because of poverty, race, limited English skills, or disability.

www.massadvocates.org

Massachusetts PIRC (Parent Information & Resource Center)

Established in 1999 as Parents’ PLACE, our goal as the Massachusetts PIRC is to inform and enable parents to play a key role as partners with schools in ensuring children’s success in school. The Massachusetts PIRC is a place where parents across the state can find information to help them make the best choices for their children’s education. PIRC also supports schools and districts across the state in their efforts to form strong partnerships with families.

www.masspirc.org

Parents Helping Parents

For over 35 years, Parents Helping Parents has been a place for Massachusetts parents and caregivers to reach out for support. All services are free, confidential, and anonymous. Parents can call the Parental Stress Line, a 24-hour parent helpline, and attend weekly Parent Support Groups for ongoing parent support. No parenting problem is too big or too small to reach out for help.

www.parentshelpingparents.org

Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition (WIC)

The Massachusetts Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition (WIC) program provides nutrition and health education, healthy food, and other services free of charge to Massachusetts families who qualify. Participants receive checks to buy free healthy food such as milk, cheese, 100 percent fruit juices, cereals, infant formula, peanut butter, carrots, tuna, dried beans, and eggs.

www.mass.gov/wic

Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers (MAPS)

The MAPS mission is to improve the lives of Portuguese-speaking individuals and families in Massachusetts, and help them become contributing, active participants in American society and maintain in a strong ethnic identity and sense of community.

www.maps-inc.org

Vietnamese American Civic Association (VACA)

Vietnamese American Civic Association (VACA) is the only Vietnamese agency providing comprehensive direct services to the Vietnamese community in Dorchester and all suburban areas of Boston. VACA was founded in 1984 as a mutual assistance association dedicated to the development of a strong community through the promotion of family self-sufficiency and community empowerment. VACA fulfills its mission by providing a wide array of services to help Vietnamese community members acquire English language and job skills necessary for gainful employment. VACA also provides social and educational services to help newly arrived Vietnamese refugees and immigrants make the transition to a new country and language to become contributing members of the Greater Boston community.

www.vaca-boston.org

Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE)

In 2012, Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) was formed as the result of a merger between the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) and the Food Allergy Initiative (FAI). The new organization combined FAAN’s expertise as the most trusted source of food allergy information, programs and resources with FAI’s leadership as the world’s largest private source of funding for food allergy research. Today, FARE is the leading national organization working on behalf of the 15 million Americans with food allergy, including all those at risk for life-threatening anaphylaxis.

www.foodallergy.org

Project Bread

Project Bread is a nonprofit organization devoted to feeding the hungry. Today, it is estimated that more than 554,000 people in Massachusetts are struggling to put food on the table. Through The Walk for Hunger, Project Bread supports over 400 soup kitchens and food pantries to ensure that emergency food is readily available throughout the state. Additionally, its hotline counselors respond to over 49,000 calls each year from people facing hunger, and connect them with those able to provide a hot meal and a bag of groceries. Project Bread also advocates systemic solutions that provide food for families in natural, everyday settings, such as schools, after-school programs, summer programs, community health centers, hospitals, and home care organizations.

www.projectbread.org

CareWell Urgent Care

CareWell Urgent Care has several locations in Massachusetts that provide accessible, efficient, and affordable health care for non-life-threatening illnesses and injuries. At CareWell Urgent Care, you can receive a variety of services for the cost of an office visit co-payment — unlike at the emergency room — and with a significantly shorter wait time.

www.carewellurgentcare.com

Lowell Community Health Center

The Lowell Community Health Center (LCHC) has been providing high-quality, affordable health care services to Greater Lowell for more than 35 years. LCHC offers comprehensive primary care, behavioral health, and prenatal services, as well as women’s health, adolescent health, and HIV/AIDS services. LCHC is nationally recognized as a model for culturally competent care. LCHC’s staff speaks more than 23 languages, and can access medical interpreters who can accommodate cultural and linguistic concerns. No one is refused care because of inability to pay. LCHC is committed to enhancing the health of our community and to empower each individual to maximize overall well-being.

www.lchealth.org

Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts

Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts (PPLM) is the largest freestanding reproductive health care provider in the state. For nearly 80 years, PPLM has protected and promoted reproductive health and freedom of choice through clinical services, education, and advocacy.

www.pplm.org

South End Community Health Center

The South End Community Health Center is a full-service, nonprofit primary and managed care facility committed to providing the highest quality health care and social services to all of its patients. The South End Community Health Center’s philosophy is that high quality health care which is comprehensive, preventive, and accessible is the right of all people, regardless of their ability to pay.

www.sechc.org

Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless

The mission of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless is to eradicate homelessness from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

www.mahomeless.org

Community Teamwork, Inc.

Community Teamwork, Inc. (CTI) is the Community Action Agency and Regional Housing Agency for the City of Lowell, Massachusetts and the surrounding towns of Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Dunstable, Tewksbury, Tyngsboro, and Westford. CTI assists low-income people become self-sufficient, alleviate the effects of poverty, and participate in the decisions that affect their lives. CTI carries out this Mission with a combination of federal, state, local and private funding sources. CTI’s programs are organized into a series of five divisions consisting of several related programs that assist and support each other. CTI offers housing & homeless services, Head Start and other early care and education programs, fuel assistance and energy conservation programs, WIC, workforce development, financial literacy, senior volunteer programs, YouthBuild, and many other services. For more information, call 978-459-0551.

www.comteam.org

Massachusetts Association for Community Action (MASSCAP)

MASSCAP is the statewide association for the 24 Community Action Agencies - federally mandated anti-poverty agencies - serving every city and town in the state with programs such as fuel assistance, food pantries, Head Start, housing, first-time home buyer training, elder services, financial education, workforce training, and more. It strives to foster economic independence and self-sufficiency among low-income people.

www.masscap.org

Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance

The mission of the Department of Transitional Assistance is to assist low-income individuals and families to meet their basic needs, increase their incomes, and improve their quality of life.

www.mass.gov/dta

Mass 2-1-1

Mass 2-1-1 is a resource for Massachusetts residents in need of housing, food, and other basic services. The Mass 2-1-1 website provides information about a wide range of assistance programs, including what benefits are available, how to apply, eligibility requirements, benefit amounts, and answers to commonly asked questions.

www.mass211.org

Quincy Community Action Programs, Inc.

Quincy Community Action Programs, Inc. (QCAP) is a private nonprofit organization that was incorporated in 1965. QCAP delivers programs that improve the quality of life for low-income residents while giving them opportunities to reach self-sufficiency. QCAP’s core service area includes Braintree, Hull, Milton, Quincy and Weymouth. Some of our programs also extend to communities in Norfolk County and on the South Shore. QCAP services are delivered through eight main departments. These include: Community Care for Kids, education and workforce development, emergency food center, energy programs, facility and property management, financial literacy and asset formation, head start, and housing.

www.qcap.org

United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley

United Way is working to advance the common good by focusing on early childhood development, youth opportunities, housing, and employment. These are the building blocks for a good life - support so that children are nurtured and enter school ready to learn, youth have adult guidance and positive options for the future, and families have safe, permanent homes and the skills and opportunities to build better futures. Our goal is to create long-lasting changes that prevent problems from happening in the first place.

www.supportunitedway.org

Citizens Energy Corporation

Citizens Energy Corporation exists to help make life’s basic needs more accessible and affordable. At the same time, Citizens Energy seeks to use market opportunities to help the poor and needy.

www.citizensenergy.com

National Grid - Massachusetts Payment Options

National Grid’s payment options provide easy ways to pay and manage your energy bill. Massachusetts residents have the options to DirectPay, paying bills automatically from a bank account; Budget Plan, avoiding the seasonal “peaks and valleys” of household energy bills by helping to even out monthly payments; pay online: paying by bank account, paying online via a bank account, and viewing bills online; pay in person, paying a bill at a payment agency; and pay by mail, mailing each month’s bill payment.

www.nationalgridus.com

SafeLink Wireless

SafeLink Wireless is a government-supported program that provides income-eligible participants with a free cell phone and airtime each month. SafeLink Wireless does not cost anything — there are no contracts, no recurring fees, and no monthly charges. Participants must meet certain eligibility requirements.

www.safelinkwireless.com