Throughout my term as Mayor, I have been involved in different actions plans and work areas, many of which are shown below. I would love to continue doing the positive work on our community that makes a better Cambridge.

+ COVID-19 Response

In an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 and keep residents safe and healthy, I’ve worked hard to ensure residents had access to free, daily, and accessible COVID-19 testing throughout the City, especially in areas with higher rates of positive cases. We’ve administered over 150,000 tests since April 2020.

I also saw the critical need to financially support our residents at the beginning of the pandemic and re-launched the Mayor’s Disaster Relief Fund. Since April 2020, thanks to our generous community, the Fund has raised over $5 million to assist our residents with housing and living expenses, keep our small businesses afloat and support our arts organizations.

Since April 2020, we’ve invested:

● over $3,250,000 to assist Cambridge families and residents.

● over $500,000 to assist Cambridge small businesses.

● over $500,000 to assist Cambridge arts organizations.

Vaccines:

My office worked closely with CPHD to increase community trust in the vaccine and widespread messaging to ensure equity. Now, over 67% and counting of our community is vaccinated, and Cambridge has held a multitude of vaccine clinics. Our office also assisted hundreds of residents with vaccine appointments.

+ Housing Affordability and Equity

The Mayor’s Office, in collaboration with housing providers, the City Council, City Administration, City Manager’s Housing Liaison, and Community Development Department, will continue to advance policy initiatives aimed at decreasing tenant displacement and pushing to utilize City-owned and other public property to preserve and increase the affordable housing stock in the City. Additionally, the Mayor’s Office has continued to expand the support of legal services, education on tenants’ rights, and increase City funding dedicated to affordable housing. In 2020, my office championed several initiatives to advance affordable housing in Cambridge, including:

Rindge Towers: In 2020 we were successful in our efforts to preserve the affordability of the Fresh Pond Apartments. Through Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the City, we were able to preserve over 500 units – giving the families who reside there, and those that wish to reside there, a chance to live in Cambridge affordably.

Tenants’ Rights and Resources Notification Act (TRRNA): Considering COVID-19’s impact on our residents’ livelihoods, and therefore, their ability to keep up with rental payments, the Mayor's office submitted a Policy Order to protect our renters from preventable evictions. The TRRNA requires owners and management companies to include tenant rights and resource information at the start of your lease or tenancy as well as when your tenancy is being terminated.

HomeBridge: In 2019, I submitted a Policy Order to increase funding to HomeBridge, a program that creates a pathway to homeownership in Cambridge. The increase in funding would widen the range of incomes eligible to participate in the program. The additional funding was approved in November 2020, and we were able to expand eligibility to 120% of the area median income. More information on how to apply is here.

Housing Resources Forum: When the State’s Eviction Moratorium ended last fall, I knew residents would need information on how this affected them as Cambridge residents and what resources were available to them as renters or landlords. I hosted a Housing Resources Forum with the City’s Housing Liaison, Maura Pensak, Maria Melo, and Lynee Tyree from Cambridge Multi-Service Center, and housing attorney, Jessica Drew from Greater Boston Legal Services. Our forum addressed residents’ concerns, provided concrete ways to work with a landlord or tenant during this incredibly difficult time, and ways the City can support.

+ Education

2020 and 2021 have been particularly difficult for our young scholars. Our teachers and students have been flexible with a remote learning model, and some of our youngest scholars were able to return to in-person learning briefly last fall. Knowing this, I wanted to provide our families and students an opportunity to safely connect with School Committee Members, technology help, and other resources at Family Resource Fairs. From August 22nd through November 14th, we held 8 Family Resources Fairs and connected with over 500 families. We were able to serve these families in several languages and provide the resources and supplies they needed to continue the school year successfully. When we moved our CPS scholars to a remote learning model, it required them to have the technology and internet access to complete assignments. We acted swiftly after schools closed to provide hotspots to students in need of internet access at home.

Following a School Committee Joint Motion I submitted last summer, we began offering Comcast Internet Essentials, high-speed internet connectivity at home, for those same families. For our graduating seniors last summer, we were unable to host a graduation ceremony due to public health risks. Graduation is an important milestone in a student’s life, so I made sure that every senior who needed a yearbook got one for free. It was certainly a year to remember, so it was important they had the book to prove it. I also wanted to make sure our young people felt seen and heard this past year. I virtually visited over 20 CPS classrooms throughout the spring and fall semesters. Meeting with students in this way allowed me to connect with them, answer their questions, and bring something new to their curriculum. These visits were one of the highlights of my year. In our efforts to keep CPS staff and teachers safe, I pushed for free COVID-19 testing for our CPS staff and teachers. Through a partnership with the Cambridge Public Health Department and Broad Institute, over 4,500 COVID-19 tests have been administered to CPS staff and teachers since this initiative launched on October 12th, 2020.

I will continue to work with the School Committee and School Administration to address persistent and systemic inequities faced by the most vulnerable students in the City. I will also ensure that all community stakeholders are deeply engaged to minimize the detrimental effects of the COVID-19 crisis and to provide the best resources and support systems to assist students with getting back on track. This has included the monitoring of metrics to capture and address the impact of lost classroom time during the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring the availability of holistic and wraparound social and emotional/mental health supports for every scholar, and continuing to prioritize the health and safety of the school community with an abundance of measures in place as CPS phases back into fully in-person learning. The Mayor’s Office is also identifying ways to innovate the future provision of services using some of the lessons learned during the pandemic response, such as internet access and academic enhancements when students outside of the traditional classroom setting.

+ Climate Change and Environmental Justice

As Mayor, I worked on equitably mitigating the effects of climate change and making Cambridge a more environmentally sustainable city. Through the promotion of initiatives including alternatives to single-rider vehicles, advocating to increase the tree canopy, and supporting regional efforts to move towards renewable energy, we can continue to underscore the importance of action now, particularly in underserved parts of the City where vulnerable residents can be severely impacted by climate inaction. Over my last term, I’ve committed to this goal by:

● Protecting our tree canopy by supporting a Cambridge Tree Protection Ordinance.

● Co-sponsoring a commercial composting pilot for Cambridge small businesses.

● Co-sponsoring Policy Orders to ensure bicycle safety in Harvard Square.

● Signing onto local and statewide initiatives, such as events with Clean Energy for Biden New England and the Environmental League of Massachusetts, to stand in solidarity with state and national environmentalism efforts.

+ Economy

I worked with local businesses, minority-owned small businesses, business organizations, and business associations to support and strengthening the City’s small business sector, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the partnership with the City Manager, we supported our small businesses this year by:

● Providing over $500,000 in financial support to small businesses through the Mayor’s Disaster Relief Fund, with the majority of grants going to minority- and women-owned businesses.

● Supporting the launch of Starlight Square’s Popportunity and the small businesses that created a pop-up style retail location in Central Square.

● Extending outdoor dining permits and financed outdoor heat lamps to extend outdoor dining through the winter.

+ Community

Equity and Access: I expanded access and equity for Cambridge’s underprivileged and marginalized groups by

● Hiring CHA Workforce Youth Program to become leaders for Elevate Youth programming.

● Leading the effort to eliminate library fines, as research showed that these kinds of fines disproportionally affect low-income residents and created additional obstacles to access reading materials and library resources.

● Working with the Cambridge Election Commission, Family Policy Council, Cambridge youth Council, and CPS scholars to design inclusive “I Voted” stickers to use for upcoming elections.

Relationships: As Mayor, I worked to enhance the collaborative relationship between the City and the Cambridge Public Schools, businesses, the Biotech industry, and the nonprofit community as well as Harvard, MIT, and Lesley Universities in an effort to expand the availability and access to mentorships, internships and job training and apprentice programs for residents. So far, my office has been:

● Partnering with MIT on expanding the Elevate Youth Local Parks Program in Cambridge, a free outdoor enrichment opportunity for 4th and 5th grade CPS students, and a leadership/employment opportunity for Youth Leaders in the CHA Workforce Youth Program.

● Partnering with Lesley University on developing pipelines to postsecondary and career success for underserved CRLS scholars and supporting CPS paraprofessionals on their path to becoming teachers.

Wellbeing: As Mayor, I worked on ensuring the wellbeing of our community. This includes all residents, especially marginalized communities. My office prioritized initiatives that create space for residents to access mental health services and live healthy lives, destigmatize mental illness, engage residents civically and culturally and create a sense of belonging to our City. Community well-being became a priority during the pandemic. I advanced this goal by:

● Launching Cambridge RISE, Cambridge’s pilot guaranteed income project, which will provide $500 monthly payments to single caretaker families earning up to 80% AMI, with most participants below 50% AMI.

● Hosting weekly panel discussions for Mental Health Mondays during Mental Health Month, and regularly connecting residents with mental health resources throughout the year.

● Hosting Zoom coffee hours to talk with residents one-on-one about their concerns and ideas for Cambridge.

● Creating virtual programming for otherwise in-person events such as: providing 600 meals to families celebrating Ramadan, hosting a virtual fundraiser with Joanne Chang from Flour Bakery and Cafe to raise awareness and funds to eliminate childhood hunger, and collaborating with Harvard, MIT, and Lesley University to talk about the importance of voting and civic engagement during a crucial election year.

● Partnering with the Cambridge Police Department and the Council on Aging to provide Cambridge seniors with care packages for the holidays.

● Connecting hundreds of Cambridge residents with resources to address housing matters, COVID-19, and general concerns and feedback for the City.

+ Engagement

Community engagement remains one of the most important ways for me to connect with the people in our City. As Mayor, I had to pivot the way we did that in 2020, but we made tremendous strides in connecting with one another virtually and at a safe distance. In addition to the activities below, my office has helped over 1,000 constituents who called our office.

Mental Health Mondays: During Mental Health Month, I organized a series of virtual forums to discuss mental health, de-stigmatize the topic, and understand how mental health impacts our kids, communities of color, and our seniors. Collaborating with Cambridge Public Health Department and Cambridge Public Schools, we hosted experts each week to discuss these concepts, the ways to address mental health, and how to seek help.

Elevate Youth Partnership: To build on our successful pilot of the local parks program in the fall, I brought in the CHA Workforce Program to engage our 4th, 5th, and 6th-grade students with youth instructors and mentors from their own communities to participate in interactive outdoor activities. Elevate Youth is a nonprofit organization that empowers under-served youth through regular outdoor experiences with the support of positive adult role models. The activities will be virtual during the winter months, but we’re excited to get back outside once it is spring again.

Iftar meals: In 2019, we went all out for the first Cambridge Community Iftar, and I was looking forward to making the 2020 Community Iftar even bigger. Though we had to pivot our programming, we were still able to partner with Darul Kabab and Brookline Lunch to provide 600 meals to families celebrating Ramadan. In 2021, we were able to provide even more meals through Darul Kabab and India Pavillion.

Joanne Chang Fundraiser: I teamed up with Joanne Chang from Flour Bakery + Cafe to host a virtual baking fundraiser! While we baked onscreen, we raised money for No Kid Hungry, an organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger. During a time where food insecurity is at its highest, it is imperative to support these organizations, and I am grateful for her partnership to raise awareness on this topic.

Starlight Square Event: Starlight Square has been a wonderful, new local space in Central Square that has brought people safely together. I had the pleasure of collaborating with them, My Brother’s Keeper, VIBE, Find It Cambridge, The Spot, Lunches of Love, and Doria the Storyteller, to bring books, clothing, and bags of food for residents in need of those supplies.

Food Hero Awards: In December, we held a virtual celebration to recognize this year’s Food Heroes—those who have committed themselves and their work to increasing food access and advocating for food justice. This year’s Food Heroes were: CPS Food and Nutrition staff; Food for Free Volunteers Emily Dibble, Virginia Cuello, Damian Vacca, and Jaqueline Mow; Erin Miller of Urban Hearth; Ayr Mui of Clover Food Lab; Jim Stewart of First Church; Jennifer Park of Forge Baking Co.; Debbie Bonilla of Cambridge Public Schools; Keely Curliss of Movement Ground Farm; Danielle Ayer and Conor Dennehy of Talulla Restaurant; Tracy Chang of PAGU; and Tony Maws of Craigie on Main.

Women Are Here Podcast: Vice-Mayor Mallon and I continue to produce our podcast, Women Are Here! This year’s episodes included relevant and urgent COVID-19 updates, discussing City Council agenda items and our favorite TV shows that helped us through the pandemic. To listen to our podcast, go to the “Keep in Touch” section below!

Monopoly: Cambridge now has its own Monopoly board! I worked alongside Top Trumps, USA, Inc., to launch the new Monopoly game in November, and it features so many of the places that make Cambridge the city we know and love. You can pick up your game at many local places, including Porter Square Books, New England Comics, and Magic Beans.

Book Readings: Throughout the year, I partnered with CityView Channel 22 to read some of my favorite children’s books to kids watching from home. From celebrating Latinx Heritage Month with Alma and How She Got Her Name to It’s Ramadan, Curious George – it was so fun reading some new and old favorites!

I also read monthly to families with the Cambridge Public Library.

Voter Outreach: The 2020 election was an incredibly important election, and I used every opportunity to connect with residents on the local and state level about the importance of voting in November. From conversations with Harvard, MIT, and Lesley University to speaking with community groups – I was able to communicate the importance and impact of voting and using that hard-fought right for social change.