CAAS Community Needs Assessment

Our most recent Community Assessment Report & Strategic Plan is complete! This Plan presents the major findings from our 2017 community needs assessment and outlines a three-year plan with specific actions for addressing the community’s most pressing needs.

The low-income community in Somerville lives in a context of serious change and disruption. Political uncertainty in Washington, the effects of decades of worsening income and wealth inequality, and rapid gentrification locally are combining in ways that can only be described as a crisis, calling for systemic change. Our response to this call is rooted in the belief that solutions can and will arise from the imagination and capacity of the community itself. Our community needs fundamental change, and we will respond.

The Top 3 Community Needs articulated by our community are the need for more affordable housing, jobs that pay enough to cover basic living expenses and high-quality, affordable care for children of all ages, seniors and people with disabilities. CAAS, in partnership with the community, will:

1. Advocate and organize for the preservation and creation of safe and affordable housing and will directly help those threatened with eviction

2. Advocate for development that increases the supply of and access to higher-paying jobs for Somerville residents

3. Increase the availability (through our own Head Start program and in partnership with other providers) of high-quality, affordable care for low-income children, disabled persons and seniors.