The only licensed auto-recycler in the Boston area, Nissenbaum's has been offering a full range of new and used auto parts since 1910. After a century of business this shop is still in family hands, the fifth and sixth generation of Nissenbaum can be found sleeves rolled up and greasy handed going about business. Inside, stacks of tires, used engines on blocks and boxes of auto parts line every wall. The helpful employees behind the counter will scrounge up even the most esoteric part for your vehicle.
IPPNW is a federation of medical organizations comprised of doctors, health care professionals, students and other workers that are focused on eradicating the threat of nuclear annihilation. Membership spans throughout 60 countries. The group was originally founded by physicians from the US and former Soviet Union with a mutual vested interest in preventing nuclear war between the two powers. They promoted prevention by educating policy makers and the public about the catastrophic health and environmental issues that would result from nuclear war. IPPNW won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. This is their central office.
Located inside the Gorin Building, Young Audeinces is the largest arts and education network in the country, with a total of 31 chapters. This location is the state headquarters. The organization is an advocate for encouraging creative thinking among grade school children. The core belief is that by integrating arts education into the school curriculum, the seeds of a lifelong relationship are planted.
Open since 1978, Mudflat Studio is part of a Boston -based, national non-profit organization that has been in existence for more than 40 years. Holding over 20 classes per week for all levels and ages, Mudflat also conducts classes at schools, senior centers, and other locales nationwide, and is always accepting new students. Private classes and workshops arranged by age group are available as well. As part of Somerville Open Studios, it holds two yearly sales, one in May and one in December, featuring the work of students and faculty alike. Each workstation in the spacious downstairs classroom features a spinning wheel, and the hot kilns are constantly churning out new works.
The Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) is a community health organization based in Somerville. Established in 1906, the VNA serves individuals throughout eastern Massachussetts. The VNA's mission is to "provide comprehensive, high quality, community based [health] services to the families in our communities at all stages of life."
Programs run through the VNA include home health care programs, the Visiting Nurse Assisted Living Community and nursing services. These programs and services are meant to be affordable for all community members. For further inquiries, phone the Visiting Nurse Association in Eastern Massachussetts.
If you have something you want to get on TV, SCATV is the place to do it. Since 1983, this public access TV station has offered residents the training, tools and TV channel they need to create their own television and videos. Programs are cablecast on Channel 3 to every cable subscriber in Somerville.
For a small membership fee, residents can take very affordable video production and editing classes and learn to use SCATV's fully equipped three-camera studio. The station also has a host-operated studio, where one person can sit down and create a show without the help of crew. Use of all equipment and the facilities is free as long as the project is for SCATV. Others may use SCATV resources for a rental fee.
The nonprofit station also offers youth programs, provides local election coverage and produces public service announcements. Community groups may use the facilities for meetings at no cost. And the station's public areas double as an art gallery.
Also of note, the station is a true community crossroads drawing in a very diverse array of members from across the city. Members often collaborate on projects, which run in a variety of languages. One of those shows, "Dead Air Live" is the longest-running access TV show in the country.
Founded in 1967 with a "call to resist illegitimate authority" during the Vietnam War, this foundation is now located on Elm Street in Davis Square. Resist "is a progressive foundation that supports grassroots organizing for peace, economic, social and environmental justice, and provides political education for social change activism."
Resist has several hearty grants that are given out each year and it works to advise analogous grass roots organizations. Be sure to call ahead for an appointment.
The Somerville Community Corporation focuses on maintaining the affordability of housing in Somerville by building low-cost housing and preserving Somerville's historic building for residential use. Founded in 1969, the SCC also offers financial education and counseling to allow residents to make the best choice for their housing needs. SCC also assists in community organizing and supporting Somerville's immigrant communities.
This local branch of the national Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States organization, VFW Post 529, is named for George Dilboy, a onetime Somerville resident of Greek descent who received the Medal of Honor for his efforts in World War I.
The George Dilboy Post is located on Summer Street just outside of Davis Square in the Winter Hill Bank building, with its entrance on Summer Street adjacent to the parking lot. This local branch holds monthly meetings, hosts fundraisers, does community service projects, participates in national scholarship contests and reaches out to local veterans. The George Dilboy Post also rents out its hall for functions and events.
Founded in 1970, this nonprofit organization provides heath and human resources for Portuguese speakers all across eastern Massachusetts. The Alliance strives to break down linguistic and cultural barriers between Portuguese speakers and health care, education and fiscal opportunities. This Somerville office is just one of several set up across the state, and the bilingual employees here hail from Portuguese-speaking countries including Brazil, Cape Verde and Portugal. The Alliance works with issues ranging from HIV to drunk driver awareness to breast cancer screening. Be aware that this office is only open part-time during the evening by appointment only.
Dare is a non-profit social services program, with six regional offices throughout Massachusetts and one in Connecticut. Dare provides intensive foster care for children that have been entrusted to them by the state after being separated from their biological parents due to abuse or neglect.
Additionally, Dare offfers an Intellectual Disabilities program and a Newburyport location—in which it houses pregnant and parenting teen girls. The Somerville office is the administrative headquarters.
Youthbuild works on community development for disadvantaged kids. The organization harnesses the collective power of motivated 16-24 year-olds to transcend low-income limitations via education and job skill development. It also helps to better its communities by building affordable housing. Youthbuild was founded in 1988 and has since grown to 273 programs in 45 states. Together, 92,000 Youthbuild students have built 19,000 units of affordable housing. The 58 Day Street location is the central office, but the Cambridge Street location is also pictured here.
The Somerville chapter of Kiwanis, a global volunteer organization, was founded in 1925. It has teamed up with the YMCA, Somerville Pop Warner Football and the Somerville Council on Aging on volunteer projects.
While the formal office is located on Broadway Street, meetings are usually held at Mt. Vernon, a restaurant down the road.
The Community Action Agency of Somerville, or CAAS, works to fight poverty through its Advocacy and Head Start programs. CAAS provides services ranging from eviction prevention and tenant rights and gender discrimination counseling to medical-legal advocacy, public benefit access and case management. CAAS also serves over 350 children in Cambridge and Somerville, ages three to five, and their families, with its Head Start Program, offering health, education, nutritional and social services.