Founded in 1969 as a service center to assist low-income Somerville residents, the Somerville Community Corporation (SCC) has served as a community organizing hub and service provider for over fifty years. A membership-based organization rooted in the Somerville community, the SCC established Somerville’s first soup kitchen and has led numerous successful campaigns to improve access to quality affordable housing. More recently, the SCC has launched participatory community planning initiatives and supported the Community Benefits Agreement in order to combat destructive gentrification.
BII is proud to partner with the SCC as it continues to advocate for affordable housing and economic opportunity in Somerville. In addition to representing the interests of low- and mid-income Somerville residents, the SCC provides quality benefits to its employees, 30% of whom are people of color and 41% of whom are women. By providing the SCC with a bridge loan in 2019 and again in 2020, BII has allowed them to acquire new affordable housing units for the primarily low-income and immigrant families they serve while continuing their advocacy for the Somerville community.
