Help us celebrate 20 years of Groundwork Somerville!

By Groundwork Somerville | October 13, 2020

Help us celebrate 20 years in Somerville! We turned 20 on October 27 and couldn’t be more honored to live, work, play, farm, teach, and serve in this community.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel today and keep updated on upcoming events!

For the rest of 2020, we’re hosting 20 free, virtual events to celebrate our work and community! All events are free and donations are gladly accepted.


For any events that need supplies, you can purchase those from us or get them on your own! Would you like to double your impact? Donate a little extra and we’ll gift a set of event supplies to one of our neighbors.

Events Listing

GWSat20 Kick-off Concert presented by Naveo Credit Union!

October 24, 6 PM to 7:30 PM

Join Groundwork Somerville as we kick-off our GWSat20 event series! Listen to live music by local musicians Union Lessons Studio Staff Band performing jazz standards and more, and the beautiful vocalizing of Grace Givertz. Learn about what we’ve been up to over the past 20 years from staff, Board members, and past Green Team members! Many thanks to Naveo Credit Union for sponsoring, to producers EventThem, Tree Beard Media, and Dead Moon Audio, and of course to the talented musicians of Union Lesson Studios and Grace Givertz!

Cleaning and Greening Somerville: South Street edition

October 25, 1 PM to 4 PM

Help us clean our community! Join Groundwork Somerville for a community cleanup to pick up trash and beautify the neighborhood around South Street Farm – and for a chance to meet your neighbors in a safe, outdoor setting. To keep our group small and allow for physical distancing, volunteers will sign up for a one-hour shift during this three-hour event. Cleanup supplies will be provided, but please bring your own face mask!

Groundwork Somerville Day!

October 27, 10:30 AM

Join Mayor Joe Curtatone to virtually celebrate Groundwork Somerville and to unveil our newest mural at South Street Farm!

View the live event on Facebook!

 

Greater Boston Chefs: Cooking With Tim Chin

October 30, 4 PM to 4:30 PM

 

Ukulele Lessons with Saladin Islam

November 7, 2 PM to 2:45 PM

 

From the ground up: Our stories of changing places and changing lives

November 12, 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM

From the ground up. Our stories of changing places and changing lives. An interactive performance with True Story Theater to honor the stories of the people who are getting their hands dirty.

What is True Story Theater?

True Story Theater’s mission is to build empathy, respect, and understanding across differences that divide us, through the honoring of true life stories. In performances, volunteers from the audience are helped to share what’s important in their lives.  On the spot, actors then portray the heart of what they heard using music, movement, and dialogue. From this simple interaction, people laugh, cry, share fresh insights, and bond.  Our events create a respectful atmosphere where every voice can be heard and any story told — however ordinary or extraordinary, difficult or joyful. True Story Theater offers audiences fresh perspectives, deeper connections, and a renewed appreciation for our common humanity.

Garden Alchemy with Stephanie Cordova

November 13, 5:30 PM to 6 PM

 

Telling your story from a leadership perspective

November 19, 3 PM to 4:30 PM

Join Meridith Levy, former GWS Board member, experienced community leader, and Executive Director of the Boston Neighborhood Community Land Trust. Meridith will take you through a storytelling workshop to train you how to take your story and demonstrate your leadership ability. This interactive workshop is a must-do!

 

Botany Buddies with Josia DeChiara

November 24, 3:30 to 4 PM

A long time friend of the Groundwork Somerville community and a Cambridge educator, Josia has spent years learning from nature and teaching children, youth, and adults about a range of topics from agriculture to the water cycles. For this event, they will be teaching us about the changing colors of autumn!

This lesson is the perfect fall treat for all elementary school kids and requires only a few materials in order to participate:

  • 1 black marker
  • 1 yellow marker
  • 1 red marker
  • 1 blue marker
  • A small cup of water
  • A small paintbrush, eyedropper, or q-tip

There is also a second, optional experiment in this lesson. Materials for this experiment include:

  • Different color leaves (fresh or dried)
  • A jar (with a lid) for each different leaf color
  • A tool to crush the leaves (spoon, fingers, mortar and pestle)
  • Rubbing alcohol
  • A paper towel strip

Join us as we learn more about the beautiful colors of fall in New England!

Tie-Dye for Groundwork Somerville

December 5, 1 PM to 2 PM

Join a tie-dye lesson with Green Team members of Groundwork Somerville! Donate $20 and get a tie-dye set, including dyes and a custom GWS t-shirt, as well as donate one kit to another Somerville family. Have your own supplies? Great! This is a free event.

 

Andy’s Hot Sauce Workshop

December 9, 2 PM to 4 PM

Join Andy from Andy’s Hot Sauce to learn how to make your own hot sauce, in perfect time to make holiday gifts! Workshop is free, but you can purchase your kits from us and we’ll deliver to your homes.

 

The Soul Nerve:  Healing white supremacy in your body

December 12, 1 PM to 3 PM

Resmaa Menakem, author of My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies, writes, “White-body supremacy doesn’t just live in our thinking brains. It lives and breathes in our bodies. As a result, we will never outgrow white-body supremacy just through discussion, training, or anything else that’s mostly cognitive. Instead we need to look at the body—and to the embodied experience of trauma.” Our bodies are wired for survival, and respond in specific ways to perceived threats. We can learn to recognize these patterns, whether momentary or deeply rooted in intergenerational trauma, and work with them to help heal ourselves and others.

Longtime Groundwork Somerville board member Nancy Bernhard is an RYT-500 yoga teacher with training in yoga for trauma. This will not be a movement practice, but will involve breath work and an option to work lying down.  After an introduction to the vagus nerve, this workshop will teach many skills for self-regulation, with attention to the rhythm, location, and musculature of breath, and the broader biomechanics of fear and safety.

Suggested but not required listening and reading beforehand, Krista Tippett’s On Being interview with Resmaa Menakem:

https://onbeing.org/programs/resmaa-menakem-notice-the-rage-notice-the-silence/?fbclid=IwAR2k2XkkZKb8sC-HMxfwOFC_LWqHpD0yAT8S2dsa5fHZycUpNEwZUR2X0H8

An introduction to the vagus nerve:

https://www.tuneupfitness.com/blog/vagus-nerve/

GWS Annual Meeting

December 2, 5:30 PM to 7 PM

At our annual meeting, we are voting on the newest Board members, congratulating Chris Mancini for an amazing almost decade with the organization, voting on our 2021 budget, and choosing our next Executive Committee.

Email director@groundworksomerville.org to register!

GWS Alumni Zoom Gathering

December 13, 1 PM to 3 PM

Join GWS alums from 2000 to 2020 as we talk about changing places and changing lives in Somerville! Grab a water, juice, or wine and get ready to hear stories from our first Executive Director all the way up to recent Green Team graduates.

 

Activism in 2020: A panel discussion with local activists ft. Groundwork Somerville

December 18th, 3-4 PM

2020 has undoubtedly been a tumultuous year for us all. Activists in particular have experienced an intense year of organizing and advocating.
Join us as we meet with three local organizers and activists to discuss the shared experiences of organizing, protesting, and advocating for change in the year of COVID-19. We will discuss the successes and challenges of organizing through the ongoing pandemic, as well as sharing our experiences with the rise of the BLM movement and how to maintain this momentum into the future, and more!
Do you want to ask our organizers a question in advance? Email all advance questions to stephanie@groundworksomerville.org.
Don’t forget that all our events are free and donation-based, so please donate if you are able! If you can’t donate, consider sharing the event with your local network.
Register for the Facebook Live event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/744848053082518/

 

  • More event information coming soon!

     

    All events are free! This is our annual fundraiser for 2020, so please consider donating if you have the means to do so.

 



GROUNDWORK SOMERVILLE AT 20 SPONSORSHIP

 




Groundwork Somerville turns 20 this year! We are humbled to have reached this milestone and honored to work with the community we love each and every day. While this year’s gala season is quite different than in years past, we are proud to present you an opportunity to truly make a splash this year!GWS at 20 sponsorship offers Somerville businesses, residents, and institutions the opportunity to give back to our community by funding youth jobs, local food, environmental education, and community health programming.  We are honored to collaborate with our local partners to fulfill our mission! Your sponsorship comes with many benefits, including many chances to join us for dancing, exercise, cooking lessons, and more with your neighbors virtually at Groundwork’s own South Street Farm! Please consider a sponsorship today and help GWS to fulfill our mission. Groundwork Somerville, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, has been making change happen in Somerville, Massachusetts since 2000. Through community engagement, environmental and open space improvements, fresh food access, youth education, and employment initiatives, Groundwork creates the building blocks of a healthy community, and empowers residents to improve their quality of life. Groundwork achieves results by engaging the whole community – residents, youth, nonprofits, government and businesses – in the planning and realization of projects. Groundwork Somerville’s mission and operations are premised on the understanding that environmental conditions are inextricably linked to the economic and social health of a neighborhood, and that individuals’ health can be directly affected by race and income level. As a consequence, Groundwork is committed to “changing places and changing lives” through on-the-ground projects that help to transform local communities.  We create jobs, food, green space, and leadership opportunities for environmental justice communities and individuals, through programs that address areas of healthy education, green jobs and sustainable communities.All sponsors will receive the following:

  • Company thanked on event program
  • Promotion on social media

 

GWS at 20 Presenting Sponsor $20,020

 

  • Our goal is to secure 1 Presenting Sponsor for our 20th year in 2020. 
  • Company named as Presenting Sponsor in event name, media releases, and social media; ie “GWS at 20, presented by [your company]”
  • Prominent color logo placement on posters prior to event
  • Thank you announcement made at virtual events
  • Virtual promotional table at event of your choice  for promotions and giveaways

 

GWS at 20 Sustaining Sponsor  $2,020

  • It is our goal to highlight 20 Sustaining Sponsors in celebration of our 20th year – see what we did there?! We’d love to have you join us.
  • Company named as Sustaining Sponsor in media releases
  • Prominent color logo placement on posters prior to event
  • Thank you announcement made at one of our events
  • Logo displayed on event program
  • Virtual table at event for promotions and giveaways

 

GWS at 20 Champion   $1,000

  • Company named as Champion Sponsor in media releases
  • Color logo on posters prior to event
  • Logo displayed and company thanked on event program

 

GWS at 20 Farmer  $500

  • Logo on posters prior to event
  • Logo displayed and company thanked on event program

 

GWS at 20 Mentor $220

  • Logo displayed and company listed on event program

 

GWS at 20 Harvester $120

  • Company listed on event program

Checks should be made payable to Groundwork Somerville and sent to: 

Groundwork Somerville, 337 Somerville Ave, Somerville MA 02143. 

 

For more info, please reach out to our Board of Directors, director@groundworksomerville.org or call 617-628-9988.      

 

Donate to Groundwork Somerville Today!

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