COALITION FOR A BETTER ACRE INC

CBA provides assistance to business owners across Lowell's Acre neighborhood and also throughout the city. We conduct extensive outreach for grant programs that offer help to local businesses and walk business owners through loan and grant application processes and compiling the necessary documents. Through our one-on-one business counseling, we also help business owners understand their financial documents, how to utilize city services, and improve their marketing and hiring. CBA helped to set up the first Acre Business Owners Meet Up in 2023 and will continue to coordinate more neighborhood meetings.

CBA also provides one-on-one job seeker assistance, during which we help community members to write resumes and navigate the job search process. We partner with local employers to find living-wage local jobs and provide follow-up and guidance after they have been employed for some time.

CBA's sewing program provides hands-on skill development. Along with providing an employable skill.

CBA is commited to amplifying the voices of traditionally marginalized groups in order to ensure inclusive decision-making in local government. Through our civic engagement initiatives, we provide community meetings with interpretation available in Spanish, Khmer, and Portuguese, voter education during local elections, and resident leadership trainings. Annual community events such as the 30th Annual Acre cleanup, Acrefest party and National Night Out, work to engage neighborhood residents in community-building. In Fall 2023, CBA will partner with the Lowell Alliance and the Lowell Plan to offer programming aimed at diversifying nonprofit boards in Greater Lowell.

CBA offers a variety of free programs to enhance individual, family, and community health and wellbeing. Our food pantry, which offers culturally appropriate food and spice choices, serves more than 1,000 households each month. Diapers and other essentials are also available. Our monthly CHOP dinners provide healthy meals and an opportunity for community members to learn about services, weigh in on services needed, and break bread together. We manage two community gardens, including one that allows residents to take what they need and leave what they don't need for others to enjoy. In addition, nutrition and cooking classes are provided, linked to food available in the pantry. We also offer vaccine clinics, Zumba classes, Narcan training and distribution, and linkage to other community services to address social determinants of health. Health Promotion staff serve on numerous coalitions including through the Greater Lowell Health Alliance.

CBA has invested more than $167 million to create 556 affordable rental units, advance home ownership, and create 31 commercial spaces in Lowell, Dracut, and Haverhill, MA. Currently, 1,103 people reside in CBA housing. To view our portfolio, visit www.coalitionforabetteracre/realestate/portfolio

CBA was founded in 1982 by a group of residents, clergy, businesspeople, and nonprofit leaders determined to save the Acre neighborhood from urban renewal that would have displaced hundreds of residents. Soon after, CBA revitalized 38 housing units in the neighborhood, making it possible for 24 low/moderate income households to become homeowners and providing safe, quality rental units for 14 others. From 1983-1989, residents successfully opposed a plan to demolish a failed 267-unit housing complex in the Acre, taking ownership of the complex from HUD) in the first community takeover of an expiring-use property in the US. CBA raised $20 million to rehabilitate the apartments.

As a community development organization, CBA is among a select number of Merrimack Valley organizations eligible to participate in the Commonwealth’s Community Tax Credit Investment, program (CTIC), available to individuals, foundations, and businesses. CITC provides organizations like ours with flexible income that can be used to seed new programs, fill funding gaps and leverage other resources for the more than 2,500 people we serve each year.

Donors eligible for the CITC credit, you make a gift of least $1,000. CBA will acknowledge the gift and provide a link to access your refund. Even for those without sufficient tax liability, the credit is refundable; the Commonwealth will send you a check. Donors may also be eligible to receive a federal tax credit. To learn more about supporting CBA and receive a CITC credit, contact Clare Gunther, Sr. Director of Resource Development, at [email protected].

CBA works with its members to present a number of community building events and offering numerous volunteer opportunities.

Our Annual Meeting, in October, is planned by community volunteers, who determine the theme, the decor, and the program. More than 250 residents, community leaders, and for-profit and nonprofit partners attend this uplifting and inspiring event. For details, visit www.coalitionforabetteracre.org.

Our annual Acre Fest and bi-annual Acre Clean-Ups attract hundreds from throughout the community, who celebrate the unique contributions of the Acre Neighborhood and its residents, clean parks and canalways, and provide hands-on opportunities for residents to get involved in their community.

Our annual Six Degrees of the Acre (reflecting Lowellians' close ties to this community) is a widely anticipated fundraiser in late June. Games, music, food, and raffles are part of the festivities, celebrating on the unique place the Acre plays in Lowell's immigrant history.

Launched in 2020, LEAP works to meet the needs of and foster connections within Lowell’s large and diverse Latin American community. Programs currently being offered at our walk-in center include:

Free Translation Services; Community development leadership programs taught in Spanish, including “Empoderados”, a nine-week training program building community members’ knowledge base, confidence, and networks. Community outreach and education services include free translation; assistance navigating the Registry of Motor Vehicles, Social Security, Department of Transitional Assistance, unemployment insurance, and MassHealth/Medicade; informational sessions in Spanish on topics relevant to the Latin- American community; and programs to support seniors.

In addition, LEAP's ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes are designed for new Lowell residents with limited English skills.