2nd annual Tzedakah crafts project
​& winter-wear drive

The Havurah's 2nd Annual Crafts Project / Winterwear Drive has concluded.  We donated: a) home made: 26 hats and 6 scarves, b) store bought (new and used): 7 scarves, 6 pairs of gloves, a pair of mittens, a thermal shirt and 11 hats.  Items went to the Somerville Homeless Coalition and Second Chances. Also, Monica sold a hat which she had knitted and gave the $20 to the SHC.

​This brings our grand total donations over two years to: 74 hats, 22 scarves, 11 pairs of gloves and a few other assorted items. Many thanks to everyone who participated, and a special thanks to Monica for collecting and delivering all the clothing in addition to knitting. We are looking forward to doing this again next year!
Knit hats, scarf, a skein of thread and knitting needles. Photo and knitting by Monica Holland.

2021 tzedakah donations

These are the organizations Havurat Shalom supported with tzedakah donations this year. We hope you'll support them too!

little free pantry

As one small way to help with the terrible food insecurity problem in Massachusetts, Havurah Shalom has installed a little free pantry next to our little free library. Many thanks to Nathan Rome for building it! The Little Free Pantry movement motto is: Take What You Need, Leave What You Can. We hope neighbors and passers-by will help themselves! And/or, donate unopened, non-perishable food items.
Little free library (left), Little free pantry (right)

diversifying the little free library

We may have our differences on many things at the Havurah, but I think we would all agree we love books. And one way we share this love is with the Little Free Library in front of the Hav. People take a book and leave a book and there's a lot of activity in and out. But is there enough diversity in the books? Are children seeing books that reflect who they are? Inspired by the Little Free Diverse Library project started by Sarah Kamya of Arlington, MA, we will now be adding diverse children's books to our little library and possibly some adult books, too. Some of them we will buy, and others, we hope, will be donated. If you would like to donate any of these books, please put them into the box on the front porch so they can be gradually added to the Little Library.
Diverse children's books in the little free library. Photo by Meredith Porter.

investing in the black community

​As one small way to enact our anti-racist values, Havurat Shalom decided to invest in Black economic empowerment by buying $2,000 worth of 7-year notes offered by Ujima, a Boston non-profit dedicated to democratically funding local businesses and projects that benefit Black, Brown and working-class communities in Boston. Ujima’s voting members – Boston residents of modest income – identify critical needs within the community, and based on these priorities, determine which investments Ujima funds, thus creating, at least on a small scale, a market driven by democracy rather than capitalism. To learn more about Ujima’s democratically-driven structure and priorities, check out their 2021 Annual Report.

Havurat Shalom is a climate resilience hub

Tzedakah opportunity

Havurat Shalom is a member of Somerville Interfaith, a group working to help refugees in Somerville. One of the things Somerville Interfaith does is to give gift cards to the supermarket Market Basket to refugees who aren't allowed to work yet. The Havurah has a box near the front door with the Market Basket logo on it. You can put $25 Market Basket gift cards there, or checks made out to Havurat Shalom that specify 'gift card' in the subject line to help support refugees in our community. Or, if you're donating on-line, specify that your donation is for a Market Basket gift card. And thank you!

make a house a home

In May 2019, Havurat Shalom participated in the Somerville Homeless Coalition's Make a House a Home program. SCH provides homeless and near homeless individuals and families with individualized supportive services. Their Make a House a Home program focuses on families and individuals who are moving into an apartment, but do not have the resources to make their apartment "home." SHC provided the large furniture such beds and dressers. Havurat Shalom held a housewarming and collected the items to outfit the kitchen of a newly housed person.