Community Action Agency of Somerville (CAAS) and Somerville Community Land Trust (SCLT) announced the launch of Rooted In Somerville, a first-of-its-kind volunteer-led fundraising campaign to promote neighborhood stability and dignified living in Somerville by reaching out directly to buyers and sellers of Somerville housing stock to support tenant education and outreach and the creation of permanently affordable housing in the city. A kickoff for Rooted in Somerville will be held Friday, July 31, at 6 p.m. at American Flatbread located at 45 Day Street, Somerville, MA 02144.

Somerville’s real estate market is among the most active and expensive in Massachusetts. Every sale represents a moment of potential community change: a building that could be stabilized or lost, a family that could stay or be pushed out. CAAS and SCLT have seen firsthand how quickly housing crises unfold and how critical early intervention can be.

This pilot campaign asks real estate buyers and sellers to consider donating 0.5% of the purchase price that can go directly toward keeping a family housed who would otherwise be priced out of our community.

Rooted In Somerville is powered by volunteers who monitor housing sales in Somerville and send letters to buyers and sellers inviting them to donate to the campaign. Proceeds are split evenly and directly support CAAS’ tenant education and outreach and SCLT’s development of housing that is permanently affordable, shielded from speculation, and accessible to working families who would otherwise be priced out.

“When a building sells, and tenants are pushed out, the harm goes far beyond losing homes. Families lose their support networks, their children change schools, leading to learning disruption, and they move away from networks who support them through hard times. The isolation that follows displacement is real and lasting and falls hardest on the people who were already most vulnerable. Somerville’s housing market has become a vehicle for wealth extraction, and working families are paying the price. Rooted In Somerville is our way of turning that dynamic around by going directly to those participating in that market and asking them to invest in the community that makes Somerville worth being part of,” said David Gibbs, Executive Director of CAAS.

The campaign is anchored by a recent success story. When six homes at 12 Pleasant Avenue in the Prospect Hill neighborhood of Somerville were listed for sale without prior notice to residents, families faced the real possibility of losing their homes. CAAS supported tenants as they mobilized to prevent their own displacement, which opened an opportunity for SCLT to purchase the building in 2024. Everyone stayed, rents were stabilized, and the building is scheduled to be renovated starting the summer of 2026, before the original residents have the first opportunity to purchase their homes at affordable prices and put down lasting roots in Somerville.

“Somerville has always been a city where working people built lives, raised families, and put down roots, and that is worth fighting for. But right now, the people most affected by changes in our housing market are the ones with the least power to shape them. No one should spend every year wondering whether they can afford to stay, weighing a rent increase against putting food or moving. Everyone deserves housing they can plan a life around. Rooted In Somerville is about making sure that the people who call this city home, regardless of what they earn, have a real say in its future and a real place in it,” said Benjamin Baldwin, Executive Director of the SCLT.

Residents, neighbors, and supporters can donate at www.caasomerville.org/rooted or by mailing a check to CAAS, Attn: Rooted In Somerville, 66-70 Union Square, Suite 104, Somerville, MA 02143. Donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law and are split evenly between CAAS and SCLT (both of which are 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations).

Those interested in volunteering with the campaign’s research and outreach can contact Andrés Bueno, SCLT Community Engagement Manager, at a.bueno@somervillecommunitylandtrust.org or by signing up as a volunteer here.