The Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers (MAPS) provided essential health and social services to 27,660 Brazilian, Cabo Verdean, Portuguese, and other immigrants in Greater Boston, Greater Lowell, MetroWest, and beyond from July 2024 through June 2025, MAPS CEO Paulo Pinto, MPA, reported at the organization’s Annual Meeting on October 28 in Cambridge.

Board Vice-President Edna Monteiro-Leith welcomed the more than 80 staff, Board members, volunteers, members of partner organizations, friends, and supporters who gathered at MAPS’ main office to learn about the organization’s recent accomplishments and challenges and celebrate important milestones.

She announced the re-election of four board members to new 3-year terms on the organization’s Board – Mary Ann Lomba, MBA, of Dorchester, who joined the board in 1992; Stephen Pereira, M.Ed., of Brockton, a member since 1993; Victoria Franco, MBA, of Boston, who filled an open position in 2025, and Ricardo Martins, CIA CISA, of Revere, who joined in 2024.

Board member Adriana Bento concluded her 3-year term on the board of the health and social services organization and did not seek reelection due to professional reasons.

“We are very grateful for Adriana’s contributions to our board and our communities during her term and extend our appreciation to the members reelected tonight,” said Paulo Pinto.

In addition to Portuguese-speaking immigrants accounting for 87% of those served by MAPS in FY2025, the organization assisted community members from 67 different countries, including U.S.-born, with Egypt and the Dominican Republic as the top countries of origin following Brazil, Cabo Verde, and Portugal.

Now with a full-time advocate dedicated to providing essential community education and prevention regularly, MAPS served 10,968 clients through its Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (DVSA) program. The organization also helped 9,256 community members through its Immigrant Integration Services (IIS), 4,569 through HIV/STI services, and 2,012 vulnerable seniors benefited from Elder Services case management and the MAPS Senior Center in Cambridge. The Child and Family Clinical Services program also served 605 abused and neglected children and their families, and an additional 250 community members were served through the organization’s  Mental Health and Corrective Intervention programs.  The numbers reflect direct individual services and outreach, and clients receiving multiple services in different programs.

Pinto reported that the state of MAPS is strong and that, for the first time, MAPS’ Endowment Fund surpassed the $1 million mark, a giant step towards the financial sustainability and independence of the organization.

“I remember when we created our Endowment over 20 years ago with a single $5,000 donation from Bob Perry,” Pinto recalled. “Today, we have almost 20 family legacy funds that are essential to ensuring that our organization is sustainable for many years to come and to fund future programs and services to better answer to our communities’ needs. Our goal is to continue to build our Endowment to reach $2M by the end of 2030.”

The organization also celebrated one full year of operations in Everett, the newest of its six offices. Since opening in the Summer of 2024, the MAPS team in Everett has served almost 1,200 community members with a variety of health and social services, Pinto reported.

Reflecting on some of the challenges the organization has already faced in this fiscal year 2026, Pinto highlighted several budget cuts at the federal and local levels, totaling nearly $300K. The cuts have severely impacted MAPS’ ability to serve hundreds of vulnerable community members, especially via its Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault program, and its Immigrant Integration Services in Somerville. The cuts, paired with a steep rent increase, forced the organization to close its Brighton office after 30 years of operation.

“We are thankful for the capacity we built at MAPS and are prepared to address the many external challenges that come our way. We have taken effective measures to mitigate the budget cuts and protect and sustain our overall organizational health,” Pinto said.

Despite these obstacles, which were anticipated by the organization, MAPS continues to aim at growing its services and programs, hoping to create legal services, job training programs, and senior housing projects in the coming years.

Pinto also highlighted the strong community support for the organization, as evidenced by the record amounts that MAPS was able to raise with its 2025 fundraising events – over $230K at the MAPS Annual Awards Gala, and $86K with the MAPS Chip In for Charity Golf Tournament.

Several of the organization’s volunteers, staff, and board members received Certificates of Appreciation for completing service milestones. You can find more details about MAPS’ fiscal year 2025 in the Annual Report, which can be picked up at MAPS offices or downloaded at maps-inc.org/annual-report/.