– Somerville Residents to Be Referred to City’s Office of Immigrant Affairs –

The Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers (MAPS) has stopped offering Immigrant Integration Services to Somerville residents after the city decided to cut a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) that funded the program.

In a surprising decision, the city informed the health and social services nonprofit organization in July that its grant application had been rejected “due to the overwhelming number of applications received” and the need to prioritize “funding allocations on high demand.” The decision cut $17,000 from MAPS’ Immigrant Integration Services (IIS).

“During a meeting with city officials on August 6, we learned that the city had prioritized nutrition, childcare, senior transportation and domestic violence services for fiscal year 2026,” recalled AIirio Pereira, MA, MAPS Chief Program Officer. “We then communicated our disappointment over the fact that immigrant support services have not been included as a priority, especially considering our immigrant communities’ increasing needs.”

The grant had covered eight hours per week of a MAPS caseworker’s time – enough for eight weekly appointments with vulnerable immigrant community members seeking assistance with housing and employment needs, access to essential public benefits, including fuel and nutritional assistance, social security/ SSI and unemployment benefits, information, referrals, and other basic needs.

“We were very surprised and disappointed by this decision, especially considering our track record as a role model organization and our partnership of more than 50 years in service of the city’s large Portuguese-speaking community,” said MAPS CEO Paulo Pinto, MPA. “This $17K grant was crucial funding for a program that has never been more essential and is already operating with a substantial budget deficit.”

MAPS’ Immigrant Integration Program served 320 Somerville residents during fiscal year 2025, and the organization estimates that at least the same number of community members will not be able to be served by the MAPS IIS program this fiscal year due to the cut.

Following a discussion with city representatives, MAPS was informed that the city is now able to serve Portuguese-speaking immigrants via the Somerville Office of Immigrant Affairs (SOIA). MAPS has begun referring clients to SOIA, which can be reached at 42 Cross St., Somerville, MA, or by calling (617) 625-6600, extensions 2123 and 2627, for assistance in Portuguese. MAPS is also available to help Somerville residents schedule their appointments at SOIA.

MAPS will continue to offer no-cost health insurance enrollment assistance, citizenship applications assistance, prevention and screening of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), children and family clinical services, support for victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence, Impaired Driver Education classes, and the Intimate Partner Abuse Educational Program.

The organization has operated in Somerville since 1970, when it was founded as the Somerville Portuguese-American League—one of two agencies that later merged in the mid-1990s to form MAPS.

MAPS has served the Portuguese-speaking communities of Massachusetts and others since 1970. The organization offers free health and social services through its seven offices in Somerville, Cambridge, Brighton, Dorchester, Framingham, Lowell, and Everett.