Members Elect New Board Member Stephanie Mello, Esq. of Lowell and Re-Elect Four Others

More than 75 community members gathered on October 30 in Cambridge for the Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers’ (MAPS) 2018 Annual Meeting, where Stephanie Mello, Esq. was elected to the organization’s Board of Directors. Four other current Board members were re-elected, and guests learned about MAPS’ main achievements during Fiscal Year 2018, and challenges for the new year.

Stephanie Mello, Esq.

“As an attorney in Lowell, I have the privilege of working with numerous members of the Portuguese-speaking community, and being able to help members of my community is the highlight of my career. I strongly believe in MAPS’ mission and am so excited to be a part of such an amazing organization,” said Mello, a first-generation Portuguese-American born to Azorean immigrants, who is an attorney at the Mello Law Offices, formerly the Law Offices of John M. Mello Jr. She is a graduate of the Suffolk University Law School, class of 2016.

“We are very happy to welcome Stephanie to our Board of Directors,” said Paulo Pinto, MPA, MAPS Executive Director. “She brings a new perspective, and her passion and dedication to serving our communities are major assets that will certainly make MAPS a better organization.”

Current Board President, Paula Coutinho, LICSW, Board Secretary Patricia de Oliveira, and Board members Carmen Medeiros and Susan Pacheco were reelected to MAPS’ Board of Directors. Stephen Pereira, M.Ed., was honored for his 25 years of service on the board, and Elizabeth Chaves, Board Affairs Committee Chair, received a certificate for being a MAPS Board member for 10 years. Antonio Massa Viana, Esq., a Framingham-based Brazilian attorney, ended his membership on the Board of Directors, after concluding his 3-year term.

“We are so thankful for Antonio’s service on our Board and for his incredible dedication to immigrant rights and to our communities as a whole,” said Pinto. “He’s a wonderful friend of MAPS and will always be a part of our family.”

Following greetings from Paula Coutinho, LICSW, and Elizabeth Chaves, Paulo Pinto presented some of the organization’s major successes of the fiscal year that ended on June 30 of 2018.

“The state of MAPS is very strong,” said Pinto. “Over the past fiscal year, MAPS served more than 18,000 people, 70% of which are Portuguese speakers. Our caseworkers helped more than 431 people from 34 different countries become U.S. citizens, which fills us with pride. Thanks to the generous support of our community and the leadership of our friends at Amigos da Terça, we were able to maintain the level and quality of service at the MAPS Cambridge Senior Center, which faced a budget cut of $30K. Our first-ever MAPS Chip-In for Charity Golf Tournament was a huge success, raising more than $40K, as was our 2018 Awards Gala, which raised a record $191K to support our services.” The organization also expanded services and hired more staff, especially in the HIV/ STI Services and Domestic Violence/ Sexual Assault Program.

More details and information about MAPS’ Fiscal Year 2018 can be found in the agency’s 2018 Annual Report. Copies can be picked up at any of MAPS’ six offices in Boston, Framingham and Lowell, or downloaded from the organization’s website at http://maps-inc.org/annual-report/.

MAPS also recognized the dedication of its volunteers with Certificates of Appreciation and honored several of its staff members. Advocate Dulce DePina, Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Program Director Dulce Ferreira, Health Educator Gabriel Roncancio, and Immigrant Integration and Elder Services Program Director Alirio Pereira celebrated 10 years of service at MAPS, and Health Educator Murillo Duarte has been with the organization for 5 years.