Search

Infrastructure Improvement Project on Land Boulevard at Binney Street

The Cambridge Small Business Operations Grant is a grant program providing commercial rent, mortgage, payroll relief as well as operating or equipment expenses to Cambridge small businesses as they continue to grow and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Applications are open for a new grant for Cambridge small businesses in need of help with operation costs, including but not limited to rent relief, payroll, or other operating expenses. Brick and mortar businesses can receive up to $15,000 and Home-based businesses can receive up to $7,500.

The City of Cambridge announced that grant and loan applications are now available for Cambridge small businesses through the Mayor’s Disaster Relief Fund for small businesses and the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority (“CRA”) Loan Program. Grant applications will only be available from May 15, 2020 until May 29, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. EDT.

One of Cambridge’s earliest actions in response to the emerging public health crisis was Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui and City Manager Louis A. DePasquale activating the Mayor’s Disaster Relief Fund to provide emergency assistance to individuals and families in Cambridge experiencing extreme financial hardship. Since March, more than $4.7 million in donations have been received from hundreds of generous residents and local corporations.

The Cambridge Community Foundation and the City of Cambridge have awarded a total of $257,500 in grants to 25 Cambridge-based arts and cultural organizations through the Cultural Capital Fund. Created in late October with a founding $500,000 gift from the Mayor’s Disaster Relief Fund and a $100,000 investment from the Wagner Foundation, the fund was established to address urgent needs in the sector due to COVID-19 and to protect the city’s cultural richness over the long term.

The Small Business COVID-19 Recovery Grant Program is a complementary grant program to the city’s Small Business COVID-19 Relief Grant. It is a special program helping Cambridge’s U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) eligible for-profit retail, food, personal services, and creative businesses with a grant up to $10,000 per brick and mortar business. The program provides short-term working capital assistance to support businesses with inventory purchases (perishable and non-perishable), Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) purchases or upgrades, and rent payments to enable businesses to open and ensure the retention of jobs after the severe interruption of business related to COVID-19 social distancing requirements.

Revitalize Cambridge with 3 new neighborhood murals. This public art project would reflect our cultural diversity, strength, and positive energy. Local artists working with high school students would produce the murals.

With over 170 public artworks, Cambridge holds the largest contemporary public art collection in Massachusetts.

Meeting minutes of the Human Services Commission meeting held May 13th, 2015