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Somerville Health Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Somerville Health Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$30k
Granted FY2025still arriving
2
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0190% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2025.

Human Services$26kHousing & Shelter$24kArts & Culture$20kCommunity Improvement$19kHealth$18kFood & Nutrition$11kYouth Development$5kPublic Benefit$4kOther$0
02FY2025 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$15,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$552k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CENTER FOR THE ARTS AT THE ARMORY$15,000
COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY OF SOMERVILLE$15,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY21–24, $69k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 6%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 6%MYSTIC LEARNING CENTER: $5k → 8%BEAUTIFUL STUFF PROJECT: $4k → 8%BEAUTIFUL STUFF PROJECT: $3k → 8%RESPOND: $9k → 8%SOMERVILLE HOMELESS COALITION: $20k → 8%NEIGHBORHOOD COUNSELING AND COMMUNITY: $9k → 8%RESPOND: $5k → 8%NEIGHBORHOOD COUNSELING AND COMMUNITY: $5k → 8%SOMERVILLE HOMELESS COALITION: $4k → 8%NEIGHBORHOOD COUNSELING AND COMMUNITY: $4k → 8%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$124k · 8 repeat orgs$16k to everyone else

8 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
4

Total granted

$124k
$16k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+17%
+68%

Still filing today

75%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesEducationArts & CultureOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • SOMERVILLE HOMELESS COALITION INC
    2× · 2021–2024 · $24k · revenue +54%
  • CA
    COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY OF SOMERVILLE
    2× · 2022–2025 · $19k · revenue +17%
  • RI
    RESPOND Inc
    2× · 2022–2023 · $14k · revenue +65%

Funded once

  • YM
    YOUTHSTREAM MYSTIC LEARNING CENTER
    one grant, 2022 · $5k
  • ML
    MYSTIC LEARNING CENTER INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $5k · revenue +68%
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF THE COMM GROWING CTR
    one grant, 2021 · $4k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
The Open Center for Children Inc

Since 1972, the open center for children has worked in partnership with families to create a nurturing early education and care experience. the play-based curriculum inspires children to become motivated, self-directed learners, feel…

—
2
Boston Center for the Arts Inc

Boston center for the arts (bca) is a not-for-profit performing and visual arts campus that supports working artists to create, perform, and exhibit new works; develops new audiences; and connects the arts to the community.

Arts & Culture
3
Community Counseling of Bristol County Inc

The purpose and mission of community counseling of bristol county, inc. (ccbc) is to develop and deliver compassionate, responsive, culturally competent, and quality mental health and substance abuse services to meet the…

Health
4
Voa Somerville Veterans Housing Inc

To provide housing and supportive services to the veterans of the united states military

—
5
Cambridge Affordable Housing Corp

The organization's mission is to provide management and supporting services for related organizations which own and operate low-income housing units for qualified individuals in the city of cambridge, ma.

Housing & Shelter
6
Brookline Arts Center

The Brookline Arts Center is a visual arts center committed to bringing the community meaningful experience in the arts through classes, exhibitions and outreach.

Arts & Culture
7
Brookline Community Mental Health Center Inc Dba the Brookline Center

The brookline center for community mental health provides groundbreaking mental health services rooted in meaningful innovation and compassionate care. in response to today's mental health landscape and the ongoing mental health crisis,…

—
8
Somerset Children's Center Inc

To provide therapy and case management services for children with special needs utilizing developmentally appropriate therapputic services in a safe, nurturing environment.

Health
9
Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance Inc

Maha breaks down barriers facing first-time and first-generation home buyers and owners through education, counseling, advocacy, and grassroots organizing.

Housing & Shelter
10
Massachusetts Education & Career Opportunities Inc

Massachusetts education and career opportunities, inc. (massedco, inc.) is a statewide network of service sites that provides education and career advising to over 12,000 low-income, first generation individuals each year. massedco…

Education
11
Children's Advocacy Center of Suffolk County Inc

To unite public, private and community partners to ensure safety, healing and justice for children and families impacted by violence, exploitation and abuse.

Crime & Legal
12
Community Art Center Inc

To cultivate an engaged community of youth whose powerful artistic voices transform their lives, their neighborhoods and their worlds.

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Somerville Homeless Coalition Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Beautiful Stuff Project Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

8 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 8 of the 12 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
8/8
Grantees still filing
4/8
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SOMERVILLE HOMELESS COALITION INC: $24,250 · Human ServicesSOMERVILLE HOMELESS COALITION INCNEIGHBORHOOD COUNSELING AND COMMUNITY SERVICES INC: $18,061 · Human ServicesNEIGHBORHOOD COUNSELING AND COMMUNITY SERVICES INCRESPOND Inc: $14,061 · Human ServicesRESPOND IncTHE BEAUTIFUL STUFF PROJECT INC: $7,380 · Human ServicesTHE BEAUTIFUL STUFF PROJECT INCMYSTIC LEARNING CENTER INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesMYSTIC LEARNING CENTER INCCOMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY OF SOMERVILLE: $19,195 · OtherCOMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY OF SOMERVILLEPROJECT SOUP: $11,499 · OtherPROJECT SOUPIndividual grant recipient: $10,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientYOUTHSTREAM MYSTIC LEARNING CENTER: $5,000 · OtherYOUTHSTREAM MYSTIC LEARNING CENTERFRIENDS OF THE COMM GROWING CTR: $4,250 · OtherFRIENDS OF THE COMM GROWING CTRTHE CENTER FOR THE ARTS AT THE ARMORY INC: $20,000 · Arts & CultureTHE CENTER FOR T…BREAKTHROUGH GREATER BOSTON INC: $2,000 · Education
Human Services$68,752Other$49,944Arts & Culture$20,000Education$2,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSOMERVILLE HOMELESS COALITION INC: $24,250 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR THE ARTS AT THE ARMORY INC: $20,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY OF SOMERVILLE: $19,195 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD COUNSELING AND COMMUNITY SERVICES INC: $18,061 over 3y, 5.6% of budgetRESPOND Inc: $14,061 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTHE BEAUTIFUL STUFF PROJECT INC: $7,380 over 2y, 4.3% of budgetMYSTIC LEARNING CENTER INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH GREATER BOSTON INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Eastern Bank Foundati…Boston Foundation IncCambridge Savings Cha…Cummings Foundation G…United Way Of Massach…Rockland Trust Charit…Vanguard Charitable E…American Online Givin…Amazonsmile Foundation
Eastern Bank FoundationMA17.2× affinity6 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Eastern Bank Foundation · Boston Foundation Inc · Cambridge Savings Charitable Foundation Inc · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · United Way Of Massachusetts Bay Inc · Rockland Trust Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Amazonsmile Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Somerville Health Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Somerville Health Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 31%
  • Respond Inc: 80% of income from government
  • Community Action Agency of Somerville: 49% of income from government
  • Somerville Homeless Coalition Inc: 31% of income from government
  • Mystic Learning Center Inc: 30% of income from government
  • Breakthrough Greater Boston Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Somerville Health Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Somerville Health Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 12 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Somerville Health’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home