Brookline GreenSpace Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing and supporting the green spaces of Brookline. Members meet to discuss ideas, thoughts and strategies about the spaces, and field trips are sometimes organized to nearby forests and historic parks. People can join as yearly members of the alliance and some events are open to the general public.
The Brookline Housing Authority provides options for affordable housing for families, seniors and disabled citizens. The Learning Center is one facility at the High Street location dedicated to teaching skills to children and adults. Call the office for more details.
A part of Brookline's charitable community since 1878, the Brookline Community Foundation provides grant funding and support for a wide range of educational, environmental, cultural and social service programs. The foundation also provides space for other non-profits in its historic Webster Place building.
Founded in 1981, the Brookline Education Foundation is dedicated to supporting public education in Brookline through private fundraising. The foundation awards grants aimed at "innovative teaching, administrative leadership, professional development, and community participation" and hosts an annual spelling bee with competitions for adults and children. The foundation operates out of an office in the Brookline Community Foundation building on Webster Place.
The Workman's Circle is a non-profit community and cultural center for secular Jews. Among their many programs, the Workmen's Circle offer courses for both adults and children on Jewish culture and history, as well meetings such as book groups, potluck dinners and a coffee house. This non-profit also offers a place to celebrate major Jewish events and historic Jewish anniversaries. It acts as a voice for social change, focusing on Mideast peace, labor solidarity and anti-sweatshop protests.
When Specialized Housing opened in 1983, it was one of the first facilities to offer independent living for adults with special needs. Providing accommodations for people with developmental, physical or learning disabilities, brain injuries or psychiatric illness, it provides access to its resources and support web, while also encouraging autonomy. Specialized Housing offers on-site staff to supervise living arrangements and a network of community organizations. Some houses have been specially designed to accommodate different disabilities. It has several locations across New England, this Brookline address houses its offices.
This Beacon Street address is a location of the Pine Street Inn. The Pine Street Inn offers support to the homeless in New England. In addition to street outreach and emergency housing, it also provides job training and permanent housing for those in need.
At the Gateway Arts studios in Brookline Village, people with developmental challenges are given the opportunity communicate and heal though artistic endeavors. A service of the non-profit Vinfen corporation, Gateway Arts provides clients with the instruction, material and space they need to discover and grow their artistic impulse.
Vinfen clients, many of who live in group homes or with their families, also have an opportunity to make a living from their art by selling it in Gateway Arts' Craft Store, which is open to the public.
Housed in a former fire house on Monmouth Street, the non-profit Brookline Community Arts Center offers a wide range of community art classes for adults, children and families. The center also organizes rotating exhibits of local and internationally renowned artists.
Free and reduced-cost classes are available for elderly residents and low-income children.
Susan Navarre serves as the center's executive director.
The Brookline Chamber of Commerce seeks to serve as a voice for the community of businesses and professionals living and working in Brookline. Members meet at regular chamber events, including a weekly lunch, to network and build relationships.
The School Nutrition Association of Massachusetts is a state affiliate of the national School Nutrition Assocation. It believes that quality nutrition is an important part of education and that all children should have access to nutrition programs. It offers information and services to inform school foods and also hosts conferences, workshops and exhibits. Anyone can become a member of SNA Massachusetts and there are five chapters in the state. The Web site has a detailed calendar of events and meeting times and locations.
Founded in Brookline, Facing History & Ourselves has grown into an international organization with an ongoing mission of encouraging students worldwide to consider issues of racism, prejudice and antisemitism through the historical lessons of the holocaust and other examples of genocide. The organization includes a staff of around 130.
The Kids Clothes Club has been providing new winter coats to children in need since 1991. The organization collects donations from the community and then works with schools and various civic organizations to identify children in need and distribute the new coats. Since its inception the organization has been able to expand its scope to cover all of Massachusetts. However, requests for asssitance continue to grow.
Located on Beacon Street, this brownstone in Brookline houses low-income elderly men and women. Each resident lives in a furnished studio with kitchenette. Residents are offered meals and holiday celebrations by volunteers in the community kitchen. Call for more information and with general inquiries, as well as to inquire about open spaces.
The Ronald McDonald House provides a home away from home for families with children with cancer. The home is community supported and has more than 100 volunteers along with regular staff. It can accomodate 23 families a night, and many rooms have their own bathrooms, kitchens and living areas. The Ronald McDonald house is close to Longwood Medical Area, and often accomdates patients from Children's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's Jimmy Fund Clinic. This Brookline location was the eighth Ronald McDonald House location in the country.