A GLIMPSE OF OUR 2023 CALENDAR

TAKE A MOMENT IN MEDFORD

Recognizing, reinforcing, and celebrating the healthy, thriving, and diverse community where we live is our goal. Our "Moments in Medford" calendars share snapshots of our emergence from the pandemic and of fresh beginnings among neighbors that interweave our lives. Community is made together; it is built by incredible individuals who work toward connecting humanity and celebrating the uniqueness and potential of each of its members.

Take a Moment in Medford by...

...supporting your neighbors and local businesses.

...sharing in your neighbor's joy.

...embracing each other's uniqueness and individuality.

...celebrating the sum of all our different parts.

Help BUILD that community by making a donation to the Medford Community Calendar Project where our proceeds go to:

Supporting Medford Housing Authority (MHA) residents no matter their age, background, ability or financial means.

Supporting Arteprenuers Junior, a MHA youth program, that encourages self-expression and instills self confidence.

Acknowledging, recognizing, and celebrating the extraordinary “unseen” and “unheard” members of the community.

WAYS THAT YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE

Now more than ever before, community togetherness is critical to meet our society's need for hope, healing, connection and comfort. We need your help to reach our goal to raise $5,000 by December 31, 2022 to help extend our impact, continue our programming, and to continue connecting members of our community and beyond.

1. Buy a calendar for $10 as a gift for yourself or someone on your wishlist - send us a message and we will respond to you by email to arrange a calendar delivery.
2. Donate $25 or more to provide a free calendar to a MHA resident and support our educational programs.
3. Simply donate your desired amount.

Thank you for your trust, encouragement, and investment!

Crediting logos for two sponsors, Mass Cultural Council and Medford Arts Council

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Medford Arts Council, a local commission that is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the City of Medford.

Learn more about the Medford Community Calendar Project

Hi! We are Divya Anand, Kate Godin and Lisa Tonello, residents of Medford, MA. In 2019, we created a fundraising Community Calendar project in support of the residents of the Medford Housing Authority (MHA). The positive response from the MHA residents and the Medford community encouraged us to continue and broaden the project. In addition to our "Made in Medford" and "Moments in Medford" calendars, we have created programs, like the Artepreneurs Junior, an after-school opportunity that further supports the MHA youths.

About the MHA
The MHA houses one of the most diverse communities in Medford. Of the 290 units of federally subsidized family units and 402 units of federally subsidized “elderly/disabled” units, 66% of residents identify as Haitian. Our calendar projects have brought together MHA residents from different races, financial backgrounds, age groups, genders, abilities, cultures, and beyond. The success of this project thus far is based on its flexibility which allows residents (who are often working multiple jobs) to contribute their stories and experiences in ways most comfortable to them. It also opens up these relatively “unseen” and “unheard” members of the community into the mainstream in ways that they choose to do so.

An Overview of Our Projects:

Present Project 2022-2023
We are thrilled to announce that early in 2022, we were awarded a grant from the Mass Art Community Council! These grant funds cover the calendar production costs and enable us to focus our fundraising efforts to support Artepreneurs Junior and other developing programs that benefit the MHA youth and adults alike. For 2023, we are thrilled to bring a collaboration with Justflix, a community social justice storytelling endeavor, to the MHA for the first time. Please consider donating to help us meet our fundraising goal of $5,000. See below for more information and snapshots from the previous 2020 and 2022 calendars.

2019-2020
Our initial project was inspired by "Together: Our Community Cookbook", a project conceived and supported by Megan Markle, published to raise funds for families affected by the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London, UK. In a similar way, we wanted to bring our community together through the sharing of food, culture, and stories. In 2020, our first calendar, “Made in Medford”, was a labor of love and good food; that showcases family recipes from MHA residents alongside artistically arranged photographs of each prepared dish. Over the course of 2019, residents shared recipes, stories, cultures and culminated our efforts with a potluck dinner hosted at the MHA. (You can read more about it here). We successfully published this inaugural calendar and raised $5,000 for resident programming at the MHA.

2021-2022
During the pandemic, we transitioned our operation to a digital platform. We were able to solicit submissions for a 2022 Calendar from residents that displayed their creative talents alongside images donated by local photographer Betsy Lenora. The 2022 calendar featured the broad artistic talent of MHA residents from the ages 8-100+ years old. Residents responded to the question of what gave them hope during the pandemic with photos and stories. Their submissions included photography, gardening, painting, and storytelling, were compiled and formatted into our 2022 calendar.

Snapshots from the production of the 2020 recipe calendar: Haitian Poulet Creole cooking lesson at the MHA:

Haitian Poulet Creole:

Potluck celebration with the MHA participants and other residents:

2022 calendar pages! Month of March:

Month of June:

Month of July:

-Thank you!

Moments in Medford

By Katherine Godin

Moments in Medford

Medford Community Calendar Project