Basic Needs and Social Services
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Many young adults face personal barriers to achieving college & career success. Coaches can be instrumental in helping their mentees connect to resources and navigate challenges that include housing and homelessness, food insecurity, legal issues, mental health, childcare, and financial security. The following are links to resources across basic needs and social service areas.
*Page last updated February 2023
City-wide Comprehensive Resources
- Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD)
- City of Boston: Guide to Low-Income Resources
- Justice Resource Institute
- Mass League of Community Health Centers
College-Based Comprehensive Resources
- Bunker Hill Basic Needs Resources
- Franklin Cummings Tech: Health & Wellness Support
- Roxbury Community College: Student Success
- UMass Boston U-ACCESS Office
Food Insecurity
- About Fresh: Fresh Truck (mobile grocery store)
- American Red Cross: Boston Food Pantry
- Daily Table (low-cost grocery store)
- Fair Foods ($2/bag groceries)
- Greater Boston Food Bank
- Lifeboat Boston (groceries)
- Project Bread
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps)
- Women, Infant & Children’s (WIC) Program
Health and Wellness
- Boston Area Rape Crisis Center
- Casa Myrna (support for survivors of domestic violence)
- Clinicians of Color (find a therapist of color near you)
- Health Care for All (help with health insurance coverage questions)
- La Alianza Hispana (mothers and children)
- Massachusetts Health Connector (apply for health insurance)
- Mass General Hospital: Mental Health Resources for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC)
- National Alliance on Mental Illness MA
- Psychology Today (search for mental health providers in your area)
- Riverside Community Care (behavioral healthcare and human services)
- Samaritans (crisis services and grief support)
Housing
- Bridge Over Troubled Waters (shelter & support programs for homeless, runaway and at-risk youth ages 14-24)
- City of Boston: Boston Home Center (resources for homeowners, education & financing help for income-eligible, first-time home buyers)
- City of Boston: Help for Renters in Crisis
- City of Boston: Metrolist (affordable housing search)
- Comm. of Massachusetts: Guide to Obtaining Housing Assistance
- State Emergency Housing Resources
- Y2Y Network (shelter & support programs for homeless young adults ages 18-24)
Financial Education & Resources
- Boston Tax Help (free help for filing tax returns)
- City of Boston: Office of Financial Empowerment
- City of Boston Credit Union: Financial Fitness
- IRS Free File (file federal and/or state tax returns for free)
- JVS: Financial Coaching & Financial Education Workshops
Legal
LGBTQIA+
- BAGLY (The Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Youth)
- GLAD (GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders)
- GLASS (GLBTQ+ Adolescent Social Services, programs for youth of color and their allies ages 13-29; youth living with HIV)
- Mass Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC)
- PFLAG (Parent, Caregiver and Family Support)
- Trevor Project (crisis intervention)