Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers
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EMPOWERING PORTUGUESE-SPEAKING IMMIGRANTS ON THE PATH TO SUCCESS (Fall 2025). The Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers (MAPS) is a nonprofit organization that has provided essential health and social services to Portuguese-speaking communities and others in Massachusetts since 1970. MAPS works with and for the Brazilian, Cabo Verdean, Portuguese and other Portuguese-speaking communities to remove barriers to health, education and social services through direct assistance, advocacy, leadership and community development. Among MAPS’ many free programs and services is mental health assistance—a service the organization implemented in February 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, when MAPS social workers identified many community members feeling overwhelmed by stress and trauma due to illness, deaths of loved ones, loss of jobs and income, or a lack of support due to immigration status.
In partnership with a group of linguistically and culturally competent mental health clinicians, MAPS has since provided thousands of community members facing fear, anxiety, depression and other mental health challenges with free, short-term support as well as referrals to additional health care and psychological services.
Additionally, MAPS assists tens of thousands of clients each year with health and social services, including: citizenship assistance; support for victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence; elder services; employment and career development; immigrant integration; child and family clinical services; health insurance assistance; HIV/STI prevention and screening; and more.
MAPS is committed to ensuring that its resources are as accessible as possible to the communities they serve and currently has offices in Cambridge, Somerville, Everett, Brighton, Dorchester, Lowell and Framingham. Their culturally responsive programs continue to meet the evolving needs of the Portuguese-speaking communities across the Commonwealth, and the organization remains a trusted resource for countless vulnerable immigrants and their families, empowering them to live healthier, more stable and more successful lives.
In the image, MAPS at Boston Seaport during 2024 Staff Retreat.
Clowes Fund Field(s) of Interest: Immigrant Services
