Dear Community Members,

Statement from Mayor Joe Curtatone on the closure of all public and private schools through the end of the school year:

I fully support Governor Baker’s decision to keep Massachusetts schools closed for the remainder of the school year. It is the only sensible decision as we find ourselves in the surge phase of this pandemic. We simply cannot secure public health at this time by sending thousands of students, teachers and staff back to school in our community.

Mayor Joe Curtatone talks about how Patriots’ Day give us some perspective on the trials we face with coronavirus.

Are you in the gig economy and you’re now out of work due to the coronavirus shutdown? You now can apply for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance through the state (https://www.mass.gov/…/apply-for-pandemic-unemployment-assi…). Benefits are being made available to the self-employed, artists, independent contractors, workers with limited work history and others.

Mayor Curtatone is putting out the call for people to donate to the Somerville Cares fund at https://www.somervillema.gov/somervillecares. The money raised will help those who find themselves in need here in Somerville.

Mayor Curtatone orders CDBG funds be made available for emergency small business support

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone  announced the launch of a $1 million Somerville Small Business COVID-19 Relief Fund to provide financial support of up to $10,000 to Somerville small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Funded by existing and pending federal Community Development Block Grant monies, support will be available to food establishments and other small, independent, locally-owned businesses impacted by forced closures during the crisis.

Restaurants can sell grocery items as part of pick-up and/or delivery services.

In an effort to both expand resident access to groceries and help restaurants affected by the COVID-19 crisis, Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and the Somerville Board of Health have issued an order allowing restaurants to sell grocery items for the duration of Somerville’s local state of emergency.

Dear Community Members,

Mayor Curtatone, Board of Health quarantine 65-unit building with 8 confirmed COVID-19 cases

Residents of the Mt. Pleasant senior apartment building in Somerville have been placed under a mandatory minimum 14-day quarantine after eight cases of COVID-19 were confirmed by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health at the residence. The quarantine order, issued Saturday, April 18, by Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and the Board of Health, goes into effect immediately. The 65-unit building houses seniors aged 62 and older and persons under age 62 with disabilities who are income-eligible. 

— Photo © Tero Vesalainen / iStock via Getty Images Plus

Unfortunately, during times of hardship, families are often targeted by fraud artists attempting to take advantage of those needing assistance. The COVID-19 crisis is no exception, with many scammers pretending to extend a critical lifeline to struggling homeowners through so-called “foreclosure rescue fraud.” According to Freddie Mac, this scheme involves bad actors offering false promises of being able to save your home from foreclosure. Common elements of this fraud include the following: