What We Do

MPDC promotes healthy homes, healthy people, and healthy communities. We empower residents and encourage them to use their voice by providing access to resources, supporting their missions, and creating spaces for development.

How We Do It:

Roxbury In Motion

Roxbury in Motion derives from Mass in Motion, where we are under a grant from the Boston Public Health Commission to minimize barriers and challenges creating health disparities in Roxbury and Dorchester. Roxbury in Motion is a coalition of community partners and residents working on three project areas: civic engagement, active transportation – community engagement, and the Prove It Model – crime, safety, and protection.

We are part of a statewide movement that works to change the conditions that affect health and equalize access to the things that keep us healthy in Roxbury. Furthermore, our project works to reduce barriers to healthy living and increase access to health opportunities.

Our work focuses on WHO as part of the decision-making team, HOW decisions are made, WHO will benefit from our work, and WHAT projects we focus on. We work with resident groups like the MPVRA and OG, Lower Roxbury, and Dorchester organizations to share information and solicit residents’ feedback about planning processes in Lower Roxbury and Uphams Corner.

Lower Roxbury Community Coalition

The Lower Roxbury Community Coalition is a means of empowering residents with the knowledge and social capital so that they influence the built environment in Lower Roxbury. Reintroduced and name changed to create access to all properties of MPDC in 2022 to bring resident voices to the Whittier Choice process. Historically, Lower Roxbury has been excluded from envisioning the future. Through the Lower Roxbury Community Coalition, residents can positively affect the public health of Lower Roxbury by being a part of the decision-making process for changes in systems, policies, and the built environment. Since its inception, the Lower Roxbury Community Coalition has had many impacts on the built environment of Lower Roxbury. Members began by providing input on the Whittier Choice process. Since then, LRCC members have impacted the Ruggles Street redesign by keeping part of it as a two-way street.

Current Projects:

• Roxbury Resilient Corridors
• Community Advocacy Program
• Public Art
• Community Engagement Policy Pilot Program
• Prove it Model- Crime, Safety and Prevention- addressing transportation barriers

Why is this important?

These projects are important because they address the social determinants of health, which refer to the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age. The global, national, and local distribution of money, power, and resources shapes these circumstances. Our project areas work to reduce barriers to healthy living and increase access to health opportunities. The project strategies are long-term, sustainable, and impactful ways to improve community health in Roxbury.

Why should you be involved?

As a Roxbury resident or a community organization, we need your voice to help influence how these projects happen. Understanding neighborhood priorities and needs helps us advocate for improvements and projects more effectively to benefit the Roxbury area. If you want to get more involved with Roxbury in Motion, we invite you to take this short survey.

To Learn More, contact Tahara Samuel / 617.849.6223

Get Involved!