The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of New England, popularly known as CCBA, is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization established in 1923. Currently with 35 member organizations, consisting of family associations and community organizations, CCBA serves as the umbrella organization for the Chinese communities of New England. Originally located at 14 Oxford Street, it relocated to its current address at 90 Tyler Street in the 1980s when the City of Boston sold the building that was the Quincy Elementary School to CCBA for $1.00.
A president, an English secretary, a Chinese secretary, a treasurer, and an auditor complete the executive board of directors who manage the daily affairs of CCBA with the help of several office workers. Unlike the 41 members of the board of directors who are delegate representatives from member organizations, the 5 members of the executive board are elected by the board of directors biennially.
To fulfill our mission and pledge to the constituents of the Chinese community, the CCBA building operates as a community center where programs are held to benefit people across ages. The building comes alive each afternoon as grade school aged children and teens from low income families arrive to participate in after school programs managed by the Phillips Brooks House through Harvard University. Three nights a week, the CCBA sponsored Ping Pong Club is in session, providing a setting for exercise and socialization for people with a passion for ping pong. A flurry of activity fills the minutes and hours each weekend as Chinese dances are taught to children, giving them a glimpse of their culture and a connection to their roots; adults get together to sing and perform excerpts from famous Cantonese operas; adults and seniors learn and practice the Yuanji Dance, a combination of martial arts, physical therapy, meditation, dance, and qi-gong exercises for the benefit of mind, body and soul; and seniors boogie to the music of Saturday Night Live, the Macarena, and the Electric Slide.
CCBA is also home to a family associations, a federal credit union, Chinese and English classes, and the well-known Chinatown Crime Watch program, where volunteers patrol the streets of Chinatown daily to provide the ever-present vigilance needed to keep crime rate at a minimum around the neighborhood.
Besides sponsoring activities, CCBA manages Tai Tung Village and Waterford Place, apartment complexes that provide the much needed affordable housing to the Chinese community. CCBA also annually coordinates activities such as the lion dance parade for the Lunar New Year and the August Moon Festival to attract visitors to Chinatown to further economic growth in the area, as well as hosts dignitary visits to the Chinatown community.