EFZ's confrontational tactics were also diverging from CEOC's mission. Organizers worried that EFZ's increasingly public presence, including rallies and marches directed against Cambridge's government and citizens, might lead to a loss of funding for CEOC, which gets some block grants from the government.
"EFZ did a lot of organizing, it tended to be a little more public... so [the CEOC alliance] wasn't good for EFZ," Lim says. "We didn't want to be restricted by funding from CEOC."
As a result, EFZ became financially independent in the summer of 1998.
To compensate for the loss of the CEOC funding, the majority of which went toward paying the salary of a full-time housing organizer, EFZ held a massive fundraising drive.
EFZ received support from a variety of sources, including Cambridge music clubs like the Middle East, T.T. the bear's and the Lizard Lounge, as well as private grants. The organization raised enough to fund its $50,000 budget for the year.
Though EFZ still retains its headquarters in CEOC's white-and-blue clapboard house on Inman Street in Central Square--right behind City Hall--the organization is looking for new office space to house its expanding committees and programs.
Keeping Rents Under Control
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