CARMEN POLA

“Everyday Boston only exists today because Carmen Pola believed in it, and shaped it, and helped it to grow. She was the matriarch of our family, and a legend in the life of the City of Boston; you can read more about who she was, and what she gave, in my full tribute here.

For this page, I’ll share a shorter story, and one that feels relevant at this tough moment in time. 

It dates back to the very first meeting of Everyday Boston. We were all strangers back then, and we’d just settled into our seats, ready to go around the room with introductions, when Carmen announced that she had something to say.

She pulled out a small notebook and read aloud a poem she had just written about overcoming fear. Because as it turned out, at the age of 76, she had just taken the T for the first time in years. By herself. To a neighborhood she didn’t know. To build something with people she had never met.

And if that isn’t the essence of Carmen, I don’t know what is.

To this day, whenever I’m afraid to walk into a space, or to speak up in a meeting, or to push back against something I don’t believe in, I call up Carmen’s very loud voice in my head.  I remember her determination to stare down every fear she ever had. And I try my best to follow the lead of the woman I was lucky enough to call my friend.”

-Cara Solomon, Founder, Everyday Boston