Cape Ann’s Sal Zerilli, who has worked to improve life in many communities, was the recipient of this year’s Community Health Activist Award, presented by the North Shore Health Project.
Susan Gould Coviello, North Shore Health Project’s executive director, praised the many efforts that Zerilli has spearheaded on varied fronts.
“Sal is a visionary. His work throughout the Gloucester community is nothing short of amazing,” she said. “With everything he does, he remains humble and kind.”
In a social media post, Zerilli shared some of his background related to the past two decades in which he has worked to build a “civic ecosystem” on Cape Ann, and expressed gratitude for every collaborator and neighbor who helped to establish this “ecosystem.”
He founded Awesome Gloucester in 2013 and Awesome Rockport in 2015, after which he helped seed four more Awesome Foundation chapters on the North Shore, noting that these six groups together have put nearly $400,000 into their communities — $1,000 at a time. He co-founded Project Elm to restore elm trees to Cape Ann with nearly 600 disease-resistant elms planted. He also created “Down the Fort,” a historical archive he has curated since 2009, about the Sicilian-American neighborhood in Gloucester. Then last year, he began “Branded Aliens,” a documentary about Italian-American families classified as enemy aliens during World War II. He also has overseen nine large-scale public murals across Cape Ann.
At North Shore Health Project’s recent annual breakfast, it was announced that the award, started in 2011, will now be named in honor of the late Ann-Margaret Ferrante, the state representative and community advocate who died on Thanksgiving. She herself was a recipient of this award.
The North Shore Health Project’s mission is to support people affected by HIV/AIDS and substance use disorder. It now serves more than 400 clients each year through its many programs.
On accepting the award, Zerilli thanked the health project for its tireless efforts to help others.
“What sets them apart is that they don’t make dignity conditional. So often the message people get is that they’ll matter once they get sober, once they get housed, once they become who someone else wants them to be. The Health Project just says: you matter now, as you are. For 40 years they’ve shown up for people living with addiction or without stable housing and refused to let anyone disappear,” he said.
On receiving the award, Zerilli said it encompasses many others.
“It’s humbling to be recognized as a contributor to the health of our community by the people who do that work every single day,” he said. “And while it’s my name on the award, it really reflects on everyone I’ve worked alongside: in Awesome Gloucester and Awesome Rockport, on documentaries and oral histories, on tree plantings, on the public murals. I’m one part of a small village of folks doing the work, and they all deserve the applause.”
Gail McCarthy may be contacted at 978-675-2706, or gmccarthy@northofboston.com.