Boston Foundation announces $4.3 million in grants to Greater Boston organizations

Boston – The Boston Foundation announced its quarterly discretionary grants after the December meeting of the Foundation’s Board of Directors earlier this month. The Board approved $842,252 in single and multi-year discretionary grants to 11 organizations. In addition, the Board approved $979,000 in grants to 37 organizations through the Foundation’s Open Door Grants program. Open Door Grants are made twice in the fiscal year – in the second and fourth quarters.  The Board also acknowledged $2,505,000 in grants paid out between-cycles through other discretionary programs of the Foundation.

“As we enter our third year of the Open Door Grants program, we continued to be both amazed by and proud of the caliber of organizations we can support through the program,” said Paul S. Grogan, President and CEO of the Boston Foundation. “In addition, we are pleased to continue our support for critical job training and workforce development programs like Commonwealth Kitchen, Best Corp. Hospitality Training Center and the Center for Women and Enterprise. They are part of a strong portfolio of investments, including our continuing support for Skillworks, that are opening up opportunities for people throughout Greater Boston to develop skills and land sustainable jobs.”

A $175,000 grant to the Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation represents the largest single-year investment in the quarterly docket, and continues the Foundation’s 10+ years of consistent support for improving transit and housing opportunities on the Fairmount Corridor. The grant will provide ongoing support for the Fairmount Indigo CDC Collaborative, a cooperative effort between Dorchester Bay, Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation and the Southwest Boston Community Development Corporation to increase opportunities, improve transit equity and ensure development without displacement in the neighborhoods along the Fairmount rail line.

The Foundation is also making a continued commitment in the Arts, with a three-year, $225,000 grant to the New England Foundation for the Arts for its Regional Dance Development Initiative. The funding will back the development of a program to support dance artists and projects in Greater Boston.

DISCRETIONARY GRANTS:

Arts and Culture

New England Foundation for the Arts: A $225,000, three-year project support grant to the New England Foundation for the Arts for the Regional Dance Development Initiative. Payment is conditional upon approval of a program design that serves the Greater Boston dance sector.

Health and Wellness

Health Resources in Action: A $100,000, one-year project support grant to Health

Resources in Action (as fiscal agent for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health) for the Mass in Motion Municipal Wellness and Leadership Grant Program, an initiative designed to build capacity at the municipal level to create a sustained approach for healthy eating and active living, specifically in Dorchester, Roxbury and Malden.

Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health: A $100,000, one-year grant payable to Trustees of Harvard College for the T.H. Chan School of Public Health for formative research and coalition building to advance women’s health.

Jobs and Economic Development

Best Corp. Hospitality Training Center: A $35,000, one-year general operating support grant to fund the Mel King empowerment program, an initiative to move more US-born African Americans into quality hotel jobs.

Center for Women and Enterprise, Inc.: A $30,000, one-year project support grant for its Community Classrooms, a program designed to support inner-city entrepreneurs who lack the social capital to access mentors and technical assistance, and for its Entrepreneurs Microloan Fund initiative.

Commonwealth Kitchen: A $70,000, one-year general operating support grant to help strengthen operations and build the organizational capacity needed to effectively scale growth.

Urban Farming Institute of Boston: A $25,000, one-year project support grant to Urban Farming Institute, a nonprofit located in Mattapan that develops urban farming and trains inner-city residents of Boston for green-collar jobs, for its Urban Farmer Training Program where trainees will learn farming techniques and business skills.

Venture Café, Inc. A $40,000, one-year general operating support grant to the Venture Café Foundation, an organization that connects the innovation community and builds a more inclusive innovation economy through spaces, programs and conversations.

Neighborhood and Housing

Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corp.: A $175,000, one-year general operating support grant payable to Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation as fiscal sponsor for the Fairmount Indigo CDC Collaborative, a partnership of three CDCs in the Fairmount Corridor that aims to improve transit access and employment opportunities for residents while advocating for policies to allow residents to remain in their neighborhoods.

Suffolk University Law School: An $82,252, one-year grant to Suffolk University Law School's Housing Discrimination Testing Program to support its research study that will examine the relationship between discrimination based on source of income (vouchers) and race in the Metro-Boston area.

Nonprofit Effectiveness

Black Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston, Inc.: A $25,000, one-year general operating support grant to Boston Ministerial Alliance for its Capacity Institute, a program that engages nonprofits in Boston to improve participant outcomes as a measure of mission effectiveness.

Trinity Boston Foundation, Inc.: A $35,000, one-year project support grant to Trinity Boston Foundation–an organization that builds communities that: affirm, inspire and empower youth and their families; offer holistic support for physical, emotional and spiritual well-being; and strengthen community health and cohesion across Boston–for its Racial Equity Leaders Learning Circle.

The Foundation also made a $50,000, one-year grant to support the grant making of the Equality Fund, which was established at the Boston Foundation in 2012 with two primary goals: making high-impact grants to the most innovative nonprofits serving the diverse members of the LGBTQ community; and building a permanent endowment that will benefit the LGBTQ community of Greater Boston forever.

Open Door Grants

The Foundation also announces the following grants from the Open Door Grants program, a program open to any nonprofit organization in the Boston Foundation catchment area that is not highly aligned with one of the Foundation’s impact areas. Open Door Grants are one-year grants of up to $50,000. The Open Door Grants portfolio is regularly analyzed to ensure diversity along several dimensions, including geography, budget size, service population and mission.

Boston Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth: A $30,000 grant to Boston Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth, a youth-led, adult supported organization that is committed to social justice and creating, sustaining and advocating for programs and services for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth communities.

Boston Area Rape Crisis Center: A $30,000 grant to Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, Inc. to support its strategic planning efforts due to increased demand for services following the #MeToo movement.

Boston Ballet: A $20,000 grant to Boston Ballet for its Boston Ballet/Boys & Girls Club youth arts partnership.

Boston Higher Education Resource Center: A $20,000 grant to Boston Higher Education Resource Center (HERC), a Latino-led, culturally-sensitive, college readiness program focused on failure-proofing first-generation students of color throughout their journey through college, for the Passport to College program.

Boston Medical Center Corp.: A $25,000 grant to Boston Medical Center Corporation to support Child Witness, a program that provides direct clinical services to children and their families exposed to trauma or violence, and builds the capacity of community agencies and providers to identify and provide appropriate intervention for children affected by violence.

CAIR-MA, Inc.: A $25,000 grant to CAIR-MA, Inc., which enhances the understanding of Islam, encourages dialogue, protects civil liberties, empowers American Muslims, and builds coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding in Massachusetts and Greater Boston.

Center to Support Immigrant Organizing: A $30,000 grant for Center for Immigrant Organizing, which builds the capacity of immigrant leaders, organizations and communities to develop grassroots leadership to improve communities and create a more just society, to advance its Youth Ubuntu Project.

Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of New England: A $25,000 grant to Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of New England, which preserves Chinese cultural heritage and provides leadership, support and unity to Boston's Chinese immigrant community, for the development of the Chinatown Immigrant Heritage Visitor Center.

Clean Water Fund: A $29,000 grant to Clean Water Fund, an organization that develops strong grassroots environmental leadership and brings together diverse constituencies to work cooperatively for changes that improve their lives, to develop a larger donor program to bring in new donors and increase the giving of existing donors.

Community Boat Building: A $20,000 grant to Community Boat Building, an organization that provides powerful educational experiences to economically disadvantaged students in Boston that focus on STEM learning in a nontraditional classroom setting.

Community Health Network Area 17 (CHNA 17): A $10,000 grant to Community Health Network Area 17, a regional health coalition that works with hospitals and partner organizations to promote racial equity and mental health in the communities of Arlington, Belmont, Cambridge, Somerville, Watertown and Waltham.

DEAF, Inc.: A $15,000 grant to DEAF, Inc., a multi-service community-based agency run by and for people who are deaf, deaf-blind, hard of hearing, or late-deafened, for its Independent Living Services program.

Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath): A $35,000 grant to EMPath, an organization that helps families move out of poverty, for the expansion of its Career Family Opportunity Program (CFO) – a multi-year program to prepare women for good careers and financial independence.

FriendshipWorks: A $50,000 grant to FriendshipWorks, for support of its Medical Escort Service, which provides volunteers who escort elders to medical appointments, remain with them through the appointment to provide advocacy services and then ensure they make it safely back into their homes.

Hearth, Inc: A $30,000 grant to Hearth, Inc., an organization dedicated to the elimination of homelessness among the elderly, to support its Homelessness Prevention Outreach Program, which offers short-term financial assistance for back rent, relocation costs and to prevent eviction.

Housing Families: A $50,000 grant to Housing Families, which provides safe, temporary shelter and quality affordable housing to homeless and at-risk families, for the Disabled Family Leasing Program.

La Alianza Hispana, Inc.: A $40,000 grant to La Alianza Hispana, Inc., which aims to improve the lives of the Massachusetts Latino community, to support the Aliancianos Senior Center.

Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice, Inc.: A $20,000 grant to Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice, Inc., which fosters equal opportunity and fights discrimination on behalf of people of color and immigrants through legal action, education and advocacy, to support a capacity-building cohort for organizations led by and serving people of color.

Lionheart Foundation, Inc.: A $20,000 grant to Lionheart Foundation, which works to increase the emotional well-being of at-risk adolescents and teen parents, for continued development and dissemination of EQ, an emotion-regulation program for direct-care staff working with system-involved and trauma-impacted youth.

Lynn Youth Street Outreach Advocacy: A $20,000 grant to Lynn Youth Street Outreach Advocacy, an organization that empowers high-risk youth in their community to reach a positive purpose in life.

MAB Community Services, Inc.: A $30,000 grant to MAB Community Services, Inc., which provides services to individuals who are blind or visually impaired.

Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness, Inc.: A $25,000 grant to Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness, Inc., which provides community-based services to Massachusetts Native Americans, preserves and restores indigenous culture, and advances public knowledge and understanding of Native American history and identity.

Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, Inc.: A $25,000 grant to Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, Inc., which works in coalition across New England to promote the rights and integration of immigrants and refugees.

Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition: A $35,000 grant to Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition, an organization that aims to make healthy and affordable food, opportunities for active living, and safe and inviting recreational spaces and streets readily accessible to all Mattapan residents and residents of surrounding communities.

Maverick Landing Community Services, Inc.: A $15,000 grant to Maverick Landing Community Services, Inc., which enhances the lives of children, youth, and families in East Boston, to support its capacity building for sustainability efforts.

Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity, Inc. (METCO): A $25,000 grant to Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO), Inc., to support the METCO Moves into Action strategic planning efforts.

National Organization on Disability: A $20,000 grant to the National Organization on Disability, which promotes the full participation of people with disabilities in all aspects of life, to support its Campus to Careers: Jobs for Students with Disabilities project.

Piers Park Sailing Center, Inc.: A $20,000 grant to Piers Park Sailing Center, Inc., a community sailing center for people of all ages and abilities on Boston Harbor, for the Inclusive Youth Development program.

Political Asylum Immigration Representation Project, Inc.: A $30,000 support grant to Political Asylum Immigration Representation Project Inc., which provides free legal services to asylum seekers and promotes the rights of detained immigrants.

Science Club for Girls: A $25,000 grant to Science Club for Girls, an organization that provides mentorship for girls in underrepresented communities interested in STEM fields.

Team IMPACT: A $15,000 grant to Team IMPACT, which connects children facing serious and chronic illnesses with local college athletic teams, to support the Team IMPACT Technology Initiative.

Union Capital, Inc.: A $35,000 grant to Union Capital Boston, which transforms social capital into opportunity by rewarding community engagement, for the evaluation of its Network Nights model.

Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry – Roxbury: A $15,000 grant to Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry to support program evaluation for Roxbury Youth Program and the Renewal House and Believe in Success programs serving domestic violence survivors.

Veterans Legal Services: A $20,000 grant to Veterans Legal Services, an organization that promotes the self-sufficiency, stability and financial security of low-income, homeless and at-risk veterans through free and accessible legal services.

Welcome Project, Inc.: A $35,000 grant to the Welcome Project, Inc., which builds the collective power of immigrants to participate in and shape community decisions through programming for youth and adults that develops leadership skills, builds civic engagement, and strengthens immigrant voices across the city.

YMCA of Greater Boston: A $40,000 grant to YMCA of Greater Boston, an organization dedicated to improving the health of mind, body and spirit of individuals and families in its communities, to support health and wellness programs for seniors at its Wang YMCA facility in Chinatown.

Zumix, Inc.: A $25,000 grant to Zumix, Inc., which builds community through music and creative technology, to support its Creative Media & Technology Programs.

Boston Foundation Grassroots Fund

A small grants program that supports program activities that might include, but are not limited to, community events and celebrations, pilot or demonstration projects, conferences and convenings, and small programs that mirror those funded by discretionary grants, but which lack sufficient scale to be eligible or competitive. Grants released in the past quarter totaled $335,000. Selected grants over $3,000 included:

African Community Economic Development of New England
$5,000: For the Girls Leadership Development Project

Black Economic Justice Institute
$7,500: For the Black Market Dudley capacity building effort

Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center
$7,500: For Boston’s First API Arts Network

Boston Police Athletic League, Inc.
$3,000: For the Boston Police Department B-3 Annual Community Harbor Cruise

Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, Inc.
$10,000: For support of the Mattapan Teen Center

Feminine Empowerment Movement Slam
$3,700: For support of the FEMS Grand Slam Poetry Festival

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice, Inc.
$10,000: For support of Family Reunification work in response to the 2018 border crisis

Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers, Inc.
$5,000: For support of the Supreme Team cookout event

Mattapan’s Finest Back to School First Cut
$5,000: For the free Cut and Curl back to school event

The Resilient Sisterhood Project
$10,000: For support of the Racial Biases in Reproductive Health and Pregnancy in Black Women project

Union Capital Boston, Inc.
$10,000: For support of Grove Hall Nights

Other between-cycles and special fund grants acknowledged by the Board included:

University of Massachusetts-Boston
$15,000: To support the Changing Face of Greater Boston research project

Friends of the Boston Schoolyards
$27,024: To support the work of the former Boston Schoolyard Funders Collaborative, to maintain BPS schoolyards

Boston Public Library Foundation, Inc.
$50,000: For the Executive Director Search for the new Boston Public Library Fund

Innovation Network for Communities
$25,000: For the Boston Green Ribbon Commission and the Climate Ready Boston Initiative

Stop Handgun Violence, Inc.
$50,000: To onboard new leadership to assist with operations

Grants previously shared publicly in Boston Foundation-sponsored announcements:

The Board of Directors also acknowledged a number of grants paid out during the quarter that were previously announced by the Foundation in other grant announcements, including:

My Summer in the City grants: $327,000
Massachusetts United for Puerto Rico grants: $541,500
Next Steps for Boston Dance grants: $25,000
Out of the Blue grants: $50,000
Social Innovation Fund and Success Boston grants: $621,507