Boston Foundation announces nearly $3.7 million in grants to Greater Boston organizations

Boston – The Boston Foundation is pleased to announce its quarterly discretionary grants after a meeting of the Foundation’s Board of Directors earlier this week. The Board approved $2,006,000 in single and multi-year discretionary grants to 22 organizations, as well as another $1,020,988 in grants through the Open Door Grants program, and also acknowledged $654,000 in grants paid out between-cycles through other discretionary programs of the Foundation.

"We are again pleased to be able to support dozens of organizations through both our strategic grantmaking and through the Open Door grants program,” said Paul S. Grogan, President and CEO of the Boston Foundation. “Our grantees this quarter are both large and small organizations, serving critical roles across Greater Boston and helping those in need from the youngest children to our oldest residents.”

This quarter’s grants also underscore the importance that the Foundation places in investing in research and organizational development to better address the needs of the community. The largest grant on the docket, a two-year, $300,000 grant to the T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard University, will support the development of an assessment that will address racial disparities in pregnancy and postpartum health. The Foundation is also committing $200,000 over two years to the University of Massachusetts Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation to strengthen entrepreneurial leadership within the early care and education workforce.

Other health related grants, such as a $150,000, two-year grant to Sportsmen’s Tennis and Enrichment Center, a $116,000 grant to Tufts University in support of the ChildObesity180 initiative, and a $200,000, 2-year grant to Health Care for All, demonstrate a continued commitment to support community-based health efforts, including those focused on reducing childhood obesity and improving community health.

The Foundation is also pleased to announce a significant investment in the Boston’s Way Home program, the City of Boston-led effort to end chronic homelessness, particularly among veterans. The Foundation is making a $150,000 grant to Pine Street Inn in support of Boston’s Way Home.

Open Door Grants

The Foundation is pleased to announce grants to 43 organizations totaling over $1.02 million in a new round of grants from the Open Door Grants program. The Boston Foundation has committed $2 million per year in recent years for this program, which provides an “open door” for organizations that may not fit within our strategic grantmaking framework to apply for and receive funding.

Grants from the program can range up to $50,000. Grantees come from across the city and throughout the Greater Boston region. Human services, youth development and education-related organizations made up the largest proportions of grants in this cycle, in which more than 200 organizations applied for grants.

Applications for the Fall 2019 cycle of the program are due by August 1 – more information is available at http://tbf.org/ODG

A full list of quarterly discretionary grants is below, separated by strategy area. It is followed by a list of Open Door Grants, sorted by grantee name.

DISCRETIONARY GRANTS:

Education: Structural Reform

Center for Artistry and Scholarship:  A $25,000 one-year project support grant to the Center for Artistry and Scholarship, an organization that develops and supports innovative and tenacious leaders in education, for the Perrone-Sizer Institute.

Education Reform Now: A $50,000 one-year project support grant to Education Reform Now, for Informing Massachusetts Policymakers on Education Policy & Reform: Education Issue Primer.

 

Education: College Completion

The BASE: A $100,000 one-year project support grant for their Academic and Career Institute programming to increase students' college success.

Inversant: A $50,000 one-year project support to support, promote, and advance Inversant’s Children’s Savings Accounts (CSA) program and deepen its partnerships in Boston.

MassINC: A $100,000 one-year project support grant to MassINC to support research on community college graduates’ workforce outcomes, using data from the newly connected state education and labor market data systems.

Steppingstone Foundation: A $75,000 one-year general operating support grant to the Steppingstone Foundation, an agency that provides advising and support for students in the Boston area.

 

Education: Early Childhood

United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, Inc.: A $50,000 one-year program support grant to the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, Inc., for its Shared Services of Massachusetts: Boston Alliance, which will support home- and center-based child care programs.

University of Massachusetts Foundation-Institute for Early Education Leadership & Innovation: A $200,000 two-year program support grant to the Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation, whose mission is to close the opportunity gap for young children across America by mobilizing entrepreneurial leadership within the early care and education workforce.

Health and Wellness

American Heart Association:  A $45,000 one-year project support grant to American Heart Association, to support the Northeast Health Equity Consortium (NHEC) Baraka Leadership Fellow to create a long-lasting legacy of health and wellness through mentorship and community service.

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: A $300,000 two-year project support grant to Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, to support the development of an assessment that will address racial/ethnic disparities in pregnancy and postpartum health.

Health Care for All: A $200,000 two-year project support grant to Health Care For All, to support the MassHealth Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and Community-Based Organizations project to assess the progress of ACOs' work to address patients health-related social needs.

Health Resources in Action:  A $50,000 one-year project support grant to Health Resources in Action, an organization that provides grantmaking, research/evaluation and capacity building services to health-oriented nonprofit, philanthropic and government agencies, to support the Healthy Boston Network project to work towards addressing health disparities in Boston.

Sportsmen’s Tennis and Enrichment Center: A $150,000 two-year general operating support grant to Sportsmen’s Tennis and Enrichment Center (STEC), an organization that works to build leaders by providing academic, wellness and social development programs alongside recreational and competitive tennis instruction for youth and adults, to support “Center for Community Wellness and Match Point”, programs that provide wellness for youth and adults.

Tufts University – ChildObesity180: A $116,000 one-year project support grant payable to Trustees of Tufts College for ChildObesity180, an organization that caters to preventing childhood obesity and promoting physical activity in school, to support their commissioned research to evaluate Boston Foundation-funded school-based youth physical-activity programs.

 

Neighborhoods and Housing

Boston Tenant Coalition: A $40,000 one-year general operating support grant to the Boston Tenant Coalition, Inc., a coalition of grassroots tenant neighborhood groups, to support their campaigns that promote affordable housing in Boston.

Greater Four Corners Action Coalition: A $30,000 one-year general operating support grant to the Greater Four Corners Action Coalition, Inc., a nonprofit that organizes residents of Dorchester, to support their transit equity work.

GreenRoots Inc.: A $50,000 one-year project support grant to GreenRoots Inc., an organization dedicated to improving and enhancing the urban environment and health in Chelsea, to support the organization’s anti-displacement roundtables.

Project R.I.G.H.T.: A $50,000 one-year general operating support grant to Project R.I.G.H.T, an organization that empowers neighborhood residents and youth development, to support their transit equity work.

 

Other/Unaligned Grants

Family Independence Initiative (FII): A $100,000 one-year grant for support of the DTA Pilot, a public-private collaboration between the state of Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA), the City of Boston and Family Independence Initiative that will launch a systems reform research and learning pilot that will seek to effect DTA policy reform to promote economic mobility and security.

Pine Street Inn, Inc.: A $150,000 one-year grant payable to Pine Street Inn, Inc. for support of the Boston's Way Home program, the City of Boston's plan to end veteran and chronic homelessness.

 

Summer Initiatives

Camp Harbor View Foundation: A $50,000 general operating support grant to Camp Harbor View, an organization that seeks to provide an environment in which young adolescents from many of Boston's at-risk neighborhoods can experience fun, friendship, new exposures and mentoring opportunities offered by a caring and experienced staff.

Philanthropy Massachusetts Summer Fund: A $25,000 project support grant to Philanthropy Massachusetts, for support of its Summer Fund program, which seeks to ensure that underserved and at-risk youth have access to quality summer enrichment opportunities, regardless of racial, ethnic or socio-economic backgrounds.

 

Open Door Grants:

All in Energy, Inc.: A $22,000 general operating support grant to All in Energy, an organization helping underserved residents (historically renters, low-to moderate-income households, people whose primary language is not English, and people of color) gain access to public energy-saving and renewable energy programs that save them money.

Backyard Growers, Inc.: A $25,000 project support grant to Backyard Growers, to provide support to engage older adults in gardening and healthy eating programs to increase their access to affordable produce, increase vegetable consumption, decrease social isolation, create opportunities for physical activity, support independent living, and improve overall well-being.

Bay Cove Human Services, Inc.: A $25,000 project support grant to Bay Cove Human Services, Inc., an organization that provides individualized services for people with developmental disabilities, mental illness, aging-related needs and/or substance abuse to overcome challenges and realize personal potential, for the Bay Cove Early Intervention and Small Wonders Nursery School.

Boston Arts Academy: A $10,000 general operating support grant to Boston Arts Academy, the city’s only public high school for the visual and performing arts.

Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center: A $49,579 project support grant to Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, to provide support for the Senior Arts Initiative which engages older constituents at BCNC’s Pao Arts Center in developing age-friendly programming.

Boston College - Joseph E. Corcoran Center for Real Estate and Urban Action: A $15,000 project support grant to Boston College on behalf of the Joseph E. Corcoran Center for Real Estate and Urban Action at the Carroll School of Management, to strengthen clinical, academic and service learning connections between Boston College and Mattapan.

Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program: A $40,000 project support grant to Boston Health Care for the Homeless, for their Women's Health Initiative, a project designed to remove the barriers that homeless women face in accessing much-needed healthcare.

Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, Inc.: A $10,000 project support grant to Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, Inc., to provide support for YouthConnect, comprehensive clinical supports and interventions for police-involved youth and their families.

Boys and Girls Club of Dorchester, Inc.: A $15,000 project support grant to Boys and Girls Clubs of Dorchester, to provide support for Project BIND (Boston Inclusion Network for Disabilities) which reaches out to youth with disabilities and brings them into a supportive environment dedicated to celebrating their strengths.

Boys and Girls Club of Stoneham, Inc.: A $15,000 project support grant to Boys and Girls Club of Stoneham, to implement the FamilyPLUS (Parents Leading Uniting Serving) program which provides child care education for extended family that are primary caregivers.

Center for Teen Empowerment, Inc.: A $25,000 general operating support grant to Center for Teen Empowerment, Inc., an organization that employs, trains, and empowers youth to, in collaboration with adults, create peace, equity, and justice.

Centerboard, Inc.: A $12,100 project support grant to Centerboard, Inc., an organization that supports families and young people through housing, access to employment and education, and financial empowerment, to support We Rise (formerly Marissa's Hope), a Commercial Sexual Exploitation Outreach Program which prevents commercial sexual exploitation and provides emergency intervention for victims.

Chica Project: A $30,000 general operating support grant for the Chica Project, an organization that closes the opportunity gap for Latinas and other Women of Color by empowering them with the skills, confidence, and networks necessary to thrive personally and professionally

Community Day Center of Waltham, Inc.: A $30,000 project support grant to Community Day Center of Waltham, Inc., an organization that provides day shelter and support services to adults who are experiencing homelessness, to provide support for case management of chronically homeless adults in Metro-West.

Fenway Community Health Center, Inc.: A $40,000 project support grant to Fenway Community Health Center, to expand support for its new LGBTQ-targeted Violence Recovery Program that serves survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and anti-LGBTQ bias or police misconduct.

Friends of the Children-Boston: A $20,000 project support grant to Friends of the Children - Boston, an organization that creates generational change by engaging children from high-risk communities in twelve and a half years of transformative mentoring relationships to support the One Child at a Time expansion.

Generations Incorporated: A $10,000 general operating support grant to Generations Incorporated, an organization that improves the literacy skills of young children through Grade 3 by engaging professionally trained older adult volunteers as literacy coaches in our partner schools and after-school programs.

Home for Little Wanderers: A $40,000 project support grant to Home for Little Wanderers, for the permanency initiative, to establish a permanent connection between youth and caring, responsible adults.

Institute for Pan African Cultural Education, Inc.: A $20,000 general operating support grant to the Institute for Pan African Cultural Education, a non-profit that aims to encourage young people to achieve by recognizing the value of education, and by embracing their cultural heritage as people of African descent throughout the Diaspora.

Junior Achievement of Northern New England, Inc.: A $10,000 project support grant to Junior Achievement of Northern New England Inc., to expand youth entrepreneurship opportunities.

Kids in Need of Defense (KIND): A $20,000 general operating support grant to Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), which serves as the leading organization in Boston for the protection of children who enter the U.S. immigration system alone and strives to ensure that no such child appears in immigration court without representation.

La Comunidad, Inc.: A $15,000 general operating support grant to La Comunidad, Inc., an immigrant-led organization that provides community organizing, ESOL education and legal support to Everett residents.

Louis D. Brown Peace Institute: A $30,000 general operating support grant to Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, an organization that is a center of healing, teaching, and learning for families and communities impacted by murder, trauma, grief, and loss.

Lucy's Love Bus Charitable Trust: A $25,000 project support grant to Lucy's Love Bus Charitable Trust, an organization that provides integrative therapies to child cancer patients, to support music therapy and meditation for patients of The Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center.

Mass Leap: A $20,000 general operating support grant to Mass Leap, an organization that builds spaces for youth to experience the transformative power of their own voices.

Massachusetts Advocates for Children, Inc.: A $40,000 general operating support grant to Massachusetts Advocates for Children, an organization that removes barriers to educational and life opportunities for children and youth.

MetroWest Legal Services: A $24,309 project support grant to MetroWest Legal Services, an organization that provides free legal advocacy in civil cases to protect and advance the rights of the poor, elderly, disabled, homeless and other disenfranchised individuals and families in our service area so they may obtain legal, social and economic justice, to provide support for the Senior Citizens Legal Project.

Mission Continues: A $10,000 project support grant to Mission Continues, an organization that provides veterans with a continued outlet for service, for community service projects to support homeless families and youth in Boston.

Museum of Science:A $15,000 project support grant to Museum of Science, to offer group visits for children living in residential facilities and shelters.            

North Shore Workers Community Fund, Inc.: A $20,000 general operating support to North Shore Workers Community Fund, Inc., an organization that organizes all sectors of working class people in their region into a unified, permanent, political and economic force that is union and non-union; employed, underemployed, and unemployed; and that transcends racial, linguistic, ethnic, citizenship, faith, and gender boundaries.

On the Rise, Inc.: A $35,000 project support grant to On the Rise, Inc., an organization that creates a community where women have the relationships, safety and resources they need to move out of homelessness, to support the Keep The Keys Program.

Parenting Journey, the Family Center, Inc.: A $20,000 general operating support grant to Parenting Journey, the Family Center, Inc., an organization that creates safer, more resilient families by supporting them in developing the inner strengths, life skills, and networks of resources they need to succeed.

Pass It On, Inc.: A $10,000 general operating support grant to Pass It On, Inc., an organization that provides recycled durable medical equipment to children and their families/caregivers who do not have the means to acquire it to improve the quality of life of children with disabilities.

Quincy Asian Resources: A $40,000 project support grant to Quincy Asian Resources, an organization that fosters and improves the social, cultural, economic and civic lives of Asian Americans and their families to the benefit of Quincy and neighboring communities, to support Family and Community Services.

Racines Black Dance: A $15,000 project support grant to Racines Black Dance, an organization that works to elevate the visibility, impact, and accessibility of Black Dance Styles in the greater Boston Area, for the 2019 Racines Black Dance Festival.

Rebuilding Together Boston, Inc.: A $25,000 project support grant to Rebuilding Together Boston, Inc., to support the Safe at Home Program to keep 25 low-income senior homeowners in Boston safely and independently in their own homes and communities for as long as possible.

Silver Lining Mentoring: A $50,000 general operating support grant to Silver Lining Mentoring, an organization that empowers foster youth in Greater Boston to thrive through committed mentoring relationships and the development of essential life skills.

Summer Search: A $10,000 project support grant to Summer Search, an organization that creates greater equity by increasing the number of students from low-income backgrounds who successfully enter and complete college, to support the redesign of Summer Search Boston’s post-secondary programs to achieve a broader set of outcomes for young people.

TheatreZone, Inc.: A $45,000 project support grant to TheatreZone, Inc., dba Apollinaire Theatre Company, an organization that brings new voices into the Boston theatre scene, for its Resident Artist Program.

Tunefoolery Music, Inc.: A $10,000 general operating support grant to Tunefoolery Music, Inc., an organization that uses music-making and community-building to provide individuals in mental health recovery with opportunities for hope, healing, empowerment, employment, self-reliance and socializing, while eliminating the stigma associated with mental illness.

United Nations Association of Greater Boston: A $36,000 project support grant to United Nations Association of Greater Boston, an organization that equips students with the skills to be global thinkers and local leaders, to provide support for its Model UN in Underserved Communities program.

University of Massachusetts Foundation, Inc.: A $20,000 project support grant to University of Massachusetts Foundation, Inc. on behalf of the Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration, to support the extension of the MA Prisoner Pre-release Re-Entry Mediation Pilot.

X-Cel, Inc.: A $22,000 project support grant to X-Cel, Inc., an organization that improves economic opportunity in underserved Greater Boston neighborhoods through free high school equivalency education, post-secondary preparation and career readiness development, to support their new Building Financial Security Initiative that aims to close the racial wealth gap in Boston.

Selected other grants of over $5,000:

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 $107,000. Selected grants over $3,000 included:

Boston Collaborative
$7,500: For capacity building efforts

Everyday Boston, Inc.
$10,000: For general operating support

Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
$6,450: To enable two leaders of color to attend the City to City trip

Louis D. Brown Peace Institute
$5,000: For the Mother’s Day Walk for Peace

Twelfth Baptist Church.
$10,000: As fiscal Sponsor for Sustained Shutdown Boston

United South End Settlements
$10,000: For the Change Maker Series: Honoring the Legacy of Harriet Tubman

United Teen Equality Center, Inc.
$25,000: For the UTEC Center for Excellence

Young People's Project, Inc.
$5,000: For Math Talk for Cityscapes to Mathscapes Project

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

Now and There, Inc.
$113,000: For a community engagement process at Upham's Corner

Action for Boston Community Development, Inc.
$20,000: For the supplemental fuel assistance program

City of Boston
$25,000: For the Boston City Council's Professional Development Fund

Interfaith Social Services, Inc.
$18,000: For the food pantry

Lynn Economic Opportunity, Inc.
$15,000: For the Fuel Assistance Program

National Consumer Law Center, Inc.
$15,000: For Project Stay Connected

Project Bread-The Walk for Hunger, Inc.
$10,000: For the FoodSource Hotline

Quincy Community Action Programs
$10,000: For the Fuel Assistance Program

Rosie's Place, Inc.
$15,000: For food programs for the poor, homeless women and children

Saint Francis House, Inc.
$10,000: For the Saint Francis House Refuge Services Program

Victory Programs, Inc.
$20,000: For the Boston Living Center's Nutrition and Meals Program

Women's Lunch Place, Inc.
$15,000: For general operating support

Boston Private Industry Council, Inc.
$25,000: For the TechHire Boston consortium

Community Labor United
$70,000: For activities of the Workforce Solutions Group

Year Up, Inc.
$18,750: For expanded alumni advancement and employment placement services

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:

Massachusetts United for Puerto Rico grants: $80,000
Social Innovation Fund grants: $414,397
Live Arts Boston grants: $219,900