The Boston Foundation announces $1.95 million in COVID-19 Response Fund grants

Boston – The Boston Foundation today announced the distribution of $1.95 million from the COVID-19 Response Fund as part of continuing efforts to ensure a just and equitable recovery from the long-term economic, health and societal ravages of COVID-19 and the underlying inequities it has highlighted. Ten organizations will share $1.5 million in grants; in addition, the Foundation will invest $450,000 in three collaborative efforts to meet long-term needs in housing, community development and the arts.

“With this round of grants, the Foundation continues its commitment to support organizations led by and serving Black, Indigenous and other communities of color that provide critical leadership and resources in Greater Boston,” said Paul S. Grogan, President and CEO of the Boston Foundation. “The second wave of the pandemic has exacerbated the pain for too many people in our communities. It is incumbent on all of us, in philanthropy and beyond, to commit to meet long-term needs and fix the systems that create and sustain inequity.”

As part of the grantmaking process, the COVID-19 Response Fund advisory committee leveraged data to identify the communities in the region that have suffered disproportionately from COVID spread during the pandemic. Data from Boston Indicators and other research partners show this caseload tends to correlate with higher shares of residents of color; crowded, lower-income and non-English speaking households; and higher percentages of workers in “frontline” or “essential” jobs in the pandemic.

“The data makes clear that COVID exacerbates the structural inequities that have been built into our society for decades and longer,” said Orlando Watkins, Vice President for Programs at the Boston Foundation. “These BIPOC-led and BIPOC-serving organizations and their dynamic leaders are taking on these inequities, and we are proud to support their ongoing work.”

The COVID-19 Response Fund is making $150,000, general operating support grants to ten organizations in this round:

Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA)
Boston After School and Beyond
La Colaborativa (formerly Chelsea Collaborative)
Community Action Programs Inner-City, Inc. (CAPIC)
La Comunidad, Inc.
Massachusetts COVID Response Alliance
Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers
Maverick Landing Community Services, Inc.
Violence in Boston
Women Encouraging Empowerment

Full grant and organization descriptions are available at the end of this release.

In addition, the COVID-19 Response Fund is making three grants of $150,000 each, to seed collaborative efforts to address community needs, housing and the needs of arts organizations and artists working to recover from the pandemic.

Housing: A $150,000 grant will help create a new fund to protect housing affordability through and after the COVID-19 pandemic in Greater Boston for BIPOC, immigrant and low-income communities, by intervening in the market and purchasing occupied rental properties. Once established, the independently-managed fund will provide structures for maintaining affordable housing stock through community-owned properties and trusts.

Community Development: A $150,000 grant to Chelsea 2021, a collaborative between the city of Chelsea and donors who seek to provide support to community-led improvement and change amongst its residents. The funding from the Boston Foundation COVID-19 Response Fund will serve as seed funding to support additional investments in efforts to support one of the communities hardest-hit by COVID-19 and its impacts.

Arts: Lastly, the Fund will contribute $150,000 to a partnership between the Boston Foundation, the Barr Foundation and the City of Boston to provide greater support to organizations and efforts that center communities of color, and to use the arts as a lever of economic empowerment in response to the drastic financial impact of COVID-19 on the arts sector. Grants from this fund are expected to be announced later this month.

With the release of these grants, the COVID-19 Response Fund has now made 264 grants totaling roughly $10 million dollars to support the work of Massachusetts nonprofits address the impact of COVID-19 and related inequities. The fund also continues to accept donations. More information and a list of grantees announced since the inception of the Fund is available at TBF.org/covid19fund.

COVID-19 Response Fund Grantee Descriptions

The following are listed by name of the grantee. Each grantee’s main service area for the grant purpose is listed at the end of each description.

Black Economic Council of Massachusetts (BECMA): A $150,000 general operating support grant for Black Economic Council of Massachusetts, the leader of advocating for black small businesses in the state, to work towards a just and equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by pushing for policy and financial support of black and brown businesses impacted by the pandemic.
Regional/Statewide

Boston After School and Beyond: A $150,000 general operating support grant for Boston After School and Beyond, the city’s leader of out-of-school time, to work towards a just and equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by regranting the funds to support learning pods for BIPOC and under-represented students across Boston.
Boston

La Colaborativa (formerly Chelsea Collaborative): A $150,000 general operating support grant for La Colaborativa, a community-based and led initiative advocating for rights of residents in Chelsea, to work towards a just and equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by expanding capacity to provide resources to the community.
Chelsea

Community Action Programs Inner-City, Inc. (CAPIC): A $150,000 general operating support grant for Community Action Programs Inner-City, Inc., a multi-service organization that provides wrap-around programming and resources to residents in Chelsea, to work towards a just and equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by expanding access to emergency resources to their constituents.
Chelsea

La Comunidad, Inc.: A $150,000 general operating support grant for La Comunidad, Inc., a multi-service organization that works to support Latinx residents and immigrants in Everett, to work towards a just and equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by continuing to provide direct services and organizing and advocacy in their community.
Everett

Massachusetts COVID Response Alliance: A $150,000 general operating support grant for Massachusetts COVID Response Alliance, a collective of community-based organizations that advocate for policy change to support BIPOC and under-represented communities in Massachusetts, to work towards a just and equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Statewide/Regional

Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers: A $150,000 general operating support grant for Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, the state Primary Care Association, to work towards a just and equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by providing a framework for support and assistance to health centers and the communities they serve.
Statewide/Regional

Maverick Landing Community Services, Inc.: A $150,000 general operating support grant for Maverick Landing Community Services, a community-based organization working to provide support to underserved residents in East Boston, to work towards a just and equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by expanding direct services such as food distribution and digital access.
East Boston

Violence in Boston: A $150,000 general operating support grant for Violence in Boston, Inc., an organization that works to prevent and reduce the impact of violence, to work towards a just and equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by expanding their Social Impact Center and their Social Impact Teams.
Roxbury, Dorchester, Hyde Park and Mattapan

Women Encouraging Empowerment: A $150,000 general operating support grant for Women Encouraging Empowerment, a grassroots organization working to advance the rights of immigrants, refugees and low-income women in Revere, to work towards a just and equitable recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by expanding direct services such as immigration and ESL classes.
Revere