Boston Foundation awards $425,000 to Massachusetts Immigrant Collaborative

Boston – The Boston Foundation today announced it was making a $425,000 grant to the Massachusetts Immigrant Collaborative, to be distributed to ten organizations working to meet the needs of immigrant communities in cities and towns in the immediate vicinity of Boston.

“Immigrant-led and -supporting organizations are carrying an especially heavy burden in the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Orlando Watkins, Vice President for Programs at the Boston Foundation. “This grant complements funding being made by the Boston Resiliency Fund, and helps ensure that our nonprofit partners outside Boston have the general operating support they need to continue their critical services.”

The grant, made to the Rian Immigrant Center as the fiscal sponsor for the Collaborative, was made possible by the Massachusetts COVID-19 Relief Fund. The Fund supports those across the state most impacted by the COVID-19 health crisis, focusing on essential frontline workers and vulnerable populations including the homeless, immigrant populations, people with disabilities, and those facing food insecurity. The Fund works in concert with regional community foundations and nonprofit leaders who partner with local leaders to understand the response and relief landscape, strategically filling in where gaps are pronounced.

The funds will be allocated among ten members of the 13-member Massachusetts Immigrant Collaborative that provide services outside Boston, including:

Rian Immigrant Center (Fiscal Sponsor of the Collaborative)
Agencia Alpha
Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center
Brazilian Workers Center
Caribbean Youth Club
Centro Comunitario de Trabajadores
Centro Presente
ICNA Relief
Immigrant Family Services Institute
Metrowest Worker Center (CASA)

The Boston Foundation also wants to recognize the critical and responsive work being done by the other three members of the Massachusetts Immigrant Collaborative in the city of Boston: The Center for Collaborative Education (BINcA Families), Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, and Sociedad Latina, as well as the work being performed by other nonprofit partners in and outside of Boston to support immigrants and their families in a time of unprecedented crisis for many immigrant communities.

As noted last week in a report sponsored by the Boston Foundation, cities and towns with high levels of immigrants and residents of color, such as Chelsea, Lynn, Lawrence, Everett and Revere, both provide among the highest percentage of frontline workers in essential industries, and have the highest case rates of COVID-19 in the state.