The Boston Foundation announces more than $2.1 million in grants

Boston – The Boston Foundation today announced $2,133,791 in grants to 15 organizations in its first quarterly grants dockets of the 2023 fiscal year. The grants come as the Foundation continues the development and implementation of Our New Pathway, the strategic framework announced in 2022.

The biggest investments in the dockets advanced the Foundation’s work in support of early education and health care programs. Two grants, a two-year grant to Massachusetts General Hospital – Chelsea HealthCare Center ($485,000) and a one-year grant to ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families ($300,000), support the continuation and expansion of Healthy Steps after a successful implementation at MGH Chelsea HealthCare Center. Research has shown that the program, which partners health care and child development specialists in support of families with children aged 0-3, can improve health outcomes for parents and children alike.

In addition, a three-year grant totaling $373,791 to Boston Medical Center - Vital Village Networks will allow for Vital Village Networks, a collaborative of medical professionals, community residents, and community-based organizations acting synergistically to improve the well-being of children and families throughout Boston, to serve as the lead organization in a new cross-sector coalition to improve birth equity and improve health outcomes for birthing parents and children.

“These grants provide for the ongoing support of work by our critical partners in areas such as housing, the arts, and early childhood and family health,” said M. Lee Pelton, President and CEO of the Boston Foundation. “They are exciting and important developments on their own, and they are building blocks upon which we will expand and advance our work in the rest of this year and beyond.”

The combined dockets are listed below:

Arts and Culture:

Dunamis, Inc.: A $50,000 general operating support grant to Dunamis, Inc., an art services organization for emerging artists and arts-managers of color, providing professional development, community-building, consultation, production, and advocacy, all while developing equitable pipelines for access and leadership in creative spaces.

MASSCreative, Inc.: A $75,000 general operating support grant to MASSCreative, Inc., the only statewide arts and cultural advocacy organization in Massachusetts that works with its organizational and individual members to advance public policy, grassroots advocacy learning, and cross-sector alliances. This grant will allow the organization to continue its advocacy and organizing efforts, including a second year of their Create the Vote Fellowship, a piloted 12-month learning community for local and regional arts and cultural organizers.

Education: College Completion:

Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute: A $50,000 project support grant to the Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology for a Success Boston Liaison to provide support to Success Boston coaches and students on their campus.

Bunker Hill Community College Foundation, Inc.: A $50,000 project support grant to the Bunker Hill Community College Foundation, Inc. for a Success Boston Liaison to provide support to Success Boston coaches and students on the Bunker Hill Community College campus.

Roxbury Community College: A $25,000 project support grant to Roxbury Community College for a Success Boston Liaison to provide support for Success Boston coaches and students.

University of Massachusetts-Boston: A $50,000 project support grant payable to the University of Massachusetts Foundation, Inc. for a Success Boston Liaison to provide support for Success Boston coaches and students at the university.

Education: Early Childhood

Boston Medical Center-Vital Village Networks: A $373,791 grant to be paid in three annual installments to Boston Medical Center Corporation for the Vital Village Networks, a collaborative of medical professionals, community residents, and community-based organizations acting synergistically to improve the well-being of children and families throughout Boston over the past decade, to serve as a backbone organization and lead the development and sustainability of a community-led cross-sector coalition that advances birth equity and improves child and maternal health outcomes.

Massachusetts General Hospital: A $485,000, two-year project support grant payable to Massachusetts General Hospital – Chelsea HealthCare Center, an agency which provides healthcare services to Chelsea’s young children and their families, to continue the Healthy Steps program at the Chelsea HealthCare Center.

ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families: A $300,000 project support grant to Zero to Three, the national host organization for Healthy Steps, an evidence-based primary care program that promotes the health, well-being and school readiness of young children, to sustain Healthy Steps at current Greater Boston sites and expand it to Boston Children's Hospital sites.

Jobs and Economic Development:

SkillWorks: A $350,000 general operating support grant to the Boston Foundation for general operating support for SkillWorks, an initiative that targets the Boston region’s skill gaps and systemic challenges by expanding employer engagement in healthcare, information technology/technology, and hospitality in order to aggregate better labor market intelligence to inform training programs in the region.

Neighborhoods and Housing:

Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association, Inc.:  A $100,000 general operating support grant to Citizens' Housing and Planning Association, Inc., an agency that encourages the production and preservation of housing that is affordable to low- and moderate-income families and individuals and to foster diverse and sustainable communities through planning and community development.

Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, Inc.: A $100,000 general operating support grant to Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, Inc., an agency that educates and mobilizes to increase affordable homeownership opportunities, break down barriers facing first-time and first-generation homebuyers, and close the racial wealth and homeownership gaps.

Action for Equity:  A $50,000 grant to Action for Equity, an organization that is working for all people to have quality housing, good jobs and job access, environmental quality, and transportation access, among other things, as steps toward the society we want. This grant will support Action for Equity's advocacy and proliferation of Special Protection Zones that safeguard against residential displacement.

Compass Working Capital:  A $50,000 grant for Compass Working Capital, an organization that provides savings and financial coaching programs that support families with low incomes to build assets, achieve their financial goals, and become financially secure for their leadership in enrolling BHA families in the Family Self Sufficiency program.

Social Justice Ecology:

Massachusetts Voter Table: A $25,000 general operating support grant payable to TSNE for Massachusetts Voter Table, an organization focused on building power and giving a voice to working-class people, new citizens, youth, and people of color, to advance civic engagement and voter participation efforts for the 2022 Mid-Term Elections and the 2023 local municipal elections, and set legislative goals to support a collective agenda for racial and economic justice.