Arlington Youth Counseling Center Awarded $500K Cummings Grant

ARLINGTON, MA — Arlington Youth Counseling Center (AYCC) is one of 140 local nonprofits to receive grants of $100,000 to $500,000 each through Cummings Foundation’s $25 Million Grant Program.

The organization was chosen from a total of 580 applicants during a competitive review process. It will receive $500,000 over 10 years.

AYCC is a licensed community mental health clinic and the leading provider of outpatient and school-based mental health services for Arlington youth ages 3 to 21 and their families. In 2021, AYCC conducted nearly 8,000 outpatient, school-based, and teletherapy sessions to over 300 children, teens, and adult family members.

“We are honored and deeply grateful to be awarded a $500,000 grant from the Cummings Foundation” AYCC’s Executive Director, Colleen Leger, said in a statement. “This funding comes at a critical time, as we face rising youth mental health challenges and unprecedented demand for child and adolescent mental health services in our community. With a ten-year sustaining grant from Cummings Foundation, AYCC can grow thoughtfully and sustainably in its capacity to support the mental health needs of youth and families in Arlington.”

By supporting general operating costs at AYCC, the 10-year Cummings Grant will help increase timely and equitable access among Arlington youth and families to high-quality, culturally responsive, and affordable mental health services, while also funding community resource support and case management services for Arlington residents with unmet basic needs.

The Cummings $25 Million Grant Program supports Massachusetts nonprofits that are based in and primarily serve Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties. Through this place-based initiative, Cummings Foundation aims to give back in the areas where it owns commercial property. Its buildings are all managed, at no cost to the Foundation, by its affiliate, Cummings Properties. This Woburn-based commercial real estate firm leases and manages 11 million square feet of debt-free space, the majority of which exclusively benefits the Foundation.

“We are so fortunate in greater Boston to have such effective nonprofits, plus a wealth of talented, dedicated professionals and volunteers to run them,” Cummings Foundation executive director Joyce Vyriotes said in a statement. “We are indebted to them for the work they do each day to provide for basic needs, break down barriers to education and health resources, and work toward a more equitable society.”

With the help of about 90 volunteers, the Foundation first identified 140 organizations to receive grants of at least $100,000 each. Among the winners were first-time recipients as well as nonprofits that had previously received Cummings Foundation grants. Forty of this latter group of repeat recipients were then selected to have their grants elevated to 10-year awards ranging from $200,000 to $500,000 each.

“Our volunteers bring diverse backgrounds and perspectives, which is so critical to our grant selection process,” Vyriotes said. “Through this democratized approach to philanthropy, they decide more than half the grants every year.”

This year’s grant recipients represent a wide variety of causes, including food insecurity, immigrant and refugee services, social justice, education, and mental health services. The nonprofits are spread across 45 different cities and towns.

The complete list of 140 grant winners, plus more than 900 previous recipients, is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.