5 Somerville Organizations Awarded 100-500K Cummings Grants

SOMERVILLE, MA — Boston Landmarks Orchestra, Cambridge Health Alliance Foundation, Somerville Community Corporation, Somerville Public Schools, and The Welcome Project are five of 140 local nonprofits to receive grants of $100,000 to $500,000 each through Cummings Foundation's $25 Million Grant Program.

The organizations were chosen from a total of 580 applicants during a competitive review process. They will each receive $100,000 over two to five years, except for Cambridge Health Alliance Foundation, which will receive $500,000 over 10 years.

Here’s how these organizations will use the funding:

• Boston Landmarks Orchestra will use the grant to provide an opportunity for older adults suffering from memory loss and dementia to experience a bit of joy and respite with familiar music.
• Cambridge Health Alliance Foundation will use the grant to develop a Career Pathways Program for immigrant youths and youths of color by providing mentoring, health career exposure, and economic empowerment.
• Somerville Community Corporation will use the grant to provide low-income individuals with job readiness training and financial literacy programming to help them find good local jobs and sustainable financial security.
• Somerville Public Schools will use the grant to provide differently abled students with adaptive physical education opportunities as well as social/emotional skill development through adventure-based education programming.
• The Welcome Project will use the grant to build an economic development program that will help immigrant-owned businesses succeed by helping owners to develop a business plan and providing mentoring and technical assistance.

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.