More than $875,000 in Boston Resiliency Fund grants awarded to 19 organizations

Mayor Martin J. Walsh and the Boston Resiliency Fund Steering Committee today announced over $875,000 in grant funding from the Boston Resiliency Fund that will support 19 organizations working to help individuals most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the first round of fund distribution, the Fund has raised over $30.8 million from 6,000 donors. The Fund has now contributed $18.5 million to 214 organizations in total. Altogether, forty-three percent of grantee organizations are led by a person of color and 60 percent of grantee organizations are led by a woman. 

Overall, $9 million has been granted to provide Boston's children, families, and seniors with access to food and other basic needs, $7 million has been granted to expand the capacity of healthcare systems to serve those who are particularly vulnerable and have complex needs and provide childcare, food, and additional supports for healthcare and front-line workers, and $2 million has been granted to support remote learning technology for Boston students. 

"The Boston Resiliency Fund has been a lifeline for many organizations that are doing good work in our communities to serve our residents and meet their needs," said Mayor Walsh. "I am proud of the collective generosity of the people and organizations of Boston who have contributed in such a big way to helping their neighbors."

This round's grantees are neighborhood-based organizations working to support elders who are housebound, homeless or previously homeless individuals, youth and children, mental health, and food access. Of the organizations funded in this round, 58 percent are led by a person of color and 58 percent are led by women. 

"Elevate Boston, along with our community partners, is helping coordinate efforts to provide essential services to Boston's most vulnerable families impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. We are focused on mitigating food insecurity, providing basic needs and critical information for Boston's children, seniors and families," said Frank Farrow, Executive Director of Elevate Boston. "We are grateful that with the support of the Boston Resiliency Fund, we will be able to continue this work and meet the needs of our community."

"This support from the Boston Resiliency Fund is critical. As testing expands, we also have to continue to expand support services, especially to those that have COVID19," said Lee Metsuda, Co-Executive Director of Community Labor United. 

The grants awarded today range in size and will support the goals outlined by the Boston Resiliency Fund: 

Assistance to housebound seniors:

Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation: Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation is sourcing and delivering culturally appropriate foods -- including fresh produce and shelf-stable ingredients -- and essential supply deliveries to 60 vulnerable households weekly.

Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center Inc.: Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center is one of two Meals on Wheels providers in Boston. This funding will allow them to continue preparing and delivering 3,400 daily meals to seniors in all neighborhoods in Boston and provide needed sanitation and personal protection supplies. 

Support for homeless or previously homeless individuals: 

Caritas Communities: Caritas Communities owns and manages 33 properties that provide safe, permanent housing to very low-income individuals. This grant will support food assistance for vulnerable residents and additional professional cleanings to ensure that shared bathrooms, kitchens and common areas remain clean and safe. 

The Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless: The Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless (MCH) will work with Procter & Gamble (P&G) to make hand sanitizer available to every homeless shelter in Boston.

Y2Y Network: Y2Y Harvard Square serves youth and young adults experiencing homelessness in Boston. In response to the pandemic, Y2Y has increased staffing, hired professional cleaners who deep clean the shelter each morning, outsourced laundry services and food preparation, and installed handwashing stations.

Ensure food access citywide:

Lovin' Spoonfuls: Lovin' Spoonfuls will continue to rescue and distribute more than 120,000 pounds of food to 56 nonprofit partners, such as food pantries, in Boston. 

Funding for expanded mental health capacity:

Brookview: Brookview will expand its mental health services to serve families in their residential and community programs. Brookview serves women and children disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, such as homeless families and domestic violence survivors who may be feeling more anxious, afraid, depressed. In addition, this grant will provide financial assistance to support basic needs. 

De Novo Center for Justice and Healing: This grant would allow De Novo to retain a clinical social worker to provide free mental health services for low-income members of our community who are struggling to cope with the effects of COVID-19 and a fund for financial assistance to clients who have been hardest hit by the crisis, helping them to secure food and other basic necessities.

Support for youth, families and children:

Boston Asian: Youth Essential Service: Boston Asian: Youth Essential Service will provide gift cards, financial assistance, and information to under-resourced and vulnerable agency clients -- youth, young adults, and their families -- so they can purchase food, groceries, toiletries, hygiene products, and other basic necessities.

Center for Teen Empowerment: Center for Teen Empowerment will provide grocery gift cards and financial assistance as needed for the low-income families they work with. They also will use a small portion to continue our online events and initiatives for youth around mental wellness and violence prevention.

East Boston Neighborhood Health Center: East Boston Neighborhood Health Center will provide infant vaccinations, prescription drop-offs, and need-based deliveries of diapers, baby wipes, and formula to the East Boston community. Delivery essentials will be supplemented with grocery store gift cards.

Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC): JPNDC will purchase grocery store gift cards for families in their Family Prosperity and Childcare Services who have lost employment and are in need of food.

St. Stephen's Youth Programs: St. Stephen's Youth Programs will use this funding to continue their Thursday distributions of food and financial assistance to families through "B-LOVE Bundles" consisting of beans, rice, pasta, dried fruit, toilet paper, paper towels, personal hygiene products, crayons, games, chalk and books.

Funding for community, neighborhood-based organizations:

African Community Economic Development of New England (ACEDONE): ACEDONE aims will secure and deliver halaal breakfast on Eid-Al-Fitr for Muslim Families in Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Dorchester and neighboring areas.

Boston Missionary Baptist Community Center Inc.: The Boston Missionary Baptist Community Center will expand staff and outreach at their food pantry to increase food distribution for the Haitian community. They will also bring a mobile food pantry van to different church sites in Dorchester, Mattapan and Roxbury. 

Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation (CSNDC): CSNDC will use the funds to support their low/moderate income tenants who have been identified through a survey of constituents. CSNDC will purchase gift cards for groceries and related essential expenses for residents to meet their essential and immediate needs.

Community Labor United: Community Labor United (CLU) will work with its partner organizations in the Asian American, Latinx, and black communities in East Boston, Chinatown, Mattapan, Dorchester, Roxbury and beyond to support families of color who have been impacted directly by COVID-19. CLU will work with a network of 9 other organizations including Alternatives for Community and Environment, Asian American Resource Workshop, Brazilian Worker Center, Center for Cooperative Development and Solidarity, Chinese Progressive Association, City Life / Vida Urbana Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health, New England United for Justice, Vietnamese American Initiative for Development. 

Elevate Boston: Elevate Boston is coordinating efforts to provide essential services for the most vulnerable residents impacted by the pandemic. They are focused on distribution of groceries, hot meals, PPE, and toiletries and have supported over 12,000 Boston children, seniors and families. In addition, they are also providing stipends to drivers and volunteers to distribute these supplies and have already distributed over 5,500 resource and information packets. This grant will continue supporting their work. 

IPC Irish Pastoral Centre: Irish Pastoral Centre will work with seniors, mothers, and immigrant families in Dorchester, Allston-Brighton and West Roxbury and provide emergency relief through grocery store gift cards, crisis counseling and financial assistance.

The Fund is still accepting donations from individuals, organizations and philanthropic partners who wish to contribute and offer their support. All of the donations will be awarded to local organizations, with the majority of future grants to be made through the end of May. Organizations are encouraged to complete a statement of interest to be considered for future grants. 

As the effects of the coronavirus pandemic are quickly evolving and potentially long-lasting, the City and the Steering Committee will work closely with non-profit partners and service providers to understand how their needs will change. As a result, the priorities of the fund may change as the needs of Boston residents evolve.

The Boston Resiliency Fund exists within the Boston Charitable Trust, an existing 501(c)(3) designated trust fund managed by the City of Boston's Treasury Department. For more information on how to make a donation, please visit: boston.gov/resiliency-fund. For general inquiries, please emailbrf@boston.gov.