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BOSTON
- Friday, September 18, 2020 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh and the Boston
Resiliency Fund Steering Committee today announced the twentieth round of
Boston Resiliency Fund grants, with over $840,000 in new grants awarded to
19 local organizations and nonprofits. Since launching in March to help
Boston residents most affected by COVID-19, the Boston Resiliency Fund has
distributed over $26.3 million to 348 local organizations and nonprofits.
Fifty five percent of grantee organizations are led by a person of color,
58 percent of grantee organizations are led by a woman, and 27 percent of
grantees are immigrant-serving organizations. A map and a list of every
organization that has received funding from the Boston Resiliency Fund can
be found here.
"We
created the Boston Resiliency Fund so that our nonprofit partners could
more quickly and effectively provide outreach and support to our most
vulnerable populations throughout the City of Boston," said Mayor
Walsh. "I am so proud that we have reached this milestone of
distributing grants to organizations providing vital services to
Bostonians. Thank you to all of our partners who have helped showcase the
importance of working together."
The
twentieth round of grants include funding to support culturally competent
food access services through trusted community organizations in for
neighborhoods throughout Boston, wraparound services for students, and
expanded COVID-19 testing at The Dimock Center.
"The
Boston Resiliency Fund's grant will help The Dimock Center expand our
COVID-19 testing staffing and hours to reach more people in our
community," said Raquel Rosenblatt, Chief Development Officer at The
Dimock Center. "The demand for testing at Dimock has more than doubled
in the past month. This generous grant will ensure that we respond to the
significant need in Roxbury as we enter the fall and next phase of the
pandemic. We appreciate the tremendous support of the Boston Resiliency
Fund for Dimock's urgent work over the past six months."
Building Audacity:
Building Audacity will use the grant to offer grocery gift cards, hot lunch
delivery, and a virtual academic recovery program. To ensure fully
supporting
multilingual
student learners and families, Building Audacity will offer academic
recovery sessions and family engagement in multiple languages, including
English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Central Assembly of God Church: Central Assembly of
God Church in East Boston will use the grant to sustain efforts to provide
a twice-weekly distribution of food that gives East Boston community
members access to essential and nutritious foods by combining fresh produce
from a local vendor and food staple items from local sources. This grant
will also help sustain the local business economy by purchasing fresh
produce items from a local community grocer.
Community Caring Clinic:
Community Caring Clinic will use the grant to provide grocery gift cards to
clients, who are mostly frontline workers in essential retail,
transportation and health care, and from the low-income, immigrant, and/or
Islamic communities of Boston.
Company
One: Company One will use the grant to serve the 50-100 diverse
organizations that provide services to BPS schools as partners or in a
support capacity to assist in the transition to online services. All
programming will be offered for free and additional resources, such as
handouts, video training and connections with similar organizations will be
made available to all partner organizations through the BPS Partnership
Office in multiple languages. All digital content will have simultaneous
interpretation and captioning.
DeeDee's Cry Suicide Prevention and
Family Support: DeeDee's Cry will use the grant to provide Amazon
gift cards for basic supplies and groceries through Amazon Fresh to
families or individuals that reside within the communities of Roxbury,
Dorchester and Mattapan, and have fallen behind on rent or bills or lost
wages due to COVID-19.
The Dimock Center: The Dimock Center
started to offer onsite COVID-19 testing to patients in March 2020, and
expanded to community testing in May 2020, thanks to the support of a
Boston Resiliency Fund grant and additional federal funds. This additional
grant will allow them to employ additional staff for testing operations
off-side and expand the hours for testing at the Dimock.
Fair Foods: Fair Foods will use
the funding from Boston Resiliency Fund to increase food access in two ways
for 18 immigrant-serving nonprofits. For 11 of their nonprofit partners,
Fair Foods will supply fresh produce to distribute to individuals at no
cost. The Boston Resiliency Fund grant will also allow Fair Foods to
empower seven of their nonprofit partners with vouchers to distribute to
individuals. Each voucher has the purchasing power of two bags of fresh
produce. Without a voucher, individuals can purchase one bag of fresh
produce for $2, valued originally at $15 to $20. Vouchers can be used at
Fair Foods locations throughout the City of Boston. Locations can be found here.
FUNDO ARCU (Dominican Foundation of Arts
and Culture): FUNDO ARCU will use the BRF grant to support the
Dominican community in the City of Boston by providing gift cards, ethnic
food boxes, laundry baskets and supplies, baby formula and diapers, and
other basic hygiene products.
Haitian
American Public Health Initiatives, Inc: Haitian American Public
Health Initiatives, Inc. (HAPHI) will use the grant to purchase nutritious
food including vegetables, cereal, meats, fish, poultry, and fruits for
Boston residents. Many clients of HAPHI have children with disabilities.
For parents or seniors who are unable to cook, premade meals will be
provided from a local restaurant. HAPHI drivers will provide door to door
delivery of groceries and meals so parents and seniors do not need to leave
their homes.
Hearth, Inc: The Hearth Inc.
will use the grant to purchase 100 grocery gift cards for their clients, as
well as three months of personal protective equipment for direct care staff
and cleaning products for six Hearth-owned sites in Boston.
Louis D. Brown Peace Institute:
The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute (LDBPI) will use this grant to support
Boston's families, children, and seniors with food access through gift
cards and monetary food vouchers for groceries. LDBPI will also provide
programming for critical mental health and behavioral training for Boston's
frontline workers so that they can give essential crisis and trauma
management to the families of Boston who have been impacted by trauma,
grief and loss during the COVID-19 pandemic.
METCO,
Inc.: METCO will use the grant to provide wraparound service
support and referrals to Boston students in the METCO program. A case
manager will meet virtually and individually with each family to evaluate
needs, directly assist with application processes such as SNAP,
unemployment, and financial assistance (especially relevant for
literacy-challenged or English learners), compile a comprehensive hub of
resources and provide referrals to agencies that can further address
additional needs.
Mount Olives Community Center:
Mount Olives Community Center will use the grant to support digital
literacy at their space in Hyde Park.
St. Stephen's Youth Programs: St. Stephen's Youth
Programs will use the grant to support their COVID-19 response program
called B-LOVE. The intent of B-LOVE is to support the community's most
basic needs by distributing food, paper products, cleaning supplies, and
gift cards.
Salesian Boys & Girls Club: Salesian Boys &
Girls Club will use the grant to support their Weekly Family Dinner
Night Program. These funds will be used to increase the numbers of families
served from 60 to 90 families this fall.
Sociedad Latina: Sociedad
Latina will use the grant to fund essential care packages of PPE for
families and at-home kits with supplies and materials that enable our youth
to participate in programming at home.
Tifereth Raphael: Tifereth Raphael will use the BRF grant to increase their
food and
basic
needs inventory through the purchase and storage of specialty kosher food
items to support the Jewish community in Boston.
Urban Guild Inc.: Urban Guild
Inc. will use the grant to continue their current work to help with
holistic support for their community, including stewarding communal Guild
gardens, and to provide food access support for their community by
purchasing and distributing food boxes through local businesses.
Vietnamese American Initiative for
Development, Inc. (VietAid): VietAid will use the grant to continue
supporting staff coordination of meal sites, and provide temporary staff to
assist with benefit applications and culturally appropriate meals for older
adults and groceries for families in Fields Corner. Funds will also be used
to purchase necessities such as hand sanitizer, diapers, and PPE.
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