HarborCOV is one of 130 local nonprofits to receive grants of $100,000 to $500,000 each through Cummings Foundation’s $20 Million Grant Program. The Chelsea-based organization was chosen from a total of 738 applicants during a competitive review process.
HarborCOV provides free emergency and longer-term supports, low-income supportive transitional and permanent housing, and specialized immigration, legal and children’s support services that promote long-term stability for individuals and families.
“On behalf of individuals and families affected by domestic violence, HarborCOV would like to take the opportunity to share its utmost appreciation to the Cummings Foundation for recognizing the importance of the critical services we provide especially during this very difficult and uncertain time”, said Kourou Pich, HarborCOV’s executive director. “Receiving a grant award from the Cummings Foundation will enhance our efforts to support immigrant survivors and their children to live free from violence and increase their family and economic stability.”
HarborCOV plans to use the Cummings grant to hire a new Case Manager who will work with and focus on immigrant survivors who are at high risk for domestic violence homicide and to increase the accessibility of all immigration services to low-income survivors. Adding this new position to the HarborCOV team will also enable us to re-launch an internal High Risk team: to hold specialized trainings on working with immigrant survivors who are at high risk for homicide, and to formally re-engage with external community partners.
The Cummings $20 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 area where it owns commercial buildings, all of which are managed, at no cost to the Foundation, by its affiliate, Cummings Properties. Founded in 1970 by Bill Cummings, the Woburn-based commercial real estate firm leases and manages 10 million square feet of debt-free space, the majority of which exclusively benefits the Foundation.
“We have been impressed, but not surprised, by the myriad ways in which these 130 grant winners are serving their communities, despite the challenges presented by COVID-19,” said Joel Swets, Cummings Foundation’s executive director. “Their ability to adapt and work with their constituents in new and meaningful ways has an enormous impact in the communities where our colleagues and leasing clients live and work.”
Cummings Foundation has now awarded more than $280 million to greater Boston nonprofits.
Social distancing requirements will prevent Foundation and grant winner representatives from convening for a reception at Trade Center 128 in Woburn, as planned, to celebrate the $20 million infusion into greater Boston’s nonprofit sector. Instead, Cummings Foundation expects hundreds of individuals to gather virtually for a modified celebration in mid-June.
The Cummings $20 Million Grant Program resulted from a merger of the Foundation’s two flagship grant programs, $100K for 100 and Sustaining Grants.
The Foundation and its volunteers first identified 130 organizations to receive grants of at least $100,000 each. Among the winners are first-time recipients as well as nonprofits that have previously received Cummings Foundation grants. A limited number of this latter group of repeat recipients will be invited to make in-person presentations in the fall, when public health related circumstances allow, proposing that their grants be elevated to long-term awards. Thirty such requests will be granted in the form of 10-year awards ranging from $200,000 to $500,000 each.
This year’s diverse group of grant recipients represents a wide variety of causes, including homelessness prevention, affordable housing, education, violence prevention, and food insecurity. The nonprofits are spread across 40 different cities and towns, and most will receive their grants over two to five years.
The complete list of 130 grant winners is available at www.Cummings Foundation.org.
A great deal more information about Cummings Foundation is detailed in Bill Cummings’ self-written business book, “Starting Small and Making It Big: Hands-On Lessons in Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy.” The brand-new, and significantly updated, 6th edition is available on Amazon or cummings.com/book.
HarborCOV is a nonprofit organization that provides targeted community-based support services to the harbor communities of Chelsea, Revere, Winthrop, Charlestown and East Boston, and other specialized statewide and national supports for domestic violence survivors. Founded in 1998, HarborCOV’s mission is to provide linguistically and culturally appropriate, high-quality emergency and support services to, safe affordable transitional and permanent low-income housing for, advocate on behalf of, victims and survivors of domestic violence by working to educate the public about its causes and consequences.
Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including New Horizons retirement communities in Marlborough and Woburn, and Veterinary School at Tufts, LLC in North Grafton. Additional information is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.