Brookline Community Foundation Awarded $225,000 Cummings Grant (5/22/2024)

Brookline, MA nonprofit receives 3 years of funding from Cummings Foundation

Brookline, May 22, 2024 – Brookline Community Foundation (BCF) is one of 150 local nonprofits that will share in $30 million through Cummings Foundation’s major annual grants program. The Brookline-based organization was selected from a total of 715 applicants during a competitive review process. It will receive $225,000 over three years.

The Brookline Community Foundation creates opportunity and promotes equity through the transformative power of community investment. BCF is dedicated to ensuring everyone who lives, learns, works, and plays in the Brookline community prospers and thrives.

“This grant from Cummings Foundation comes to BCF at such a pivotal time, as we are not only in the process of building out our long-term strategy around sustainability but also working everyday to manage the continuous, ever-increasing and diverse requests for support from our community partners. We are so grateful to the entire team at the Cummings Foundation for seeing, understanding and supporting the critical role that our local foundation plays here in Brookline ” stated Aba Taylor, BCF’s Executive Director.

Throughout its history, BCF has played a central role in identifying, understanding, and building partnerships to address shared challenges and remove barriers to opportunity and equity in Brookline. BCF envisions a community in which every member of the community has access to the essentials we all need to live healthy lives; feels safe, welcome, and has a sense of belonging; can speak out about community issues and help create solutions; and feels empowered to invest in solutions today and for generations to come. To make that vision a reality, BCF utilizes deep expertise and works closely with nonprofit organizations, Town government, and community members to create meaningful change. As a cornerstone of Brookline’s nonprofit infrastructure, BCF partners with over 50 organizations and groups throughout the Town. BCF will use funding from this Cummings Foundation grant to support a network of community organizations, groups and stakeholders that are addressing economic inequality and financial insecurity experienced by individuals and families in Brookline.

The Cummings $30 Million Grant Program primarily supports Massachusetts nonprofits that are based in and serve Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties, plus six communities in Norfolk County: Brookline, Dedham, Milton, Needham, Quincy, and Wellesley.

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.

“Greater Boston is fortunate to have a robust, dedicated, and highly capable nonprofit sector that supports and enhances the community in myriad ways,” said Cummings Foundation executive director and trustee Joyce Vyriotes. “The entire Cummings organization is thankful for their daily work to help all our neighbors thrive.”

The majority of the grant decisions were made by nearly 100 community volunteers. They worked across a variety of committees to review and discuss the proposals and then, together, determine which requests would be funded. Among these community volunteers were business and nonprofit leaders, mayors, college presidents, and experts in areas such as finance and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion).

“We believe strongly that grant decisions will be more equitable when made by a diverse group of community members,” said Vyriotes. “We’re incredibly grateful to the dozens of individuals who participated in our democratized philanthropic process.”

The Foundation and volunteers first identified 150 organizations to receive three-year grants of up to $300,000 each. The winners included first-time recipients as well as nonprofits that had previously received Cummings grants. Twenty-five of this latter group of repeat recipients were then selected by a panel of community volunteers to have their grants elevated to 10-year awards ranging from $300,000 to $1 million each.

This year’s grant recipients represent a wide variety of causes, including housing and food insecurity, workforce development, immigrant services, social justice, education, and mental health services. The nonprofits are spread across 49 different cities and towns.

Cummings Foundation has now awarded $500 million to greater Boston nonprofits. The complete list of this year’s 150 grant winners, plus nearly 2,000 previous recipients, is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.

About Brookline Community Foundation

The Brookline Community Foundation dates back to the late 19th century. Initially incorporated in 1905 as the Brookline Friendly Society, the organization provided both health and social services for Brookline’s residents in need for much of the 20th century. Since 1999, BCF has operated as a community foundation to support the town of Brookline, and is the only foundation that addresses Brookline as a whole, spotlighting community needs, inspiring philanthropic engagement, and providing strategic support to create a more vibrant, engaged, and equitable Brookline. For over 100 years, The Brookline Community Foundation (BCF) has been a trusted community partner in helping to create a better Brookline for all. Throughout its history, BCF has played a central role in identifying, understanding, and building partnerships to address shared challenges and remove barriers to opportunity and equity in the community.

About Cummings Foundation

Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings of Winchester, MA and has grown to be one of the largest private foundations in New England. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including New Horizons retirement communities, in Marlborough and Woburn, and Cummings Health Sciences, LLC. Additional information is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org

Contact:

• Aba Taylor, Brookline Community Foundation, 617-904-7900, ataylor@brooklinecommunity.org
• Alison Harding, Cummings Foundation, 781-932-7093, aeh@cummings.com