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FRAMINGHAM – Brazilian American Center is one of 140 local nonprofits to receive grants of $100,000 to $500,000-each through Cummings Foundation’s $25 Million Grant Program. The Framingham-based organization was chosen from a total of 580 applicants during a competitive review process. It will receive $33,333 over 3 years.
BRACE helps people gain access to housing, food security, health insurance, apply for citizenship, help with divorce, and guidance with the public schools. The limited staff works nonstop to help people navigate complicated social services system.
As a result of Cummings Foundation Grant Funds, BRACE can continue work to provide all kinds of support to the immigration community and increased vulnerable immigrants service to accommodate recent immigrants in Central Massachusetts.
Thanks to Cummings Foundation, BRACE will expand staff members to help vulnerable immigrants. We will strengthen our institutional capacities of Brace by supporting the development office, building, and consolidating relationships with strategic alliances.
The Cummings $25 Million Grant Program supports Massachusetts nonprofits that are based in and primarily serve Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties.
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Through this place-based initiative, Cummings Foundation aims to give back in the areas where it owns commercial property. lts 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,” said Cummings Foundation executive director Joyce Vyriotes. “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.
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“Our volunteers bring diverse backgrounds and perspectives, which is so critical to our grant selection process,” said Vyriotes. ”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.
Cummings Foundation has now awarded more than $375 miIlion to greater Boston nonprofits.
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BRACE (Brazilian-American Center) is a nonprofit organization (under section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code), classified as a philanthropic entity created in 2012 by the late Father Volmar Scaravelli to assist all immigrants regardless of nationality, race, gender, or religion, while preserving the values and cultural identity of each person.
Brace’s mission is welcome and empower all immigrants regardless of nationality, race, age, sex, or religion, preserving the values and cultural identity of each, and to help them in the arduous process of integration and adaptation into American society.
BRACE’s primary focus is on educating and supporting the immigrant community, so each person can better advocate for him/herself.
Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, lnc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings 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.
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In full transparency, the press release and photos were submitted to SOURCE media for publication
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BRACE’s staff and volunteer celebrating the Grant award. From left to right: Augusto Tomé, Nilceia Gomes, Liliane Costa, Renata Mendes, Father Marcio Toniazzo e Andreia Silva.
(From left) Christine Tibor, Liliane Costa and Father Marcio Toniazzo
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