Since its creation, the Boston Resiliency Fund has granted $34.15M to 377 organizations; Grantmaking to pause in anticipation of mayoral transition

Yesterday Mayor Martin Walsh and the Boston Resiliency Fund Steering Committee announced the Boston Resiliency Fund's 28th and final funding round, totaling $3.85 million in funding to 62 nonprofits across Boston, including 14 based in Dorchester and Mattapan. The organizations in this round of funding work to ensure access to food and other basic needs for Boston residents and to promote public health in the city through community-based outreach and engagement. Since its launch in March of 2020, $34.5 million has been donated to the Boston Resiliency Fund (BRF), and 377 Boston-based organizations have received over $34.1 million in funding.

"The Boston Resiliency Fund has been an invaluable resource in our efforts to support the critical services that Boston's nonprofits have continued to provide throughout the pandemic," said Mayor Walsh. "This latest round of grants is our biggest yet, and serves as our way to support these organizations for all the work that they do and for providing essential resources to our community year-round. I also want to thank the Steering Committee for their steadfast commitment to and oversight of the Fund."

In November, the Boston Resiliency Fund paused the rapid response grantmaking it had been doing since late March of last year to evaluate how the Fund could best serve Boston residents with limited remaining funds. The Fund received feedback from its non-profit partners that there was still an overwhelming demand for food and other basic needs, like diapers, formula and hygiene products, and that there was a need for further education regarding public health guidance and the safety and importance of the COVID-19 vaccine. Prioritizing these two focus areas, the BRF Steering Committee re-opened its grant application to any interested non-profit serving Boston residents.

Of the 62 organizations awarded funds, 47% identify as led by a person of color, 66% as woman-led, and 30% as immigrant-led. Additionally, 42% identify as Black- or African-American-led, 18% as Hispanic- or Latinx-led, 13% as Asian- or Pacific Islander-led, and 18% as LGBTQI-led. Overall, 55% of all BRF grantees to receive funding to date identify as being led by a person of color, and 60% of grantees identify as woman-led.

After this round of grants, the Fund has a remaining balance of approximately $400,000. The Boston Resiliency Fund, while not actively fundraising since the spring of 2020, has continued to receive donations from generous residents and groups around Boston. This will be the final round of BRF grants under Mayor Walsh's leadership, and grantmaking will pause in anticipation of the mayoral transition. Grantmaking may resume in the future in order to equitably allocate any remaining balance.

The BRF is hosted by the Boston Charitable Trust Fund, an existing 501(c)(3) designated trust fund managed by the City of Boston's Treasury Department. The Boston Resiliency Fund Steering Committee includes Jack Connors, Jr., Anne Klibanski, MD, President and CEO of Mass General Brigham, and Jeffrey Leiden, MD, Ph.D., Executive Chairman of Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

"We are so grateful, once again, to the Boston Resiliency Fund for their generous support of our mission of providing access to healthy food to those impacted by COVID-19. This grant will allow us to cover our delivery fees so that we can expand home delivery of all of our products for at-risk customers, leveling the playing field for those who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic," said Doug Rauch, Founder and President of Daily Table. "With this funding, the BRF has continued to show its deep commitment to food justice during these difficult times."

"So grateful to Mayor Walsh, Yusufi Vali and the entire Resiliency Fund Team for their commitment in combating COVID-19 vaccine inequities among immigrant communities most disproportionately impacted," said Reverend Dieufort Fleurissaint, Director of Haitian-Americans United. "This grant will increase our capacity to run a robust and comprehensive COVID-19 educational campaign aimed at dispelling the myths and the misinformation on the vaccine."

The community-based organizations addressing public health through COVID-19 prevention and vaccine education will receive $763,000. Another $2.82 million will be distributed to organizations expanding access to food and other basic needs and $258,000 will support organizations working to achieve both priority areas.

The following Dorchester/Mattapan based organizations have received grants:

Boys and Girls Clubs of Dorchester, Inc.: With the support of the Boston Resiliency Fund, Boys and Girls Clubs of Dorchester will increase Dorchester families' access to nutritious food through an expansion of their current program and through weekly Grab & Go meals. Funding will be used to support the production and delivery of weekly grocery boxes to families.

Daily Table: Daily Table will use BRF funding to subsidize the delivery fees for customers and others who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Daily Table plans to offer free delivery to these customers to ensure access to healthy, affordable food without additional risk to COVID-19 infection.

Family Nurturing Center of Massachusetts: A third grant from the Boston Resiliency Fund will support the direct aid to families in Dorchester, Roslindale and Hyde Park in the form of gift cards for groceries and other basic needs.

Fair Foods Inc: Fair Foods will use this grant to sustain their weekly efforts at food distribution sites across the city and continue to grow its $2 dollar bag sites all over Boston. In addition, Fair Foods has enlisted new and expanded distribution partners, such as Maverick Landing Community Services (MLCS) in East Boston and other partners in Dorchester and Mattapan. These partners pick up food boxes at the Fair Foods warehouse in South Boston and conduct deliveries across the city.

Freedom House, Inc.: Freedom House will use the Boston Resiliency Fund grant to address food insecurity and provide PPE and COVID information to the community.

Greater Love Community Cares: With the grant from the Boston Resiliency Fund, Greater Love Community Cares will provide periodic food distribution and food deliveries to certain seniors and residents who are home-bound.

Grove Hall Neighborhood Development Corporation: Grove Hall Neighborhood Development Corporation requested BRF funds to support their work combating the spread of COVID-19. Grove Hall NDC will clean local church buildings and non-profit locations who are open for essential services and provide hand sanitizer for Boston residents.

Louis D. Brown Peace Institute: The Peace Institute will use this BRF grant to support The Live in Peace Fund. This fund ensures that Boston's families, children and seniors get the food security, clothing and other necessities that they deserve through gift cards and vouchers.

Prince Hall Grand Lodge: Prince Hall will continue to partner with community health centers to provide free COVID testing to community members each week and to distribute other critical supplies like face masks and hand sanitizer. They will execute a community outreach program that will implement measures and provide literature necessary to prevent, test, report, and contain COVID-19 within communities of color.

Sportsmen's Tennis & Enrichment Center: With the Boston Resiliency Fund grant, Sportsmen's Tennis & Enrichment Center will provide COVID education and vaccine education targeted for the community. They plan to have additional vaccine education forums and continue to provide timely COVID-19 information to keep our families safe during this challenging period.

St. Mary's Center for Women and Children: St. Mary's Center for Women and Children requested funds to provide three meals per day to all of those who are in their residential programs across Boston and provide to those visiting their food pantry in East Boston. Additionally, funds will be used to purchase cleaning supplies to continue sanitizing their campus and to support the acquisition of items needed for the babies and children in their care as well as their mothers (for example, diapers, feminine hygiene products, formula and toiletries).

Urban Guild, Inc. (The Guild): This grant from BRF will enable The Guild to carry on its pandemic relief work through the pantry, delivery services, virtual wellness sessions, and health-related travel vouchers. Funds will support the purchasing and transport of supplies, the staff and volunteer coordination of the activities.

Fields Corner Crossroads Collective COVID-19 Response, led by VietAID: On behalf of the Fields Corner Crossroads Collaborative, which includes Dot House Health, Boys/Girls Club of Dorchester, Asian American Resource Workshop, VietAID, New England United for Justice, Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, Dorchester Youth Collaborative, MassCOSH, and All Dorchester Sports and Leadership, this group will meet the needs of residents by continuing to coordinate service referral, increase capacity for food distribution, and coordinated outreach on vaccine and testing. Funds will be used to purchase bulk food and supplies for distribution, bring on staff to increase the availability of food at new sites, and create/distribute materials on vaccination and testing.

Voice of Tabernacle Multi-Service Center, Inc. (VTMC): VTMC will use BRF funding to provide emergency food to Haitian immigrants and refugees impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in Mattapan and Dorchester. The VTMC emergency food program serves low-income, Haitian families, and homebound seniors, who are dealing with multiple issues that are tied to their resettlement process, such as: homelessness, low English proficiency, poor nutrition, poverty, unemployment, under employment and unaddressed health care needs.

For more information and a full list of recipients, visit boston.gov/resiliency-fund.