Greater Lowell Community Foundation awards additional COVID-19 relief grants to 27 nonprofits in latest round

University of Massachusetts Foundation received a recent grant to provide emergency funds to 1st generation students enrolled in UML’s River Hawk Scholars Academy from the Massachusetts COVID-19 Relief Fund. 

LOWELL – The Greater Lowell Community Foundation (GLCF) announced a new round of grant funding totaling more than $436,000 to 27 area nonprofit organizations to provide COVID-19 assistance.

The grants were part of the fifth round of distributions to assist area nonprofits serving vulnerable populations during the coronavirus pandemic. To date, nearly $2 million in grants have been distributed to 92 nonprofits serving Greater Lowell.

“As we enter into the fourth month of this pandemic, we remain committed to doing all that we can to meet the needs of the most vulnerable populations in our community,” said GLCF President & CEO Jay Linnehan.  “Our partnership with the Massachusetts COVID-19 Relief Fund utilizes the local relationships and knowledge of the foundation to strategically allocate significant resources to Greater Lowell.”

The following 16 nonprofits receiving grants in the latest round of the Massachusetts COVID-19 Relief Fund are:

  • Burlington Food Pantry FS: People Helping People Inc. – purchase food for distribution and sanitation supplies
  • Community Teamwork, Inc. – funds will be used to provide financial support to low-income residents for housing
  • Dwelling House of Hope, Inc. – provide food and other basic necessities for families
  • Gaining Ground, Inc. – provide between 200 and 300 pounds of fresh produce per week to people in need
  • International Institute of Lowell – Housing sustainability for immigrant families and individuals in Lowell
  • Life Connection Center, Inc. – staffing and sanitation support
  • Lowell House, Inc. – support additional staffing for 24/7 hotline; to provide food gift cards and other basic needs to support physical and mental health, client transit to medical appointments; to support a complete sanitizing of facility in preparation for reopening to day programs
  • Lowell Transitional Living Center, Inc. – disinfecting and cleaning of the shelter
  • Mill City Grows, Inc. – to reduce food instability through Mobile Market and Community Supported Agriculture programs
  • One Can Help, Inc. – provide emergency eCards for the purchase of food and basic needs for at-risk and foster children in Greater Lowell
  • Open Pantry of Greater Lowell, Inc. – purchase food for distribution and sanitation supplies
  • Pepperell Aid from Community to Home Outreach (PACH Outreach) – purchase food for distribution and sanitation supplies
  • The Megan House Foundation, Inc. – food for residents, sanitation supplies, hygiene products
  • University of Massachusetts Foundation – to provide emergency funds to 1st generation students enrolled in UML’s River Hawk Scholars Academy
  • Wayside Youth & Family Support Network – to support sanitation and groceries/food/basic needs
  • Westford Food Pantry – to purchase food and sanitation supplies for distribution

The grants are thanks to funding from the Massachusetts COVID-19 Relief Fund. The Massachusetts COVID-19 Relief Fund works in concert with regional community foundations and nonprofit leaders to support those across the state most impacted by the COVID-19 health crisis, focusing on essential frontline workers and vulnerable populations including the homeless, immigrant populations, people with disabilities and those facing food insecurity. For more information, visit MACovid19ReliefFund.org.

“UMass Lowell is so grateful for the support from the Greater Lowell Community Foundation. More than 60 first-generation college students will benefit from the Massachusetts COVID-19 Relief Fund grant opportunity through GLCF,” said Matthew Hurwitz, Director, River Hawk Scholars Academy. “They are all, to a person, wonderful, deserving, and hard at work supporting themselves and their families as they pursue their degrees. This funding has made a real difference for them as they each deal with the challenges of COVID-19.”

Troubled Waters, Inc. received a grant from the GLCF COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund for Recovery Coach training for 12 Greater Lowell residents.

The 11 nonprofits receiving grants in the latest round of the GLCF COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund are:

  • Aaron’s Presents – Job Skills Training for Teens
  • Dwelling House of Hope – Freezer
  • Kids in Tech – Fund for Digital Equity – STEMinar Curriculum
  • Lowell Telecommunications Corporation – Media Training/Support for Lowell Virtual Summer Programs for Youth
  • Power of Flowers Project – Support the Workshop Re-open Plan with COVID-19 requirements
  • Project Learn – Student Intern Stipends
  • Rise Above Foundation, Inc. – Technology & recreational equipment
  • Seven Hills Extended Care at Groton (Seven Hills Pediatric Center) – Connection to Family & Telehealth for Medically Complex Children with Disabilities
  • Strongwater Farm Therapeutic Equestrian Center – Support the Strongwater Farm Visiting Program
  • Troubled Waters, Inc. – Recovery Coach training for 12 Lowell area residents
  • VNA – PPE for Elders

“COVID-19 has brought issues relating to achieving digital equity to the forefront indefinitely,” said Olu Ibrahim, Founder & CEO, Kids in Tech. “Our Fund for Digital Equity sets out to ensure children have the technological capacity to participate in the labor market as empowered future employees, partake in educational opportunities, and engage positively online.  We are grateful to have Greater Lowell Community Foundations in this effort as we seek to ensure more kids are future ready through our afterschool and out-of-school programs.”

Donations to the GLCF COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund can be made online at www.glcfoundation.org or by mail to the GLCF COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund c/o GLCF, 100 Merrimack Street, Suite 202, Lowell, MA 01852.

###

A PACH volunteer restocks the shelves, PACH, who provides Pepperell and Dunstable residents in need with caring, compassionate assistance to meet their basic needs, received a recent grant from the Massachusetts COVID-19 Relief Fund.