GLCF awards $525K in additional COVID-19 Response Grants to Greater Lowell Nonprofits

GLCF Grant Recipients (l-r): IINE’s Women Unite group, a peer support group for Afghan women, meeting at the Lowell Community Health Center; CHH’s Driving Hope’s mobile outreach service staff connect with the Greater Lowell by supporting survivors of sexual violence; and Alternative House staff member Camila Lopez of Lowell on a hotline call with a client who needed rental assistance and transportation support.

Lowell, MA – The Greater Lowell Community Foundation (GLCF) awarded $525,860 in COVID-19 related grants to 13 nonprofits in Greater Lowell through funding from the Baker-Polito Administration’s Community Foundations Grant Program for COVID-19 Relief. The program is administered by the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development and the Department of Housing and Community Development.

GLCF distributed funds to nonprofit organizations serving our community to alleviate hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic and address: emergency food, housing support, educational program support, essential supplies/services, and youth program support via the GLCF 2022 COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund.

“Greater Lowell nonprofits have demonstrated incredible resiliency throughout the pandemic,” said GLCF president & CEO Jay Linnehan. “Through the partnership with the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development and the Department of Housing and Community Development, GLCF continued supporting nonprofit programs vital to our community through this latest round of funding.”

The 13 nonprofits receiving grants in the latest round of the GLCF COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund are:

  • Alternative House (Lowell) – Provide language access to reduce health disparities. $25,000
  • Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence (ATASK) (Boston) – For Lowell Program to provide in-language information, and to create new in-language documents and FAQs to empower victims/survivors of domestic and dating violence victims. $15,000
  • Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association (CMAA) of Greater Lowell– To offer continued COVID- 19 related assistance to Cambodian community in Lowell. $15,000
  • Catie’s Closet (Dracut) – Underwrite two of their signature programs: In-School Closets enabling students to “shop” for what they need onsite in the privacy of their own school. $20,000
  • Coalition for a Better Acre (Lowell) – Support full time Health Access Program at CBA Walk-In Center. $65,000
  • Community Teamwork (CTI) – Support renters and homeowners with financial assistance for rent/mortgage and utility and to address the basic needs of youth at risk of or experiencing homelessness. $95,000
  • Dignity Matters (Framingham) – Provide low-income women and girls in Greater Lowell with menstrual care. $15,000
  • International Institute of New England (Lowell) – Address housing and food insecurity for refugee and immigrant households in Lowell, and to also provide mental health support for some of their female clients. $50,000
  • Life Connection Center (Lowell)– Address transportation needs and improve hygiene stations. $50,000
  • Lowell Community Health Center – Funding to reduce health disparities and ensure health equity for low-income, immigrant and refugee populations. $95,000
  • Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers (MAPS) (Lowell) – Assist low-income Portuguese-speaking clients in Lowell with rent and utility payments. $25,000
  • Northeast Legal Aid (Lowell)– Address the need for housing assistance in Lowell. $25,860
  • The Center for Hope and Healing (Lowell) – Enhance their Driving Hope mobile outreach services and provide necessary basic/household needs to survivors and families. $30,000

Alternative House in Lowell received funding from the GLCF COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund. “With this funding, Alternative House will be able to support survivors of domestic violence through the many additional obstacles they may be facing at this point in their lives,” said Maria Crooker-Capone, Executive Director, Alternative House. “Access to transportation, food, backup childcare, cleaning supplies, and housing has become more difficult since the pandemic and these funds will allow us to provide increased access to all those things for our program participants.”

“The funding helps us immediately respond to the urgent needs of our immigrant and refugee clients so they can avoid homelessness and hunger, as we support them on their path towards self-sufficiency,” shared IINE’s Lowell Managing Director, Caroline Hanson Rowe. International Institute of New England (IINE) received a grant to address housing and food insecurity for refugee and immigrant households in Lowell.

The Center for Hope and Healing’s Driving Hope mobile outreach service was also supported. “These grant funds allow us to support survivors of sexual violence in our Greater Lowell community, who are still disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic even after these two years,” said Isa Woldeguiorguis, executive director at The Center for Hope and Healing. “With the support from GLCF COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, last year Driving Hope conducted 393 visits, served more than 150 families, and distributed emergency relief to survivors and their families in the Greater Lowell communities. Driving Hope program will continue to increase safety, reduce isolation, and increase access to resources to children and youth, male survivors, LGBQ/T folks, refugees and immigrants, people with disabilities, people of color, and people with limited English proficiency.”

Since 2020, through grants from the GLCF COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, the foundation has supported more than 135 local nonprofit organizations with grants totaling over $5.1 million. 

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. 

About Greater Lowell Community Foundation
Established in 1997, the Greater Lowell Community Foundation (GLCF) is a philanthropic organization comprised of more than 390 funds dedicated to improving the quality of life in 21 neighboring cities and towns. With financial assets of more than $55 million, GLCF annually awards grants and scholarships to hundreds of worthy nonprofits and students. It is powered by the winning combination of donor-directed giving, personal attention from Foundation staff, and an in-depth understanding of local needs. The generosity of our donors has enabled the Community Foundation to award more than $25 million to the Greater Lowell community. 

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