Home Posts tagged grants

Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation Grants Support Perinatal Health

By
Insurance

Advancing Equity

 

The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation announced $771,000 in new grant funding to support 15 organizations working to improve perinatal health across Massachusetts through its Perinatal Health Initiative, a multi-year program aimed at reducing racial inequities in perinatal health outcomes.

Now in its second cycle, the multi-year Perinatal Health Initiative grant program is part of the foundation’s broader strategy of grantmaking and policy analysis aimed at better understanding and disrupting structural racism and broadening health equity.

Building on the foundation’s 2024 effort, the two-year program was shaped by insights from community partners, fellow funders, and an ongoing assessment of the perinatal health landscape. Seven of the organizations funded in 2025 are continuing grantees from the foundation’s initial cohort to deepen their impact through this next phase. The grants support organizations providing community-based perinatal education and support, expanding the perinatal workforce, and policy advocacy.

“These organizations are creating lasting improvements in perinatal health by expanding access to culturally responsive care and centering community voices.”

“These organizations are creating lasting improvements in perinatal health by expanding access to culturally responsive care and centering community voices,” said Audrey Shelto, president and CEO of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation. “Their work exemplifies the power of community-based leadership in achieving health equity.”

The foundation’s board of directors approved two-year grants ranging from $25,000 to $60,000 for each of the following nonprofit organizations and their projects:

• Accompany Doula Care, Boston, which will partner with Health Leads and collaborate with healthcare systems, advocates, and providers to launch a cross-sector workgroup to increase equitable maternal health outcomes by integrating doulas into clinical care teams and creating supportive hospital policies;

• Berkshire Nursing Families, to expand the organization’s support of families who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color in Berkshire County by launching perinatal education programs, training new staff to become certified lactation counselors, and building a diverse workforce;

• Family Health Center of Worcester, to expand the capacity of its OB Advocates program, which connects community members with trained and culturally aligned doulas during pregnancy through two years postpartum;

• First Teacher Boston, which will integrate its pilot perinatal health program into its community-based parent education for Black and Brown families in Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan, offering year-round workshops, infant-focused resources, and professional development for staff in perinatal care;

• Greater Lowell Health Alliance of CHNA 10, which will build upon its Doula Academy to expand, diversify, and increase skills of the local perinatal workforce in the Lowell area;

• Greenfield Community College Foundation, to create Massachusetts’ first public certified professional midwives accredited training program to increase access to a pipeline of trained, licensed midwives and expand community birth options;

• It Takes a Village, Huntington, which will partner with the Green River Doula Network to provide community-led perinatal education, perinatal mood and anxiety disorder prevention, labor preparation, postpartum care, breastfeeding support, peer-led support circles, and extended home visits for historically marginalized families in Western Mass.;

• Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, which will support the Mind the Gap Coalition’s statewide advocacy to strengthen perinatal mental health policies and align efforts across the continuum from prenatal to infancy;

• Nantucket Community School, to increase access to childbirth education and lactation supports by providing classes and training three instructors from Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities and those fluent in Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese;

• Neighborhood Birth Center, Roxbury, to educate public health experts, policy makers, and payers regarding issues to advance midwifery education, workforce development, and access to birth centers, and lead a campaign to promote equitable reimbursement for licensed midwives and birth center facilities;

• North Quabbin Health Collaborative, Orange, which will expand one-to-one nurse visits for families up to one-year postpartum in rural and structurally marginalized communities in the towns of Orange, New Salem, Petersham, Warwick, and Wendell, providing health education programs, screening, and referrals;

• Propa City Community Outreach, Roxbury, which will implement a community-centered initiative focused on perinatal loss, expanding access to healing-centered education, connecting families and care providers across Massachusetts, and reducing isolation for families experiencing loss;

• Sacred Birthing Village, New Bedford, to train 12 multi-ethnic and linguistically diverse women in Southeastern Mass. to provide doula care and prepare them to meet state certification requirements for MassHealth-covered services;

• Worcester Addresses Childhood Trauma, which will partner with Worcester Public Health to deliver culturally responsive perinatal education, public awareness campaigns, and events guided by the Citywide Black and Brown Maternal Health Work Plan; and

• Worcester RISE for Health, to strengthen its Maternal Care Access program for refugee and immigrant communities by providing practice-based mentorship for doulas and developing a centralized referral system and wraparound supports.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation will continue to collaborate with other foundations working in perinatal health to collectively learn, align philanthropic efforts, and elevate local leadership and community-led solutions to advance birth equity in Massachusetts.

M&T Charitable Foundation Announces $4.9 Million In Grants

By
Banking and Financial Services

Broad Impact

The M&T Charitable Foundation, the philanthropic arm of M&T Bank, recently announced $4.9 million in grants to 51 nonprofit organizations across the six New England states, as well as Long Island and Westchester County, N.Y.

The announcement of this third round concludes the company’s Amplify Fund supplemental grant program, a three-year, $25 million commitment to address inequities, with a focus on all low- and moderate-income communities and underserved populations.

First announced in May 2022, the Amplify Fund is a $25 million philanthropic investment as part of the merger between People’s United Bank and M&T Bank. Powered by the M&T Charitable Foundation, the Amplify Fund is a one-time supplemental charitable giving program to provide further support in the legacy People’s United communities.

Dominique Goss

Dominique Goss

“The M&T Charitable Foundation is proud to support the work of nonprofits that are dedicated to advancing equity and creating positive and lasting change. We look forward to seeing the progress of their work and the collective outcomes of our partnerships in the months and years ahead.”

During the first and second rounds of giving through the Amplify Fund, more than $20.1 million was awarded to 173 nonprofit organizations. The grants were awarded through a series of RFPs that focused on environmental initiatives, mission-driven and capacity-building work, community and tenant organizing, and financial empowerment, in addition to collaboratives working together to advance equity.

Grantees in this third and final round of funding include nonprofit organizations that are centered on advancing financial inclusion and spurring economic growth and prosperity, with a particular focus on creating equitable change through homeownership, small-business development and entrepreneurship, career growth, and financial resilience.

“The M&T Charitable Foundation is proud to support the work of nonprofits that are dedicated to advancing equity and creating positive and lasting change,” said Dominique Goss, executive director of the M&T Charitable Foundation. “We look forward to seeing the progress of their work and the collective outcomes of our partnerships in the months and years ahead.”

Throughout the three-year Amplify Fund grant program, the M&T Charitable Foundation awarded $25 million to 224 nonprofit organizations and collaboratives, helping to empower nonprofit organizations to work collaboratively to drive meaningful change and advance equity in the communities served by the program.

“This grant means a lot to our ability to help the families and communities we serve achieve economic self-reliance,” said David Hopkins, CEO of the Urban League of Greater Hartford, which is celebrating 60 years of economic empowerment. “We appreciate the leadership and team at M&T Bank, a 2024 equity partner, for their support of our social enterprise, community engagement, and leadership development, and now this Amplify Fund award will help enrich our financial opportunity program.”

Betsy Biemann, CEO of Coastal Enterprises Inc., added that “we are grateful for the M&T Bank Charitable Foundation’s support of CEI and their commitment to promoting entrepreneurship and a thriving small business community in Maine. This funding from the Amplify Fund will enable us to help more Maine entrepreneurs who are CEI lending and advisory clients to take charge of their finances and build assets through no-cost, confidential financial counseling and coaching, starting them on a solid foundation for starting or growing their business.”

The M&T Charitable Foundation, the philanthropic arm of M&T Bank, is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization founded in 1993 and funded by M&T Bank. The foundation awards nearly $40 million in grants per year to thousands of nonprofit organizations focused on improving quality of life in the areas the bank serves.

Baystate Wing Hospital Awards $30,000 in Grants

By
Daily News

PALMER —  Baystate Wing Hospital has announced an investment of $30,000 in grants to benefit local community-based nonprofit organizations. The grant awards were given to the Quaboag Valley Community Development Corporation, the Quaboag Connector to support local transportation in the region, the Ware Fire Department to support Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and paramedic training, and to the Ware Regional Recovery Center to increased access to support and expand knowledge about recovery support services and resources in the region.

“Everyone is strengthened when we work together to build and sustain a culture of health and wellness within our communities,” said Molly Gray, president and chief administrative officer for Baystate Health’s Eastern Region, which includes Baystate Wing Hospital and Baystate Mary Lane Outpatient Center. “We are very happy to support the work with our community partners with these grant investments.”

Baystate Health’s Eastern Region represents 15 communities comprising a population of approximately 120,000 people. Programs supported by the hospital’s grant investments include:

 

Quaboag Valley Community Development Corporation, the Quaboag Connector: The $30,000 grant to the Quaboag Valley Community Development Corporation (QVCDC) will provide continued support to the Quaboag Connector Transportation Initiative which addresses the lack of transportation to employment, education, healthcare, workforce training, shopping, and benefit services within and outside the region. The service which began in January 2017 has provided thousands of rides to community members. In March 2022, the Quaboag Connector surpassed all previous months in number of rides providing 1,397 rides demonstrating the continued need for this service.

 

The Ware Fire Department $11,500: The $11,500 grant was awarded to the Ware Fire Department in support of EMS Paramedic training for a member of the Ware Fire/EMS Team.

 

Growing Strong: Ware Regional Recovery Center’s Next Chapter

The $3500 grant to the Ware Regional Recovery Center, a program of the Western Massachusetts Training Consortium, will support their work in the Quaboag Hills Region to respond with increased momentum in raising community awareness about local access to recovery support and resources, to decrease stigma and to encourage people to seek out recovery support services in a time of critical need.

 

Bay Path Receives $2.9 Million Grants for Health Programs

By
Daily News

EAST LONGMEADOW — Congressman Richard Neal announced Tuesday that Bay Path University will receive $2.9 million in federal grants for two health programs at the school.

At a well-attended gathering at the school’s Philip H. Ryan Health Science Center, Neal announced that Bay path will receive two federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grants.

The graduate program in Physician Assistant Studies will receive a grant totaling $1.5 million over five years through the Primary Care Training and Enhancement — PA Program, while the graduate program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling received a grant from the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program totaling $1.43 million over four years through the American Rescue Plan.

With students enrolled in the Physician Assistant program standing at the front of the room, a number of speakers, including Neal, Bay Path President Sandra Doran, Bay Path Trustee Brian Tuohey, and others, said the grants will support and bolster the school’s efforts to bring more needed health professionals into the field.

Neal, Doran, and other school administrators praised Janine McVay, Bay Path’s director of Corporate and Foundation Relations for her efforts in writing the applications that eventually led to the nearly $3 million in grants.

State Awards $67.4 Million in Additional Grants to 1,366 Businesses Impacted by Pandemic

By
Daily News

BOSTON — The Baker-Polito administration announced $67.4 million in awards to 1,366 additional small businesses in a second round of grants through the COVID-19 Small Business Grant Program administered by the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corp. (MGCC). Additionally, the new Sector-Specific Small Business Relief Grant Program, also administered by MGCC, is now accepting applications from businesses from sectors most impacted by COIVD-19. Both grant programs are part of a new, $668 million relief package.

The businesses being notified of their successful grant application include many that are owned by minorities (50%) and women (48%). Restaurants and bars, beauty and personal services, healthcare, and retail are among the top sectors receiving relief in this second round of awards. The first round of grants announced late last month totaled nearly $49 million in support of 1,158 Massachusetts small businesses.

MGCC is continuing to review existing applications and will make awards over the coming weeks to companies that meet demographic and industry preferences. Businesses that have already applied to MGCC’s Small Business Grant Program do not need to reapply to the new program.

In addition to providing grants to businesses within the existing pool of applications for the Small Business Grant Program, applications are now being accepted for a new Sector-Specific Small Business Relief Grant Program that targets industries experiencing the most significant economic hardship and a loss of revenue. Industries given preference in this new program include restaurants, bars, caterers, and food trucks; indoor recreation and entertainment establishments; gyms and fitness centers; event-support companies (photographers, videographers, etc.); personal services (nail salons, barber shops, independent pharmacies, etc.); and independent retailers.

This new business-relief program will offer grants up to $75,000, but not more than three months’ operating expenses, to be used for payroll and employee-benefit costs, mortgage interest, rent, utilities, and interest on other debt obligations.

The online application portal for the new program will close on Friday, Jan. 15. Awards are expected to be announced in February. Program details, application instructions, eligibility and documentation requirements, and more are available at www.empoweringsmallbusiness.org.