Home Posts tagged MassMutual Foundation

MassMutual Foundation Donates $275,000 to Nonprofit Organizations

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The MassMutual Foundation has awarded $275,000 to eligible nonprofit organizations across the U.S. through its annual Community Service Award (CSA) program. These charitable contributions — which include two $25,000 awards, 15 $10,000 awards, and 15 $5,000 awards — are given in honor of financial professionals who demonstrate outstanding commitment to nonprofit organizations in their local communities.

“Last year, participating financial professionals in our CSA program donated over 8,000 hours of service to nonprofit organizations across the country,” said Dennis Duquette, president and CEO of the MassMutual Foundation. “We are proud to recognize these individuals who are making a difference in their communities and demonstrating what it means to live mutual through their volunteer efforts and dedication to the causes they support.”

This year’s two $25,000 CSA donations are being awarded to Girls on the Run Western Massachusetts in honor of Jessica Holloway with the Jamrog Group, and the Rylee Grace Foundation in honor of Mike Clark with MassMutual Northern California.

At Girls on the Run Western Massachusetts, trained volunteer coaches lead dynamic, research-based programs that combine physical activity with critical life skill development. Through fun, interactive lessons, participants build confidence, set goals, and learn to manage emotions while forming healthy friendships, preparing them to thrive in school and beyond.

The Rylee Grace Foundation is committed to raising awareness of pediatric cancer and supporting families impacted by the disease. Through partnerships with the community, the foundation provides personalized gifts, fulfills meaningful wishes for young patients, and offers financial assistance for mental health services, bringing relief, hope, and dignity during their most challenging times.

Since the program’s inception in 1997, more than 400 donations totaling more than $4.2 million have been donated to nonprofit organizations through the Community Service Award program. The CSA program is just one of a variety of philanthropic programs sponsored by the MassMutual Foundation in support of nonprofit organizations that operate where financial professionals affiliated with MassMutual live and work.

Click here for details on all 32 grants.

STCC Announces $1 Million MassMutual Foundation Gift to Support Health Programs

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) received a $1 million grant from the MassMutual Foundation — the largest philanthropic gift received by the college in the past 15 years — to help with the relocation of the School of Health and Patient Simulation (SHPS).

The college plans to move its health programs out of Building 20, an 83-year-old structure with a history of expensive emergency repairs. Most of the programs will be relocated to Scibelli Hall, or Building 2, a seven-story structure opened in 1988 on the historic STCC campus.

The total estimated project cost to relocate is approximately $50 million, with committed funding from the Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance ($38 million), the STCC board of trustees ($11.5 million), and the STCC Foundation ($500,000).

STCC President John Cook thanked the MassMutual Foundation at an Oct. 22 ceremony announcing the gift.

“We cannot express enough gratitude to the MassMutual Foundation for this leadership award, which continues our momentum for relocating the School of Health and Patient Simulation,” Cook said. “This gift is a remarkable investment in our regional workforce and will have a deep impact on students enrolled in essential health programs at STCC.”

The $1 million from the MassMutual Foundation will help enhance the educational and technological experience for students enrolled in programs in the School of Health and Patient Simulation at STCC.

“The MassMutual Foundation is proud to award this grant to STCC for this very important initiative,” said Dennis Duquette, president and CEO of the MassMutual Foundation. “Through this vital work, STCC not only provides hundreds of students with state-of-the art medical training, but the health-services sector of our local economy will benefit tremendously when STCC graduates are hired. We are thrilled to help them relocate and update the School of Health and Patient Simulation, and look forward to seeing the impact this will have on both current and future generations of students in the Greater Springfield area.”

The SIMS Medical Center includes more than 70 patient simulators, the largest array in New England. Accredited by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare, the center provides a state-of-the-art, immersive educational environment where students and healthcare personnel obtain new skills while refining existing skills.

With an enrollment of more than 1,500 students, SHPS offers 13 associate-degree and five certificate programs in health. Health programs include nursing, dental hygiene, physical and occupational therapy, surgical technology, and an open-admission health science degree with embedded certifications.

MassMutual Foundation Announces $1 Million Gift to Square One

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Daily News

From left: MassMutual Foundation President Dennis Duquette, Square One CEO Dawn DiStefano, and Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno.

SPRINGFIELD — Joined by Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and members of the Western Mass. legislative delegation, MassMutual Foundation President Dennis Duquette announced a major boost to Square One’s “Back to Square One” capital campaign on Sept. 27.

“The MassMutual Foundation has always been committed to supporting the communities where we live and work,” Duquette said. “Our partnership with Square One reflects this commitment, and we are thrilled to support their mission of empowering local families, not only with resources for early learning, but also critical support services for the entire family. We look forward to continuing our work together and are excited to play a small part in helping Square One grow its presence in the Greater Springfield area.”

The announcement comes as Square One works to build a $15.5 million center at the location where its building was destroyed by a tornado in 2011. Slated to open in the spring of 2025, the new, 26,000-square-foot facility will include four preschool classrooms, an outdoor learning and play area, a full-service family-support center, and administrative offices.

“Over the years, Square One and many other community organizations have greatly benefited from the MassMutual Foundation’s commitment to providing outstanding opportunities for the children and families in our region,” said Dawn DiStefano, president and CEO of Square One. “This $1 million gift not only positions our project for financial success, it also sends a crucial message to others about the importance of our work in early learning and family services. We could not be more grateful for their extremely generous support and validation of our work.”

Currently, the campaign is approximately $2 million shy of its $15.5 million goal. Early support for the project came from the Davis Foundation, PeoplesBank, the city of Springfield, and the state of Massachusetts. Sarno awarded nearly $1 million in funding, while state Rep. Carlos Gonzalez and state Sen. Adam Gomez sponsored and secured a $2 million earmark in the state budget to support Square One’s expansion of services. In June, Balise Auto, another organization with deep roots in Springfield’s South End neighborhood, announced a $1 million gift to the project.

These funds and gifts, paired with a $6 million bond issued by MassDevelopment and the cash equivalent of $4 million in New Market Tax Credits, have positioned the campaign for success.

MassMutual Foundation Provides Way Finders with $2 Million Grant

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Way Finders and the MassMutual Foundation announced that Way Finders has been provided with a $2 million gift from the MassMutual Foundation to help fund its City of Homes (COH) initiative. This pilot program will address the need for quality, affordable homeownership opportunities in Springfield, the headquarters city of MassMutual and Way Finders.

“When a family has a stable, safe, and affordable home, it opens doors for upward mobility and opportunity. When a community invests in renovating or replacing dilapidated housing, it creates ripples of improvement that make neighborhoods better,” said Keith Fairey, president and CEO of Way Finders. “Way Finders is thrilled to be a partner in this important project in the city of Springfield. Through this innovative program, we will improve housing stock, increase investment in the North End and Mason Square neighborhoods, and build family wealth in communities too-often excluded from homeownership.”

COH will create homeownership opportunities for first-time homebuyers by leveraging the receivership process to acquire and rehabilitate single-family homes or properties for sale at affordable prices in pilot neighborhoods in Springfield. To qualify for the applicant lottery, prospective homebuyers must have either attended a first-time-homebuyer seminar with Way Finders or another certified organization and secured mortgage funding with MassHousing or a private lender.

“I want to thank the MassMutual Foundation for their continued belief and investment in Springfield,” Mayor Domenic Sarno said. “The MassMutual Foundation and MassMutual continue to be excellent corporate citizens for our city. This generous grant to support Way Finders’ City of Homes initiative will provide many Springfield families the opportunity to secure stable and affordable housing, increase the homeownership rate in our North End and Mason Square neighborhoods, and provide an opportunity for families to become proud homebuyers where they can start building equity in something they own — their home.

“This initiative is very similar to my administration’s Buy Springfield Now initiative, a public and private collaboration, and our first-time homebuyers program, which has seen tremendous success in helping families achieve their dreams of homeownership,” Sarno continued. “All of this enhances the quality of life in our neighborhoods and will help families start to build generational wealth in our communities.”

By focusing on Springfield’s North End and Mason Square neighborhoods, where 75% or more of the residents are Black or Hispanic and 50% or more live below the poverty line, the project will provide much-needed access to homeownership opportunities traditionally unavailable to many residents in these communities.

“Long emblematic of the American Dream, homeownership is foundational to building generational wealth,” said Dennis Duquette, president of the MassMutual Foundation. “The MassMutual Foundation is very pleased to support the City of Homes program and help make this important goal more readily attainable for first-time homebuyers in our city’s Mason Square and North End communities.”

Since 2018, the MassMutual Foundation has supported Way Finders’ financial-capability programming, which lays the groundwork for homeownership with financial education and first-time homebuyer workshops. Through the COH pilot program, Way Finders will be able to help Springfield residents turn this education into action as they become first-time homebuyers.

In 2022, Way Finders programs impacted the lives of more than 46,000 people through services including homelessness and foreclosure prevention, financial education and first-time homebuyer workshops, and small-business loans.