North County community foundation gifts $100K to 10 healthcare nonprofits

Photo | Courtesy of YWCA Central Massachusetts Debbie Hall, executive director, YWCA Central Massachusetts, in Worcester

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By Sadie Leite

The Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts gifted $102,652 in grants to 10 local nonprofits through the Nashoba Valley Health Care Fund.

The goal of this effort is to better the health of community members in 11 communities: Ashby, Ayer, Bolton, Groton, Harvard, Lancaster, Littleton, Lunenburg, Pepperell, Shirley, and Townsend.

“Our region is fortunate to have impactful organizations serving a wide range of health care needs for our residents,” said Community Foundation President Stephen Adams in a written statement. “We hope these grants will inspire others to deepen our impact by donating to the Nashoba Valley Health Care Fund.”

The grants were distributed to the 10 nonprofits as follows:

The Ellie Fund in Needham received $20,000 for cancer patient support and intentional collaboration to serve more minority patients.
The Ashby Fire & EMS Department accepted $12,000 for scholarships for local residents to complete emergency medical technician and advanced EMT certification.
DetecTogether in Westborough obtained $11,000 for firefighters to be educated on cancer detection.
Advocates in Framingham received $10,000 for support of behavioral healthcare for older adults with treatment not covered by Medicare.
CASA Project in Worcester accepted $10,000 for its Shine the Light program, an initiative training volunteers to assist children enduring parental substance abuse.
YWCA Central Massachusetts in Worcester received $10,000 for its domestic violence high-risk teams. They work within the community's domestic violence response system to identify the most dangerous cases to increase victim safety and offender accountability while closing systemic gaps.
MAB Community Services in Brookline gained $7,500 for older adults in need of vision loss service, such as vision rehabilitation, peer support groups, mental health counseling, assistive technology training and volunteer services.
Minuteman Senior Services in Bedford obtained $7,500 for programming support. This includes a meal program, Medicare counseling, money management training, protective services and caregiver support services.
The Nan Project in Lexington received $7,500 for targeted education, prevention, and intervention strategies for students and educators at the Bromfield School, using a peer-to-peer model to reach middle and high school students.
The Albert Harris Center in Pepperell gained $7,152 for its Mind Body Nourish program, which provides behavioral health sessions, access to fitness center classes, and intuitive eating workshops for seniors.