Bethany Hill Place announced today it has been awarded a $350,000 grant from the Cummings Foundation Sustaining Grant program to continue its modernization of bathrooms and kitchens in its 41 unit-building over the next 10 years.  Renovation work was launched in 2017 with a $100,000 grant by the Cummings Foundation’s $100K for 100 program.

“We see every day the desperate need for affordable housing,” said Trish Appert, Executive Director of Bethany Hill Place.  “This generous grant will provide the community’s most vulnerable with an opportunity to stabilize their lives in safe, dignified homes of their own while working on education, employment, and other goals that lead to positive, self-sufficient outcomes.”

Bethany Hill Place offers a mix of studio, 2-, 3-, and 4-bedroom to low-income families and individuals in a bucolic setting with parking, playground, and community garden.  Originally a novitiate for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston, the 100-year old Bethany Hill Place building was converted to longer-term residential use 25 years ago, when the organization was established.  The sustained funding will be used to renovate aged bathrooms and kitchens with capital improvements, cosmetic upgrades, and new equipment.

The Sustaining Grants initiative builds on Cummings Foundation’s 100k for 100 program. First offered in 2012, $100k for 100 annually awards $10 million through multi-year grants of $100,000 each to 100 nonprofits that are based and primarily serve Essex, Middlesex and Suffolk counties. Grant recipients that received their final grant disbursements in 2018 were automatically considered for $15 million in Sustaining Grants.

“We introduced sustaining grants to help alleviate the constant burden of fundraising so non-profit professionals can spend more of their limited time and resources on actually providing services,” said Christina Berthelsen, grants manager at Cummings Foundation.

Cummings Foundation has awarded nearly $250 million to date in Greater Boston alone. Funds are generated through commercial properties that are owned by, and operated for the sole benefit of, Cummings Foundation. All of its buildings are managed pro bono by Woburn commercial real estate firm Cummings Properties.

Sustaining Grants winners were selected primarily by a 33-member volunteer committee, which included former state legislators, CEOs of local companies, and a retired justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, among many others. Committee members met with each nonprofit twice to learn how the $100K for 100 funds helped to advance its mission, and how it might put a 10-year grant to use.

About Bethany Hill Place

A secular nonprofit founded in 1994 and sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston, Bethany Hill Place in Framingham, MA combines safe, affordable independent housing with skill-building programming for 150 individuals and families annually.  Serving adults and children experiencing homelessness, addiction, violence, trauma, and loss, the organization gives residents a foundation for achieving independent, successful futures.  Dedicated to providing positive learning environments, developmental experiences, and skill-building opportunities, Bethany Hill Place requires residents to set individualized learning goals and involve themselves in programming to make progress toward that goal.  Residents who have faced daunting challenges engage in a wide range of activities in order to transcend barriers and work towards positive, productive lives.

About Cummings Foundation

Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings and has grown to be one of the three largest private foundations in New England. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including New Horizons retirement communities in Marlborough and Woburn. Its largest single commitment to date has been to Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.

Filed Under: Uncategorized