MAC receives $100K Cummings Grant
BOSTON, June 7, 2016—Massachusetts Advocates for Children is one of 100 local nonprofits to receive grants of $100,000 each through Cummings Foundation’s “$100K for 100” program. The Boston-based organization was chosen from a total of 479 applicants, during a competitive review process.
Founded in 1969, MAC's mission is to be an independent and effective voice for children who face significant barriers to equal education and life opportunities. MAC responds to the needs of children who are vulnerable because of poverty, race or ethnicity, limited English, or disability.
The grant award will support MAC’s new initiative, Proyecto Accesso a la Educación Especial, which will provide training, outreach, and case advocacy to Latinx families with children who have autism and other disabilities in the greater Boston area. The project will also focus on the needs of children with autism and other disabilities in the city of Lawrence, where the school district is under state receivership. Latinx students with disabilities, especially autism, face the additional challenges of learning in non-inclusive settings where they are separated from their non-disabled peers. Frequently they have inadequate educational supports or services, which are often compounded by language and cultural barriers.
“With the generous support of the Cummings Foundation, MAC will be able to address the needs of Latinx children with autism and other disabilities from low-income communities, helping to ensure these vulnerable children receive vital services and supports,” said MAC’s Autism Center director, Julia Landau.
The $100K for 100 program supports nonprofits that are not only based in but also primarily serve Middlesex, Essex and Suffolk counties. This year, the program is benefiting 41 different cities and towns within the Commonwealth. Through this place-based initiative, Cummings Foundation aims to give back in the area where it owns commercial buildings, all of which are managed, at no cost to the Foundation, by its affiliate, Cummings Properties. Founded in 1970 by Bill Cummings of Winchester, the Woburn-based commercial real estate firm leases and manages more than 10 million square feet of space, the majority of which exclusively benefits the Foundation.
“We admire and very much appreciate the important work that nonprofit organizations like Massachusetts Advocates for Children are doing in the local communities where our colleagues and clients live and work,” said Joel Swets, Cummings Foundation’s executive director. “We are delighted to support their efforts.”
Representatives of MAC will join approximately 300 other guests at a June 9th reception at TradeCenter 128 in Woburn to celebrate the $10 million infusion into Greater Boston's nonprofit sector. The complete list of 100 grant winners is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org