2023 Tufts Community Grants Recipients
April 28, 2023
The Tufts Community Grants Board awarded grants to 10 organizations in Boston, 5 organizations in Grafton, 10 programs in Medford, 10 organizations in Somerville.
TCG collects donations from university employees throughout the year and then awards grants to community-based, charitable organizations that serve Tufts’ host communities (Somerville, Medford, Grafton and Boston) and that actively engage Tufts volunteers in their work.
A committee comprised of Tufts administrators, faculty and staff meets annually to review proposals and select grant recipients. There was a total of $105,000 available to award to the 2023 TCG applicants. More than 100 area non-profits applied for grants. 35 programs and projects were selected for grants. Members of the TCG committee base their decisions on a desire to address the most pressing needs in the communities and to encourage expanded involvement of Tufts volunteers.
All grants awarded were $3,000.
Boston Recipients:
Action for Boston Community Development, Inc.: Program materials for 100 low-income Boston residents participating in ABCD’s citizenship and civics classes.
Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence: Purchase of furniture for an outside dining option and space for families to spend time outdoors at an emergency shelter.
Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center: Materials to enhance Red Oak visual arts and music programs and professional development trainings to increase staff capacity to better serve school-age children from low-income, immigrant, and English Language Learner households.
Food Link, Inc.: Funding for a food rescue program in Boston that aims to distribute 82,000 lbs. of fresh food to 10 social service agencies serving food-insecure residents.
Greater Boston Chinese Golden Age Center: Purchase of three iPads to loan to low-income elderly clients receiving depression self-management intervention programming.
Haley House: Purchase of two new refrigerators for common areas in the single room occupancy affordable housing buildings that serve residents who have experienced homelessness.
Josiah Quincy Elementary School: Funding to revitalize and upgrade three staff spaces at Boston’s largest public elementary school. The school serves over 700 students with 82 percent classified as high needs and 60 percent as low-income.
Level Ground Mixed Martial Arts: Tools and equipment to enhance and expand the carpentry youth workforce development program, a hands-on, workforce development initiative that provides students in Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan with valuable experience in a skilled trade.
Partners for Youth with Disabilities: Funding to support PYD’s Mentor Match program, helping to improve participant accessibility at program events.
Sociedad Latina: Electronic and robotics materials and building tools to support STEM programming for middle- and high-school Latinx youth.
Grafton Recipients:
Apple Tree Arts: Summer youth theater program expenses to support high quality performing arts education.
Community Harvest Project: Fertilizer and greenhouse supplies to support an extended growing season, yielding fresh, free, local produce for food-insecure households.
Grafton Food Bank: Adult incontinence products to assist 55+ aged families who do not receive any state or federal aid for these products.
St. James Outreach at Our Lady of Hope Parish: Funding to purchase perishable food, support children’s recreation, and buy school supplies for low-income families in Grafton.
Touchstone Community School: Funding for garden, livestock, and stewardship programs, and for the purchase of greenhouse, composting, and gardening supplies to extend programming to local children.
Medford Recipients:
Chapters Coffee Carts: Purchase of café equipment to upgrade Chapters Coffee Cart at the Medford Public Library, which employs individuals with disabilities, providing critical job and professional skills.
Community Cupboard Food Pantry: Funding for the purchase of food pantry items to meet the needs for food-insecure Medford residents.
McGlynn Middle School PTO: Purchase of items such as microphones, lighting, costumes, and a portable stage platform to enhance the school’s drama club’s spring musical production.
Medford Family Network: Funding for comprehensive programming in the languages of origin to best serve participating Arabic, Brazilian, and Haitian families.
Medford Farmers Market: Funding for SNAP/EBT eligible customers to purchase fresh, healthy, and local food at a weekly farmer's market and for senior citizens to receive weekly deliveries of fresh produce.
Missituk Elementary School PTO: Purchase of furniture, equipment, and materials for our sensory and break room and school building to support the social and emotional well-being of the school’s elementary-aged students.
Medford Senior Center: Funding to supplement the nutritional needs of older adults in the Medford community.
Mystic Valley YMCA: Three rolling shelves to transport, store, and display food at the Mystic Community Market, a full-service food pantry open six days a week
Sanctuary UCC: Funding to train staff to implement the teen mental health first aid program aimed at youth ages 15-18 high school students throughout the school year.
West Medford Community Center: Purchase of a speaker system to enhance sound quality of outdoor musical performances and workshops, and drum rentals for hands on experience focused on music, history, and specifics of a series of rhythms from West Africa
Somerville Recipients:
Breakthrough Greater Boston: Purchase of literature books and a community novel for seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-grade students in Somerville and Boston during the 2023 Summer Program, which serves predominantly students of color, low-income students, and first-generation college students.
Hearty Meals for All: Funding for expanded outreach efforts to help ensure that food-insecure residents in the greater Somerville community have access to delicious, healthy, and sustainable food.
RESPOND, Inc.: Purchase of child-safe, age-appropriate furniture and other household necessities to outfit rental units housing young survivors of domestic violence who are pregnant or parenting and facing homelessness.
Second Chances, Inc.: Purchase of supplies, and materials to create a more efficient and effective clothing assembly area.
Somerville Bike Kitchen: Funding to provide expanded access to signature programming including cycling repair education and events for underrepresented FTW/LGBTQIA+ groups within the local cycling community.
Somerville Center for Adult Education: Purchase of essential laptop computers for English as a Second Language and Adult Basic Education classrooms.
Somerville Community Land Trust: Funding for Community Land Trust’s 2023 Translation and Interpretation Fund, which performs outreach to Somerville residents concerned about eviction or displacement.
Somerville Family Learning Collaborative: Funding for the purchase of multilingual children's books, winter hats, and gloves to welcome new families to Somerville who are seeking in person support to register their children with Somerville Public Schools.
Somerville Homeless Coalition: Funding to purchase gift cards to local East Somerville grocery stores for SHC's clients that cannot qualify for SNAP benefits due to their immigration status.
The Elizabeth Peabody House: Funding to strengthen the emergency food program, which serves food-insecure households in Somerville.