By JULIE CUNNINGHAM
(Franklin County, MA) Ellen Leuchs, Vice President of Philanthropic Services at the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts said the organization is hoping to reach more Franklin County residents this year to make them more aware of the resources the Community Foundation provides for Hampshire, Hamden, and Franklin Counties. In addition to scholarships available to both high school students entering college and college students entering graduate studies, there are grant making programs available, especially during COVID-19, to various nonprofits in the county that provide stabilization services to the members of the community. Some problems addressed by the grants include food insecurity, mental health, and services to immigrant and undocumented populations. In January of 2021, the organization also provided $1.3 million in grant funding to prevent eviction, help food insecurity, and improve mental health.
“In the last 12 months we’ve made over 350 COVID-related grants to Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties. About 30% of those grants went to organizations that serve Franklin County,” said Leuchs.
According to Leuchs, the problem in Franklin County especially is visibility. The organization is based out of Springfield, and has not used the office provided by Greenfield Community College on Main Street in Greenfield since COVID-19 began last March. While donors have been providing funding that can be used for Franklin County, there may not be enough volunteers in the area to provide outreach. If the donor wants to remain anonymous, there may be an additional publicity and outreach problem soliciting further donations for that cause.
“We continue to fundraise for our COVID-19 Response Fund and will continue to make grants in 2021. Thus far we’ve leveraged $12 million for COVID grantmaking. All but $1million of that has been from private sources,” said Leuchs.
Scholarship and grant applicants submit a general application to the Community Foundation for funding. Those applications are then reviewed and a decision is made regarding what grant or scholarship might be appropriate for that applicant. For the funding to organizations that assist immigrant populations, several organizations inside of Franklin County and serving Franklin County received funding.
“In addition to the Literacy Center and Montague Catholic Ministries, our most recent round of COVID grants for immigrants and refugees include nonprofits that are based outside of Franklin County, but serve Franklin. Three of them are The Pioneer Valley Workers Center, the Literacy Center, and the International Language Institute,” said Leuchs.
To view the Community Foundation’s website, click here. For a link to student scholarship resources, click here. For resources for nonprofits, click here.