December 7, 2023 Press Releases
Community Foundation Awards Valley Organizations $2.3 Million in Flexible Funding
Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts would like to announce the names of organizations that will receive unrestricted financial support from its Flexible Funding program. A total of $2,275,000 will be distributed to 96 applicant nonprofits to build capacity and strengthen their operations and programming.
Since 2021, the Community Foundation has used Flexible Funding to help nonprofit partners improve their organizational effectiveness and strengthen their impact. Unrestricted support allows organizations the essential freedom of discretionary spending.
“Organizations understand their work better than anyone else,” said Meredith Lewis, Director of Community Impact and Partnerships. “Giving general operating support gives organizations the flexibility to meet their current and evolving needs.
The Flexible Funding program provides nonprofits that substantially benefit Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties up to $30,000 in grant support. Up to 75% of applicants are doing work that aligns with the Community Foundation’s strategic priority areas of advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, creating a strong start for all children, advancing affordability for post-secondary education, and supporting a vibrant local arts ecosystem.
“We received a record number of applications from arts organizations this year, and a large percentage of those organizations are new or had never applied to CFWM before,” said Nicole Bourdon, Senior Program Officer for the Foundation’s ValleyCreates program. “We’re so thrilled to see that, despite economic challenges, the arts are continuing to thrive in our region. We’re very much looking forward to being in partnership with, and learning from, all of these organizations over the next year.”
The recipient organizations are:
| Academic Leadership Association LLC |
| Alianza DV Services, Inc |
| All Farmers, Inc. |
| Amherst Cinema Arts Center, Inc |
| Amherst Community Television, Inc. |
| Antenna Cloud Farm |
| Artspace Community Arts Center |
| Ashfield Community Preschool |
| Attack Bear Press |
| Available Potential Enterprises |
| Belchertown Community Alliance, Inc |
| Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity |
| Boys & Girls Club Family Center |
| Brick House Community Resource Center, Inc. |
| Center for Social Justice @ WNEU School of Law |
| Childrens Advocacy Center of Franklin and North Quabbin |
| Chinese Association of Western Massachusetts |
| CitySpace, Inc. |
| Common Capital, Inc. |
| Common Wealth Mural Collaborative |
| Connecticut River Valley Wildlife Sanctuaries – Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary |
| Craig’s Doors, A Home Association, Inc. |
| Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society, Inc. |
| Davenport Child Care, Inc. |
| Dream Up Events |
| Dress for Success of Western Massachusetts, Inc. |
| Empowerment Through the Arts |
| Empty Arms Bereavement Support, Inc. |
| Enchanted Circle, Inc. |
| Extreme Kid, Inc. |
| Families Against Violence |
| Families First Parenting Programs, Inc. |
| Fishing Friends, Inc. |
| Franklin County Pride |
| Friends of the Montague Common Hall |
| Friends of the Wendell Meetinghouse, Inc. |
| Girls Inc. of the Valley |
| Give Music, Inc. |
| Happier Valley Comedy Inc |
| Hilltown Village, Inc. DBA It Takes A Village |
| Hilltown Youth Performing Arts Program, Inc. |
| Hispanic-American Library, Inc. |
| Holyoke Community Media, Inc. |
| Holyoke YMCA, Inc. |
| International Language Institute of MA, Inc. |
| LaunchSpace |
| LightHouse Holyoke |
| Local Access to Valley Arts |
| Make-It-Springfield |
| Martin Luther King, Jr. Family Services, Inc. |
| Men of Color Health Awareness |
| Mountain River Taiko |
| National Conference for Community and Justice |
| Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts |
| Northampton Community Music Center |
| Northampton Parents Center, Inc. |
| Northampton Survival Center, Inc. |
| Northeast Organic Farming Association Massachusetts Chapter |
| Pa’Lante Transformative Justice, Inc. |
| Parent Villages |
| Pathlight, Inc. |
| Perugia Press, Inc. |
| Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares |
| Pioneer Valley Symphony Inc |
| Pioneer Valley Workers Center, Inc. |
| Piti Theatre Company |
| Play Incubation Collective |
| Quaboag Hills Community Coalition |
| Resilient Community Arts |
| River East School-to-Career, Inc. |
| Riverside Industries Inc |
| Roca, Inc. |
| Self-Evident Education, Inc. |
| Shea Theater Arts Center, Inc. |
| Silverthorne Theater Company Inc |
| Springfield Cultural Partnerships |
| Springfield Day Nursery Corporation |
| Springfield No One Leaves |
| Springfield Operations ECS, Inc. |
| Springfield Puerto Rican Parade |
| Springfield School Volunteers, Inc. |
| Straw Dog Writers Guild, Inc. |
| Survivor Theatre Project |
| Teach Western Mass |
| Tech Foundry, Inc |
| The Care Center |
| The Literacy Lab |
| The Literacy Project, Inc. |
| Translate Gender, Inc. |
| Valley Venture Mentors |
| Wellspring Cooperative Corporation |
| West County Arts |
| Workshop 13, Inc. |
| Yiddishkayt Western Mass |
| Young at Heart Chorus Incorporated |
| YWCA of Western Ma |
