December 16, 2022 Press Releases

Over $2.3 Million Invested to Support Valley Nonprofits with Flexible Funding Grants

The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts (CFWM) is pleased to announce that it will distribute $2.3 million in Flexible Funding to 96 nonprofit organizations across Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties in December 2022. Funding will provide general operating support to organizations that benefit the region.

Local organizations were eligible for grants up to $30,000, giving grantees the flexibility to apply funding in the areas they need it most. Applicants commonly noted a desire for funding to bolster staff recruitment and retention efforts, additional community needs, post-COVID reality changes, and organizational development related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

“Circumstances are rapidly changing in the communities we serve,” said Meredith Lewis, Director of Community Impact at the Community Foundation. “Organizations can use flexible dollars to meet those needs, stay responsive to their community members and causes, and take advantage of opportunities as they emerge.”

As part of the review process, forty volunteers from across the region involved in community engagement, local leadership, non-profit work, or with lived experiences that involve the betterment of local communities, reviewed 237 applications for consideration, a substantial increase from years prior. Due to the surge in applicants, an additional $100,000 was received from the Barr Foundation to support more organizations than originally planned.

The 96 organizations receiving Flexible Funding investments are:

All Farmers
American International College
Amherst Cinema Arts Center
Amherst Community Television
Arise
Art for the Soul Art Gallery
Art Garden
Arts Extension Institute
Ashfield Community Preschool
Blues to Green, Inc.
Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity
Boys & Girls Club Family Center, Inc.
Caring Health Center
Catie’s Closet
Center for New Americans
Center for Social Justice at WNEU School of Law
Christina’s House
CitySpace, Inc.
Clarke School for the Deaf dba Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech
Collaborative for Educational Services
Collaborative Resolutions Group
College of Our Lady of the Elms
Common Capital
Common Wealth Mural Collaborative
Community Action Pioneer Valley
Community Music School of Springfield
Cultural Images Group, Inc. dba Serious Play Theatre Ensemble
Davenport Child Care
Double Edge Theatre
Drama Studio
Dress for Success of Western Massachusetts, Inc.
Empty Arms Bereavement Support Inc
Enchanted Circle, Inc.
Families First Parenting Programs
Follow My Steps Foundation, Inc.
Franklin County Community Development Corp.
Gardening the Community
Girls, Inc.
Give Music
Greenfield Community College
Grow Food Northampton
H.M. Hutchings Family Life Center
Happier Valley Comedy
Hilltown Youth Performing Arts Programs, Inc.
Hispanic-American Library
Holyoke Civic Symphony Orchestra
Institute for the Musical Arts
International Language Institute of MA
LaunchSpace Inc.
Literacy Lab
Local Access
Make-It Springfield
Mariposa Project
Men of Color Health Awareness
Montague Catholic Social Ministries
Music and Poetry Synchronized
Musica Franklin, Inc.
New England Learning Center for Women in Transition, Inc.
Northampton Academy of Music
Northampton Center for the Arts
Northampton Community Music Center
Northeast Organic Farming Association, Massachusetts Chapter (NOFA/Mass)
Nuestras Raices
Ohketeau Cultural Center
Pa’lante Transformative Justice
Parent Villages
Performance Project
PHCC Inc. DBA as Palmer Historical and Cultural Center
Pioneer Valley Historical Network
Pioneer Valley Project
Pioneer Valley Workers Center
Piti Theatre Company
Play Incubation Collective
Reach Out and Read
River East School-to-Career, Inc.
Roca
Safe Passage, Inc.
Self-Evident Education, Inc.
Shea Theater Arts Center, Inc.
Silverthorne Theater Company
Snow Farm New England Craft Program
Somali Bantu Community of Springfield
Springfield Cultural Partnerships
Springfield Day Nursery Corporation
Springfield Operations ECS, Inc. (Educare)
Springfield Partners for Community Action
Springfield Puerto Rican Parade
Springfield Vietnamese Cultural Association, Inc.
Survivor Theatre Project
Teach Western Mass
Tech Foundry
The Care Center
Way Finders
Workshop 13, Inc
YMCA of Greater Springfield
Young at Heart Chorus Incorporated