William James College Awarded $150,000 Cummings Foundation Grant

The Newton, MA-based school, which trains mental health professionals, receives three years of funding from Cummings Foundation

Newton, June 12, 2024 – William James College (WJC) is one of 150 local nonprofits that will share in $30 million through Cummings Foundation’s annual major grants program. The college was selected from a pool of 715 applicants during a competitive review process. It will receive $150,000 over three years in support of the PATHWAYS program which provides culturally sensitive individual and group counseling, family outreach and engagement, and consultation services for youth in the Lynn and Woburn Public Schools.

Established in 1974, William James College creates programs that prepare behavioral health clinicians to meet the evolving needs of an increasingly diverse society. With an emphasis on experiential education, personal growth, and social responsibility, WJC trains students to meet the evolving mental health needs of individuals of every age and background through cultural competence and language training and by working to eliminate barriers to mental health care.

“We are grateful to the Cummings Foundation for recognizing the college’s commitment to serving our local communities and supporting one of our foundational service programs which addresses the urgent social-emotional and mental health needs of traumatized youth in the Commonwealth. PATHWAYS also equips providers in training with the skills and practical experience to meet the needs of persistently underserved populations. This level of intervention helps close the critical workforce gap that contributes to inequitable access to services and poor health outcomes due to the lack of culturally or linguistically appropriate care,” shared Dr. Shani Turner, Assistant Professor and Director of the PATHWAYS program at William James College.

Launched as a collaboration with Boston Public Schools in 2013, PATHWAYS is committed to countering the root causes of disruptive behaviors and reducing suspension and truancy rates by providing psychosocial education and services aimed at enhancing positive coping skills, promoting school engagement, and improving psychosocial wellbeing and academic outcomes. The Cummings funding will allow WJC to continue its collaboration with Lynn Public Schools which provides trauma-informed, culturally sensitive interventions to at-risk students who are experiencing psychological stress due to intergenerational trauma, community violence, discrimination and instability in their daily lives. With the new grant, WJC will, for the first time, expand the reach of PATHWAYS into the Woburn Public Schools.

The Cummings $30 Million Grant Program primarily supports Massachusetts nonprofits that are based in and serve Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties, in addition to six communities in Norfolk County: Brookline, Dedham, Milton, Needham, Quincy, and Wellesley. 

Through this place-based initiative, Cummings Foundation aims to give back in the areas where it owns commercial property. Its buildings are all managed, at no cost to the Foundation, by its affiliate, Cummings Properties. This Woburn-based commercial real estate firm leases and manages 11 million square feet of debt-free space, the majority of which exclusively benefits the Foundation.

“Greater Boston is fortunate to have a robust, dedicated, and highly capable nonprofit sector that supports and enhances the community in myriad ways,” said Cummings Foundation executive director and trustee Joyce Vyriotes. “The entire Cummings organization is thankful for their daily work to help all our neighbors thrive.”

The majority of the grant decisions were made by nearly 100 community volunteers. They worked across a variety of committees to review and discuss the proposals and then, together, determine which requests would be funded. Among these community volunteers were business and nonprofit leaders, mayors, college presidents, and experts in areas such as finance and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion).

“We believe strongly that grant decisions will be more equitable when made by a diverse group of community members,” said Vyriotes. “We’re incredibly grateful to the dozens of individuals who participated in our democratized philanthropic process.”

The Foundation and volunteers first identified 150 organizations to receive three-year grants of up to $300,000 each. The winners included first-time recipients as well as nonprofits that had previously received Cummings grants. Twenty-five of this latter group of repeat recipients were then selected by a panel of community volunteers to have their grants elevated to 10-year awards ranging from $300,000 to $1 million each.

This year’s grant recipients represent a wide variety of causes, including housing and food insecurity, workforce development, immigrant services, social justice, education, and mental health services. The nonprofits are spread across 49 different cities and towns.

Cummings Foundation has now awarded $500 million to greater Boston nonprofits. The complete list of this year’s 150 grant winners, plus nearly 2,000 previous recipients, is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org. 

About William James College

Founded in 1974, William James College is an independent, non-profit institution and a leader in educating the next generation of mental health professionals to support the growing and diverse needs of the mental health workforce. Integrating field work with academics, the College prepares students for careers as organizational leaders and behavioral health professionals who are committed to helping the underserved, multicultural populations, children and families, and veterans. William James College alumni can be found making an impact in a variety of settings, including schools, the courts, clinical care facilities, hospitals, the community, and the workplace. To learn more about the College, please visit williamjames.edu.

About Cummings Foundation

Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings of Winchester, MA and has grown to be one of the largest private foundations in New England. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including New Horizons retirement communities, in Marlborough and Woburn, and Cummings Health Sciences, LLC. Additional information is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.

 

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