Bedford, May 25, 2018 – Nashoba Learning Group is one of 100 local nonprofits to receive grants of $100,000 each through Cummings Foundation’s “$100,000K for 100” program. The Bedford based organization was chosen from a total of 597 applications, during a competitive review process.
Nashoba Learning Group was founded in 2002 to serve individuals more impaired by autism. The program enables children and adults with autism to function with the greatest possible productivity and independence in the community, home, and workplace through their lives. Nashoba Learning Group currently serves 124 children in their school program and 36 individuals in their adult program.
Representing Nashoba Learning Group, CEO Liz Martineau and Board Member Nan Leonard will join approximately 300 other guests at a reception at TradeCenter 128 in Woburn to celebrate this $10 million infusion into Great Boston’s nonprofit sector. With the conclusion of this grant cycle, Cummings Foundation has now awarded more than $220 million to Greater Boston nonprofits alone.
“We are thrilled to receive this critical support for our Adult Program from the Cummings Foundation. These funds will provide critical support to our work of engaging the adults we serve in volunteer work and activities of daily life in the community. This engagement is so important to the adults we serve and allows them to be part of and give back to our community” Liz Martineau, CEO
With the assistance of the Cummings Foundations “$100K for 100 program” NLG will support adults with autism and intensive clinical needs in the community. The 38 adults NLG serves at our Adult Program work, engage, and volunteer in the community. Funding will be used to cover the staffing costs NLG incurs, in excess of government funding received.
The $100K for 100 program supports nonprofits that are based in and primarily serve Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties. Through this place-based initiative, Cummings Foundation aims to give back in the area where it owns commercial buildings, all of which are managed, at no cost to the Foundation, by its affiliate Cummings Properties. Founded in 1970 by Bill Cummings of Winchester, the Woburn-based commercial real estate firm leases and manages 11 million square feet of space, the majority of which exclusively benefits the Foundation.
“We are indebted to the nonprofit organizations like Nashoba Learning Group that have a meaningful positive impact on the local communities where our colleagues and clients live and work,” said Joel Swets, Cummings Foundation’s executive director. “We are delighted to invest in their important programs and services.”
This year’s diverse group of grant recipients represents a wide variety of causes, including homelessness prevention and affordable housing, education, violence prevention, and food insecurity. Most of the grants will be paid over two to five years.
The complete list of 100 grant winners will be available beginning June 7 at www.CummingsFoundation.org.
Cummings Foundation announced an additional $10 million in early May through its new Sustaining Grants, which extend “$100K for 100” funding for previous winners for 10 more years. Beginning in 2019, the Foundation will increase its total annual giving through these two programs from $20 million to $25 million.
About Nashoba Learning Group
Nashoba Learning Group’s mission is to enable children and adults with Autism to gain the skills they need to function witt the greatest possible independence in the community, home, and workplace through their lives. NLG was founded in 2002 to offer a different life trajectory for individuals with autism. Today NLG’s School provides outstanding, individualized education, training and intervention services for students aged 3 to 22 with Autism Spectrum disorders. NLG’s Adult program, opened in 2013, provides ongoing support to adults with Autism.
About Cummings Foundation
Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including New Horizons retirement communities in Marlborough and Woburn. Bill Cummings released his self-written memoir, “Starting Small and Making It Big: An Entrepreneur’s Journey to Billion-Dollar Philanthropist,” in March 2018. The book may be purchased at cummings.com/book.