Senator Warren and Senator Markey submitted the following Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) federal funding requests to the Senate Appropriations Committee for important community projects in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Under guidelines issued by the Senate Appropriations Committee, each Senator may request CDS funding for projects in their state for fiscal year 2023. However, only a small number of these proposals may actually receive federal funding. CDS requests are restricted to a limited number of federal funding streams, and only state and local governments and eligible non-profit entities are permitted to receive CDS funding. In compliance with Senate Rules and Senate Appropriations Committee requirements, Senator Warren has certified that she, her spouse, and immediate family have no financial interest in any of these submitted CDS requests. This page will be updated on a rolling basis to comply with Senate Appropriations Subcommittee deadlines and requirements.

NOTE: The projects are listed alphabetically by project name.

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Energy and Water Projects Requested 

Link to FY23 E&W Financial Disclosure (attached)

Project Name: Chatham (Stage) Harbor,  MA
Amount Requested: $1,400,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Town of Chatham, MA
Location: Chatham, MA
Project Purpose:  Stage Harbor is a FNP that is critical to the maritime commercial, recreational, and public safety (US Coast Guard and Chatham Harbormaster) boating interests of Chatham. Historically, funding for the USACE to perform maintenance dredging has been sporadic and not dependable to ensure safe navigation into the harbor. Over the past 3 years, changes in shoaling patterns have greatly increased shoaling rates that would have rendered the channel virtually unusable to all but shallow draft vessels without repeated maintenance dredging, and at great expense, by the Town. Even with local dredging completed, additional dredging was necessary and undertaken by the USACE during this period, but only by opportunistic re-programming of available funds from other project purposes. Dedicated FY2023 federal funding for the USACE for Stage Harbor is needed to ensure the channel will be able to service the boating public for the 2024 boating season.  Guidance was provided by the USACE, New England District to best identify the scope of the project based on current channel alignment and shoaling conditions. The USACE indicated that funding in the amount of $1,400,000 would be required to cover all mobilization and time-on-site expenses for a full, dedicated maintenance dredging effort by the USACE hopper dredge "Murden". Chatham Stage Harbor is a 100% federally funded FNP without a local cost-share. The Town has in the past, and will continue to provide support services needed by the USACE during the project.

Project Name: Hoosic River Basin
Amount Requested: $1,500,000
Intended Recipient and Address: City of North Adams, Massachusetts
Location: North Adams, MA
Project Purpose: North Adams, MA requests a Feasibility Study for the aging USACE Hoosic River Basin Flood Control Project, which was designed using engineering standards of the 1940s and constructed in the 1950s. That now-deteriorating 2.5 mile, concrete-channelized project with fallen and leaning walls requires a total assessment as soon as possible. In 2014 the N.Y. District Corps of Engineers acknowledged: ‘your system has outlived its useful life�. The goal is a new flood mitigation system, built with 21st C. engineering standards and reflecting the City’s goals for a flood-controlled, healthy, attractive, accessible community asset.

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Agriculture and Rural Development Projects Requested

Link to FY23 AG Financial Disclosure (attached)

Project Name: Franklin County Volunteer Responder Digital Pagers
Amount Requested: $450,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Franklin Regional Council of Governments
Location: Franklin County, MA
Project Purpose: The funds will be used to purchase voice over pagers for call volunteer firefighters and EMTs that work on the Commonwealth’s digital radio system. Franklin County’s analog public safety radio system was reaching its end-of-life and is nearly inoperable. In response, the Massachusetts Executive Offices of Technology Services and Security and Public Safety and Security agreed to allow county departments to use the Commonwealth’s digital interoperable radio system. They also provided a grant to purchase radios for all system users so they could communicate on the new system. However, the grant did not cover the purchase of digital voice over pagers. Franklin County is a rural area, and a large portion of the county has inadequate cell signal coverage. These pagers that utilize the Commonwealth’s digital radio system will soon be the only reliable option to reach many of their volunteers. Without the pagers, the county faces lengthier response times for first responders to arrive on scene because we will need to use landline phones to notify them of an incident. This project would cover 75% of the $600,000 total estimated cost to purchase digital pagers for all county volunteer personnel.

Project Name: Year Round Farming Education for Children
Amount Requested: $150,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Kistner Foundation Inc. dba Red Gate Farm Ashfield, MA
Location: Ashfield, MA
Project Purpose: Red Gate Farm Education Center is requesting $150,000 to help complete the construction of a new student housing facility and dining hall. These facilities will expand Red Gate Farm’s capacity to enrich children’s education from 3-season programming to year round farm-based activities that foster growth and self-confidence. Many more children from diverse socio-economic backgrounds will benefit from this investment in our facilities, as the buildings will more than double the number of students the organization can serve annually. Red Gate Farm Education Center currently serves students from across the Commonwealth and New England states. By expanding the organization’s current capacity, Red Gate Farm will be a greater resource to both the local community and farther areas. At Red Gate Farm, children learn to care for animals, tend gardens, and maintain forest trails. During five months of each year they may plant seeds, herd sheep, collect eggs, or harvest vegetables. Their year round programs will introduce new farm experiences such as maple sugaring, pressing apples for cider, caring for newborn lambs, and planting seeds for the spring gardens. The construction of two new buildings will completely transform the farm's physical space, enabling Red Gate Farm to accommodate twice as many children, who will return to their communities with new skills.

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Commerce, Science, and Justice Projects Requested 

Link to FY23 CJS Financial Disclosure (attached)

Project Name: Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Mapping Initiative
Amount Requested: $ 1,100,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, Scituate, MA
Location: Scituate, MA
Project Purpose: This project proposes to procure side scan sonar equipment and contract with fishing vessels in Massachusetts coastal communities to map, explore and characterize the seafloor and ocean resources of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and the surrounding areas in Cape Cod Bay and Massachusetts Bay.

Project Name: Biomes Around the World
Amount Requested: $465,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Springfield Museums, Springfield, MA
Location: Springfield, MA
Project Purpose: The Springfield Museum is seeking support for “Biomes Around the World,� an educational resource in the Springfield Science Museum comprised of the Museums’ wildlife exhibits. Funding would address the Museums’ need to update fish and coral environments as closely as possible to their natural habitats. Doing so would improve the animal’s quality of life, and would increase educational and research opportunities at the Museum. Funding would also go toward new hands-on interactive fixtures to increase visitor engagement and learning. This funding would upgrade wildlife tanks, many of which are original to the exhibit’s installation in 1995. These funds will also cover the necessary upgrades to life support systems of each habitat, which is essential for preserving and enhancing the animal’s quality of life.

Project Name: Building a Pathway to Belonging Pilot Project
Amount Requested: $500,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Museum of Science, Boston, MA
Location: Boston, MA
Project Purpose: The Building a Pathway to Belonging pilot project will enable community-based organizations to gather, prosper, and inspire the next generation of diverse future STEM leaders so that historically underserved communities belong and have access to the Museum of Science.

Project Name: Improving the Accessibility, Inclusivity, and Interactivity of our Educational Experienc
Amount Requested: $2,400,000
Intended Recipient and Address: New England Aquarium, Boston, MA
Location: Boston, MA
Project Purpose: The Aquarium’s project completely modernizes its static wayfinding and educational interpretive displays to be more interactive, accessible, age-appropriate, and culturally-contextualized for our diverse visiting audience. By updating and presenting our content and conservation-based messaging through innovative delivery mechanisms, the Aquarium is better equipped to integrate its research and conservation work into its exhibits while continually reflecting the latest science on the impacts of a changing climate. Funds will support the development of new educational and wayfinding content, conservation-based messaging, delivery techniques, and opportunities for engagement.

Project Name: Reducing Energy Costs and Reducing Emissions in the Massachusetts Commercial Fishing and Seafood Industries
Amount Requested: $1,991,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Gloucester Fishermen's Wives Development Program, Gloucester, MA
Location: Gloucester, MA
Project Purpose: The Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Development Program will bring together expertise from the Massachusetts commercial fishing and seafood industry with expertise from the energy efficiency and renewable technology industry to develop a comprehensive set of pathways towards reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the harvest, processing, and sale of seafood by Massachusetts-based businesses.

Project Name: Reduce Reliance on Part-Time Police Officers
Amount Requested: $165,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Franklin Regional Council of Governments, Greenfield, MA
Location: Greenfield, MA
Project Purpose: To study options to reduce or eliminate reliance on part-time police officers for Franklin County towns. Reducing or eliminating small towns’ reliance on part-time officers is an investment of taxpayer funds that will ultimately result in savings to taxpayers as small towns no longer repeatedly pay to train personnel who leave their employ for better opportunities in large towns.

Project Name: Violence Intervention Advocacy Program (VIAP)
Amount Requested: $370,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Boston Medical Center (BMC) Corporation, Boston, MA
Location: Boston, MA
Project Purpose: VIAP was founded in 2006 to respond to the needs of victims of community violence and the families of those impacted by violence and homicide to recover from physical and emotional trauma. With the knowledge that violent injury is the strongest predictor of future violent injury, VIAP’s mission is to assist victims of violence and their families to recover from physical and emotional trauma and empower them with skills, services and opportunities so they may return to their communities, make positive changes in their lives, strengthen others who have been affected by violence, and contribute to building better communities. The federal funding requested will enable VIAP to fill three positions: one Research Coordinator, one Community Outreach & Training Supervisor, and one Violence Intervention Advocate.

Project Name: Equitable Approaches to Public Safety in the City of New Bedford
Amount Requested: $562,000
Intended Recipient and Address: City of New Bedford, MA & United Way
Location: New Bedford, MA
Project Purpose: The New Bedford Health Department, NorthStar Learning Centers, Child and Family Services, New Bedford Police Department, New Bedford Emergency Medical Services, and United Way will leverage existing and build new partnerships to develop more equitable approaches to public safety and implement reforms and alternative investments. The goals of this project are a demonstrated increase inequitable public safety and public health outcomes and a demonstrated decrease in mental health, behavioral health, or other public health needs. Partner organizations will engage with the community to better understand the impact of existing programs and inform expansion, revision, and/or development of new programs.

Project Name: Building Local Capacity for Managing Extreme Weather Events
Amount Requested: $500,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Town of Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA
Location: Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA
Project Purpose: A partnership of Cape Ann municipalities, a local non-profit, TownGreen, and Harvard University’s Future of the American City Initiative requests funding under the Commerce Department-NOAA account for R&D of new methods and tools for local prevention and management of the devastating impacts of large weather events. The need for these new tools has emerged from yearlong research and outreach effort already conducted by the partners and from participation in U.S. EPA’s Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program. The specific tools to be developed are critical to empowering the pivotal role of local communities in addressing coastal climate change threats.

Project Name: Mission-critical Secure Underwater Research Facility
Amount Requested: $950,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA
Location: Woods Hole, MA
Project Purpose: The Institution wants to create (build out and equip) a mission-critical Secure Underwater Research Facility (SURF) on its main Quissett campus that will expand researchers to perform top secret and open-secure research and technology development. This facility will support the Institution’s work with the Office of Naval Research, Navy, DARPA, DHS, NSF, NOAA, Department of Energy and additional federal and state agencies. We seek a one-time request of $950,000 for the project. As a result, the SURF facility will be able to generate ongoing revenues for its operations and more revenue, overall, for the Institution.

Project Name:   UTEC’s Emerging Adult Justice Training Program
Amount Requested: $830,000
Intended Recipient and Address: UTEC, nonprofit, Lowell, MA
Location: Lowell, MA
Project Purpose: UTEC respectfully requests funding for its new Training Center to help provide a range of training, technical assistance, and convenings all centered around advancing innovations for best serving justice-involved emerging adults. The scope of this work will be national, helping fill the need we have been seeing from organizations and institutions interested in developing new programs and services for this targeted population.

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Financial Services and General Government Services Projects Requested

Link to FY23 FSGG Financial Disclosure (attached)

Project Name: Berkshire Black Economic Council Business
Incubator
Amount Requested: $455,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Berkshire Black Economic Council, Pittsfield, MA
Location: Pittsfield, MA
Project Purpose:  The Berkshire Black Economic Council (BBEC) will improve and expand the quantity and quality of community economic development services in Berkshire County. The funding will be used for design and permitting, and planning. BBEC will complete a market feasibility study, design, and engineering to develop a business incubator responsive to the needs of Black-owned businesses and Black entrepreneurs. They will identify and evaluate shared resources and services, technical support, and business development functions, supporting equipment and infrastructure, construction/renovation and operation costs, and financing opportunities. BBEC’s incubator will provide affordable space and shared support services that address the unique challenges of Black-owned start-up and existing businesses and entrepreneurs.

Project Name: BOSS Program
Amount Requested: $1,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Black Economic Council of Massachusetts, Boston MA
Location: Boston, MA
Project Purpose:  We help stabilize a business’ infrastructure by delivering technical assistance and coaching in a highly curated manner. Many of our businesses are experts in the goods or services they provide, they require deep support in areas like accounting and legal assistance before they can scale. The Boss program is aligns the supports necessary for these businesses by taking an assessment of the businesses to then deliver the programs, products and services needed to allow their business to function more efficiently.

Project Name: Driving Equitable Outcomes in Business Growth Program
Amount Requested: $800,000
Intended Recipient and Address: MassChallenge, MA
Location: Boston, MA
Project Purpose:  Female founders, founders of color, founders from outside typical venture hubs remain grossly overlooked and underfunded by the typical entrepreneurial and venture ecosystem. At the extreme, black female founders receive less than 1% of venture funding and yet are one of the fastest growing categories of entrepreneurs. In order to address continued gaps in funding and access to other essential resources, and to address the resulting opportunity and wealth gap, MassChallenge has committed to a multi-year project to invest in Driving Equitable Outcomes for the over 500 startups it supports each year that includes several critical components: Outsized investment in historically underrepresented founders, including increasing participation in MassChallenge’s proven startup accelerator program, executive coaching from successful entrepreneurs with shared perspective, and a focused program to increase access to capital. Investment in a more inclusive entrepreneurial support ecosystem, including through training for all mentors, advisors, and judges on identity and race. Thought-leadership and white papers highlighting the selection and acceleration processes that exclude founders and new approaches to create more equitable and inclusive approaches.  This project is critical to addressing the national gap in opportunity for historically underrepresented founders to achieve similar outcomes to white and/or male peers. This gap is mirrored in local gaps in each of the hubs in which MassChallenge operates today–Boston, Houston, Dallas, Austin, and Rhode Island. Because the opportunities are so rich in Massachusetts with a strong community of investors, innovators, and an entrepreneurial ecosystem that accelerates start-ups, we will apply our successful model to Boston.

Project Name: LISC Digital Growth Accelerator for Underserved Businesses
Amount Requested: $1,260,000
Intended Recipient and Address:, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Boston, MA
Location:, Boston, MA
Project Purpose:  The LISC Digital Growth Accelerator assists under-resourced businesses in Massachusetts to develop and deploy a growth strategy, supported with digital tools and strategies, to double their net revenue in 12-24 months. Extensive one-on-one consulting support is made available on a cost-effective basis by MBA students, trained and supervised by our Massachusetts-based innovation consulting partner, with local leaders and business advisors engaged via webinars, networking and as technical assistance providers. The proposed funding would support statewide scaling of the program to at least six cities and towns, to catalyze at least 180 under-resourced small businesses to double their net revenue, strengthen their businesses, grow their digital capacity and employ more Massachusetts residents.

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Transportation and HUD Projects Requested

Link to FY23 THUD Financial Disclosure (attached)

Project Name: Codman Square Neighborhood Affordable Housing 
Amount Requested: $750,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation, Dorchester, MA
Location: Boston, MA
Project Purpose: The purpose of our request is to help Codman Square NDC in the acquisition phase of a larger affordable housing project. The project as a whole is indeed a construction project, but, as noted in question 15, above, our request concerns only the acquisition of the property on which the larger project will be built. On the Square Housing is an innovative way to leverage existing Codman Square NDC (CSNDC) assets, enliven and strengthen the core Codman Square business district in Dorchester, on behalf of the predominantly low/mod income minority owned businesses that exist there, and provide approximately 48 new affordable housing units to low-income residents, increasing supply and stabilizing this vulnerable population in place against rapidly rising housing prices. We will build four new stories of apartments above an existing 1-story commercial block already owned by a CSNDC subsidiary. In addition to the immediate benefits of the project, it can serve as a model for other developments of this kind in the mainly single-story Codman Square business district, bringing equity and economic mobility to this district in line with business districts in other, more prosperous districts elsewhere in Boston and its surroundings. The City of Boston is already planning to use a similar approach for new housing above the existing single story Codman Square branch library just 2 blocks up the street from our project location a 587-595 Washington Street.     

Project Name: Community Servings Medically Tailored Meals (MTM) Program Expansion
Amount Requested: $1,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Community Servings, Jamaica Plain , MA
Location: Boston, MA
Project Purpose: Community Servings has been operating in the Commonwealth for 32 years, and has made and delivered over 10 million medically tailored meals to date. As the link between food and health has become more evident, Community Servings has made it their mission to alleviate the immense barrier of acquiring diet specific ingredients and cooking nutritionally beneficial meals for chronically sick individuals, and to deliver food that can truly be considered medicine for their clients. They offer 15 medical diets that meet the medical and nutritional needs of clients with HIV/AIDS, cancer, kidney disease, diabetes, and other life-threatening illnesses. As just one example of this program’s proven benefits, a research study published in JAMA-Internal Medicine in 2019 found that health care costs were reduced 16% and hospitalizations reduced 49% for high cost, high need patients receiving medically tailored meals. In addition to their MTM program, Community Servings has also integrated workforce development into their organization through the Teaching Kitchen, which is a free 12-week job training program for people interested in careers in the food service industry who face barriers to full-time employment. Community Servings is committed, in all programs and business practices, to prioritize racial and economic justice and health equity.  Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the demand for Community Servings’ services has skyrocketed and the agency has responded by doubling the number of meals and clients served monthly. The agency is now providing nearly 900,000 medically tailored meals to 4,000 clients, their dependent children and caregivers annually. To meet this increased demand, Community Servings is looking to expand services to different parts of the state and deliver on their promise of putting every kind of equity at the center of their operations, including geographic. By increasing storage and delivery capacity to efficiently serve critically and chronically ill clients, Community Servings will reach a wider variety of communities across Massachusetts including Worcester, Leominster and other MA-District 2 communities, increase their ability to partner with local foods producers, improve sustainability through meal packaging, and expand their capacity to stockpile medically tailored meals for emergency use due to natural disaster or pandemic response. This expansion will support the preparation and delivery of 3.3M medically tailored meals over the next three years to an average of 4,000 clients annually who are experiencing critical and chronic illness and nutrition insecurity.

Project Name: Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Parsonage (Attaquin House) Restoration
Amount Requested: $1,629,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, Mashpee, MA
Location: Mashpee, MA
Project Purpose: Built around 1849 (although possibly as early as 1820), the Mashpee Parsonage at 431 Main Street is a key architectural cornerstone in the Town of Mashpee’s historic district.  The Parsonage is located on the Mashpee Tribe’s Reservation, and squarely within the Tribe’s historical territory.  Because of the architectural, historic and cultural significance of the building, it has been thoroughly studied by architects, engineers and restoration specialists.  Funding is needed to continue crucial restoration work to stabilize and preserve the building – without this work, this irreplaceable part of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s (and the Town of Mashpee’s) history may be forever lost.  The project will also create and support local jobs in the engineering and construction sectors.

Project Name: Argilla Road Reconstruction, Ipswich, MA: Building a New Model for Climate Resilient Coastal Roads
Amount Requested: $4,160,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Town of Ipswich, MA
Location: Town of Ipswich, MA
Project Purpose: The Town of Ipswich is partnering with The Trustees of Reservations and has support from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to seek funds to construct a statewide model of climate-resilient road redesign to balance access, chronic flood risk, and wetland health at Argilla Road. This road is the key access point for more than 150,000 visitors to the Crane Estate and 350,000 to Crane Beach. The Town of Ipswich and The Trustees engaged the Woods Hole Group and Stantec Engineering to create resilient nature-based road redesigns. The design includes raising 2,400 feet of roadbed by 3 feet, replacing and enlarging the existing culvert, installing high marsh culverts, and using a 3:1 living shoreline slope to stabilize the banks to protect the adjacent salt marsh from erosion. The enlargement will increase the upstream tidal range, helping to make the Great Marsh ecosystem more resilient to climate impacts and resulting in 1.2 acres of salt marsh creation. Raising the road would protect it from increasingly frequent tidal flooding through at least 2070.

Project Name: FHA Workforce Housing ABLE Program
Amount Requested: $257,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Fitchburg Housing Authority, Fitchburg, MA 
Location: Fitchburg, MA 
Project Purpose: The FHA is requesting $275,000.00 to assist us in building a new administrative and community center at the Green Acres family public housing community built for the WWII returning veterans. These funds would be in addition to the $8,014,901.00 awarded by Massachusetts. Currently there is no space at Green Acres to hold community meetings and/or conduct training and youth programs. The key is the construction of a new administrative-community center which will allow for outreach to the residents and their children under the FHA’s A Better Life Experience (ABLE) program that will provide incentives to work and learn new skills.

Project Name:  Jones Library Renovation and Expansion Project, Amherst, MA
Amount Requeted: $1,110,000
Intended Recipient and Address: The Jones Library, Incorporated,  Amherst, MA
Location:  Amherst, MA
Project Purpose: This funding would make Amherst’s Jones Library one of the most climate-friendly libraries in the Commonwealth by eliminating the use of fossil fuels, using low-embodied carbon materials, reducing energy use intensity by 60%, and reducing total lifetime carbon emissions by 41% compared to the current building. The Library renovation and expansion leverages state, local, public and private funds toward: full accessibility for those with mobility impairments; meeting the growing need for English language instruction space, for computer and internet access, for programs for children, adults and teens, for safekeeping Amherst’s invaluable history; and restoring one of the Town’s iconic buildings.

Project Name: Eastside Parkway Expansion Design Study
Amount Requested: $1,500,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Southfield Redevelopment Authority ,South Weymouth MA 
Location: South Weymouth MA 
Project Purpose: The Eastside Parkway Expansion improvements allow for Smart Growth development in the southeastern region of the state, including revitalization of the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station (SWNAS), bringing much needed economic development and housing opportunities.  The expansion project will link the South Weymouth MBTA Commuter Rail station and Route 18 thru the Base property to the existing Park & Ride facility at the Route 228/Route 3 interchange on the Norwell/Rockland line.

Project Name: Minority Home Ownership & Economic Empowerment Center of Central MA
Amount Requested: $80,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Centro Las Americas, Inc., Worcester, MA
Location: Worcester, MA
Project Purpose: The Purpose of this project is to create the vehicle to eliminate systemic barriers and provide access, tools, training, education and strategies to Hispanics, communities of color, low income families and other historically economically disadvantaged individuals in Worcester and Central MA, to improve their economic condition, narrow the wealth and homeownership gap and help ensure they become economically self-sufficient.

Project Name:  Worcester Housing Authority: Economic Opportunity Center
Amount Requested: $2,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Worcester Housing Authority, Worcester, MALocation: Worcester, MA
Project Purpose: This funding would be used by the Worcester Housing Authority (WHA) to construct its Economic Opportunity Center (EOC). To be located in Worcester's Great Brook Valley community, the EOC will be the epicenter of self-sufficiency programming and other services for nearly 1,000 housing authority residents. At 39,000 square feet, the EOC will feature a state-of-the-art computer lab, a branch of the Worcester Public Library, and will be home to the WHA's Family and Resident Services Department. With the construction of the EOC, WHA residents will be able to take advantage of the services they need to achieve economic independence.

Project Name: Worcester Housing Authority: Lakeside Administrative Building
Amount Requested: $2,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Worcester Housing Authority, Worcester, MA
Location: Worcester, MA
Project Purpose: This request will support the construction of the Worcester Housing Authority's (WHA) Lakeside Administrative Building. Responsible for providing decent, safe, and affordable housing to 14,000 residents throughout the City of Worcester, the WHA strives to provide quality customer service to all who enter its doors. Through the development of this secondary headquarters, the WHA would increase access to staff and services for residents who live on the west side of Worcester and its accompanying neighborhoods. The WHA's self-sufficiency and apprentice programs will likewise be available to residents at this new site, giving them a chance to achieve economic independence.

Project Name: Permanent Supportive Housing for Homeless Individuals
Amount Requested: $5,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Worcester Community Housing Resources, Inc. ,  Worcester, MA
Location: Worcester, MAProject Purpose: The City of Worcester is experiencing a housing crisis; the number of units that low-income residents can afford at an all-time low. This contributes to the number of persons experiencing homelessness in the City rising to an all-time high. The pandemic has exacerbated the issue with an even greater tightening of the housing market. Creating more affordable housing units for those of the lowest incomes in our City along with providing wrap around services is the most effective solution to this problem. WCHR is requesting $5 million to renovate a hotel, a problem property, into 77 studios for homeless individuals.

Project Name: African Community Education 51 Gage St. Renovations
Amount Requested: $6,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: African Community Education Program, Inc, Worcester, MA
Location: Worcester, MA
Project Purpose: The African Community Education Program (ACE) proposes to renovate the recently-acquired 56,000-square-foot property at 51 Gage St., which will serve as the agency’s new home and as a community center for Worcester's large, dynamic, and diverse African communities. ACE has served the city’s African refugee and immigrant communities since 2006 through comprehensive youth and family educational programming, wraparound case management, and immigration services. Renovations will include creating STEM and innovation labs, updating 16 classrooms, rehabilitating the gymnasium, and much more. This project will allow for a drastic increase in ACE’s programs, services, and people served annually.

Project Name: Greendale Revitalization Initiative - Public Infrastructure Improvements
Amount Requested: $1,500,000
Intended Recipient and Address: New Garden Park, Inc., Worcester, MA
Location: Worcester, MA
Project Purpose: The Greendale Revitalization Initiative seeks to partner with community stakeholders on a comprehensive strategy to enhance sustainable economic development opportunities. Greendale is a neighborhood of northern Worcester with historic and modern industrial campuses, a small business corridor, residential and educational assets. The project will include planning activities related to land use, transportation, and energy infrastructure. This specific request focuses on the need to upgrade and improve New Bond Street which will be converted to a public road. These improvements would improve traffic for the neighborhood as well as electric, water and sewer infrastructure.

Project Name: Veterans Inc. facility improvements: Armory Renovations to Create a One-Stop Service Center for Veterans and their Families
Amount Requested: $11,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Veterans Inc., Worcester, MA 
Location: Worcester, MA 
Project Purpose: Renovation of the historic former Massachusetts National Guard Armory in Worcester to create a One-Stop Veterans Resource Center. The project is necessary to create a safe environment for homeless, at-risk, and in-need veterans and military services members and their respective family members where they can have all their various needs addressed. The priority is to make the front portion of the Armory a safe and pleasant work and meeting space for staff, veterans, and community members. The facility provides residential programs for homeless veterans as well as outreach and supportive services programs for members of the community.

Project Name: Boys & Girls Club of Greater Westfield Community Pool Safety & Renovation Project
Amount Requested: $400,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Boys & Girls Club of Greater Westfield, Inc. ,Westfield, MA
Location: Westfield, MA
Project Purpose: The Club’s indoor swimming pool is one of only two public pools in Westfield. The Club monitors the health of the pool through consultations with our Board of Director’s Facility Maintenance Committee, Westfield City officials, and pool maintenance professionals. It was recently determined that the pool’s dehumidification system will need to be replaced. The new system will be purchased from Seresco, whose unique environmentally-friendly technology delivers the ideal pool environment, uses 85% less refrigerant and has the lowest operating costs. The system will be installed by a company who has provided us with quality service for many years.

Project Name: Preservation, Renovation, and Accessibility Improvements to Camp Cedar Hill
Amount Requested: $1,400,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts, Waltham, MA
Location: Waltham, MA
Project Purpose: This funding will be used to preserve, renovate, and increase accessibility of Camp Cedar Hill in Waltham, MA. Cedar Hill is home of the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts, and is an important site for the broader community, Massachusetts, and the Girl Scout Movement. Celebrating its 100th Anniversary in 2023, Cedar Hill hosts an estimated 10,000 visitors and 2,000 youth annually. This investment of taxpayer support will allow Camp Cedar Hill and the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts to expand its reach to new constituents, and continue to provide social and economic benefits to the community for decades to come.

Project Name: University of Massachusetts at Amherst- Water and Energy Technology Center (WET Center) 
Amount Requested: $3,511,000
Intended Recipient and Address: University of Massachusetts Amherst , Boston, MA
Location: Amherst , MA
Project Purpose: The money will be used to rebuild the WET Lab which is the front line research facility in the Commonwealth to take on clean water and PFAS detection and solutions.  The federal money will be matched by $1.5M in a state appropriation and a $1M campus fiscal commitment. The current facility has  deferred maintenance challenges and a new facility built along side the UMass/Town of Amherst Wastewater facility will foster state of the art research and testing in clean water and will allow companies to test products and innovation on campus while collaborating with faculty and students.  UMass faculty already work with the Commonwealth's Department of Public Health and this facility will only strengthen and further that collaboration. In the Federal Infrastructure bill nearly $10B was appropriated to help small and disadvantaged communities address PFAS in drinking water, to help drinking water utilities remove PFAS from drinking water supplies or connect well owners to local water systems to help wastewater utilities address PFAS in wastewater discharges and the campus through this R and D facility will work to ensure communities take advantage of the federal opportunities and practice follow best practice scientifically proven techniques. 

Project Name: Building Healthy Lives: The Urban Healthy Living Centers of Old Colony YMCA 
Amount Requested: $2,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Old Colony YMCA, Brockton, MA
Location: Brockton, MA
Project Purpose: These funds will be used for renovation and building of facilities to ensure increased access to critical community-based wellness, behavioral health and childcare programming for urban at-risk underserved populations.

Project Name: Montague-Turners Falls Avenue A Streetscape Improvement Project
Amount Requested: $975,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Town of Montague, MA
Location: Town of Montague, MA
Project Purpose:  The Avenue A Streetscape Improvement Project will restore an ADA compliant, pedestrian-oriented streetscape in the Turners Falls village center. Located within an Environmental Justice Area, Avenue A is Montague’s retail, dining, and entertainment center, and a state-designated Cultural District. This bid ready project would complete the north end of the Avenue A Streetscape, replacing aged and heaving brick sidewalks with a new brick and cement concourse designed to enhance longevity and accessibility. New traffic signals and pedestrian-scale lighting will enhance safety, accessibility, visual appeal and walkability, consistent with the Town’s Livability, COVID “Rapid Recoveryâ€? and ADA Transition plans.

Project Name: Campaign to Build the CASA at IBA: Center for Community Action, Self-sufficiency, and the Arts 
Amount Requested: $1,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción , Boston, MA
Location: Boston, MA
Project Purpose: In November 2020, Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA) was forced to demolish its Boston-based arts center, which was housed in a 155-year-old church, due to structural deficiencies. This loss was significant, as IBA is the largest hub for Latinx arts in New England, and its former arts center hosted events and performances while also serving as a learning and gathering space for IBA’s Villa Victoria affordable housing community. The demolition of this space also impacted IBA’s revenue stream, as rental space within the former church had been a source of income for IBA. To replace its former arts center, IBA is building The Center for Community Action, Self-sufficiency, and the Arts (The CASA). This multi-purpose community arts and gathering space will better meet IBA’s actual needs, and will increase its capacity to facilitate community programming that serves IBA’s low-income residents, as well as to provide access to Latinx arts for the City of Boston and New England. The project will be constructed in one phase. IBA anticipates the groundbreaking to occur by mid-2023 and the project to be completed by early 2024.

Project Name:  Library Commons 2 and Holyoke Resident Services
Amount Requested: $1,500,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Way Finders, Inc., Springfield, MA
Location: Springfield, MA
Project Purpose: Library Commons 2 (LC2) and Holyoke Resident Services will build on Way Finders’ comprehensive community development initiative in Holyoke’s blighted and low-income Downtown neighborhood. LC2 will add 41 units of affordable housing with coordinated resident services, following HUD’s recommended guidelines, which are critical for housing stability and family well-being. Eighteen of the 41 units will be reserved for families with incomes at or below 30% AMI and 23 are for families with incomes at or below 60% AMI.?Coordinated resident services provide case management services for tenants along with community building and engagement programs and activities for the local neighborhood.

Project Name: FORWARD at the Rock PHASE II
Amount Requested: $1,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: FORWARD Friends Or Relatives With Autism & Related,  South Dennis, MA
Location:  South Dennis, MA
Project Purpose: Create new permanent housing for adults with special needs by building 8 one-bedroom affordable and supported apartments for Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services clients with autism and related disabilities who require appropriate affordable housing. All apartments will maximize the resident’s ability to live independently while receiving supportive services from the Department of Developmental Services. Designed for aging-in-place, built at ground level, fully accessible, assistive-technology ready, and a fire suppression system. The project will be built on town-owned land leased to FORWARD for 99 years. This project addresses the dire need for affordable housing specifically designed for this special population. 

Project Name: Airport Electrical Upgrade Program – Worcester Regional Airport 
Amount Requested: $900,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Massachusetts Port Authority , East Boston, MA
Location: Worcester, MA
Project Purpose: This program will address resiliency, the long-term growth of the airport and the electrification of ground service equipment.  This electrification will in the long-term support all ground service equipment, personal vehicles, rental cars and ride app services.  The first phase of this project will bring a much needed new 13.8 KV service to the airport.

Project Name: Worcester Regional Airport Security Check-Point Improvements 
Amount Requested: $1,800,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Massachusetts Port Authority , East Boston, MA
Location: Worcester, MA
Project Purpose: The security checkpoint improvement project involves the renovation of shell space within the existing Terminal Building and the construction of a two-lane security checkpoint.  Once the new checkpoint has been placed into service, the existing single lane checkpoint located in the passenger hold room will be decommissioned and removed.  The space currently occupied by the single lane checkpoint will be converted to hold room space for passengers waiting to board aircraft. The proposed project will enhance security but more importantly allow the airport and TSA to consistently provide a high level of customer service to the airline passengers who choose Worcester Regional Airport.  Project Objectives include: Efficiently screening passengers; Decreasing passenger wait times; Maintaining checkpoint throughput capacity when screening equipment has to be taken out of service for repair or calibration; Providing a clean, modern, and comfortable environment in which to conduct the screening process; Better detection technology means there will be less divestment requirements and human resources are better allocated to other areas of need. Discovery of threats and prohibited items will occur more often, and; The new CT equipment screens passenger carryon baggage and other items and has the potential to decrease the need for manual searches. The proposed improvements to the screening process will contribute to the continued growth and success of Worcester Regional Airport. The current single lane configuration of the Worcester Regional Airport checkpoint is not advantageous for several reasons. As the post pandemic passenger volumes recover, the peak passenger volumes now satisfy the TSA criteria for a second lane.  While not busy all day, Worcester’s departing flights tend to be concentrated during short periods.  This results in significant peak volumes.  A second lane will allow the TSA to staff the checkpoint in a manner which maintains desirable wait times during these peak periods. From a customer service perspective, the most significant advantage of a second lane comes into play if screening equipment has to be taken out of service for any reason.  In the current checkpoint set-up, baggage can still be screened manually if the screening equipment is unavailable or out of service.  However, that process is slow and invasive, and the throughput of the checkpoint is significantly degraded.  This results in a dramatic increase in wait times.  A second lane allows the checkpoint to function efficiently with the other lane out of service. One of the advantages of Worcester Regional Airport when compared to larger airports is the relative convenience that passengers experience.  Passengers can park, get their tickets, check their bags and get through security in a fraction of the time that it takes at larger facilities.  Enhancing the screening capacity by adding a second lane to the security checkpoint will ensure that the passengers consistently experience a desirable level of customer service.

Project Name: Clarendon Hill Housing and Transportation Equity Project
Amount Requested: $2,400,000
Intended Recipient and Address: City of Somerville, MA
Location: City of Somerville, MA
Project Purpose: The City of Somerville is redeveloping the 216-unit, 1940s-era Clarendon Hill Public Housing Complex into a 570-unit mixed-income neighborhood. The project design includes physical traffic calming treatments to improve safety outcomes for all road users, with emphasis on people walking, biking, and using mobility assistance devices. It will improve residents' physical access to the surrounding community--creating an equitable neighborhood out of an isolated housing development--while allowing safe access to the large, green, open space at the Mystic River Reservation across the street.

Project Name: Massachusetts Port Authority - Logan Campus-wide Infrastructure Resiliency Study 
Amount Requested: $1,600,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Massachusetts Port Authority , East Boston, MA
Location: East Boston, MA
Project Purpose: The main purpose of this project is to look closely at all of Logan’s facilities and to actively prepare these facilities as it relates to the effects of climate change.  Another goal is to provide the necessary means for the overall evaluation in the event of a crisis, provide and ensure constant safety, energy efficiency, and ultimately sustainability. A program of study such as this will allow Massport to leverage its findings to pursue future grant opportunities under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). 

Project Name: Green Team & Food Justice
Amount Requested: $60,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Groundwork Somerville, Somerville, MA
Location: Somerville, MA
Project Purpose: Groundwork Somerville seeks funding to support our Green Team youth employment program, supporting more youth jobs and youth training in environmental work. The Green Team is a unique learning opportunity for youth to have input into their educational structure and to make decisions for themselves about plans for their community, working together to decide upon the environmental projects that will make the biggest impact on their community. Green Team youth are on the cutting edge of climate resiliency projects and building more green spaces within the city.

Project Name: Health and Climate Retrofits to Affordable Housing
Amount Requested: $1,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Boston Housing Authority (BHA),  Boston, MA 
Location: Boston, MA 
Project Purpose: This funding will support energy efficiency, renewable energy and resilient design upgrades in the renovation of BHA's Ausonia Apartments to improve air quality, reduce energy cost burden and increase climate resilience.  Ausonia includes 100 units of housing for elderly and disabled individuals in the heart of the North End.

Project Name: Acquisition of Property for the Revitalization of Cliftondale Square Business District
Amount Requested: $2,300,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Town of Saugus, MA
Location: Town of Saugus, MA
Project Purpose: The Town of Saugus is interested in revitalizing a longstanding commercial district in the center of Saugus – historically known as Cliftondale. The area has been an important commercial and retail business district in Saugus for generations but in the past 30 years has gone through documented decline and disinvestment. Cliftondale Square has become an area that the town has invested significant time and money into economic analyses and studies, which have resulted in a 2022 Final report by the Cliftondale Revitalization Committee and 2022 Master Plan detailing economic development initiatives and plans to revitalize this commercial district.

Project Name: North Shore Workforce and Career Mobility Program
Amount Requested: $2,300,000
Intended Recipient and Address: MassDOT, Boston, MA
Location: Salem, Peabody, Danvers, MA
Project Purpose: This request is for an expansion of the Salem Skipper, an on-demand mobility service, that would provide service beyond the City of Salem to the City of Peabody, the Town of Danvers, and key workforce centers on the North Shore of Massachusetts include Essex Tech, North Shore Community College, and Cherry Hill Industrial Park. These key workforce centers currently lack any access via public transportation. By creating affordable transportation access to these workforce locations, we expect to create more equitable economic opportunities across the North Shore.

Project Name: The Boylston Black Box Theater Project 
Amount Requested: $1,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: The Theater Offensive, Boston, MA 
Location: Boston, MA 
Project Purpose: The Theater Offensive (TTO) is building the largest theater in the world owned and operated by queer and trans people of color. Located in the heart of the Fenway neighborhood of Boston, it will provide a permanent home for our nationally-recognized programming and 30-year legacy, cultivating an affirming community and performance space for Boston and beyond. The space will house TTO’s current and new programming, present queer performance from all over the world, and be available to rent at highly-subsidized rates to historically marginalized artists and community groups who have long sought a place to truly belong in downtown Boston.

Project Name: Germantown Food Pantry Expansion
Amount Requested: $1,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: South Shore YMCA, Quincy, MA
Location: Quincy, MA
Project Purpose: The South Shore YMCA requests support to expand its Germantown Neighborhood Center Food Pantry through the construction of 400 square feet of new space on the existing Germantown Neighborhood Center in Quincy. The expansion and relocation of the food pantry into the new section of the existing building will create more space for other programs, including a new early education/preschool program and expanded after school space which will allow working parents more flexibility to remain strong members of the workforce and offer educational opportunities to 120 children living in low-to-moderate income families.

Project Name: Massachusetts Port Authority - Hanscom Field Electrical Capacity Study and Upgrades Bedford, MA 
Amount Requested: $1,350,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Massachusetts Port Authority, East Boston, MA 
Location: Bedford, MA
Project Purpose: Hanscom Field is the region’s premier full-service general aviation airport, and it plays a critical role in New England’s regional aviation system.  A Massport review of proposed development and redevelopment projects has determined that the capacity of both the electrical and telecommunications services as well as the Massport distribution systems lack the capacity to fully support these proposed projects. The electrical upgrades study would greatly support the long term resiliency efforts of the airport , will enable future electrical vehicle charging infrastructure and will ensure no interruptions to the MedFlight helicopter transports from Hanscom hub, which account for 43% of all Boston MedFlight missions.

Project Name: 1200 Montello- Transit-Oriented Housing Development in Brockton, MA
Amount Requested: $2,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: NeighborWorks Housing Solutions, Quincy, MA
Location: Brockton, MA
Project Purpose: 1200 Montello is a 94-unit family, mixed income rental development, situated directly adjacent to Brockton’s Campello Commuter Rail Station. As an in-fill and smart-growth project with Passive House design, it will transform a strategically-located old tow yard to create a vibrant residential community. The project will be the first to break ground within the City’s new Campello Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Master-Plan Residential District, providing affordable as well as workforce housing and supporting a broader plan for community revitalization and catalyzing future private investment.

Project Name: Domestic Violence Emergency Shelter
Amount Requested: $4,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: DOVE, Inc., Quincy, MA
Location: Quincy, MA
Project Purpose: DOVE seeks to secure (purchase, rehab, or build) a new building for an emergency shelter for victims of domestic violence. Founded in 1978, DOVE has owned and occupied its current 6-bedroom shelter since 1981. While we have made repairs along the way, the building is outdated and not fully ADA accessible. DOVE is the only DV organization (and emergency shelter) in Norfolk County. With a County population of 10% of MA, DOVE only has 6% of the DV shelter room capacity of 200+ in MA. We need a newer, more modern building with expanded capacity (to house ~10+ families).

Project Name: Mattapoisett Rail Trail Phase 2 Project
Amount Requested: $1,895,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Town of Mattapoisett, MA
Location: Mattapoisett, MA
Project Purpose: This Congressionally Directed Spending funding would support the Mattapoisett Rail Trail shared use path project by providing funds for completion of the shovel-ready segment. The property has already been acquired and substantial improvements have been made to this section utilizing state, local and private funds. At present, there is a gap in the two portions of the shared use path in Mattapoisett that have been, or which will soon be, completed through a productive public-private partnership using local and state funds, as well as significant private donations. Not only will the project provide a local transportation option, but it is also a critical component of the larger South Coast Bikeway, providing community connectivity along a 50-mile, carbon-free route across Southeastern Massachusetts from New Bedford harbor eastward to the Cape Cod Canal. More significantly, completion of the path offers a safe option for walkers, bicyclists and other vulnerable users by removing them from the auto-centric Route 6 corridor, and providing a safe alternative means of travel across the greater South Coast region to Cape Cod.

Project Name: Berkshire Family YMCA, Building Renovation & Expansion Project
Amount Requested: $1,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Berkshire Family YMCA, Pittsfield, MA
Location: Pittsfield, MA
Project Purpose: The BFYMCA is undertaking a $12 million renovation of its historic downtown Pittsfield building. Construction began in October 2021 to meet educational, health, wellness and fitness needs. The project will renovate and expand the Y’s childcare and fitness facilities and will be an important economic driver for downtown Pittsfield and Berkshire County. Completion will enhance the Y’s long-term sustainability, programmatically and financially, increase energy efficiency and bring the space into ADA compliance. The result: a 73,000SF facility with 35% more licensed, affordable, childcare slots, expanded resources for adults and seniors and a rejuvenated anchor for a Massachusetts Gateway City.

Project Name: Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Parsonage (Attaquin House) Restoration
Amount Requested: $1,629,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, Mashpee, MA
Location: Mashpee, MA
Project Purpose: Built around 1849 (although possibly as early as 1820), the Mashpee Parsonage at 431 Main Street is a key architectural cornerstone in the Town of Mashpee’s historic district. The Parsonage is located on the Mashpee Tribe’s Reservation, and squarely within the Tribe’s historical territory. Because of the architectural, historic and cultural significance of the building, it has been thoroughly studied by architects, engineers and restoration specialists. Funding is needed to continue crucial restoration work to stabilize and preserve the building – without this work, this irreplaceable part of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s (and the Town of Mashpee’s) history may be forever lost. The project will also create and support local jobs in the engineering and construction sectors.

Project Name: Expanding Homeownership Opportunities to Low- to Median - Income Households
Amount Requested: $150,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Merrimack Valley Housing Partnership, Lowell, MA
Location: Lowell, MA
Project Purpose: The mission of the Merrimack Valley Housing Partnership is to promote responsible and sustainable homeownership opportunities for low and moderate-income earners by producing comprehensive training and counseling, as well as promoting the use of special mortgage products and down payment assistance programs. The Merrimack Valley Housing Partnership’s homebuyer education is essential as the pandemic-era market makes first-time homeownership increasingly challenging for even moderate-income households. With individualized support from the organization’s certified housing counselors, about 40% of participants purchase a home within two years. This is notable since 60% of participants have incomes at 80% or less of the area median income.

Project Name: Northampton Community Resilience Hub
Amount Requested: $4,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: City of Northampton, MA
Location: Northampton, MA
Project Purpose: This research-based project will focus services for our most vulnerable residents and emergency relief under one roof and create a Hub where members of our community can turn to in times of stress or during emergency events and disasters. Consolidating services and resources will allow for better outreach to those in need and create stronger relationships between providers and their clients. The Hub will also be equipped to efficiently transition to providing emergency services to those in need and a distribution center during emergency events. This is especially important considering recent weather events and the ongoing economic impacts of COVID-19.

Project Name: North Star - Journey Home, supportive/affordable housing project
Amount Requested: $1,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: North Star Family Services, Inc., Leominster, MA
Location: Leominster, MA
Project Purpose: North Star Family Services (NSFS) is excited to help expand housing choice for families in Leominster. NSFS currently operates a five-bed family shelter in Leominster and would like to expand the supportive services that they offer to low-income families through the development of 15 units of supportive housing. NSFS’ mission is to provide stable housing, comprehensive services and advocacy for families in need of support. North Star has served the Greater Leominster area since 2003. North Star Family Services has received positive feedback from neighborhood groups, abutters, and city officials for the development of this project. The City of Leominster has been an important partner in this project since the very beginning and has recently granted the project zoning board approval through a comprehensive permit. It is a priority for the City of Leominster to house homeless families in permanent supportive housing and NSFS has shown that the services that they offer help families maintain their tenancy. The abutters have been very supportive of the project, understanding the importance of the housing for the community.

Project Name: Howland Avenue Improvement Project
Amount Requested: $1,500,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Town of Adams, MA
Location: Adams, MA
Project Purpose: The Howland Avenue Improvement Project will resurface and rehabilitate up to 42,000 square yards of of major roadway along Route 8, which connects the Towns of Adams and the City of North Adams in the Berkshires. The proposed project will create a safe route for the approximate 17,000 cars that pass through daily.

Project Name: Community Servings Medically Tailored Meals (MTM) Program Expansion
Amount Requested: $1,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Community Servings, Jamaica Plain, MA
Location: Jamaica Plain, MA
Project Purpose: Community Servings has been operating in the Commonwealth for 32 years, and has made and delivered over 10 million medically tailored meals to date. As the link between food and health has become more evident, Community Servings has made it their mission to alleviate the immense barrier of acquiring diet specific ingredients and cooking nutritionally beneficial meals for chronically sick individuals, and to deliver food that can truly be considered medicine for their clients. They offer 15 medical diets that meet the medical and nutritional needs of clients with HIV/AIDS, cancer, kidney disease, diabetes, and other life-threatening illnesses. As just one example of this program’s proven benefits, a research study published in JAMA-Internal Medicine in 2019 found that health care costs were reduced 16% and hospitalizations reduced 49% for high cost, high need patients receiving medically tailored meals. In addition to their MTM program, Community Servings has also integrated workforce development into their organization through the Teaching Kitchen, which is a free 12-week job training program for people interested in careers in the food service industry who face barriers to full-time employment. Community Servings is committed, in all programs and business practices, to prioritize racial and economic justice and health equity.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the demand for Community Servings’ services has skyrocketed and the agency has responded by doubling the number of meals and clients served monthly. The agency is now providing nearly 900,000 medically tailored meals to 4,000 clients, their dependent children and caregivers annually. To meet this increased demand, Community Servings is looking to expand services to different parts of the state and deliver on their promise of putting every kind of equity at the center of their operations, including geographic. By increasing storage and delivery capacity to efficiently serve critically and chronically ill clients, Community Servings will reach a wider variety of communities across Massachusetts including Worcester, Leominster and other MA-District 2 communities, increase their ability to partner with local foods producers, improve sustainability through meal packaging, and expand their capacity to stockpile medically tailored meals for emergency use due to natural disaster or pandemic response. This expansion will support the preparation and delivery of 3.3M medically tailored meals over the next three years to an average of 4,000 clients annually who are experiencing critical and chronic illness and nutrition insecurity.

Project Name: Wheel Estates Access Road
Amount Requested: $300,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Cooperative Development Institute, North Adams, MA
Location: North Adams, MA
Project Purpose: Wheel Estates is a 199-unit manufactured housing community in North Adams MA, which is run and operated as a not-for-profit resident owned (ROC) housing cooperative. A major health and safety challenge facing the 230+ residents of Wheel Estates is the poor condition of the steep access road that leads into the community. On behalf of the residents of Wheel Estates, the Cooperative Development Institute (CDI) seeks funding for an entry road repair project to benefit the health, safety, and sustainability of their community.

Project Name: North Street Water/Wastewater Replacement and Repair
Amount Requested: $1,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Cooperative Development Institute, Danvers, MA
Location: Danvers, MA
Project Purpose: The Cooperative Development Institute (CDI) seeks $1 million in federal funding to assist residents (the North Street Association) at Glen Mobile Home Park in Danvers, MA to complete much needed water and wastewater projects. With their December 2021 resident purchase came a significant amount of deferred maintenance, resulting from years of owner neglect. Beginning in the 1940s, Glen Mobile Home Park operated as a campground for several decades before converting into permanent/non-transient manufactured housing. The infrastructure of the community matches its original use, and was not constructed to support year round usage by 77 families.

Project Name: Anniversary Hill Park Revitalization - Phase 1
Amount Requested: $1,062,000
Intended Recipient and Address: City of Holyoke, MA
Location: Holyoke, MA
Project Purpose: This project entails initial design and restoration work to revitalize and reopen Holyoke's largest urban park for public use. The present LWCF application is based on the Phase I budget produced during a recent preliminary site design process. The work proposed in Phase I reflects the areas of broad consensus of community informed feedback: 1) improved pedestrian access from Community Field to Anniversary Hill Park and ADA access; 2) restoration of stonework structures; and 3) selective landscaping and site restoration. In addition to overall trail improvements, Phase I includes design and construction costs associated with tree work (removal of hazard trees and vista pruning), restoration of historic Civilian Conservation Corps stone structures, creation of an accessible trail to Scott Tower, and vegetative clearing with habitat improvements.

Project Name: Halifax Estates Tree Project
Amount Requested: $900,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Cooperative Development Institute, Halifax, MA
Location: Halifax, MA
Project Purpose: Halifax Mobile Home Estates Association is a 430-unit manufactured housing community in Halifax, MA, which is run and operated as a resident owned (ROC) housing cooperative. Halifax Estates provides affordable housing to residents who are 55 and older. On behalf of the residents of Halifax Estates, the Cooperative Development Institute (CDI) seeks $900,000 of funding for essential hazardous tree removal projects to benefit the health, safety, and sustainability of their community.

Project Name: Resident Acquisition of Royal Crest Mobile Home Park
Amount Requested: $1,500,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Cooperative Development Institute, West Wareham, MA
Location: West Wareham, MA
Project Purpose: The Cooperative Development Institute seeks $1.5 million in federal funding to assist residents at Royal Crest Mobile Home Park finance the purchase of their own park in order to become a resident owned community. Becoming resident owned would preserve 145 units of affordable senior housing. On average, across the country, rents go up less than 1% annually in resident owned communities, compared with the average 3.9% increase in investor-owned communities. Many resident households at Royal Crest have lived there for decades; they are on fixed incomes, and want to stay in place: in their homes.

Project Name: Girls Inc. Headquarters and Program Center Project
Amount Requested: $1,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Girls Inc. of the Valley, Holyoke, MA}
Location: Holyoke, MA
Project Purpose: Girls Inc. of the Valley purchased and is renovating the historic 16,000SF O’Connell building at 480 Hampden St. in Holyoke as a permanent headquarters and program center. After decades of operating out of multiple rented spaces, the Girls Inc. Headquarters and Program Center Project will enable us to combine our center-based programs into one location. A single facility will be easier for families, and foster continuity within our elementary, middle and high-school programs. By providing the infrastructure for both onsite and offsite staff, the facility will support our school-based and remote programs, allowing us to serve more girls. Once completed, we will serve 1,000+ girls from under-resourced communities annually – the vast majority from Holyoke, Springfield and Chicopee. The building is in good shape structurally and has ample parking and a yard for outdoor activities. We will renovate program and office space and add an elevator for full accessibility. Specific upgrades include age-appropriate and welcoming program and learning spaces for girls, a cutting-edge STEM/Maker Space, a Library Learning Center, a kitchen and dining area, and outdoor and indoor activity spaces. Two major areas will be an Out-Of-School-Time Elementary Program Center and a dedicated Teen Center. The project will create flexible office and conference space for staff, board and families. Overall, the new program center will equalize opportunities for girls in the Valley, enabling us to provide Girls Inc.’s high-quality, no-cost programming using research-based curricula within a dedicated learning environment. The facility will meet our community’s needs far into the future, providing transformative positive youth development programs after school, on weekends and during the summer.

Project Name: Fall River Waterfront Site Development Improvements
Amount Requested: $2,681,000
Intended Recipient and Address: City of Fall River, MA
Location: Fall River, MA
Project Purpose: In conjunction with the multi-million dollar MassDOT Route 79 – Davol Street Corridor Improvements project, the City is being asked to contribute a portion of the total project cost in the amount of $11,555,286. The City is requesting Congressionally Directed Spending for a portion of these infrastructure/project improvements, which are not typically included in highway Transportation projects. The specific items that the City is seeking aid for through this request are as follows: Underground Stormwater Storage Chambers in lieu of open retention/detention ponds; Landscaping (signs, benches, irrigation); and Ornamental Highway Lighting. The requested aid totals $2,680,699.48, which is approximately 23% of the City’s contribution.

Project Name: Heritage Residents Association Water Distribution System and Drainage Project
Amount Requested: $600,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Cooperative Development Institute, Westfield, MA
Location: Westfield, MA
Project Purpose: Heritage Residents Association is a 70-unit manufactured housing community, which is run and operated as a not for profit resident owned (ROC) manufactured housing cooperative in Westfield, MA. Due to the neglect of the prior for-profit owner, the infrastructure of the park is in need of extensive repair and replacement. Needed improvements include the replacement of the water distribution system, which was estimated in 2019 to cost between $220,000-$280,000, $27,000 to $36,000 of improvements to the site drainage, and an additional $300,000 of work including creating drainage swales and several catch basins. Repaving the community will be necessary following.

Project Name: Montague-Turners Falls Avenue A Streetscape Improvement Project
Amount Requested: $975,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Town of Montague, MA
Location: Montague, MA
Project Purpose: The Avenue A Streetscape Improvement Project will restore an ADA compliant, pedestrian-oriented streetscape in the Turners Falls village center. Located within an Environmental Justice Area, Avenue A is Montague’s retail, dining, and entertainment center, and a state-designated Cultural District. This bid ready project would complete the north end of the Avenue A Streetscape, replacing aged and heaving brick sidewalks with a new brick and cement concourse designed to enhance longevity and accessibility. New traffic signals and pedestrian-scale lighting will enhance safety, accessibility, visual appeal and walkability, consistent with the Town’s Livability, COVID “Rapid Recovery� and ADA Transition plans.

Project Name: MIFA Victory Theatre Rehabilitation and 21st Century Performing Arts Center Transformation Project
Amount Requested: $4,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts, Holyoke, MA
Location: Holyoke, MA
Project Purpose: This funding would be used by the Massachusetts Festival of the Arts (MIFA) to rehabilitate Holyoke’s historic 1920s Victory Theatre, vacant since 1979, and transform this blighted property in the heart of the community into the 21st-century, state-of-the-art MIFA Victory Theatre Center for the Performing Arts. The reborn Victory will establish an economic, touristic and equity development engine to stimulate and enrich a Western Massachusetts region that contains four of the Commonwealth’s former industrial Gateway Cities and some of the state’s most diverse and low-income populations. The project will fill a gap in this region of 600,000 people, with a Broadway-size theater able to take advantage of the economic phenomenon of Tier-A Broadway touring. The project will also provide a venue capable of producing and hosting compelling local, national international cultural and touristic events. The project will create jobs and offer workforce training in the theatre and entertainment industry in collaboration with Holyoke Community College.

Project Name: The Winnekenni Recreation Area Improvements & Restoration Plan
Amount Requested: $700,000
Intended Recipient and Address: City of Haverhill, MA
Location: Haverhill, MA
Project Purpose: Haverhill is seeking federal funding to combine with local/state and private funding to support improvements to Winnekenni Recreation Area. Winnekenni is a city-owned conservation area of more than 700 acres. The park is in desperate needs of repairs and upgrades to both the grounds and the historic Winnekenni Castle. The City is partnering with the Winnekenni Foundation to support a complete restoration to the park to make it an economic and cultural destination for Haverhill, while supporting mental and physical healthy living. The project is an equitable solution for low-income individuals and families in the region who lack outdoor space.

Project Name: Reconstruction of Broadmeadow Road and Revitalization of the Station Avenue Area of the Groton Town Center
Amount Requested: $3,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Town of Groton, MA
Location: Groton, MA
Project Purpose: The area of Broadmeadow Road at James Brook, a road right off Main Street in the Town Center, is subject to recurring flooding and is an old soft, floating road. Broadmeadow Road is a “Corduroy road�, a road built on logs placed above naturally occurring mud and peat. The stability of the road is a major concern as well as more frequent road closures. These road closures limit emergency access and increase response times, block the only public access and exit route for the Public Library, impact students and parents trying to reach the school buses, alter school bus routes at the last minute, and limit the recreational opportunities along the popular Nashua River Rail Trail. This road is also a major egress for the residents who live along the upper portion of Broadmeadow Road, which is a one-way road off Main Street (Route 119). Economic development and revitalization of the Downtown has been on the forefront of Town Officials for several years. A few mixed-use development properties that have direct access to Broadmeadow Road would substantially benefit from proper reconstruction of this road. Any increases in desirable housing downtown and retail opportunities would spur much needed economic development which is a major priority of the Town and would help lessen the tax burden placed on the taxpayers. The Town, as part of this request, would also look to pave a dirt road/crossing from the end of Station Ave, along the Rail Trail and out to Broadmeadow Road and also look to bring a water main from where it ends on Broadmeadow Road and connect it to an existing water main on Station Avenue to provide those priority development properties with the ability to connect to Town Water.

Project Name: Heywood Hospital Surgical Pavilion
Amount Requested: $750,000
Intended Recipient and Address: City of Gardner, MA
Location: Gardner, MA
Project Purpose: This request would help fund the construction of a new, state-of-the-art perioperative pavilion that will remove barriers to surgical care for the 86,000 patients they serve and will address a myriad of challenges derived from an outdated and undersized surgical platform (est. 1960). This transformative solution will ensure consistent and reliable access to high-quality, cost-effective, essential surgical care, well into the future.

Project Name: Additional Units at Fountain Drive

Amount Requested: $750,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Town of North Andover, MA
Location: North Andover, MA
Project Purpose: The Town of North Andover through its Affordable Housing Trust and Community Preservation Committee, and the North Andover Housing Authority are partnering to bring 12 additional low income housing units to Fountain Drive, a state elderly/disabled development located off of Route 125 in North Andover, Massachusetts. The new units will be the same style as what is currently at Fountain Drive- one bedroom single floor units with a front and back entrance. There will be 2 new buildings with 6 units in each building.

Project Name: New Bedford Capitol Resilience Center  
Amount Requested: $1,800,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Community Economic Development Center of SE MA, New Bedford, MA
Location: New Bedford, MA
Project Purpose: The Capitol Theater built in 1911 covers a full block of the Acushnet Ave, Commercial Corridor. The historic restoration and redevelopment will transform this blighted and largely vacant mixed-use property. CEDC working with WHALE will address community needs for affordable housing in the North End and offer opportunities for incubating small businesses with a seasonal market, commercial shared-use kitchen and space for ESOL, job and vocational training. At the Capitol Theater, CEDC will manage mixed-use spaces and comprehensive programming that will engage the community, provide connectivity, and close the gap on economic, health, and social outcomes for the neighborhood.

Project Name: Demolition of 94 Pleasant Street
Amount Requested: $80,000
Intended Recipient and Address: City of Gardner, MA
Location: City of Gardner, MA
Project Purpose: The property located at 94 Pleasant Street has been cited in the City of Gardner's Urban Renewal Plan for demolition for economic development purposes. The previous owner of the property owed the City over $480,000 in backed taxes with land court cases going back to 1996. The demolition of this property would remove a blighted building in the heart of Gardner's downtown in order to boost our economic development and downtown revitalization efforts. 

Project Name: Project Name: Amount Requested: $1,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: WHALE - Waterfront Area Historic League, New Bedford, MA
Location: New Bedford, MA
Project Purpose: Restoration of a blighted historic 1892 Civil Defense building to create eight (8) affordable housing apartments in New Bedford, a gateway city that is currently experiencing a severe housing crisis. The restoration will use green building standards and will achieve Energy Star Plus status. The site will incorporate a rain garden storm water management system. The neighborhood is highly supportive of the project and over 50 people attended a Community Outreach Meeting.

Project Name: Fitchburg State University, Phase 2 Fitchburg Theater Block
Amount Requested: $2,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Fitchburg State University, Fitchburg, MA
Location: Fitchburg State University, MA
Project Purpose: CDS funding will support Phase 2 of Fitchburg State University’s (FSU’s) multi-year, 3-phase Theater Block Revitalization Project in Fitchburg’s downtown corridor. This phase will involve the construction of a 15,830 square-foot learning laboratory and black box theater called the “theaterLAB.� Following the completion of phase 1 in 2018, which created a state-of-the-art game design studio and University/community creativity and entrepreneurial space (the “ideaLAB�), the theaterLAB project has extensive local support and will strengthen Fitchburg’s cultural and educational infrastructure while supporting economic revitalization in a neighborhood long characterized by high levels of poverty, declining industry, and urban blight.

Project Name: Bristol Community College's Offshore Wind Industry Innovation & Solutions Program
Amount Requested: $2,000,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Bristol Community College, New Bedford, MA
Location: New Bedford, MA
Project Purpose: Bristol Community College’s National Offshore Wind Institute (NOWI) and its Industry Innovation & Solutions project will provide offshore wind training and development solutions that respond to high priority industry and workforce needs, requiring a customized facility and equipment that simulate environments similar to an offshore wind farm. Bristol requests $2,000,000 to support the NOWI's renovation to become a specialized industry center for practical, theory and virtual training. Bristol with its partner Maersk Training is strategically developing the facility to provide the highest quality offerings as well as ensuring access to required training infrastructure for Massachusetts and the U.S.

Project Name: Airport Electrical Upgrade Program – Worcester Regional Airport
Amount Requested: $900,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), Worcester MA
Location: Worcester, MA
Project Purpose: This will be a comprehensive study of the electrical service for the Terminal and Field Electrical Vault at Worcester Regional Airport and the design and construction of other improvements. This program will address resiliency, the long-term growth of the airport and the electrification of ground service equipment. This electrification will in the long-term support all ground service equipment, personal vehicles, rental cars and ride app services. The first phase of this project will bring a much need new 13.8 KV service to the airport.

Project Name: Codman Square Neighborhood Affordable Housing
Amount Requested: $750,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation, Boston, MA
Location: Boston, MA
Project Purpose: The purpose of our request is to help Codman Square NDC in the acquisition phase of a larger affordable housing project. The project as a whole is indeed a construction project, but, as noted in question 15, above, our request concerns only the acquisition of the property on which the larger project will be built. On the Square Housing is an innovative way to leverage existing Codman Square NDC (CSNDC) assets, enliven and strengthen the core Codman Square business district in Dorchester, on behalf of the predominantly low/mod income minority owned businesses that exist there, and provide approximately 48 new affordable housing units to low-income residents, increasing supply and stabilizing this vulnerable population in place against rapidly rising housing prices. We will build four new stories of apartments above an existing 1-story commercial block already owned by a CSNDC subsidiary. In addition to the immediate benefits of the project, it can serve as a model for other developments of this kind in the mainly single-story Codman Square business district, bringing equity and economic mobility to this district in line with business districts in other, more prosperous districts elsewhere in Boston and its surroundings. The City of Boston is already planning to use a similar approach for new housing above the existing single story Codman Square branch library just 2 blocks up the street from our project location a 587-595 Washington Street.

Project Name: Massachusetts Military Support Foundation Food Bank Distribution Center and Headquarters
Amount Requested: $1,925,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Massachusetts Military Support Foundation, Norton, MA
Location: Norton, MA
Project Purpose: Massachusetts Military Support Foundation would utilize this funding for the acquisition and rehabilitation of the Tweave Mill property in Norton to serve as its new Food bank distribution Center and Headquarters to supply its regional empowerment centers. This will allow MMSF to continue to meet the needs of veterans, active-duty military, and their families – many with low- and moderate-incomes as well as local Norton and Bristol County senior citizens and other at-risk populations. The new property will have the necessary space to safely receive, store, and distribute an increased volume of non-perishable food, fresh produce, pre-made meals and other goods throughout Massachusetts. COVID-19 greatly impacted the veteran community in unprecedented ways. According to a December 2020 CNAS Report on Massachusetts Needs Assessment During the Pandemic and Beyond, “impacts of the pandemic on Massachusetts veterans tracked largely with those of veterans nationally, with fallout particularly around mental health, isolation, and financial security due to unemployment, homelessness, food insecurity, and mental health –concluding that these issues increased for veterans who were not facing these challenges prior to the pandemic.� The two MMSF Empowerment Centers each serve 3,000+ families per month, impacting an estimated 18,000 individuals. MMSF’s food programs provide budget relief and lift emotional burdens that often accompany food insecurity. MMSF’s Food4Vets program distributed 53,500 food boxes since the start of the pandemic in 2020, and an additional 25,000 food boxes were distributed each month during that time through the USDA Farmers to Families program (USDA distribution partners are not compensated). MMSF is prepared to build on the strength of its capabilities and proven outcomes to serve multiple regions with enhanced capacity, which this facility will provide.

Project Name: Brockton Cosgrove Pool Rehabilitation Project
Amount Requested: $3,200,000
Intended Recipient and Address: City of Brockton, MA
Location: Brockton, MA
Project Purpose: Upgrade to pool infrastructure (pool piping and filtration system etc.) to bring pool and water quality into current regulations. Upgrade the bathhouse facility to make it ADA compliant as well as improvements to the building itself (showers, new roof etc.).

The main goal is for the pool infrastructure to be modernized and sized to meet current pool regulations for water quality for the health and safety of those using the pool. This work would include replacing all feed and return lines into the pool itself and replacement of the current DE filter system with a sand based filter system. These upgrades would not only improve water quality but would increase worker safety for those operating the pool by eliminating the need for the use of diatomaceous earth and the associated health risks with inhalation of airborne silica. The bathhouse, built in 1965 is also in need of significant upgrades. Currently it is not fully ADA compliant, the bathrooms need significant improvement, including the installation of shower stalls, shoring up of deteriorating walls, upgrading of the electrical system and a new roof to protect the building.

Project Name: Heywood Hospital Drainage System
Amount Requested: $319,000
Intended Recipient and Address: City of Gardner, MA
Location: Gardner, MA
Project Purpose: The drainage system captures stormwater runoff from the site via a series of new deep-sump catch basins directed to one of several drainage trunk lines. These trunk lines directs the runoff through treatment systems prior to discharge to either a proposed underground storage system, an existing system on the western side of the property, or the municipal drainage system within Woodland Avenue. Prior to these discharges runoff is directed through a proprietary water quality unit to provide Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and oil removal in compliance with the City Standards as well as DEP Stormwater Management Regulations.

Project Name: Associação Cabo Verdiana De Brockton Program Expansion through Building Expansion
Amount Requested: $1,720,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Associação Cabo Verdiana De Brockton, Inc, Brockton, MA
Location: Brockton, MA
Project Purpose: This expansion will allow Associação Cabo Verdiana De Brockton to further expand their preventive program, to include many other community groups. The expansion as well as renovation of the building will enable the Association expansion of services such as a Youth Tutoring Center, enlargement of the Resource and Community Room and Clinical Services. The goal of the Youth Tutoring Center is to provide academic support and life skills that will help mold 20-25 youth into successful adults. The activities will include: Homework and Tutoring assistance, Fundamental Support and Assistance for college entrance as part of the Let's Get Ready Program from Stone Hill College, Leadership training in collaboration with Social Capital Inc, and Community Service Programs that include volunteering at shelters, visiting seniors centers and organizing canned food drives. The Resource Room only has 5 computers which are not sufficient to serve all youth requesting computer related learning. With the expansion, more computers can be installed allowing more youth with an opportunity to improve their technical skills. The area will also be available to disadvantaged adults as they will become familiar with emerging technologies by taking computer classes. The Community Room is reserved for neighborhood meetings and functions. The extension of this room would permit more community gatherings and social initiatives to leverage the mission of the Association. And the Clinical Services area will expand our current family unification program as well as alcohol counseling classes, parenting training programs, and individual counseling. These services will be offered in Capeverdean Creole and Portuguese and other community languages. There is a significant need of language appropriate services in the region; more people are forced to travel a long distance to receive such service.

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Homeland Security Projects Requested

Link to FY23 Homeland Security Disclosure (attached)

Project Name: Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency EOC Funding
Amount Requested: $2,250,000
Intended Recipient and Address: City of Framingham, MA
Location: Framingham, MA
Project Purpose: This request will allow for renovation of existing EOC facilities, upgrades to technology, and replacement of equipment that will improve our aging facilities and advance the emergency management coordination and response capabilities for the entire Commonwealth. As natural and human caused threats and hazards increase in the future, having resilient, and modernized emergency operation center facilities will be crucial for the Commonwealth’s readiness and response.

Project Name: Brockton Emergency Operations Center Project
Amount Requested: $1,500,000
Intended Recipient and Address: City of Brockton, MA
Location: City of Greenfield
Project Purpose: The Emergency Operations Center project will create a new state-of-the art facility to assist the City of Brockton with local disaster response. Development of the overall facility will be incorporated into the Public Safety Facility for Brockton Police Department, Brockton Fire Department, Brockton Emergency Management Agency and City IT Department. Finally, the project will allow Brockton to monitor critical infrastructure during emergency or disaster events

Project Name: Maintaining Access to the Outer Cape: Developing Solutions for Vulnerable Segments of Route 6
Amount Requested: $295,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Cape Cod Commission (Barnstable County), MA
Location: Barnstable MA
Project Purpose: The project employs state of the art modeling Massachusetts Coast Flood Risk Model and community engagement to identify and prioritize low lying roads to target for coastal resiliency action. This analysis has identified highly-vulnerable and highly-critical locations along Route 6 on the Outer Cape that, if impacted by a coastal storm event or, in the long-term by sea level rise, would disconnect thousands of residents. With the requested federal investment, conceptual designs for a range of solutions for the three most vulnerable location along the corridor would be developed. The solutions are anticipated to include traditional infrastructure options, such as elevating a roadway segment, as well as nature-based solutions. This range of solutions would be presented to MassDOT, MEMA, the municipalities, and the public for feedback. As part of this project, the design for one of the solutions at one of the three locations would be further developed, consistent with MassDOT Project Development and Design Guide, to a 25% design level. The 25% design is an important step in the design process where the subsequent public engagement and permitting requirements of the project can be well-understood and a path forward for the project can be developed. With the 25% design, the project would be well positioned to pursue a variety of funding opportunities for implementation.

Project Name: Nantasket Avenue Seawall Replacement
Amount Requested: $5,000,0000
Intended Recipient and Address: Town of Hull, MA
Location: Town of Hull
Project Purpose: The project will reduce the risk of damage along the coastline and increase the level of protection to meet needs of future sea level rise and climatic changes, providing greater resiliency for the critical roadway connecting two portions of the town. The Town of Hull is replacing the seawalls along the Nantasket Avenue shoreline to eliminate impacts from coastal storm events. The shoreline is highly exposed and is subject to wave and storm impacts from the open ocean.  The project will construct a new higher seawall along approximately 1,600 feet of Nantasket Avenue between Point Allerton Avenue and Fitzpatrick Way.  This new seawall will provide essential protection to portions of Fitzpatrick Way and Nantasket Avenue and the utilities in the right of way.   Fitzpatrick Way provides a critical link for access to and from Pemberton Point with the US Coast Guard Station, two schools, the wastewater treatment facility, and over 700 private lots. The right of way contains all utilities supplying Pemberton Point including water, sewer, electric and gas.  The seawall not only protects access to Pemberton and its utilities, but also the sewer line for the entire town connects to the wastewater plant past this point. Loss of the road would cause failure of the sewer line to this treatment facility and spillage into the ocean would result.  The proposed concrete seawall will be constructed with a higher top elevation than the existing seawalls to improve protection.  The seawall design includes a recurve shape to provide an additional reduction in the volume of water overtopping the wall during storms.  The design allows for sea level rise through at least the year 2070.

Project Name: Worcester Housing Authority: Emergency Preparedness Planning
Amount Requested: $250,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Worcester Housing Authority, Worcester MA
Location: Worcester, MA
Project Purpose: This request for funding would assist the Worcester Housing Authority (WHA) in creating a new, comprehensive emergency preparedness plan in order to protect its 14,000 residents and over 200 staff members in the case of potential disaster. Working closely with a contracted consultant and the City of Worcester, the WHA will develop a plan that will not only protect residents and employees but will also see the creation of emergency rooms throughout its 24 developments that will contain all of the necessary supplies and materials in case of an emergency, such as personal protective equipment, food, water, and more.

Project Name: City of Salem MA Radio System Upgrade
Amount Requested: $2,500,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Salem Police Department, MA
Location: Salem, MA
Project Purpose: The Salem Police and Fire Departments operate communication centers located inside the Police Station at 95 Margin Street (the designated Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP)), and inside the Fire HQ at 44 Lafayette Street. These centers are responsible for answering incoming calls (three 9-1-1 lines and numerous non-emergency business lines), as well as handling all radio communications for emergency services events in the City of Salem. The communications centers are critical components of the City’s first responders’ ability to effectively communicate during mission critical incidents affecting the life, health, and safety of the public.  The main radios used by both police and fire are Motorola MTR 2000 conventional analog systems, with Motorola Centracom Gold Elite dispatch consoles. These consoles control radio communications, as well as interoperable resources or communications to other agencies through control stations.  The radios and repeaters were all purchased around the year 2000. The service agreement for the existing communications system equipment and software has reached its end of service life.  Motorola will no longer support this equipment, resulting in no firmware updates, limited parts availability, and limited support from our vendor. The public safety radio system is comprised of several remote sites located within the city which feed signals that provide for coverage within those areas. The radio system requires connectivity from all these sites back to the signal comparator which is located at the police and fire stations.  The connectivity for these remote locations is over copper wire circuits that the city leases from Verizon.  These copper circuits are outdated technology, so the support for these circuits is very limited by the provider.  As these are older copper circuits, they constantly have changes in their electronic make up that creates signal loss and causes the radio system to have frequent failures resulting in poor coverage.  Not only has the lack of municipal control of the lines been problematic, with Verizon moving away from supporting these circuits they are increasingly subject to outages and failures. Verizon no longer intends to invest in these lines, meaning repair times are taking longer and there is no expectation that the situation will improve. The consequence of this situation is that the life and safety of Salem’s first responders, as well as the people who rely on them to be able to respond in a timely manner to emergencies, is being increasingly put at risk. As a busy city with the largest hospital in the region, a state university, the county courts, a major power plant facility, and a very active downtown and tourism industry, the danger from the increasing failure of these circuits is substantial.

Project Name: City of Malden for the Malden River Works Park Project
Amount Requested: $2,500,000
Intended Recipient and Address: City of Malden, MA
Location: Malden, MA
Project Purpose: The Malden River Works (MRW) project will transform Malden’s Department of Public Works yard on the Malden River to incorporate a public, climate resilient riverfront park. The project process has incorporated inclusive, community-led design practices that center the voices of environmental justice communities.  Malden River Works will reduce the City’s, and particularly the DPW’s, climate vulnerability by building green storm water infrastructure to reduce surface flood risk, increasing the tree canopy by planting over 100 new trees to mitigate urban heat island effects, restoring the natural riverfront landscape, and building an elevated greenway path to serve as a flood barrier in the event of sea level rise. These measures will result in improved air quality, biodiversity, and pollination. These mitigation efforts are particularly important for the DPW yard, as the DPW is the City’s second responder after climate disasters. They are charged with the removal of trees and debris and similar hazard reduction duties.

Project Name: Greenfield Emergency Operations Center Construction and Equipment
Amount Requested: $900,000
Intended Recipient and Address: City of Greenfield, MA
Location: City of Greenfield, MA
Project Purpose: The Greenfield Fire Department is organized to provide public safety services to the citizens and visitors of this community. As a team, Department employees strive to minimize losses and suffering through emergency services delivery, public education, and information. The City of Greenfield’s Emergency Operations Command serves to lessen the impact of natural and manmade disasters upon the city by meeting the needs of our citizens through effective mitigation, planning, response, and recovery. The CDS $900,000 in grant funds will help the city build a crucial new mission-critical Emergency Operations Center. The funding will allow our Emergency Operations Command to better meet the needs of the city and our region and to overcome the deficiencies and challenges we face in our current temporary Emergency Operations Center, which replaced the original EOC located in our antiquated 90-year old fire station.

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Labor, Health and Human Serivces, and Related Agencies Projects Requested

Link to FY23 Labor, Health and Human Serivces, and Related Agencies Disclosure (attached)

Project Name: Bridgewater State University Aviation: Enhancements for Student Success and Workforce Development 

Amount Requested: $1,358,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater MA

Location: Bridgewater, MA

Project Purpose: Bridgewater State University will expand the pipeline of Massachusetts pilots into regional and national airlines. The University will acquire and install one small transportable hangar to house 5 of 11 aircraft, which protects them from the harsh New England weather and allows for more flight training during the winter months. The purchase of two Piper Seminole twin-engine planes enables flight training to be in compliance with industry standards for regional and national pilots. Funding will also support the purchase of one full-motion flight simulator that will be used year round - this will be especially useful during the winter season and when there is inclement weather, which both limit opportunities for safe flight training.

Project Name: Life Sciences Spinout Innovation Center at the Kostas Research Institute

Amount Requested: $1,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Northeastern University, Burlington MA

Location: Burlington, MA

Project Purpose: To better serve Burlington and the surrounding communities, Northeastern University is requesting $1 million in funding to build out its capacity to house and serve more early-stage companies within its facilities on the Innovation Campus in Burlington, Massachusetts (ICBM) by creating a Life Sciences Spinout Innovation Center. This investment would facilitate the creation of a shared wet lab facility within Elliott Hall on the Innovation Campus, to enable additional early-stage life sciences companies to join the campus and be part of the already-established, vibrant innovation and research ecosystem.

Project Name: Early College Springfield 

Amount Requested: $1,225,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Worcester State University, Worcester, MA

Location: Worcester, MA

Project Purpose: EC-Springfield provides low-income high school students in urban and rural areas of the Pioneer Valley with dual enrollment classes, student support services, and summer residential learning opportunities. In all, some 1,000 students will earn 12,000 college credits. Early College Springfield (ECS) increases access and success for under-represented high school students. Students graduate HS with significant college credits, reducing the time and cost needed to obtain a degree and achieve success through added student support services.

Project Name: The Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy 

Amount Requested: $600,000

Intended Recipient and Address: University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA

Location: Amherst, MA

Project Purpose: In 2020-2021, inspired by the arrival of Ellsberg’s papers, the University of Massachusetts sponsored a host of historic ventures to explore his life and legacy—a year-long seminar, the creation of a website (the Ellsberg Archive Project), a series of podcasts by The Ground Truth Project, and a two-day, international, online conference with more than two-dozen high profile scholars, journalists, former policymakers, whistleblowers, and activists that was attended by thousands. Videos of conference sessions hosted on the website have drawn more than 25,000 viewers.

The University has an extraordinary opportunity to build on the momentum established by those projects to create something more enduring, an initiative that will continue to draw attention to the Ellsberg archive, the university, and, most importantly, to the vital and still relevant issues so central to Ellsberg’s legacy: the history and ongoing reality of US military intervention overseas, the existential threats posed by nuclear weapons and environmental catastrophe, and the challenges and potential of civil struggle to oppose these fundamental risks. This funding will help to stand up the Ellsberg Initiative, which will create a Multidisciplinary Center of Scholarship to promote new thinking about the history and current status of democracy, authoritarianism, imperialism, state secrecy, First Amendment rights, nuclear threats, and environmental crises for the University of Massachusetts’ teachers, fellows, and undergrads.

 

Project Name: ABCD Title X Family Planning Program 

Amount Requested: $2,369,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Action for Boston Community Development, Inc. (ABC), Boston, MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: The ABCD Family Planning Partnership provides comprehensive, confidential family planning and sexual health counseling, education, and medical care for 30,000 residents a year in community health centers, school-based health centers, and hospital primary care programs. The ABCD Family Planning Partnership offers services including: sexual health counseling and education by specially trained counselors who speak your language, including special counseling for teens; pregnancy testing and counseling; Sexually transmitted disease (STD) counseling, testing, and treatment; HIV testing, prevention education, and referrals for care; health exams, pap smears, and other lab tests.

 

Project Name: PACE Food Pantry Box Truck 

Amount Requested: $132,000

Intended Recipient and Address: People Acting in Community Endeavors, Inc., New Bedford MA

Location: New Bedford, MA

Project Purpose: PACE operates the leading food pantry in the Greater New Bedford area. In July 2022, PACE will open a newly renovated facility that house its food pantry. This site will allow clients access to a variety of good foods, with the ability to "shop" items with dignity while also connecting with other vital PACE programs like LIHEAP, health insurance, child care, and more. Unfortunately in April 2022, PACE's recently purchased box truck was involved in an accident and was a total loss with no ability to purchase a replacement truck, which is vital to our operation.

 

Project Name: PACE YouthBuild Long-Term Home 

Amount Requested: $500,000

Intended Recipient and Address: People Acting in Community Endeavors, Inc. (PACE), New Bedford, MA

Location: New Bedford, MA

Project Purpose: PACE operates one of Massachusetts' longest running and most successful YouthBuild programs, an initiative funded by the Department of Labor. YouthBuild New Bedford has moved around to five different locations over the last decade and has finally found a suitable long-term home with an option to purchase the property, but must find a way to fund the purchase. This project will enable the program to sustainably educate students that have fallen through the cracks of the traditional education system while simultaneously giving them construction skills and experience as they produce affordable housing in New Bedford.

 

Project Name: Middlesex County Restoration Center Pilot Program 

Amount Requested: $2,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Executive Office for Health and Human Services, Boston, MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: The Middlesex County Restoration Center Commission seeks to pilot a Restoration Center to prevent arrest, unnecessary hospitalization, and ED use of people with behavioral health conditions through triage, assessment, crisis stabilization, sober support, respite, case management, and after-care planning like housing navigation. The Center will accept walk-ins, drop-offs by police/first responders after a 911 call, and in-house transportation as a less-traumatic alternative to police cruisers or ambulances. These behavioral health services should save money currently spent arresting, incarcerating, and hospitalizing people with such conditions. The goal is statewide expansion, pending success.

 

Project Name: Responding to The Behavioral Health Crisis Among MA Children & Youth 

Amount Requested: $1,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Walker Therapeutic and Education Programs, Needham, MA

Location: Needham, MA

Project Purpose: Walker Therapeutic and Educational Programs (“Walker”) seeks $1 million in funding to offer critical behavioral health services to Massachusetts children and youth. Specifically, Walker seeks to provide a network of 70 K-12 school districts and community partners serving 70,000 students with the following capacity-building services:

Coaching and consultation ineffective behavioral health and education systems

Professional development to school and community staff in behavioral health and education practice

Preparation, placement, and supervision of specialized counseling and education staff working with children and youth with behavioral and related learning challenges

 

Project Name: Westfield State University Innovation Center in Springfield, MA 

Amount Requested: $2,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Westfield State University - Springfield Campus, Springfield, MA

Location: Springfield, MA

Project Purpose: A feasibility study to create an Innovation center in downtown Springfield, MA for students from Springfield, Chicopee and Holyoke. to focus on health disparities, community health, aging, and a one year second degree in nursing. The Innovation Center space will include a simulation lab through virtual projection. It could support teaching, learning and professional certification in the areas of nursing, forensic science, paramedic training and athletic training. This funding will improve lives, create jobs and expand opportunities.

 

Project Name: Mentoring for the Mental Health of Greater Boston's Girls 

Amount Requested: $250,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Big Sister Association of Greater Boston, Boston, MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: Funding will support Big Sister Boston’s one-to-one mentoring programs that connect girls to trained, committed women mentors to help girls improve their self-confidence, social skills, and emotional wellbeing. Big Sister Boston works alongside families and partners to ensure girls are resilient so they can focus on learning and maintaining healthy relationships.

 

Project Name: One Life at Time Recovery Program 

Amount Requested: $580,000

Intended Recipient and Address: One Life at a Time Inc, Braintree, MA

Location: Braintree, MA

Project Purpose: One Life at a Time Recovery Program help individuals with substance use disorder learn how to be self-reliant and feel self-confident. To be the best person they were meant to be, One Life at a Time Recovery program offers training support with classes to help individuals find out what skills they have to offer, who they can transition into a career that can help them to become self-sufficient. We teach our clients how they can move forward in the life. Our training program teaches students how do a resume, cover letter, interview and set up interviews for job opportunities, we help with clothing and transportation for clients, while we assist them with rent and expenses while they are in the program, we need to help them concentrate on the training while they are in our program. We know we can continue to make a difference in the future of Massachusetts and the fight to end the destruction this disease has and continues to cause.

 

Project Name: Relocation & Expansion of SUD Services, Homeless Outreach and Enabling Services - Lawrence, Mass 

Amount Requested: $3,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Greater Lawrence, Methuen, MA

Location: Methuen, MA

Project Purpose: Greater Lawrence Family Health Center (GLFHC), a federally qualified community health center in the Massachusetts 3rd Congressional District, seeks $3.0 million in federal Community Project Funding for the relocation and expansion of Substance Use Disorder Services (SUD), homeless outreach services, and other vital community support and enabling services the Health Center now offers at 100 Water Street in Lawrence, MA. This funding will help GLFHC address major gaps in health equity in our community and equally important to this expansion is that this project will also allow the Health Center to fully integrate these services with its infectious disease services & primary health care services offered at all other sites thereby following a true Patient Centered Medical Home model (PCMH) for all Health Center patients. The Health Center currently provides comprehensive primary healthcare to over 62,000 registered patients annually, however this void in service delivery must be addressed for our region’s most vulnerable patients – those suffering and at risk for substance use disorder, infectious diseases and/or homelessness.

 

The current space at 100 Water Street (~4000 square feet) is not adequate nor does it conform to DPH regulatory standard requirements to serve as a true Health Center clinic. The relocation from Water Street to a larger site (~8000-10,000 square feet) will allow for our Community Support Services Division to expand its outreach throughout the Greater Lawrence footprint and provide expanded access to SUD Services, healthcare for the homeless, HIV, Hepatitis C Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI’s) and outreach services. GLFHC currently operates seven Health Center sites in Lawrence, Methuen, and Haverhill and has identified the need to expand these services in the city of Lawrence, thus ensuring the addition of increased access to comprehensive primary health care services for our most vulnerable population in the city.

 

The Water Street site has been the headquarters for these important healthcare service lines and has served as a lifeline for some of those most underserved residents of Lawrence and surrounding areas. GLFHC is truly a leader in this area of health care delivery and is often called upon by other communities to address these same issues through not only care delivery, but also training and education. That fact alone has created the need for the Health Center to identify and move its location in the next 12-18 months in order to meet the current demand and expand service delivery, creating

 

Project Name: Island Health Care FQHC Rural Dental Center Startup 

Amount Requested: $1,650,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Island Health Inc. dba Island Health Care FQHC, Edgartown, MA

Location: Edgartown, MA

Project Purpose: In November 2020, a hospital-sponsored dental clinic on Martha’s Vineyard serving Medicaid and the state's Health Safety Net patients closed abruptly, leaving the low-medium income population with extremely limited access to dental care and no access to a pediatric dentist. To meet this crisis of limited access to oral health and safety-net dental services for families and children on Martha’s Vineyard, Island Health Care FQHC has purchased space and developed architectural and operational plans to build and equip a four-chair, full-service dental clinic.  Our proposed CDS project provides start-up funding for salary and housing support for dental clinic staff, support of an adult and pediatric residency training program, additional equipment, supplies, and other necessary expenses including tele-dentistry for the center's first 12 months of operations. Start-up operational funds from the proposed project will greatly shorten the time it will take to meet the needs of the service area's 21,000 year-round residents, the majority of whom are presently without any access to oral health care and include most of the children who live on Martha's Vineyard.  As a federally-qualified community health center, Island Health Care is well-positioned to fill this gap in access to dental care. FQHC's can receive enhanced reimbursement rates from government insurers such as Medicaid (MassHealth) which has recently dramatically increased payments to health centers for medical and dental services.  Once up and running with start-up funding support, the business model for staffing and operationalizing the rural dental center, and for partnering with Boston University's Goldman School of Dental Medicine for training and pediatric specialty support, will be highly sustainable.

 

Project Name: Bay Path University: Training Future Healthcare Providers in a High-Need Region through Simulation 

Amount Requested: $1,750,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Bay Path University, Longmeadow, MA

Location: Longmeadow, MA

Project Purpose: Bay Path University is renowned for its academic programs aligned with regional workforce needs in western Massachusetts. In healthcare, graduate programs in Physician Assistant Studies, Nursing, and Occupational Therapy prepare future healthcare professionals to address needs in communities with among the poorest health outcomes in the Commonwealth. A Simulation Center will be established at the Ryan Center for Health Sciences at Bay Path University to ensure every trainee has ample opportunity to hone critical patient skills, and to position the University to expand its healthcare programs in the future to meet the region’s growing workforce demands and address provider shortages. The Simulation Center will also provide an important training resource to the region's broader healthcare community, Bay Path University's healthcare employer partners, and other higher education institutions.

 

Project Name: The Bridge Connecting Reentry Populations to Recovery 

Amount Requested: $603,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Community Resources for Justice, Boston, MA

Location:, MA

Project Purpose: The purpose of "The Bridge" is to create an infrastructure in the city of Boston that provides comprehensive, long-term, sustainable support for criminal justice populations with substance use histories, who are returning home from prisons and jails. The program goals include:

 

1) Establishing the Bridge Recovery Community Center (BRCC), which will decrease overdose deaths by providing individualized and group peer recovery support, harm reduction education, employment services, and linkages to services such as healthcare, housing, and educational programs.

 

2) Decreasing poor health outcomes by reducing barriers to health education, health screening, and basic needs through services on-site at BRCC, and providing “warm handoffs” provided by peer support specialists to services off-site, such as mental health treatment and primary care.

 

3) Decreasing recidivism by providing daily long-term, targeted support provided by peers with lived reentry and recovery experience.

 

4) Decreasing stigma related to harm reduction and criminal justice involvement through community-wide trainings and a robust and influential Advisory Committee.

 

5) Establish a Peer Support Training Academy within BRCC, which will provide an opportunity for people served to become certified peer support specialists. Students of the academy will have opportunities to intern in a variety of CRJ reentry programs, with the potential of a full-time hire both internally at CRJ and external employment opportunities.

 

Project Name: Increasing Access to Health Care for Marginalized Populations and People of Color in Central Massachusetts 

Amount Requested: $1,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center, Inc., Worcester, MA

Location: Worcester, MA

Project Purpose: Kennedy Community Health is seeking CDS to assist in expanding access to health care for marginalized populations and people of color as we open our new and second health center site in Worcester at 605 Lincoln Street. The funding will support 12 FTEs of the many new staff required to support the following: expanded dental, behavioral health and urgent care practices; our optometry program; a small pharmacy; and support staff. Seizing the opportunity to almost double our footprint in Worcester, we purchased a building at 605 Lincoln Street, a half mile from our flagship health center at 19 Tacoma Street.

 

The Worcester regional 2018 Community Health Assessment noted two issues that must be addressed to improve health status and reduce existing disparities: racism, discrimination and health equity and health system issues (workforce issues, …). Our proposal to expand health care services in Worcester will address these concerns.

 

Seizing the opportunity to almost double our footprint in Worcester, in 2021 we purchased 605 Lincoln Street, a half mile from our flagship health center at 19 Tacoma Street. Operating two large health centers will expand our capacity and increase access to vital health care services, especially for vulnerable populations. The new facility will house expanded dental, behavioral health and urgent care, a small pharmacy, our optometry practice and other related services. We are seeking funding for 12 new FTEs to support some of this growth. These new staff will be hired from the communities we serve and we strive to hire staff who represent our patient demographics.

 

Our approach to expanding access was strategic in that the purchase of 605 Lincoln Street is allowing us to move and expand our dental and behavioral health practices while freeing up space in our flagship health center site at 19 Tacoma Street, Worcester to grow primary care and increase access to culturally and linguistically competent medical care for the citizens of Central Massachusetts. The extra space at our flagship health center will also support the growth of our 340b pharmacy and its move to the first floor for easy access, and the expansion of our Ryan White HIV, MAT, LGBTQ+, and trans practices.

 

Project Name: City of Boston Low-threshold Work Program 

Amount Requested: $1,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Boston Public Health Commission, Boston, MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: In early 2021, the City of Boston engaged in a landmark effort to house over 150 individuals living in tents and homeless encampments. As part of the effort low-threshold transitional housing sites were established both within existing shelters and new non-congregate sites across the City. As individuals achieve stability, they are placed in permanent supportive housing in locations throughout Boston and across the state. These low-threshold housing sites integrate mental health and substance use counseling and medical care. Incorporating a low-threshold workforce program would provide another avenue for hope and stability and add to important wraparound services.

 

Project Name: Remodeling and Renovation Project to Expand Patient Services  

Amount Requested: $1,500,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Greater New Bedford Community Health Center, Inc., New Bedford, MA

Location: New Bedford, MA

Project Purpose: Taking into account the effects COVID-19 has had on the population with an ever-increasing demand for mental health services by our primary care providers, Greater New Bedford Community Health Center, Inc. (GNBCHC) has embarked on an effort to integrate mental health services into primary care practices throughout GNBCHC. Currently there is inadequate space and exam rooms to provide primary care services and therefore adding mental health counselors to our teams has been challenging. With the $2M in funding received from the 2022 Community Project Funding (CPF) we will be constructing a central registration and main entrance to GNBCHC. This project will allow us to add/upgrade elevator access to our third floor that currently serves as an administrative department and will be transformed into a patient service area with additional funding from CPF in 2023. We intend to relocate current administrative services across the street to our new building and create a campus setting to better serve the most vulnerable and needy families in the New Bedford area. We will create behavioral health counseling rooms and hire Licensed Independent Clinical Social Workers (LICSWs) and Community Health Workers (CHWs) to work collaboratively with our medical teams to receive warm handoffs for patients experiencing serious mental health concerns. Once the patients have been stabilized, our mental health team can work with the patients and medical teams to create a plan of care for long-term stabilization.

 

Project Name: Life Sciences Instructional Lab Modernization 

Amount Requested: $2,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Dartmouth, MA

Location: Dartmouth, MA

Project Purpose: The existing instructional laboratories dedicated to life sciences at UMass Dartmouth were built in 1965, and very little about them has changed since then. A complete modernization is needed to support the growing number of students who work and learn in these spaces. It should be noted that this funding will support the renovation of as many as four instructional laboratories and that the scope of work for each laboratory may vary.

These facilities have not been updated in more than 50 years.

 

Project Name: New England Public Media Technology 

Amount Requested: $500,000

Intended Recipient and Address: New England Public Media, Inc., Springfield, MA

Location: Springfield, MA

Project Purpose: When the local NPR radio station, (New England Public Radio), and a local television station (WGBY Springfield) merged in 2019 to become New England Public Media, Inc. (NEPM), the new organization knew it had to consolidate existing multiple operations into one location and function as one entity. It has since undertaken the renovation of one of its buildings, currently in progress. It has also worked with a design team and media experts on a systems integration/ technology project, which will connect various sub-systems (components like the Master Control unit, radio and television control rooms, studio soundboards) into a larger system that functions as one. When complete it will improve productivity and quality of operations by speeding up information flows and reducing operational costs, thereby providing enhanced public media services, including educational programming and training, to its western Massachusetts audience. 

 

Project Name: Brandeis University-Operation Benjamin Research, Archive and Education Project 

Amount Requested: $500,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Operation Benjamin, Waltham, MA

Location: Waltham, MA

Project Purpose: Brandeis University’s Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program in Waltham, Massachusetts will partner with Operation Benjamin to expand research on Jewish American soldiers killed in the line of duty overseas who were mistakenly buried under the Latin cross, create a digital archive of this research, and develop educational programming to tell the stories of these American soldiers. The service to country these soldiers performed offers powerful lessons on leadership which Brandeis intends to highlight through educational programming geared toward Brandeis’ undergraduate and graduate students as well as scholars, alumni and the general public.

 

Project Name: Resource Kits for Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVIs) 

Amount Requested: $1,091,000

Intended Recipient and Address: National Braille Press, Inc, Boston, MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: Nationally, Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVIs) lack resources and training to teach assistive tech, braille and graphics to blind/low vision students. In 2022, National Braille Press (NBP) launched a pilot program to address this disparity, publishing 2,800 Teacher Resource Kits at no cost to the teachers. The kits will provide TVIs with tools, training guides and materials for educational services and curricula development. NBP identified additional teachers that still need these essential resources.

This request would enable a nation-wide expansion of NBP’s successful pilot program, sending kits to teachers across the US and bringing equity to vision challenged students.

 

Project Name: Expansion of the Maritime Center for Responsible Energy (MCRE) 

Amount Requested: $3,500,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Buzzards Bay, MA

Location: Buzzards Bay, MA

Project Purpose: The Maritime Center for Responsible Energy (MCRE) at Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA) consists of high-tech energy, engineering, and science laboratories which include a focus on offshore wind, hydro-kinetic, renewable energy, climate resiliency, along with blue and green energy initiatives. Also included are the University’s waterfront maritime and Global Wind Organization (GWO) infrastructure and vessels; three maritime simulator centers; and the Academy's 30,000 sqft energy, engineering, and science laboratory building. This project funding will used for hiring and training faculty; developing curricula; and providing additional student support, all of which is needed to enhance the curriculum at Mass Maritime; provide additional training for underemployed and unemployed people; expand STEM partnerships with local school districts; and expand current tech training programs. Funding will also be used to upgrade technology, equipment and telecommunications required for the aforementioned training, curricula development and student support.

 

Project Name: Center for Energy Efficiency Training

Amount Requested: $799,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology, Boston, MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: We seek a federal appropriation to establish the new interdisciplinary Center for Energy Efficiency Training at Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology. As the MA House and Senate debate a new Climate Bill to support the landmark one passed in March 2021 it is concerning that we still don’t have the trained workforce to help achieve the 2050 net-zero goal for the Commonwealth. This request will fund the start of new for-credit programs and shorter non-credit programs sorely needed to skill up the local cleantech workforce in energy efficiency as well as sustainable construction and the trades.

BFIT’s high-quality Energy Efficiency Training programs provide affordable expertise and training to untapped and racially diverse talent. Unlike any other colleges in the Commonwealth, 74% of our students identify as people of color and 86% are male. The full-time job placement rate one year after graduation is 85%. Collectively, our Energy Efficiency Training programs provide pathways to economic security for students and their families--most of whom are extremely low-income (household earnings of $23,800 in FY21). Our training programs help these individual learners double their household income with one or two years of career-focused college courses. We are proud to be helping to build the diverse pool of talented workers needed for the Commonwealth to meet its goal to become carbon-neutral by 2050 and to do so in a way that centers equity.

Project Name: Roxbury Community College Behavioral Health Institute 

Amount Requested: $2,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Roxbury Community College, Boston, MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: The Behavioral Health Institute (BHI) at Roxbury Community College (RCC) will provide MA residents with training in the growing field of behavioral health. The need for culturally competent behavioral health professionals is increasing and RCC is uniquely poised to provide its greater community with the training and skills needed for immediate employment. RCC’s BHI will offer certification programs for trauma counselors, recovery coaches, and registered behavior technicians. These non-credit programs will provide a pathway to the College’s credit programs, allowing participants to pursue programs that lead to income growth potential while serving the Commonwealth in critical behavioral health roles.

 

Project Name: Green Team & Food Justice 

Amount Requested: $60,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Groundwork Somerville, Somerville, MA

Location: Somerville, MA

Project Purpose: Groundwork Somerville seeks funding to support our Green Team youth employment program, supporting more youth jobs and youth training in environmental work. The Green Team is a unique learning opportunity for youth to have input into their educational structure and to make decisions for themselves about plans for their community, working together to decide upon the environmental projects that will make the biggest impact on their community. Green Team youth are on the cutting edge of climate resiliency projects and building more green spaces within the city.

 

Project Name: Supporting Off-Track Boston Students Challenged by Post-Covid Learning Loss 

Amount Requested: $1,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: The Possible Zone, Boston, MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: The mission of The Possible Zone (TPZ) is to advance economic equity by ensuring young people develop the entrepreneurial spirit, skills and networks to launch successful careers. Based in Boston’s Jackson Square, TPZ offers high school students from across the city a tuition-free, multi-year entrepreneurship and youth development program.

TPZ seeks $1 million in federal funding to provide critical education and career development services to Boston high school students during a post-COVID recovery phase. Specifically, through its comprehensive entrepreneurship education and youth development program, TPZ seeks to serve as an essential City partner providing students with:

 

Rigorous credit recovery coursework in school, after school, and over summers to support those behind in credits and off-track to graduate due to low school engagement.

 

Career-readiness, entrepreneurial and STEAM skill-building - all essential for access to, and success in, the region’s innovation and tech-driven economy.

 

Individualized college and career advising to ensure matriculation to, and persistence through, postsecondary education and job-training programs.

 

TPZ is also poised to support Boston’s post-COVID recovery by expanding its program and collaborating with partners to serve significantly more Boston students. Over the next five years, TPZ will pursue a strategic plan that calls for:

 

Enrolling 1,000 Boston students annually by partnering with 8-10 BPS high schools and several community youth organizations and public housing agencies.

 

Collaborating with an ecosystem of community and business partners to provide comprehensive wrap-around services (health and wellness, housing, ESL support), work-based learning opportunities/internships, and postsecondary mentoring and support for students, and technical assistance and capital for local entrepreneurs (including TPZ alumni).

 

Opening a new state-of-the-art Innovation Center in Jackson Square that allows for program expansion, advances STEAM learning through design, multimedia, and advanced manufacturing technology and resources, and provides space for local entrepreneurs.

 

Project Name: Work Inc Master Planning Grant 

Amount Requested: $1,505,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Work Incorporated, Dorchester, MA

Location:, MA

Project Purpose: The purpose of this Master Planning Grant is a first step toward identifying financing for a project that will create up to 200 units of new affordable workforce housing in Dorchester and help to retrofit Work Inc.'s current space that houses its disability services to align with significant service model changes that are being driven by regulatory, technological, and operational advancements. These alignments include a technology center build-out, reconfiguration of space to accommodate the provision of expanded services to constituents with disabilities across multiple demographic and cultural groups.

 

Project Name: Substance Use and Residential Programming for Individuals with Dual Diagnosis of Mental Health & Substance Use Disorders 

Amount Requested: $100,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Mental Health Association, Inc., Springfield, MA

Location: Springfield, MA

Project Purpose: A central component of MHA's work focuses on mental health and substance use recovery. All adults in our residential programming have a dual diagnosis of a mental illness and substance use. Our proposal focuses on programmatic support for MHA's GRIT Residential Rehabilitation Services programs serving adults, youth and the state's only program for LGBTQ+ individuals.

 

Project Name: The Arc's Bridge to Brighter Futures Project 

Amount Requested: $1,793,000

Intended Recipient and Address: The Arc of Massachusetts, Waltham, MA

Location: Waltham, MA

Project Purpose: The Arc's Project provides resources to individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, including autism, and their families to address issues of isolation, insufficient supports, lack of congregate services, and caregiver burnout that continues during this post-COVID pandemic period. In addition, the project would provide training to young adult students with significant disabilities leaving special education and transitioning into the adult service system without adequate assistive technology supports or remote supports & monitoring technology.

 

Project Name: Improving Access for Persons With Disabilities 

Amount Requested: $200,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Mental Health Association, Inc., Springfield, MA

Location: Springfield, MA

Project Purpose: MHA’s $200,000 request includes expenses associated with the non-construction costs of expansion of our day programming services for adults who are survivors of an acquired or traumatic brain injury, or who have an Intellectual/Developmental Disability including the acquisition of a wheelchair-assisted van to aid in community inclusion and integration of day program participants.

 

Project Name: Worcester Housing Authority: Employment Training and Development Programs 

Amount Requested: $1,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Worcester Housing Authority, Worcester, MA

Location: Worcester, MA

Project Purpose: Through its planned employment training and development programs, the WHA will achieve two major goals. First, the WHA will equip housing authority staff with the skills they need to better serve the diverse and vulnerable populations they assist each day with compassion and equity. Staff will be able to grow personally and professionally, reducing turnover and lowering associated administrative costs. Second, the WHA will expand its award-winning self-sufficiency programs for public housing residents to include additional fields of study and opportunities to enhance their education; to find gainful employment; and to reach their greatest potential.

 

Project Name: United Way MA Business Blocks - Supporting Family Childcare Owners and Educators 

Amount Requested: $1,397,000

Intended Recipient and Address: United Way of Massachusetts Bay & Merrimack Valley, Boston, MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: Shared Services MA is a proven economic development initiative that invests in the workforce needs of Family Child Care (FCC) businesses and increases the sustainability of the early education sector.

 

In a state with high levels of income inequality, supporting workers in low-wage service and care work is one of our greatest challenges. According to the Center for American Progress, the cost of providing child care during the pandemic has risen by 70% for FCC providers nationwide. The pandemic has accelerated these trends and only worsened the prospects of FCC businesses. Data from the MA Department of Early Education and Care indicate that the number of licensed FCC providers declined by 4% between May 2020 and September 2020. Across the Commonwealth, over 300 FCC businesses closed their doors.

 

FCC entrepreneurs, primarily women of color and immigrants, are an integral part of the state’s economy. Yet, despite their indispensable roles, they lack the business support that other types of entrepreneurs receive such as budgeting, rate setting, and marketing.

 

Shared Services MA provides business training and peer support networks for FCC providers who face many challenges including isolation, limited resources and support staff, and lack of business expertise. To date, Shared Services MA has trained over 700 FCC educators across the commonwealth and mobilized more than 1,000 early educators to access free resources on business and pedagogical best practices.

 

Shared Services MA has an evidence-based, four-pronged model: 1) financial stability and growth opportunities via small business grants; 2) business training with emphasis on technology skills; 3) coaching, technical assistance from subject matter partners who are experts in their field and Communities of Practice to implement learnings and strengthen networks; and 4) developmental screenings to identify needs and deliver early intervention, so children enter school ready to learn. Through this approach, FCC providers gain tools to succeed long-term as both educators and owners of FCC businesses. This program simultaneously increases economic opportunity for child care providers and the families they serve, as well as targeting developmental supports for children in need.

 

As our region grapples with the longstanding economic crisis and a growing demand for affordable care, UWMB requests $1,397,495 to increase the presence of the Shared Services MA program for family childcare educators in Massachusetts.

 

Project Name: PreK-16 STEM Career Pathways in Nubian Square 

Amount Requested: $1,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: BPE, Inc, Boston, MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: If funded, 920 students from Roxbury will gain skills needed for career success in Boston's fastest-growing STEM fields: Computer Science, Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing, and Health & Life Sciences.

This project is a nationally replicable public/private partnership focused on racial and economic justice. With funding, all students in grades 9-12 will participate in a STEM career pathway, including classes for college credit (with BFCIT, Wentworth, and Bunker Hill) and an internship (sites include Mass General Brigham, Ghost Story Games, and Gillette).

 

At the Dearborn STEM Academy, we offer interdisciplinary STEM Career Pathways to prepare all students for college and careers. This project aims to provide a supported, direct path to college for students who wish to start learning career-ready technical skills, but face structural barriers that might impede their access. BPE will carefully plan, implement, and evaluate PreK-16 STEM Career Pathways, building upon the Computer Science, Engineering, and Health/Life Sciences Pathways already in place at the Dearborn STEM Academy with Early College coursework offered by college partners (including BFCIT, Wentworth, and Bunker Hill) to maximize educational attainment, career readiness, and gainful employment in STEM fields.

 

Project Name: LIFT Legal Clinic for Survivors of Prostitution and Commercial Sexual Exploitation 

Amount Requested: $140,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Living in Freedom Together (LIFT), Worcester, MA

Location: Worcester, MA

Project Purpose: BRAVE – Building Real Action for Viable Employment – will provide pre-employment job training and skill building through the transitional employment model and will be designed around input and goals of program participants from LIFT and BRAVE program partner, Latin American Health Alliance (LAHA). With nearly $500,000 granted from EOHED’s Community Engagement & Reinvestment Program, LIFT and LAHA will have all the foundational real estate, property, and equipment purchased to begin the program by early July. BRAVE will be comprised of two co-op-modeled social enterprises, a mobile coffee business and an auto-mechanic garage. These entities will be developed, designed, and operated by motivated for LIFT and LAHA program participants. LIFT and LAHA serve some of Worcester County’s most vulnerable community members. LIFT specifically services Survivors of commercial sexual exploitation who are experiencing substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health disorders. LAHA services Black and Latino men in Reentry and recovery from substance use disorder.

 

Project Name: UMass Memorial Medical Center – Inpatient Bed Expansion Project 

Amount Requested: $1,500,000

Intended Recipient and Address: UMass Memorial Medical Center, Worcester, MA

Location: Worcester, MA

Project Purpose: This project will add 87 inpatient beds to address a healthcare access challenge in Central Massachusetts, which has fewer hospital beds per-capita than other parts of Massachusetts and fewer than the U.S. average. UMass Memorial Medical Center is the region’s sole provider of a variety of high acuity, tertiary services, and its largest safety net hospital. Due to an inpatient bed shortage, the Medical Center persistently must decline patient transfer requests from community hospitals and its emergency department patients face exceedingly long admission delays. Expanding bed capacity will improve access for the region’s highest acuity patients.

 

Project Name: Manet Community Health Center Electronic Health Record System Innovations 

Amount Requested: $1,517,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Manet Community Health Center, Quincy, MA

Location: Quincy, Hull, Attleboro, Taunton, MA

Project Purpose: Manet Community Health Center provides access to high-quality, comprehensive, primary care, mental health and substance use services (behavioral health), and preventive health care services at four locations in Quincy, one in Hull, one in Taunton, and a new site in Attleboro, MA; and will be opening our first School-Based Health Center in Taunton, MA.

Manet completed installation of its first generation EHR in 2008, and in 2012, respectively the health center moved to its second generation EHR. A decade later, and in with the advent of growth and next stage of the Medicaid ACO in 2023, the health center has determined that a third generation is needed to ensure that its EHR system is at its optimal level to continue to improve robust provider integration across the health care services continuum, improve quality , patient safety and reporting, provider and integrated care team decision support, increase system efficiency; reduce health disparities; enhance care coordination, and population and public health outcomes and real-time analysis; and maintain highest privacy and security of patient health information.

 

Project Name: Berkshire Community College - Campus Safety and Emergency Preparedness Improvements 

Amount Requested: $500,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Berkshire Community College, Pittsfield, MA

Location: Pittsfield, MA

Project Purpose: Berkshire Community College (BCC) seeks funding through an FY23 Congressional Directed Spending request in order to purchase and install two generators that will keep the campus operational during a power outage or other emergency situation. BCC is committed to ensuring a safe and secure environment for its students, faculty and staff and has recently made some significant investments to its technology infrastructure, classroom buildings, and security systems. Without backup power capabilities, however, BCC is unable to operate or maintain these systems in the event of an electrical outage. On average, BCC experiences four to five major outages each year, most lasting five to six hours, which often requires the closure of the campus and the cancellation of classes. The College has a limited backup power source for its computer servers, which only lasts a few hours. Power outages can significantly impact BCC’s wireless capabilities, telephone, security, fire alarm, lighting for evacuation routes, and computer systems.

 

Two standby emergency generators will not only provide power to the campus, but will also allow BCC to serve as a regional shelter for Berkshire County. BCC has been identified by the Central Berkshire Regional Emergency Planning Committee as a prime location for a large-scale regional shelter, however, it cannot do so without the availability of backup power. The Regional Sheltering Plan has been developed in partnership with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Association as part of the Commonwealth’s effort to establish community-based shelter locations. The Plan is built around 12 communities in Central Berkshire County including Becket, Dalton, Hancock, Hinsdale, Lanesborough, Lee, Lenox, Peru, Pittsfield, Richmond, Washington, and Windsor. This project will impact residents in all these communities.

 

BCC has been chosen to serve as a regional shelter because of its large capacity athletic facility, personal hygiene facilities, and food service capabilities. Unfortunately, the facility lacks is a large capacity backup electrical generator and accompanying transfer switch equipment to facilitate power needs if the electric distribution system should fail. Funding will provide support for an engineering study, upgrades to BCC’s current electrical system, as well as the purchase and installation of two standby commercial-grade generators. BCC estimates the overall cost to be approximately $500,000.

 

Project Name: Early College Springfield 

Amount Requested: $1,225,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Worcester State University, Springfield, MA

Location: Springfield, MA

Project Purpose: EC-Springfield provides low-income high school students in urban and rural areas of the Pioneer Valley with dual enrollment classes, student support services, and summer residential learning opportunities. In all, some 1,000 students will earn 12,000 college credits. Early College Springfield (ECS) increases access and success for under-represented high school students. Students graduate HS with significant college credits, reducing the time and cost needed to obtain a degree and achieve success through added student support services.

Our nation is experiencing a 30% drop in college enrollment among students of color and this negative trend is widening under the pandemic. In Springfield only 56% of graduates plan on enrolling in post-secondary education compared with 74% of all MA graduates. This gap has staggering consequences for the region’s economic health. The median income in MA is $41,000 with a HS diploma and $69,000 with a bachelor’s degrees.

 

In response, in 2019 WSU entered a formal collaboration with Springfield Public Schools and the Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership to offer free college classes and a robust system of support. Classes are offered in area high schools by WSU faculty with additional summer learning opportunities on the campus of WSU. Hundreds of students have successfully completed this unique Early College program and enrolled in post-secondary education. This proposal seeks to build upon this success and provide more students in the region with life-changing opportunities.

 

Springfield is vital to the Commonwealth’s economic prosperity. It is the second largest school district in the state. Latino students comprise 68% of all students, followed by African American students. Springfield's child poverty rate of 37.7% is the highest of any district in the state. Given that Springfield high school students are less likely to take college level courses than most high schoolers in Massachusetts, students and families stand to gain considerably from Early College.

 

Project Name: Worcester Housing Authority: Employment Training and Development Programs 

Amount Requested: $1,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Worcester Housing Authority, Worcester, MA

Location: Worcester, MA

Project Purpose: Through its planned employment training and development programs, the WHA will achieve two major goals. First, the WHA will equip housing authority staff with the skills they need to better serve the diverse and vulnerable populations they assist each day with compassion and equity. Staff will be able to grow personally and professionally, reducing turnover and lowering associated administrative costs. Second, the WHA will expand its award-winning self-sufficiency programs for public housing residents to include additional fields of study and opportunities to enhance their education; to find gainful employment; and to reach their greatest potential.

 

Project Name: GBLS' Mental Health Safety Net Project 

Amount Requested: $606,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Greater Boston Legal Services, Boston, MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: Greater Boston Legal Services’ Mental Health Safety Net Project will 1) help low-income constituents connect to needed mental health and other social services, 2) increase the efficacy and impact of civil legal assistance provided to help stabilize households, 3) strengthen clients’ ability to fully participate in their community and achieve greater self-sufficiency. GBLS’ Mental Health Safety Net Project will provide clients who are living in poverty with direct civil legal aid in combination with mental health-focused case management services, enabling them to address mental health issues and social determinants of health, thereby increasing household stability and well-being.

 

Project Name: Reimagining Health Care Training: Worcester State University and WPI Join Forces for the Future of Point of Practice Care Training and Assessment 

Amount Requested: $1,213,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA

Location: Worcester, MA

Project Purpose: Worcester State University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute are seeking to join forces to develop future workforce training for WSU’s Nursing and Occupational Therapy (OT) students. The plan calls for supporting equipment enhancements at WPI’s PracticePoint R&D Center, where the training would take place. The first phase would incorporate training for nursing and OT students at PracticePoint and the second phase would work toward developing enhanced training approaches that would advance workforce education for nursing and OT students. Ultimately, the training would help address shortages in both nursing and OT staff throughout the region.

 

Project Name: RISE (Resiliency in Supporting Economic Advancement) 

Amount Requested: $650,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Volunteers of America Massachusetts, Jamaica Plain, MA

Location: Framingham, Natick, Waltham, MA

Project Purpose: To address the effects of the COVID-19 crisis in the 5th District of Massachusetts, Volunteers of America Massachusetts (VOAMASS) is requesting funding to expand upon its current Department of Labor funded project, Pathway Home. The RISE program is designed as a workforce development program embedded in an integrated care model with comprehensive case management focused on resiliency. RISE will engage 65 low-income, unemployed/underemployed residents who have been affected by COVID, through wraparound supportive services driven by a holistic assessment of needs such as housing instability, assistance with meeting basic needs, substance abuse and mental health treatment, and other services as needed.

 

Project Name: Gándara Center St. George Behavioral Health Clinic Renovations 

Amount Requested: $640,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Gándara Center, Springfield, MA

Location: Springfield, MA

Project Purpose: The purpose of this project is to increase access to behavioral health services for individuals who experience substance use disorders and serious mental illness(es), with the primary population of focus being the high risk and historically underserved, under resourced Hispanic and Latino community. To achieve this goal Gándara will renovate its St. George Behavioral Health Clinic in the north end of Springfield, MA.

 

Project Name: Covid Recovery: Mental Health, Prevention, and Social-Emotional Learning 

Amount Requested: $220,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Boys & Girls Club of Worcester, Worcester, MA

Location: Worcester, MA

Project Purpose: The project will allow the Boys & Girls Club of Worcester to form our organization's mental health and prevention services into a cohesive whole, creating a Club-wide curriculum across all three sites to ensure that all Club members have support and access to our lifesaving programs that address health equity and equal access in our community. Our director of social-emotional learning, an MSW, will create a team to function across our three Clubhouses, to assess and counsel kids and families, track progress, train mentors and staff, train teens as peer mentors, work with schools and social workers, and more.

 

Project Name:  Ascentria Nursing Home IT investment

Amount Requested: $728,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Ascentria Care Alliance, Worcester MA

Location: Worcester, MA

Project Purpose: Massachusetts nursing homes are facing a critical direct care worker shortage. While there have been temporary funding increases to supplement worker pay, they have been insufficient to solve the problem as evidenced by the current 7400 open positions. This project is an IT investment which will help improve the efficiency of an overtaxed workforce. It will allow for more work time to be devoted to patient care instead of manual administrative tasks, thereby improving both worker satisfaction and patient outcomes.

 

Project Name:  Mentoring for the Mental Health of Greater Boston's Girls

Amount Requested: $250,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Big Sister Association of Greater Boston, Boston MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: Funding will support Big Sister Boston’s one-to-one mentoring programs that connect girls to trained, committed women mentors to help girls improve their self-confidence, social skills, and emotional wellbeing. Big Sister Boston works alongside families and partners to ensure girls are resilient so they can focus on learning and maintaining healthy relationships.

 

Project Name:  Acquisition and installation of 3D Mammography System: an effort to increase cancer screening rates for women in MA-03 (digital breast tomosynthesis)

Amount Requested: $450,000

Intended Recipient and Address: HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital, Fitchburg MA

Location: Fitchburg, MA

Project Purpose: HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital (HACH) requests funding for the acquisition and installation of a digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) to replace an aging full-field digital mammography (FFDM) located on the Fitchburg Campus. HACH is requesting $450,000 in federal funding to support purchasing a new DBT unit. The unit's total cost is approximately $454,000, and the balance of costs, including the installation, will be paid for through hospital capital funds. The Hospital is committed to increasing access to those most vulnerable populations that historically do not access life-saving screening resources. Therefore, an important goal of this project is to reduce the health disparities of marginalized populations in Fitchburg and the surrounding area.

 

Project Name:  Baystate Health Springfield Community Health & Wellness Center

Amount Requested: $4,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Baystate Health, Springfield MA

Location: Springfield, MA

Project Purpose: Baystate Health seeks Congressional support in realizing our vision to combine several existing community health centers in a flagship Community Health and Wellness Center in the heart of Springfield, Massachusetts.

This new and modern setting will deliver comprehensive preventive, primary, and specialty care to families in the Springfield community. It will increase access to underserved community members, provide on-site ancillary services and a touchdown space for community partners who provide support services to families. The health center will serve as incubator for technology and will optimize team-based care for academic training and population health.

 

Project Name:  Bridging Families in Need to Lives of Productive Healthy Futures

Amount Requested: $2,050,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Old Colony YMCA, Brockton MA

Location: Brockton, MA

Project Purpose: This pilot program will allow for increased access in underserved community for family engagement and education program directly related to peer advocates, behavioral health, family counseling and most importantly, keeping families together.

 

Project Name:  Tufts University School of Dental Medicine Mobile Dental Clinic for the Underserved

Amount Requested: $650,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, Boston MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: Dental care remains the largest unmet health care need of children, especially for those with disabilities. Tufts University School of Dental Medicine proposes an innovative mobile dental clinic program that brings care to every child in Boston and across Massachusetts, especially the most vulnerable, through an innovative integrated system of care that aims to improve and prioritize oral health-related quality of life.

The mobile dental clinic will leverage existing resources and deep expertise to reach the unreachable. TUSDM has ongoing school-based screening and dental education programs in Boston public schools. TUSDM also maintains a network of seven clinics to serve people with special and complex medical needs. However, we have found that the current brick-and-mortar infrastructure does not allow us to treat those children that face the most challenges. Poverty, lack of social support, living in a single parent household, immobility due to a complex medical problem (such as quadriplegia), serious intellectual or developmental disabilities are all factors that create significant barriers to dental care. The mobile dental clinic provides a solution to many of these barriers and enhances our ability to visit our patients in their natural environment.

 

Project Name: Roxbury A2M Workforce Accelerator  

Amount Requested: $1,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Northeastern University, Boston MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: The Roxbury Associate’s to Master’s Workforce Accelerator (RA2MWA) is a structured, accelerated pathway from an Associate’s degree at Roxbury Community College to a Master’s degree at Northeastern University in high demand fields that lead to good jobs. These funds will provide direct scholarships and other supports to students in the program.

 

Project Name:  Harrington Hospital – Electronic Health Records Transformation

Amount Requested: $1,500,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Harrington Memorial Hospital, Inc., Southbridge MA

Location: Southbridge, MA

Project Purpose: Harrington Hospital has campuses in two of the state’s poorest communities, Southbridge and Webster. Capital investment to upgrade its outdated electronic health records (EHR) system will stabilize and improve health services in these communities and will fully integrate Harrington into the EHR system of UMass Memorial Health (UMMH), the safety net health system that it joined in 2021. Transitioning Harrington to the Epic EHR system will enable some of the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable patients to benefit from features that have been successfully utilized by other UMMH hospitals to improve outcomes, advance community health and reduce health inequities.

 

Project Name:  Everyone Wins! Signature Healthcare's Nurse Residency Program

Amount Requested: $997,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Brockton Hospital, Inc, Brockton MA

Location: Brockton, MA

Project Purpose: In response to the demand for nurses and the financial strain associated with the hiring of “travel nurses” Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital is starting a New Graduate Nurse program. The purpose is to retain nurses from Brockton Hospital School of Nursing, Massasoit Community College and Curry College who, while in nursing school, do their clinical work at Brockton Hospital offering a comfortable transition from school to professional nursing. At the same time it will save the Signature Healthcare thousands of dollars from reduced “travel nurse” costs allowing Signature to invest these savings into new programs and services to benefit patients.

 

Project Name:  Bard Microcollege Holyoke

Amount Requested: $150,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Community Adolescent Resource & Education Center, Holyoke MA

Location: Holyoke, MA

Project Purpose: Bard Microcollege Holyoke, located at The Care Center in Holyoke, Massachusetts, is the nation’s first college established specifically to make higher education accessible to young mothers and low-income women. In addition to engaging in a rigorous curriculum, students have access to supports, such daycare, transportation, and meals, which help remove barriers that young mothers face in traditional college settings. Students who successfully complete the course requirements receive an Associate in Arts degree from Bard College. The degree is free, with scholarships, grants, and donations covering tuition and books. Bard Microcollege Holyoke currently stands as a national model for helping young parents and low income women access and succeed in higher education. The Care Center routinely consults with policy makers and educators across the country who are seeking to replicate this approach.

 

Project Name:  Take Me out Of the Hallway!

Amount Requested: $1,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Brockton Hospital, Inc, Brockton MA

Location: Brockton, MA

Project Purpose: The purpose of this project is to crate a redesigned and modernized Emergency Department highlighted by a 12 bed secure holding area for behavioral health patients. This project will help manage the growing number of behavioral health patients “boarding “in the ED while they await admission to Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital’s 22 bed inpatient psychiatric unit or placement with other appropriate community providers/resources. This will result in more dignified care and an enhanced environment so all patients can receive safe and exceptional care.

 

Project Name:  River Hawks Scholars Academy

Amount Requested: $1,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell MA

Location: Lowell, MA

Project Purpose: The Year 2 Expansion will establish an extension of RHSA supports through participating students' sophomore year, something the university does not have the resources to fund. The second year will offer similar supports as the freshman year program, plus a professional mentoring program and other enhanced opportunities, with an emphasis on continued academic success and preparation for upper-division coursework and responsibilities. We will also offer retention housing and textbook scholarships for high-achieving, need-based second-year RHSA students. A major focus for this expansion is on the creation of “on ramps” for students to get involved in more advanced, upper class year opportunities through university, college, and departmental research, learning, and co-curricular programs where first-generation students, students of color, and students from low-income backgrounds are traditionally underrepresented. Scholarships will also be a key support for students to incentive their engagement in RHSA programming and alleviate the financial pressures many first-gen students face in paying for college.

 

Pathways to Career will offer junior and senior students a suite of ongoing supports and opportunities focused primarily on career readiness, whether a student plans on moving directly into the job market or applying to graduate school. This expansion initiative will involve three primary strategies: 1) 1-on-1 supports through coaching and mentoring; 2) leadership positions and development through Peer Leader program and other leadership roles; 3) other supports and opportunities, including a professional development fund (to cover costs associated with professional attire, job hunting, graduate school applications, etc.), industry-specific initiatives (such as targeted supports for students moving into engineering, sciences, health, or criminal justice fields), and other career readiness, networking, and job opportunity programs.

 

Project Name: Addressing Health Disparities for VHL Patients 

Amount Requested: $150,000

Intended Recipient and Address: VHL Alliance Inc. (VHLA), Boston MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: This project will focus on improving the diagnosis and treatment of individuals living with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease in disadvantaged communities in the Boston area and Massachusetts at large. The focus will be equipping patients and caregivers in underserved communities with VHL screening information to facilitate connection with comprehensive specialized care. This will be achieved through a comprehensive strategy that includes creating educational materials, conducting outreach endeavors tailored to those with disabilities such as sight and mobility impairment, and providing tailored resources to assist with and provide follow-up support. 

 

Project Name:  Independence House Services for Domestic and Sexual Violence Victims

Amount Requested: $3,460,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Independence House, Inc., Hyannis MA

Location: Hyannis, MA

Project Purpose: This funding amount is requested to construct a 2,700 square foot building adjacent to a current out of date building to serve domestic and sexual violence victims. Taxpayer dollars are justified when we consider that in 2008, domestic violence was declared a public health emergency in Massachusetts. Independence House, Inc. founded in Barnstable County by residents who identified a pressing community need, is now in its 43rd year, with its intact relevant and timeless mission of helping all domestic and sexual violence victims, survivors and children by creating opportunities for safety and empowerment through crisis intervention.

This funding supports a cost-effective construction of a 2,700 square foot building for Independence House, Inc., the only resource, counseling and advocacy center for victims/survivors of domestic and sexual violence in Hyannis, MA. The building is replacing our current building which lacks energy efficiency, is not up to building and fire codes for the 21st century; is not 100% ADA compliant, and lacks adequate space and privacy needs for counseling victims/survivors. This building will serve the needs of all domestic and sexual violence victims/survivors in Barnstable County in all towns and villages.

The building itself will provide increased safety and privacy and meet the demand for the new and additional services Independence House, Inc. has experienced over the last 43 years, and improve the work environment and ultimately mental the well-being of our dedicated staff. The building will offer a much needed lunch area for employees, protected /secure entrance for survivors and a secure private waiting room .

New and expanded services to be offered in the new building include an ADA compliant accessible food panty; therapeutic art space to aid healing, and enhance well-being; specialized therapeutic spaces to support the mental health and safety needs for adults and children exposed to domestic violence; specialized tailored therapeutic services to support most underserved survivors/victims including BIPOC victim/survivors and victims/survivors with disabilities.

Project Name:  Lasell University Cybersecurity Educational Center
Amount Requested: $1,279,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Lasell University, Newton MA
Location: Newton, MA
Project Purpose: In Massachusetts, 17,000 high-paying cybersecurity jobs remain unfilled due to a shortage of individuals with the adequate level of education and training to fill the positions. Additionally, the state’s existing cybersecurity workforce lacks diverse representation, particularly among women, persons of color, and veterans. The Lasell University Cybersecurity Education Center (LUCEC) seeks to address these workplace gaps and help ensure that people and businesses in the state can be protected against cyberattacks by expanding Lasell’s cybersecurity program through the establishment of a virtual cybersecurity range. The Lasell cybersecurity range will be a hyper-realistic cyber simulation platform that will mimic real-world problems in the cybersecurity realm, serving as a hands-on cyber lab for students, as well as an advanced, simulated training environment for cybersecurity professionals. The range would draw more students to Lasell to study cybersecurity and experience the specialized, hands-on learning opportunities that Lasell offers. If funded, LUCEC will address the talent gap by increasing the number of skilled, trained, and experienced cybersecurity professionals by 150 in the first year and 500 over three years of project implementation. The multi-disciplinary curriculum will meet students where they are by offering industry certificate programs, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees. Students will gain a theoretical and practical foundation in the principles of information assurance, and in ethical institutional practices and behaviors. They will also gain direct experience through team-based projects, hands-on activities, and security-related internship assignments. The program’s professional focus on career readiness will prepare graduates to help safeguard organizations on the internet, including in areas such as national security policy, cyber investigation, and vulnerability testing.

Project Name:  Cape Abilities Farm Vocational and Food Security Project

Amount Requested: $959,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Cape Abilities, Inc., Cape Cod MA

Location: Cape Cod, MA

Project Purpose: Cape Abilities will provide vocational training to 40 people with disabilities at our Farm in Dennis MA to enable them to become financially independent in community-based businesses. We will give them skills needed to obtain good jobs. The individuals will assemble and transport boxes of fresh produce to food pantries in all 15 towns of the Cape. Our job coaches will educate/support our individuals and drive delivery vans. Recipients of the produce boxes are those needing food security including children, seniors, veterans, people with disabilities, Native Americans, low-income families and immigrants. Our Project creates jobs.

 

Project Name:  MetroWest Free Medical Program Behavioral Health Services Program

Amount Requested: $100,000

Intended Recipient and Address: MetroWest Free Medical Program, Inc., Sudbury MA

Location: Sudbury, MA

Project Purpose: We seek funding through SAMHSA Health Surveillance and Program Support Account for mental health services, specifically: screening and assessment of individuals, including the presence of co-occurring mental and substance use disorders and referral to treatment; referral and access to treatment services; culturally-responsive educational materials on mental health promotion; and training on evidence-based behavioral health practices for our staff, volunteers, interpreters, and broader community. In 17 years, we've held over 25,000 patient visits. In one year, the project will provide critical services to over 1000 patients in the year, touching the lives of over 5000 individuals in our community.

 

Project Name:  Creative Exchange

Amount Requested: $347,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, Hyannis MA

Location: Hyannis, MA

Project Purpose: The Creative Exchange (CEX) is a professional development program of the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod (AFCC) which supports established and emerging artists of all mediums and backgrounds as well as leaders, creatives, and staff at cultural organizations in Barnstable County.

CEX achieves this through:

Capacity-Building Grants

Fellowships

Creative Exchange Leadership Development Program & DEI Training

Arts Incubator Program

Congressionally Directed Spending would additionally cover the operations (staffing, marketing, equipment, and online tools) necessary to carry out the CEX Program in FY2023

Project Name:  Trauma, Resiliency, and Racial Equity Training Institute
Amount Requested: $456,000
Intended Recipient and Address: Coalition for a Healthy Greater Worcester, Greater Worcester MA
Location: Greater Worcester, MA
Project Purpose: The Trauma, Resiliency & Racial Equity Training Institute addresses a critical gap in resources for a shared understanding and language around racial equity by building local capacity for trauma-informed, racial equity trainings using a grassroots, community-led model. Federal funding is critical now in establishing accreditation and systemic structure for a more integrated, responsive, and equitable model based in Central Massachusetts that can be shared in other Massachusetts Gateway communities.

 

Project Name:  Mental Health Therapists to Increase Clinic Capacity

Amount Requested: $337,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Family & Community Resources Inc, Brockton MA

Location: Brockton, MA

Project Purpose: The purpose of this project is to expand the capacity of Family and Community Resources' (FCR) licensed mental health clinic to address a critical community issue. There is a tremendous need for mental health services in the Greater Brockton area and FCR seeks to double the capacity of its therapy services (currently at 3 clinician FTE's) to meet the mental health needs of children, adolescents, and adults who have experienced trauma as the result of family or community violence. As Brockton is a majority minority city the project will address the need for culturally responsive services by multi-lingual clinicians.

 

Project Name:  Boston Ballet Community Programs

Amount Requested: $789,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Boston Ballet, Inc., Boston MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: Boston Ballet’s Division of Education and Community Initiatives (ECI) manages the delivery of Citydance and ECI on Location (ECIL), dance programs that are cost-free to students and that annually serve over 3,000 children and young teens at 50 Boston Public Schools and 8-10 community sites. These participatory programs, taught by dance professionals, bolster public school arts programming and offer safe spaces for physical activity and self-expression. Over 80% of students served are BIPOC/AAPI; nearly all qualify for federally-supported school meal plans, and most reside in low-income homes.

 

Chief objectives of our project are to sustain and expand the teaching that we bring to gyms, classrooms, auditoriums, and recreation sites throughout Boston. Both Citydance and ECIL offer the possibility for further dance training with tuition support at Boston Ballet School. Funding will increase cultural competency training for program faculty, extend family dance access through subsidized tickets to Boston Ballet performances, and increase tuition assistance for program alumni enrolled in Boston Ballet School classes. The project also includes the pilot of a promotional campaign using dance-on-film to increase public awareness and build institutional trust in city neighborhoods, an effort that we believe will lead to higher student retention and greater diversity in Boston Ballet School, as well as in our audiences

Project Name:  Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate - Civics Education Programming

Amount Requested: $2,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States, Boston MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the US Senate is dedicated to civic learning and engagement. Educational experiences at the Kennedy Institute use immersive role play and simulation to teach civics and inspire the next generation of leaders. The Kennedy Institute now also offers these programs virtually. An appropriation of $2M in FY23 for the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the US Senate will allow us to bring our civics education programs to more students and educators, both in Massachusetts and nationally, at no cost to them.

 

Project Name:  Bridging the Gap in Childcare for Homeless Families, Boston, MA, Congressional District 07

Amount Requested: $1,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: City of Boston, Boston MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: Unhoused families frequently require extended time to secure eligibility documentation to qualify for subsidized childcare programs. This delay impacts their ability to receive crucial developmental and educational support for their children at a time when they are most vulnerable. Bridge funding would provide families with immediate access to available childcare while they pursue longer-term support.

 

Project Name:  Adult Literacy Initiative Digital Literacy Project

Amount Requested: $1,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: City of Boston, Boston MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: Funds will support Phases 2 and 3 of the capacity-building initiative that is being implemented with the Boston Adult Literacy Initiative to improve digital literacy for adult basic education learners. In Phase 1, which is currently underway, 26 adult basic education sites receive a comprehensive analysis of their digital capabilities and infrastructure. This assessment will inform the professional development, program design, and resources needed to enhance providers' ability to provide high-quality digital learning and programming. These are mostly small, grassroots providers that offer ESOL, adult remedial education, and adult HiSET/GED services with pathways to employment.

 

Project Name:  City of Boston Low-threshold Work Program

Amount Requested: $1,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: City of Boston, Boston MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: In early 2021, the City of Boston engaged in a landmark effort to house over 150 individuals living in tents and homeless encampments. As part of the effort low-threshold transitional housing sites were established both within existing shelters and new non-congregate sites across the City. As individuals achieve stability, they are placed in permanent supportive housing in locations throughout Boston and across the state. These low-threshold housing sites integrate mental health and substance use counseling and medical care. Incorporating a low-threshold workforce program would provide another avenue for hope and stability and add to important wraparound services.

 

Project Name:  Southcoast Health’s More than Medicine Clean Energy for Healthy Communities Project

Amount Requested: $2,001,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Southcoast Health - Charlton Memorial Hospital, New Bedford MA

Location: New Bedford, MA

Project Purpose: Southcoast Health will install on-site linear generators at Charlton Memorial Hospital as phase one of a 5-year system-wide clean energy project. The goal of this project to increase our use and production of renewable energy sources, reducing pollution and conserving natural resources for the 719,000 residents in 33 communities covering more than 900 square miles.

 

Project Name:  UMass Boston Home Care Digital and Simulation Lab

Amount Requested: $5,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: The purpose of UMass Boston’s Manning College of Nursing and Health Sciences Home Care Digital and Simulation Lab (HC-DSL) will be to educate the next generation of home health care providers in evolving technologies used in home care at all levels of acuity and chronicity with a special emphasis on those who are aging, disabled and have historically experienced health disparities. Simulation using digital technologies relevant to home care will help undergraduate and graduate nursing students to acquire safety competencies, improve communication and inter-personal skills and involve patients and families in their care from their own home.

 

Project Name:  Lynn Community Health Center Pharmacy

Amount Requested: $1,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Lynn Community Health, Inc., Lynn MA

Location: Lynn, MA

Project Purpose: LCHC is developing a Pharmacy to serve patients, employees, and visitors of the health center with a goal is to ensure access to low-cost and affordable prescription medications for residents of Lynn and surrounding communities, especially patients who are uninsured, underinsured, and/or low-income. LCHC is proposing to renovate existing space at our main facility at 269 Union Street in downtown Lynn. Upon completion of the renovations, we will hire a Pharmacist-in-Charge, Pharmacists, and Pharmacy Technicians, in partnership with Community Care Cooperative (C3), a MassHealth accountable care organization.

 

Project Name:  Academy for Teacher Training in Behavioral Health, Equity, and SEL to Transform Educational Practice

Amount Requested: $1,200,000

Intended Recipient and Address: William James College, Newton MA

Location: Newton, MA

Project Purpose: The Academy addresses the dire needs K-12 teachers now face by offering training based on an innovative combination of behavioral health, DEI, SEL, and leadership via two tracks: (1) an 8-session Certificate in Classroom Behavioral Health, and (2) specialized graduate certificates to create a workforce poised to address the challenges that schools encounter. Central to the Academy’s mission is a focus on underserved communities, interventions responsive to current needs, and an ongoing professional learning community. This model transforms education and provides students in Massachusetts communities with a strong academic and social emotional foundation so they can learn, grow, and thrive.

 

Project Name:  Cambridge Public Health Commission Clinical Initiatives (Facilities and Equipment)

Amount Requested: $4,845,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Cambridge Public Health Commission, Cambridge MA

Location: Cambridge, MA

Project Purpose: HRSA Health Facilities Construction and Equipment appropriations request of $4,845,000 to support a portion of the facilities and equipment costs toward Cambridge Public Health Commission’s planned new surgical robotics initiative and equitable access to a range of clinical diagnostic and treatment services to meet regional need and vulnerable populations served, including those disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and the social determinants of health.

 

Project Name: Home Base 2-Week Intensive Clinical Program for Families of the Fallen and Resilient Youth Program for their Child Survivors 

Amount Requested: $1,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Home Base, Statewide

Location: Statewide

Project Purpose: Funding will enable adult survivors from across the country to participate in Home Base’s 2-Week Families of the Fallen Intensive Clinical Program and children grieving the death of a parent/primary caregiver who served in the U.S. military to participate in Home Base’s Resilient Youth Program. This project is addressing the increased need for mental health services brought on by isolation, stress, anxiety, and uncertainty of the pandemic, in addition to recent events abroad, that have triggered and exacerbated existing wounds faced by Families of the Fallen.

 

Project Name:  The Vault, at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

Amount Requested: $700,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield MA

Location: Springfield, MA

Project Purpose: The Vault, a customized special exhibit space to showcase "never seen before or displayed" the personal collections of game artifacts of the inducted Basketball Hall of Famers, such as Michael Jackson, Grant Hill, Charles Barkley, Kevin Garnett, as well as NBA coaches and players. This is a cross-cultural exhibit and will be designed appropriately in a bank vault-like setting to protect and preserve the very valuable treasures being displayed.

This special exhibit is being done collaboratively with the Latino Chamber of Commerce to jointly host special events and exhibits, locally and statewide, to feature Latino & African American NBA players, cultural exhibit to focus on minority history in the game, women, and Title IX.

 

Project Name:  Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program Infrastructure/Equipment Repair

Amount Requested: $450,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, Boston MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: The mission of Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP) is to ensure unconditionally equitable and dignified access to the highest quality health care for all individuals and families experiencing homelessness in our community. The proposed project will enable BHCHP to further this mission by improving existing infrastructure and repairing or replacing equipment instrumental in the day-to-day operations of our facilities.

 

Project Name:  Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) Electronic Health Record

Amount Requested: $3,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Inc., Brookline MA

Location: Brookline, MA

Project Purpose: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) is seeking Community Project Funding to support conversion to a unified Electronic Health Record. This funding will help support EHR conversion for the Bowdoin Street Community Health Center (Bowdoin Street Community Health Center is located in Dorchester, MA and is owned and operated by BIDMC) and connectivity with other affiliated Health Centers, such as Dimock Health Center, Fenway Health, Charles River and Cambridge Health Alliance, as well as other BIDMC community providers.

 

Project Name:  BID-Plymouth Hospital Emergency Department Observation Unit

Amount Requested: $2,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital–Plymouth, Plymouth MA

Location: Plymouth, MA

Project Purpose: BID-Plymouth Hospital is seeking to expand the current Emergency Department with a 25 bed Observation Unit to better accommodate the increasing demand for emergent, urgent, and behavioral health services sought by patients in this growing community.

 

Project Name:  Acquisition of 20 Meadowbrook Rd to Further Community Based & Prevention Work

Amount Requested: $1,900,000

Intended Recipient and Address: High Point Treatment Center, Inc., New Bedford MA

Location: New Bedford, MA

Project Purpose: High Point is seeking $1.9 million for a capital improvement project to purchase one of the organization’s currently leased buildings to house a Community Outreach Center in Brockton, MA. Formally an adolescent treatment center, this 10,000 square foot building is located on High Point’s Brockton campus and will now be home to a variety of services focused on prevention, family support and recovery.

 

Project Name:  Arc of Greater Brockton Family Support Center

Amount Requested: $500,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Arc of Greater Brockton, Brockton MA

Location: Brockton, MA

Project Purpose: The Arc of Greater Brockton is relocating and equipping a new Family Support Center. The Arc of Greater Brockton is located in the City of Brockton, and provides services in Abington, Avon, Bridgewater, Brockton, East Bridgewater, Easton, Holbrook, Rockland, Stoughton, West Bridgewater and Whitman. Our project goal is to improve the accessibility, quality and number of program offerings and services provided by our Family Support Center, which services approximately 350 families in the region.

 

Project Name:  CHC Children's Mental Health Services

Amount Requested: $3,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Community Health Connections, Inc., Fitchburg MA

Location: Fitchburg, MA

Project Purpose: Community Health Connections respectfully requests $3,000,000 to support the establishment of Children’s Mental Health Services across our organization. We propose to build an 8,000 square foot facility in Gardner MA and to staff it was sufficient mental health professionals and behavioral health counselors in order to meet the growing need for these services in our communities. We will also expand these same services in our other locations in Fitchburg and Leominster MA. This proposal will cover the construction and start up costs during the first year of operations.

 

Project Name:  CHC Sustainable Energy

Amount Requested: $3,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Community Health Connections, Inc., Fitchburg MA

Location: Fitchburg, MA

Project Purpose: Community Health Connections respectfully requests $3,000,000 for the integration of renewal energy systems into our organization, specifically for the procurement and implementation of renewable energy equipment at 529 Timpany Boulevard in Gardner, expansion of renewable energy at 326 Nichols Road in Fitchburg, and electric car charge ports at three of our locations.

 

Project Name:  The Nursing Simulation and Clinical Learning Center

Amount Requested: $640,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Endicott College, Beverly MA

Location: Beverly, MA

Project Purpose: Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts is pleased to submit this proposal requesting Congressionally Directed Spending in the amount of $640,000 for simulation equipment and technology to equip the future Nursing Simulation and Clinical Learning Center in our Cummings School of Nursing & Health Sciences. The Nursing Simulation and Clinical Learning Center will be a critical piece to an innovative, multi-pronged plan Endicott College is leading, with participation from strategic partners Beverly Hospital and Addison Gilbert Hospital, to advance a critical public good: developing a replicable and scalable solution to the local and national nursing shortage crisis.

 

Project Name:  Cape Cod Community College Dental Hygiene Program Expansion

Amount Requested: $1,780,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Cape Cod Community College, Cape Cod MA

Location: Cape Cod, MA

Project Purpose: The Dental Hygiene program has a student interest and community need to expand. During the current year’s admissions, the program had 52 qualified applicants as first year Dental Hygiene students but was only able to accept 24 students. The program has seen the same pattern in previous years (2020-2021- 47 qualified/24 accepted; 2019-2020 - 40 qualified/24 accepted). Our goal is to increase by an additional 6 the number of dental stations to 20. This would provide a more than 50% increase in the number of students enrolling in the program, moving from 24 to 38 students per admission cycle.

 

Project Name:  YMCA Fuller Family Park

Amount Requested: $507,000

Intended Recipient and Address: YMCA of Central Massachusetts, Worcester MA

Location: Worcester, MA

Project Purpose: The YMCA of Central Massachusetts opened the Fuller Family Park in 1997 with a goal of providing outdoor services and programs to the Worcester Main South neighborhood. This area continues to be under- represented with adequate green spaces as compared with other communities in this urban market. Ensuring that the park is modernized with an upgraded running track, multi-generational outdoor structure, outdoor children’s play structure, benches, splash pad, amphitheater and pavilion will allow families to live healthier lives. Outdoor children’s play structure, benches, splash pad, amphitheater and pavilion will allow families to live healthier lives.

 

Project Name:  Paralysis Rehabilitation Improvement Project

Amount Requested: $577,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Journey Forward, Canton MA

Location: Canton, MA

Project Purpose: Expansion and improvement of activity-based therapy program serving the paralysis community in Greater Boston and surrounding 10-county region, through acquisition of capital equipment for rehabilitative treatment for spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, stroke, and neurological disorder survivors in a community-based setting.

 

Project Name:  Best Buddies in Massachusetts Inclusion Project for Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Amount Requested: $205,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Best Buddies International, Inc., Charlestown MA

Location: Charlestown, MA

Project Purpose: The Best Buddies in Massachusetts Inclusion Project for Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities will deliver inclusion services to a minimum of 1,700 students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) at 187 elementary, middle, and high schools in Massachusetts, with planned expansion to underserved schools in Brockton, Everett, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, and New Bedford. The project would engage students in 1,100 inclusive activities and train 730 730 youth with and without IDD in leadership skills. The project will provide opportunities for social and emotional learning for youth with and without IDD to help them become college and career ready.

 

Project Name:  Modernizing Massachusetts Health Center Electronic Health Records (EHRs)

Amount Requested: $10,046,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Community Care Cooperative, Inc., Boston MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: This proposal to bring Epic, the most advanced electronic health record (EHR) and population health system, to twelve Massachusetts health centers. Our purpose, consistent with our strategy, is to strengthen primary care, improve financial performance, and advance racial justice. The Epic system will be run in Massachusetts by an organization managed by the participating health centers, giving them increased control over their own software.

 

Project Name:  Integrated Mental & Behavioral Health Services for Immigrants & Refugees

Amount Requested: $4,946,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Quincy Asian Resources, Inc. (QARI), Quincy MA

Location: Quincy, MA

Project Purpose: QARI is requesting FY23 funding to increase access to linguistically and culturally competent mental health services for immigrants and refugees in MA. We currently offer group programs for youth and families with our community partners and are in the process of launching an outpatient program in order to increase the availability of multilingual clinical services and overcome stigma about mental health among AAPI and immigrant communities. Funding will help launch our clinical operations, including free in-person counseling, youth programs, family workshops, elder services, workforce development initiatives, and anti-stigma outreach in collaboration with partners in Quincy, Randolph, Weymouth, Plymouth, and Boston.

 

Project Name:  Latino Behavioral Health Assessment

Amount Requested: $337,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Spanish American Center, Leominster MA

Location: Leominster, MA

Project Purpose: The Spanish American Center is seeking support to lead, organize and conduct a scientifically rigorous, community-engaged, Latino behavioral health assessment for the purpose of developing linguistically and culturally informed policy recommendations to drive the systems change necessary for Latinos to thrive in Massachusetts.

The health and therefore, prosperity of Massachusetts is dependent on the health and prosperity of Latinos, yet health disparities for Latinos in the Commonwealth continue to rise - especially for Latino behavioral health. The Spanish American Center and its partners have, in total, more than 170 years in community service including scientific research resulting in policy change.

 

Project Name:  Vital New and Expanded Services at New Salem Family Health Center

Amount Requested: $5,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: New Salem Family Health Center, Salem MA

Location: Salem, MA

Project Purpose: North Shore Community Health (NSCH) seeks support to create/enhance two high value service lines that will improve health outcomes for its Salem patients and other residents in the community while also driving down health care costs. Federal dollars invested now will help build a valuable community asset and also save future tax dollars.

NSCH patient data show that Salem Family Health Center (SFHC) patients are inappropriately utilizing Emergency Departments (EDs). Further, before the pandemic and currently, SFHC experienced surging demand for behavioral health care, and the demand in the City of Salem and surrounding communities is significant and growing.

 

Project Name:  Downtown Holyoke Health Careers Training Center

Amount Requested: $1,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Holyoke Health Center, Inc., Holyoke MA

Location: Holyoke, MA

Project Purpose: Creating a downtown training center to provide the heath center with needed staff while opening up employment opportunities for local residents.

 

Project Name: Children’s Services of Roxbury: Racial Equity in Mental Health Access 

Amount Requested: $368,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Children's Services of Roxbury, Roxbury, MA

Location: Roxbury, MA

Project Purpose: Children’s Services of Roxbury is Massachusetts largest Black-run nonprofit and Commonwealth’s only Black-specialized mental health provider, with deep roots in communities of color. The Front Porch is a racial equity demonstration to significantly increase access to mental health and substance recovery supports for youth and families of color impacted by intergenerational racial trauma and COVID. The model offers innovative engagement strategies to reach vulnerable youth and parents through Boston public schools, family shelters, our young adult drop-in center, childcare, and community settings. This project leverages MassHealth (Medicaid) dollars, linking youth and families to culturally attuned mental health services.

 

Project Name: Children's Services of Roxbury: Center for Family Well-Being 

Amount Requested: $5,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Children's Services of Roxbury, Roxbury, MA

Location: Roxbury, MA

Project Purpose: Children’s Services of Roxbury (CSR) will renovate its 50,000 square foot headquarters in Roxbury into a Center for Family Well-being, enabling CSR to scale, growing programs by 25%, and serving an additional 1,500 children and parents annually within three years after the building is complete. The renewal will support the growth of CSR’s children’s mental health and family support and stabilization services, expand trauma-focused childcare for vulnerable children, expand strategic partnerships, and launch new initiatives to increase access for families in crisis. Growth will add over 100 career-oriented jobs primarily in Roxbury, Worcester, and Springfield, a 25% growth in employees.

 

Project Name: Multipurpose technology-enabled McAuliffe Center to foster the future green economy workforce 

Amount Requested: $1,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Framingham State University, Framingham, MA

Location: Framingham, MA

Project Purpose: Faced with the need to address inevitable major repairs, FSU proposes to transform the current McAuliffe Center into a suite of five multifunctional, technology-enabled learning spaces, and to introduce new visualizations and simulation capabilities. This project emphasizes the reconceptualization of the services offered by the Center that will provide K-16 audiences with cradle-to-career learning opportunities aligned with the needs of Massachusetts green economy employers. The project will increase services to underserved and under-represented high school and college students and contribute to the formation of the diverse workforce necessary to meet Massachusetts’ goal to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

 

Project Name: May Institute Human Services Workforce Training & Development Initiative 

Amount Requested: $750,000

Intended Recipient and Address: May Institute, Randolph, MA

Location: Randolph, MA

Project Purpose: This initiative will increase May Institute’s training capacity to provide access to efficient, competency-based training and skill development for Direct Care Supervisors and Direct Support Professionals, a role identified as a high priority position in three of MassHire’s seven regions. It will create a bridge from unemployment or low wage jobs to high paying, high demand careers for workers and will develop linkages with businesses, trade associations, and colleges and universities to develop growth pathways for employees. It will create training for 250 people year one, and 750 -1,000 in future years.

 

Project Name: Alliance Civic Leadership Initiative 

Amount Requested: $350,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Alliance for Business Leadership, Boston, MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: This funding would allow the Alliance for Business Leadership (ABL) to develop the Alliance Civic Leadership Initiative (ACLI), which will provide business and nonprofit leaders with a comprehensive, civics education so they may better participate in our democracy. It will also support ABL’s current adult educational programming, which serves as the foundation of our civic work and the development of ACLI.

 

Project Name: Center for Academic Resilience and Excellence (CARE) 

Amount Requested: $629,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA

Location: South Hadley, MA

Project Purpose: The Center for Academic Resilience & Excellence (CARE) will serve as an academic resource center for the development of metacognitive skills and academic resilience and success. It will be a vehicle to improve academic engagement and achievement for all students, especially for first-generation and low-income students and student of color. It will benefit students across the spectrum of ability—supporting those who struggle, as well as those who want to further develop academic skills including reflection, leadership, and transferability of core concepts across disciplines. The Center will offer group workshops and one-on-one academic coaching sessions, coordinate peer-to-peer academic supports and tutoring.

 

Project Name: RFK Community Alliance Center for Behavioral Health 

Amount Requested: $3,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Robert F. Kennedy Community Alliance, Lancaster, MA

Location: Lancaster, MA

Project Purpose: RFK Community Alliance is requesting $3 million in Community Project Funding to construct a multi­use, outpatient behavioral health and training facility to provide and support mental health treatment, create space for training, increase access to licensing opportunities for emerging clinicians, and expand capacity in Central Massachusetts at a time when mental and behavioral health needs have increased dramatically. In addition to supporting RFK Community Alliance programs, the training space will be a resource for other Central Massachusetts agencies we currently work with through Advance, a partnership aimed at enhancing training in clinical and therapeutic services and providing CEU’s to clinicians.

 

Project Name:  VR Simulation Learning Laboratory for Expanded Workforce Training

Amount Requested: $1,109,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Greenfield Community College, Greenfield, MA

Location: Greenfield, MA

Project Purpose: This project will allow Greenfield Community College to provide new workforce development training equipment and program certifications and credentials through the creation of an Augmented Reality (AR)/Virtual Reality (VR) Simulation Learning Laboratory to help meet industry demand for workers in the region. Program certification and micro-credentialing will include: HVAC, Health Occupations, Advanced Manufacturing, Mechanical, Hydraulics, Pneumatics, Robotics and Engineering, and Heavy Equipment Operation.

 

Project Name:  NEADS, Inc., Early Learning Center and Veterinary Clinic

Amount Requested: $65,000

Intended Recipient and Address: NEADS Inc., Princeton, MA

Location: Princeton, MA

Project Purpose: NEADS, Inc., provides highly trained Service Dogs for civilians and veterans with progressive illnesses and physical disabilities including hearing loss; children with autism or physical disabilities; and veterans coping with PTSD. NEADS Assistance Dogs provide support in courthouses, special education classrooms, counseling practices, and hospitals, among others.

This project will enhance and expand our ability to serve more clients by expanding and improving the facilities where future service dogs receive their foundational training and socialization, and establishing and equipping a new veterinary clinic and surgical suite on site. These expansions are critical to NEADS’ stability and growth.

 

Project Name:  Dana-Farber Therapeutic Food Pantry

Amount Requested: $735,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Therapeutic Food Pantry seeks to serve our pediatric patients and their families who live in Massachusetts and those coming into Dana-Farber for cancer treatment, so that no family has to battle both childhood cancer and hunger. This project proposes the public benefit of improving health outcomes for patients with childhood cancer who are also facing hunger. Creation of a therapeutic food pantry with an initial focus on childhood cancer patients will also lay the groundwork for planned growth to successfully support both adults and children living with cancer.

 

Project Name:  Jacob's Pillow Curriculum In Motion

Amount Requested: $375,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Inc., Becket, MA

Location: Becket, MA

Project Purpose: The requested funding will support an expansion of Jacob’s Pillow’s nationally recognized arts education program, Curriculum in Motion (CiM). Led by prominent artist-educators, CiM is an arts-integrated approach for both teaching and learning K-12 classroom curricula through movement and choreography. Jacob’s Pillow has established long-term relationships with three Berkshire County public schools. Through this expansion, the Pillow will engage an additional 10 schools, impacting approximately 1,500-2,000 students and 50-75 educators through artist residencies in schools, field trips to Jacob’s Pillow, performances presented in Pittsfield, MA, and professional development workshops and trainings for classroom teachers and arts educators.

 

Project Name:  Building Resilience for Early Learners: School Readiness through Community and Family Engagement

Amount Requested: $1,102,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Boston Children’s Museum. Boston, MA

Location: Boston, MA

Project Purpose: Boston Children’s Museum (BCM) will expand an innovative, tested model for building the capacity of early educators to support under-resourced children and families in developing much-needed school readiness skills. This project initiates statewide dissemination of two resources—Tools for Tiny Hands (focused on fine motor skills) and Me, You, We (focused on social-emotional skills)—reaching thousands of children ages 2-5 and their parents and caregivers through community agencies. The goal of this work is to provide early childhood educators with the training and tools needed to alleviate the significant loss of learning opportunities experienced by families due to the pandemic.

 

Project Name:  Operation Full Recovery: Construction of Extended Stay Treatment Facility

Amount Requested: $4,000,000

Intended Recipient and Address: Veterans Inc., Worcester, MA

Location: Worcester, MA

Project Purpose: Veterans Inc. is establishing a new level to its continuum of care: Residential Extended Stay Addiction & Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) treatment. This level is missing in the chain of treatment and is a most critical level of care.

The Extended Stay Treatment (EST) facility will be a state-of-the-art, veteran prioritized, addiction & PTSD care and education facility that will support the growing demand among the veteran population for community-based recovery services. EST will also provide Best Practice methodology in the provision of Medication Assisted Treatment that will help to sustain recovery once patients are discharged to independent living.

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Interior Projects Requested

Link to FY23 Interior Financial Disclosure (attached)

 

Project Name: Achieving Environmental Justice Through Waterfront Access and Land Sovereignty

 

Amount Requested: $750,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: GreenRoots, Chelsea, MA

 

Location: Chelsea, MA

 

Project Purpose: GreenRoots is facing displacement from our waterfront offices. Funding would support GreenRoots' grassroots fundraising campaign to purchase land along the Chelsea Creek which would provide critically important public access to the Creek while housing GreenRoots’ office, a regionally important organization which centers equity and resident-led solutions to the climate crisis. Once land is secured, it would be made available to the community in perpetuity through our Communidades Enraizadas Land Trust, ensuring no low-income or ethnically and racially diverse resident gets displaced from their own waterfront ever again. These efforts will advance land sovereignty, climate resiliency, all while preventing future displacement.

 

 

 

Project Name: Town of Agawam for South Park Terrace/Lealand Avenue New Stormwater Conveyance System

 

Amount Requested: $4,826,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: Town of Agawam, MA

 

Location: Town of Agawam, MA

 

Project Purpose: The existing drainage network on South Park Terrace and Lealand Avenue is primarily comprised of dry wells, however, due to poor soil conditions in this area which are not ideal for infiltrating stormwater, surface flooding occurs during heavy rainfall events. This project will mitigate public health risks associated with flooding through construction of a new stormwater conveyance system that discharges to the existing drainage network on Raymond Circle. The South Park Terrace/Lealand Avenue stormwater conveyance system project is identified as the fifth priority capital improvement project in the Town’s Stormwater Master Plan (2021).

 

 

 

Project Name: Agawam for North Street (White Brook) Culvert Replacement Project

 

Amount Requested: $1,280,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: Town of Agawam, MA

 

Location: Town of Agawam, MA

 

Project Purpose: The existing 127-foot-long corrugated metal culvert conveying flows within White Brook under North Street is in structurally poor condition and not adequate during heavy rainfall events. In Fall 2020, significant deterioration of the culvert, and embankment and streambed erosion were detected. This project is identified as second priority for culvert replacement and rehabilitation in the Town’s Capital Improvements Plan (2021) and Stormwater Master Plan (2021), with high likelihood of failure and very high consequence of failure. This project will replace the existing culvert to mitigate public health risk of residents and visitors, as well as restore stream and wildlife connectivity.

 

 

 

Project Name: Town of Agawam for Meadow Street/Regency Park Drive: Drainage and Water Improvements

 

Amount Requested: $4,826,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: Town of Agawam, MA

 

Location: Town of Agawam, MA

 

Project Purpose: The existing stormwater drainage system along Meadow Street is aging, undersized, and failing, which has resulted in historic flooding along Meadow Street and Regency Park Drive. This project will mitigate public health risks associated with flooding through replacement of the existing, failing storm drain infrastructure with new storm drain infrastructure designed to accommodate increasing flows due to more frequent severe storm events resulting from climate change. Additionally, this project will replace adjacent aging water distribution infrastructure. The Meadow Street/Regency Park Drive infrastructure project identified as the third priority capital improvement project in the Town’s Stormwater Master Plan (2021).

 

 

 

Project Name: City of Brockton for AWRF Biosolids Management Project

 

Amount Requested: $2,000,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: City of Brockton

 

Location: City of Brockton

 

Project Purpose: Design and construction of the preferred sludge dryer Centrisys DLT520 and the design and construction of the preferred alternative process Bioforcetech P-3 pyrolysis unit.

 

 

 

Project Name: Martha’s Vineyard Airport for Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF) Upgrades

 

Amount Requested: $1,000,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: Martha's Vineyard Airport Commission, Vineyard Haven, MA 

 

Location: Martha's Vineyard, MA

 

Project Purpose: The project will upgrade the WWTF located in West Tisbury that accepts and treats flows from West Tisbury and Edgartown, and from the 64-acre Airport Business Park that serves the entire island of Martha’s Vineyard. The upgrades were recommended in the November 2016 Engineering Report . Upgrading the WWTF is critically important as the area lacks redundancy in its ability to treat wastewater, particularly from the Airport Business Park that accommodates many commercial and industrial land uses that are not compatible with the residential nature of other areas of the island, but provide essential services to its residents/tourist economy.

 

 

 

Project Name: USS Constitution Museum for Climate Resilience

 

Amount Requested: $300,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: USS Constitution Museum, Inc., Charlestown, MA

 

Location: Charlestown, MA

 

Project Purpose: The USS Constitution Museum (USSCM) proudly preserves and interprets a historically significant collection of over 10,000 documents, art and artifacts about America's Ship of State. Today, this “Save America’s Treasures” designated-collection is located in an outdated 1830’s pump house, threatened by sea level rise and lack of humidity control. To preserve this collection, the USSCM will move to a purpose-built, climate-controlled Museum that will be the centerpiece of a new Gateway Center in the Charlestown Navy Yard. While preserving the collection, we also create an exceptional new Museum experience for 350,000+ visitors annually.

 

 

 

Project Name: City of Somerville for Spring Hill Stormwater and Streetscape Project

 

Amount Requested: $5,000,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: City of Somerville, MA

 

Location: Somerville, MA

 

Project Purpose: The City of Somerville will renew and replace century-old water and sewer infrastructure in Spring Hill, a densely populated mixed-income residential neighborhood in central Somerville. Project elements will include separation of sewer and stormwater systems to reduce the need to release Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) into surrounding waterways during major storm events; improvements to sewer pipes, drains, and drinking water mains; coordination with public utilities and private property owners; introduction of green infrastructure, including bioretention basins, tree plantings, and landscaping to provide additional, natural, stormwater management; roadway restoration; and traffic improvements, including traffic signal upgrades and new pavement markings.

 

 

 

Project Name: Town of Reading for Maillet Sommes and Morgan Stormwater Wetlands

 

Amount Requested: $2,000,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: Town of Reading, MA

 

Location: Reading, MA

 

Project Purpose: The project proposes to capture and attenuate stormwater impacting the Aberjona River by creating adjacent offline storage areas. The constructed stormwater wetlands will reduce inland flooding upstream. Increasing the storage potential upstream in the Mystic River is also a regional climate priority. Paired with invasive species removal/management the project will also improve stream bank stabilization and ecological stability while enhancing open space and trails. Ecological stability is provided by the reversal of habitat loss and prevention of both native plant displacement and monoculture growth. These efforts will mitigate local and regional climate impacts through open space development and nature-based solutions.

 

 

 

Project Name: New England Forestry Foundation for Mohawk Trail Woodlands Partnership: Action on Forest Climate Resilience

 

Amount Requested: $1.110,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: New England Forestry Foundation (NEFF),  Littleton, MA

 

Location:  Littleton, MA

 

Project Purpose: The Mohawk Trail Woodlands Partnership, a new model of regional collaboration in Northwest Massachusetts, is focused on sustainability of natural resources – as well as economic sustainability of rural communities where people live, and love to visit. The Action on Forest Climate Resilience requests funds related initiatives that bring together forest conservation and stewardship to support continued tourism and recreation-based businesses, along with forest-based businesses. The $1.11 million request will meet a core objective to protect and care for forested lands that are part of the identity of this 21-town region – while also tackling the climate crisis.

 

 

 

Project Name: Wellfleet,MA for Monitoring & Assessment of Carbon Dioxide Removal & Tidal Restoration in Herring River Estuary

 

Amount Requested: $2,000,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: Town of Wellfleet, MA

 

Location: Town of Wellfleet, MA

 

Project Purpose: The funding would allow NPS and USGS to continue analyses and data collection needed to implement the Herring River tidal restoration. This work will: quantify expected reductions in greenhouse house emissions from tidal restoration; test, evaluate, and promote new nature-based solutions for carbon dioxide removal; establish Herring River as the leading Blue Carbon project in New England; demonstrate how restoration of native tidal wetlands enhances Wellfleet’s recreational and commercial shellfish industry; and verify that restored salt marsh and inter-tidal habitats contribute to floodplain resiliency and enhance protection of vulnerable areas in the face increased sea level rise and storm intensity.

 

 

 

Project Name: Massachusetts Alternative Septic System Technology Center for Infrastructure Expansion

 

Amount Requested: $2,113,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: Massachusetts Alternative Septic System Technology, MA

 

Location: Barnstable County, MA

 

Project Purpose: This request for funding seeks to leverage and enhance the existing assets of the Massachusetts Alternative Septic System Technology Center (MASSTC) for the further development of simple and sustainable onsite wastewater treatment and monitoring technologies and, as importantly, tools and a workforce to manage the nation’s decentralized wastewater infrastructure. To do this, we will: train and develop a workforce to operate, maintain and sustain onsite wastewater treatment infrastructure; develop tools and soft infrastructure to facilitate efficient management of onsite wastewater infrastructure; perform and coordinate research that leads to onsite wastewater treatment innovations

 

 

 

Project Name: Town of Acton for Middle Fort Pond Brook Wastewater Capacity Improvements Project

 

Amount Requested: $172,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: Town of Acton, MA

 

Location: Acton, MA

 

Project Purpose: The Town of Acton is seeking to improve existing wastewater discharge capacity by identifying and removing infiltration and inflow (I/I) which contributes to the peak flows and increases overall operating and treatment costs. This proposal continues Acton’s I/I investigation efforts where the last wet weather inspection was completed in 2018. The Middle Fort Pond Brook Wastewater Treatment Facility currently averages approximately 135,000 gpd and factoring in several proposed developments and peak flows based on diurnal sewer patterns, infiltration and inflow (I/I) is very close to the permitted limit on a maximum day basis.

 

 

 

Project Name: Town of Plymouth for Wastewater Treatment Plant: New Tertiary Filter Project

 

Amount Requested: $4.520,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: Town of Plymouth, MA

 

Location: Plymouth, MA

 

Project Purpose:  The Town of Plymouth requests $4,520,000 in funding for its proposed New Tertiary Filter Project at the Town’s municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant (“WWTP”). The Project—which involves the design, installation, and integration of an additional, tertiary cloth filtration system within the existing groundwater disposal beds at the WWTP—will reduce the discharge of pollutants and pathogens; ensure greater protection of sensitive environmental resources; augment the reliability and resiliency of the facility; and assist the Town with meeting increasingly stringent permitting limits.

 

 

 

Project Name: Boston Harbor Now for Programmatic Enhancements and Climate Resiliency for Boston Harbor Islands National Park Area

 

Amount Requested: $300,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: Boston Harbor Now, Boston, MA

 

Location: Boston, MA

 

Project Purpose: Boston Harbor Now, a regional non-profit, ensures that Boston’s waterfront, harbor, and islands are accessible and inclusive and that these assets are properly adapted to the risks of climate change. We accomplish this by advancing a broad vision for public engagement and access to the Harbor and its islands. This funding will enable our organization to sustain and grow our public access programming and to engage the community in nature based research solutions to ameliorate and protect our coastline from the impacts or climate change and sea level rise.

 

 

 

Project Name: Pilgrim Society for Four Centuries Archives Renovation

 

Amount Requested: $100,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: Pilgrim Society, Plymouth, MA

 

Location: Plymouth, MA

 

Project Purpose: The Plymouth Four Centuries Archives Renovation project focuses on preserving and sharing four centuries of Plymouth life represented in the nationally significant collections and archives of Pilgrim Hall Museum, including historical manuscripts, documents, photographs, and objects. Key priorities are to provide a 21st century level of stewardship for 35,000 rare, fragile, and irreplaceable archival resources. The project includes new environmental and building systems and a complete renovation of the archives area with redesigned layout, high density storage furniture, archival housing for collections, and archival staff for project implementation, including the development of project-related archival internships.

 

 

 

Project Name: City of Gardner for Heywood Hospital Drainage System

 

Amount Requested: $318,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: City of Gardner, MA

 

Location: City of Gardner, MA

 

Project Purpose: The drainage system captures stormwater runoff from the site via a series of new deep-sump catch basins directed to one of several drainage trunk lines.  These trunk lines directs the runoff through treatment systems prior to discharge to either a proposed underground storage system, an existing system on the western side of the property, or the municipal drainage system within Woodland Avenue.  Prior to these discharges runoff is directed through a proprietary water quality unit to provide Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and oil removal in compliance with the City Standards as well as DEP Stormwater Management Regulations.

 

 

 

Project Name: City of Holyoke for River Terrace Area 21 CSO Elimination Project - Phase A

 

Amount Requested: $2,000,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: City of Holyoke, MA

 

Location: City of Holyoke, MA

 

Project Purpose: This project will involve the construction of new stormwater and sewer piping in the River Terrace and surrounding area in Holyoke to eliminate combined sewer overflow no. 21. The project will be implemented in two phases, this first phase will include the Bemis Heights and areas to the east up to the Connecticut River. When both phases are complete, an estimate 58.4 million gallons of combined sewage discharges will be removed from the Connecticut River.

 

 

 

Project Name: City of Melrose for Ell Pond Park Stormwater Management and Resiliency Project

 

Amount Requested: $1,000,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: City of Melrose, MA

 

Location: City of Melrose, MA

 

Project Purpose: Dedicated in 1921 to serve Melrose’s high-density downtown area, Ell Pond Park is a treasured community and regional resource with a range of active and passive recreational facilities surrounding Ell Pond. The 19.1-acre park has long served as the focal point for the City’s recreational needs and its central location serves the broader region seeking outdoor recreation and a quiet respite from urban life.  The Park has undergone many upgrades over the years but increased usage and drainage problems have led to deteriorated conditions and put pressure on the fragile ecosystem.   To address these concerns the City hired consultants Weston & Sampson to develop a Master Plan for Ell Pond Park.  Working with city officials, community members, and other key stakeholders, the Master Plan aims to enhance he public use and enjoyment of this site through improvements to critical infrastructure that also promote our sustainability and climate resiliency goals.  After two years of work identifying the needs and outlining improvements and through extensive community engagement, the City is ready to implement these measures and restore the Park in an environmentally sustainable way.

 

 

 

Project Name: Town of Sudbury for CWMP Implementation - Phase 1/1A Sewer System Conceptual/Preliminary Design

 

Amount Requested: $950,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: Town of Sudbury, MA

 

Location: Town of Sudbury, MA

 

Project Purpose:  The Phase 1/1A Sewer System Conceptual/Preliminary Design effort includes the preliminary design of the Towns first municipal Wastewater Treatment Facility and associated groundwater discharge to support removing failing and/or improperly operating septic systems to preserve public health, as well as environmental resources, specifically the Towns major drinking supplies in the Raymond Road and Hop Brook Aquifer areas.

 

 

 

Project Name: Town of North Reading for Town Center Wastewater Construction

 

Amount Requested: $1,440,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: Town of North Reading, MA

 

Location: Town of North Reading MA

 

Project Purpose: The purpose of this project is to connect municipal and school buildings to the wastewater treatment system owned by the Town and currently operated by its public schools. This project will eliminate the Town's reliance on cesspools and septic systems in an area near the endangered Ipswich River watershed, reducing the amount of untreated wastewater being put into the groundwater and freeing up space on congested Town-owned properties.

 

 

 

Project Name: Town of North Reading for Wastewater Design

 

Amount Requested: $1,500,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: Town of North Reading, MA

 

Location: Town of North Reading, MA

 

Project Purpose: The projects' purpose is to complete the final design of a wastewater collection system to serve the commercial corridor within the Town of North Reading.  Completing the design will allow the wastewater collection system to advance to the construction phase, which is anticipated to be funded using betterments, local taxes, and/or future state/federal grants.  When construction is complete, additional economic and limited potential housing development is anticipated to become a possibility for the Town's commercial corridors of Route 28 (Main Street) and Concord Street.  this development will bring additional commercial tax revenue to the Town and potentially reducing the tax burden on residents.  Finally, and perhaps most importantly, this project will redirect current wastewater from untreated discharge into the ground to a wastewater treatment plant.

 

 

 

Project Name: Revolutionary Spaces for Climate Control and Energy Efficiency Upgrades for Preservation and Conservation of Old State House in Boston

 

Amount Requested: $500,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: Revolutionary Spaces, Boston, MA

 

Location: Boston, MA

 

Project Purpose: Revolutionary Spaces, Inc. (RSI) requests $500,000 in matching funds to support preservation and conservation work to address critical climate control and efficiency measures at the Old State House (OSH), listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.  Key upgrades at the site include replacing the existing steam heating supply with new energy-efficient boilers and the system’s four air handling units and reconstructing the century-old mechanical room that houses the machinery, as it is close to collapse.

 

 

 

Project Name: Revolutionary Spaces for Historic Preservation and Water Infiltration Rehabilitation at the Old South Meeting House in Boston

 

Amount Requested: $500,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: Revolutionary Spaces, Boston, MA

 

Location: Boston, MA

 

Project Purpose: Revolutionary Spaces, Inc. (RSI) requests $500,000 in 50/50 matching funds to support urgent preservation and conservation work to address persistent water infiltration issues at Old South Meeting House (OSMH), which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.  Water infiltration has been a reoccurring issue at OSMH and has caused significant flooding events that resulted in building damage.  Most recently, in 2021, flooding was observed at the southwest portion of the lower-level basement, at the upper-level basement foyer at the west below-grade entrance, and at the center portion of the upper-level basement.  During these episodes, water pooled throughout the spaces, which rendered much of the basement and sub-basement unusable and required RSI to move parts of the collection offsite after leaking water from the ceiling damaged several items.  After removing sections of drywall, RSI found evidence of significant corrosion in the light gauge steel framing, with some sections completely eroded away. The source of water infiltration related to deterioration of the brick masonry, failing waterproofing along the facade, and backups in the system of storm drains that are linked to the unfortunate improper disposal of hypodermic syringes that occurred when the building was closed during the height of the COVID pandemic.

 

 

 

Project Name: City of Gloucester for Water Pollution Control Facility Design

 

Amount Requested: $2,000,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: City of Gloucester, MA

 

Location: City of Gloucester, MA

 

Project Purpose: The City of Gloucester is requesting funding to support the preliminary design phase of  our ongoing efforts to make facility improvements and secondary treatment upgrades to our Water Pollution Control Facility (WPCF). The City has recently selected a professional engineering firm to provide Owner’s Project Management (OPM) services associated with updating a 2019 evaluation of the WPCF, preparation of designer selection request for qualifications, and designer selection services. The funding requested would help us move forward with the next phase of this project.

 

 

 

Project Name: City of Chicopee for WPCF Nitrogen and Energy Optimization Project

 

Amount Requested: $2,854,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: City of Chicopee, MA

 

Location: City of Chicopee, MA

 

Project Purpose: The Chicopee Water Pollution Control Facility (WPCF) has a design flow of 15.5 million gallons per day and discharges to the Connecticut River, which is tributary to Long Island Sound, an Estuary of National Significance impaired by nitrogen pollution. The Plant will require a $60M upgrade to comply with new Nitrogen removal requirements set by EPA and the State. This stand-alone project can be accomplished within one year and will improve existing process tanks and equipment at the WPCF necessary to implement the larger upgrade. The project will provide immediate measurable nitrogen reductions at the plant to benefit the community environs, the Connecticut River, and the Long Island Sound. The project will also improve energy efficiency at the facility, stabilizing operating costs and taxpayer burden.

 

 

 

Project Name: City of Gardner for James Street Pump Station

 

Amount Requested: $1,153,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: City of Gardner, MA

 

Location: City of Gardner, MA

 

Project Purpose: The James Street pump station serves water to the northeast neighborhoods of Gardner. The pump station was built during the 1980's and is in need of renovation.

 

 

 

Project Name: City of Gardner for Gardner Water Transmission Main

 

Amount Requested: $1,009,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: City of Gardner, MA

 

Location: City of Gardner, MA

 

Project Purpose: This project will replace an 1882 transmission main from the City's treatment facility to our storage tanks.

 

 

 

Project Name: Town of Northborough for SCADA, Water and Sewer Controls and Cybersecurity Upgrades Project

 

Amount Requested: $613,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: Town of Northborough, MA

 

Location: Town of Northborough, MA

 

Project Purpose: The purpose of this project is to provide the water/wastewater operators with the ability to perform security monitoring and data collection from the remote locations for the Town's critical water and sewer utility services.  The existing wastewater lift stations and remote water sites have been installed over multiple years with a variety of technologies and little commonality between them. The inconsistencies between communications technologies creates a challenge for the operators, that has proven to pose potential environmental and life safety risks.

 

 

 

Project Name: Town of Tyngsborough for Sewer Phase 3 Project

 

Amount Requested: $4,178,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: Town of Tyngsborough, MA

 

Location: Tyngsborough, MA

 

Project Purpose: The project purpose is to install wastewater infrastructure, in a portion of the Phase 3 area, as identified under the State approved Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan.  The project will help improve groundwater quality by removing all on site wastewater disposal systems and replace them with municipal sewer. 

 

 

 

Project Name: Town of Medway for Restoring Green Infrastructure for Healthy Rivers and Climate Resilience

 

Amount Requested: $2,944,000

 

Intended Recipient and Address: Town of Medway, MA

 

Location: Medway, MA

 

Project Purpose: Stormwater runoff has become an increasingly pervasive problem for the nation’s waterways and the iconic Charles River is no exception. Stormwater channeled through our drainage system is an agent for carrying pollutants including oils, heavy metals, sediment, bacteria, and nutrients into our waterways. These untreated discharges cause significant degradation in water quality, which affects aquatic life, habitat, and limits recreational opportunities. Excess nutrients, specifically phosphorus, causes harmful algae blooms making the Charles River unsafe to boat or swim at times. Furthermore, the algal blooms lead to reduction in dissolved oxygen which is critical for fish, aquatic wildlife, and the ecosystem as a whole. More frequent and intense precipitation events due to climate change exacerbate the impacts of untreated stormwater discharging into our waterways.  To mitigate this issue, the Charles River Watershed communities are tasked with meeting a Total Maximum Daily Load reduction requirement within the next 15 years. The Town of Medway is specifically required to reduce its phosphorus load by 882 pounds. To prevent excess phosphorus from entering the Charles River and its tributaries, the Town must restore previously constructed stormwater structures to their original design in addition to building new structures. By restoring the existing town owned and town managed stormwater structures to their original design, the Town will capture approximately 81 pounds of phosphorus. This is approximately 10% of the total load reduction requirement. Rehabilitating the 95 town managed stormwater structures will not only improve water quality, but it will increase the community's resilience to flooding by restoring the proper storage capacity of these structures.

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