2Life Communities Awarded $225,000 Cummings Grant
Brighton, MA – June 13, 2024 – 2Life Communities is one of 150 local nonprofits that will share in $30 million through Cummings Foundation’s major annual grants program. The nonprofit organization was selected from a total of 715 applicants during a competitive review process. It will receive $225,000 over three years to help develop a new senior living community for low income adults in Lynn, Massachusetts.
2Life Communities, founded in 1965, operates on the belief that all seniors should have the opportunity to live a full life of connection and purpose in a dynamic, supportive environment — a model called aging in community, which directly combats the growing public health crisis of social isolation and loneliness amongst older adults.
“We firmly believe in the value of community living for older adults because we’ve seen the life-changing effects when they come together in a supportive community,” says 2Life CEO Amy Schectman. “The generosity of the Cummings Foundation will make this type of living possible in an area where it is urgently needed.”
2Life plans to use the grant funding to help low-income older adults from Lynn to thrive by the building of Solimine House — an energy-efficient, service-enriched senior living community with 150 affordable apartments abutting a newly constructed PACE Center on the former Union Hospital site. The funds will be particularly instrumental to ensuring the building will be fully adaptable for all levels of accessibility and will include vibrant common gathering and program spaces critical to fostering social connection and purpose. Solimine House will be especially impactful in Lynn, where a majority of seniors are housing-cost burdened.
The Cummings $30 Million Grant Program primarily supports Massachusetts nonprofits that are based in and serve Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties, plus six communities in Norfolk County: Brookline, Dedham, Milton, Needham, Quincy, and Wellesley.
Through this place-based initiative, Cummings Foundation aims to give back in the areas where it owns commercial property. Its buildings are all managed, at no cost to the Foundation, by its affiliate, Cummings Properties. This Woburn-based commercial real estate firm leases and manages 11 million square feet of debt-free space, the majority of which exclusively benefits the Foundation.
“Greater Boston is fortunate to have a robust, dedicated, and highly capable nonprofit sector that supports and enhances the community in myriad ways,” said Cummings Foundation executive director and trustee Joyce Vyriotes. “The entire Cummings organization is thankful for their daily work to help all our neighbors thrive.”
The majority of the grant decisions were made by nearly 100 community volunteers. They worked across a variety of committees to review and discuss the proposals and then, together, determine which requests would be funded. Among these community volunteers were business and nonprofit leaders, mayors, college presidents, and experts in areas such as finance and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion).
“We believe strongly that grant decisions will be more equitable when made by a diverse group of community members,” said Vyriotes. “We’re incredibly grateful to the dozens of individuals who participated in our democratized philanthropic process.”
The Foundation and volunteers first identified 150 organizations to receive three-year grants of up to $300,000 each. The winners included first-time recipients as well as nonprofits that had previously received Cummings grants. Twenty-five of this latter group of repeat recipients were then selected by a panel of community volunteers to have their grants elevated to 10-year awards ranging from $300,000 to $1 million each.
This year’s grant recipients represent a wide variety of causes, including housing and food insecurity, workforce development, immigrant services, social justice, education, and mental health services. The nonprofits are spread across 49 different cities and towns.
Cummings Foundation has now awarded $500 million to greater Boston nonprofits. The complete list of this year’s 150 grant winners, plus nearly 2,000 previous recipients, is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.
About 2Life Communities
2Life Communities, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1965, operates on the belief that all seniors should have the opportunity to live a full life of connection and purpose in a dynamic, supportive environment – a model called aging in community, which directly combats the growing public health crisis of social isolation and loneliness amongst older adults. At 2Life Communities, residents can step out the doors of their own apartments and find friendship, community, physical and intellectual stimulation, and a helping hand day or night. As a Jewish organization, 2Life welcomes and profoundly respects residents of any faith, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. Serving a diverse population of over 1,530 older adults, 2Life creates communities with a laser sharp focus on affordability – a tremendous concern in Massachusetts, the state with the 2nd largest gap in the U.S. between seniors’ median income and the cost of living.
About Cummings Foundation
Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings of Winchester, MA and has grown to be one of the largest private foundations in New England. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including New Horizons retirement communities, in Marlborough and Woburn, and Cummings Health Sciences, LLC. Additional information is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.
Media Contacts:
Connor Burke
315-427-4079
cburke@thecastlegrp.com
Alison Harding
Cummings Foundation
781-932-7093
aeh@cummings.com
