Work Force Program is awarded $100k from Cummings Foundation
Cambridge, June 2, 2022 – Cambridge Housing Authority Work Force Youth Program is one of 140 regional nonprofits to receive grants for $100,000 each through Cummings Foundation’s $25 Million Grant program. Work Force was chosen from hundreds of applicants during a competitive review process.
The Cambridge Housing Authority Work Force Youth Program is a comprehensive after-school educational enrichment, college prep, and work-readiness program for low-income teens living in Cambridge public housing. Holistic in design, the program provides participants with sustained networks of learning and support over a critical eleven-year span: from the 6th grade through four years of post-secondary education. Our goal is to help our participants to acquire the wide range of skills necessary for economic mobility and long-term success.
The Work Force is a program of the Resident Services Department. “The grant from Cummings Foundation will provide considerable support to the Work Force Youth Program,” said John Lindamood, Director of Resident Services Department for CHA. “With increasingly less money available from the Federal government for housing authorities, we need to rely more heavily on support from foundations and individual donors. This grant allows us to leverage other dollars and become less dependent on the CHA for funds.”
With this award, CHA Work Force program intends to continue strengthening its post-secondary supports for youth living in public housing. One of the most impressive outcomes for The Work Force is that nearly two-thirds of Work Force alumni no longer live in public housing six years after graduating from the program, based on alumni surveys conducted by Edgmere Consulting Company.
Nearly 90% of Work Force youth matriculate into a two or four-year Colleges annually. With the advent of the Post-Secondary Success Initiative and the addition of a comprehensive College Matched Savings program and an Alumni Coach, 71% of our class of 2016 and 73% of our class of 2017 attained a degree within 5-years. Eventually, our aim is to achieve a 75% degree attainment within six-years for all Work Force graduating classes.
The $25 Million Grant program supports nonprofits that are based in and primarily serve Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk countries. The complete list of 140 grant winners is available at www.cummingsfoundation.org/grants/
About CHA Work Force Program:
The Work Force is a comprehensive educational enrichment, college prep, and work-readiness program that serves over 350 youth annually at five different program sites. Unique in its manner and duration of support, the program enrolls students in the 6th grade and provides them with multifaceted supports and wraparound services through their post-secondary educational experiences. The Work Force utilizes a “whole person” developmental approach that emphasizes strong partnerships with the Cambridge Public Schools, local employers, colleges, and students’ families to create a strong web of meaningful support for each participant. Our aim is position participants for sustainable personal and professional success: to attain the foundational assets and opportunities necessary to gain economic mobility, leave subsidized housing, and to build generational wealth.
The primary goal of TWF is to provide youth with the tools they need so they can take advantage of opportunities to reach their personal, educational, and economic potential. Central to this effort is insuring that our youth are academically, financially, and emotionally, prepared for college, and/or a career. Since 1984, TWF has all but eliminated the high school dropout rate amongst its participants and now sends nearly 90% of its graduates to college annually. Over the past 5-years TWF has implemented a College Matched Savings program, and created Alumni Coach and Career Development Specialist positions to help youth persist and plan career options as they progress through their post-secondary years.
About Cummings Foundation:
Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including New Horizons retirement communities in Marlborough and Woburn. Its largest single commitment to date has been to the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Additional information is available at www.cummingsfoundation.org.