A Charlestown food distribution organization will help three East Boston organizations that received grant money during the latest round of funding from the Boston Resiliency Fund grant.
Last Thursday, Mayor Martin Walsh announced that East Boston Neighborhood of Affordable Housing (NOAH), East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, East Boston Social Centers will receive funding so they can continue to purchase food from Costa Fruit and Produce in Charlestown.
Walsh said the organizations in this round of funding work to ensure access to food and other basic needs for Boston residents and to promote public health in the city through community-based outreach and engagement.
“The Boston Resiliency Fund has been an invaluable resource in our efforts to support the critical services that Boston’s nonprofits have continued to provide throughout the pandemic,” said Walsh. “This latest round of grants is our biggest yet, and serves as our way to support these organizations for all the work that they do and for providing essential resources to our community year-round. I also want to thank the Steering Committee for their steadfast commitment to and oversight of the Fund.”
NOAH, the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center and East Boston Social Center, who have collaborated to form the “Stronger Together” team will provide nutritious food relief to households–including seniors and families.
Their program will continue to purchase quality fresh produce and culturally appropriate dry goods from both Costa Fruit and Produce in Charlestown and The Greater Boston Food Bank.
In November the Boston Resiliency Fund paused the rapid response grantmaking it had been doing since late March of last year to evaluate how the Fund could best serve Boston residents with limited remaining funds. The Fund received feedback from its non-profit partners that there was still an overwhelming demand for food and other basic needs, like diapers, formula and hygiene products, and that there was a need for further education regarding public health guidance and the safety and importance of the COVID-19 vaccine. Prioritizing these two focus areas, the fund’s Steering Committee re-opened its grant application to any interested non-profit serving Boston residents. There were 137 applications seeking over $19 million in aid for this funding round. Since its launch in March of 2020, $34.5 million has been donated to the Boston Resiliency Fund and 377 Boston-based organizations have received over $34.1 million in funding