Lowell nonprofits receive grants to support housing, mental health, substance use programs
LOWELL — Two local nonprofits are being awarded Community-based Health Initiative Grant funding by Lahey Hospital & Medical Center to support their work in providing programs for housing and health services in Greater Lowell.
Community Teamwork Inc. and the Greater Lowell Health Alliance will each receive a share of a nearly $1 million grant award, along with the YMCA of Metro North in Peabody.
“These grants provide community organizations with critical resources to further develop and implement programs and services that bolster the health and well-being of their local residents,” said LHMC President Susan Moffatt-Bruce in a Thursday statement. “We are proud to support these organizations and the important work they are doing in their communities.”
CTI will receive nearly $500,000 to help provide Secure Jobs program services to area families experiencing homelessness. Those services include job training, and one year of stabilization services to help clients get past barriers to employment and connect them with employers.
“We are grateful for the funding from Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, which will allow us to aid the homeless families and migrants currently being housed in the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center,” said CTI CEO Carl Howell in a Thursday statement. “This project provides these families with our Secure Jobs services in order to help them find employment, which we know will lead to self-sufficiency, economic stability and affordable housing opportunities.”
GLHA will receive $235,000 through the grant award, which will be used for the expansion of the Khmer Older Adult Action Group. The KOAAG works with older adults in the local Cambodian community and has them serve as ambassadors to identify their community’s needs and implement interventions.
GLHA Director of Projects and Evaluation Hannah Tello said the organization “is incredibly excited and grateful” for the funding from LHMC.
“This group of Cambodian elders, led by a Cambodian resident, will hold the reins to design and implement community health programs that resonate most deeply with their own needs and aspirations,” said Tello. “This partnership helps us advance our goals of fostering meaningful community engagement and ensuring our efforts to improve the mental and physical health of our community members are both relevant and impactful. We believe strongly that community members know what they need; thanks to this funding, we will leverage the right resources to make it happen.”
The remaining $260,000 will go to the Peabody YMCA, which will use it to enhance its Youth Mental Health Support and Substance Use Prevention Program.
The full grant funding is being allocated through the state Department of Public Health’s Determination of Need process for the relocation and expansion of a modernized LHMC Radiation Oncology Department, which is expected to open later this year.
