CLSACC awarded $100,000

Cambridge, June 09, 2016 – Community Legal Services and Counseling Center (CLSACC) is one of 100 local nonprofits to receive grants of $100,000 each through Cummings Foundation’s “$100K for 100” program. The Cambridge-based organization was chosen from a total of 479 applicants, during a competitive review process.

Community Legal Services and Counseling Center provides free civil legal aid and affordable psychological counseling to low-income people. CLSACC’s services combat the effects of poverty and violence by helping clients and their children meet basic human needs for safety, income, health and housing. CLSACC draws on the expertise of over 100 dedicated volunteer professionals to provide direct services to the community's most vulnerable members.

Representing CLSACC, Mojdeh Rohani, Executive Director, and John Froio, Deputy Director, joined approximately 300 other guests at a June 9 reception at TradeCenter 128 in Woburn to celebrate the $10 million infusion into Greater Boston’s nonprofit sector. With the conclusion of this grant cycle, Cummings Foundation has now awarded more than $140 million to local nonprofits alone.

“CLSACC is honored to have been awarded a Cummings Foundation $100K for 100 grant to provide critical legal and mental health services to the most vulnerable members of our community,” says CLSACC Executive Director, Mojdeh Rohani.

CLSACC will use the grant to ensure legal and mental health services to between 3,600 and 4,200 low income individuals and families over the next three years. CLSACC provides free legal services to low-income families and individuals who are homeless or are at risk of becoming homeless due to eviction or other causes; immigrants (adults and juveniles) who have suffered torture or persecution in their home countries and/or are victims of violence, including domestic violence or crimes in this country; victims of domestic violence and their children; and disabled individuals seeking federal benefits. And CLSACC provides affordable mental health services including individual, couples and group counseling, as well as forensic evaluations and social work services.

The $100K for 100 program supports nonprofits that are not only based in but also primarily serve Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties. This year, the program is benefiting 41 different cities and towns within the Commonwealth.

Through this place-based initiative, Cummings Foundation aims to give back in the area where it owns commercial buildings, all of which are managed, at no cost to the Foundation, by its affiliate Cummings Properties. Founded in 1970 by Bill Cummings of Winchester, the Woburn-based commercial real estate firm leases and manages more than 10 million square feet of space, the majority of which exclusively benefits the Foundation.

“We admire and very much appreciate the important work that nonprofit organizations like CLSACC are doing in the local communities where our colleagues and clients live and work,” said Joel Swets, Cummings Foundation’s Executive Director. “We are delighted to support their efforts.”

This year’s diverse group of grant recipients represents a wide variety of causes, including education, homelessness prevention, elder services, healthcare, and food insecurity. Most of the grants will be paid over two to five years.

The complete list of 100 grant winners will be available at www.CummingsFoundation.org on June 9.

About Community Legal Services and Counseling Center (CLSACC)

Since its founding in 1970, Community Legal Services and Counseling Center's (CLSACC) mission has been to provide free civil legal aid and affordable psychological counseling to low-income people. CLSACC's counseling work and legal programs in family law, housing, immigration, and disability benefits help nearly 1,400 clients and their children annually to meet their most basic needs for income, housing, health and safety. The agency strives to expand its capacity to serve clients by motivating private attorneys and mental health professionals to volunteer at CLSACC. Last year, volunteers contributed services valued at $600,000 -- the equivalent of nearly seven full-time staff. In each of the past five years legal clients have been successful in over 90% of full representation cases and most counseling clients are able to reduce symptoms associated with mental illness or severe trauma, to live more productively, and to work.

About Cummings Foundation

Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings of Winchester. With assets exceeding $1 billion, it is one of the largest foundations in New England. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including two New Horizons retirement communities in Marlborough and Woburn. Its largest single commitment to date was $50 million to Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Additional information is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.