The Rebecca Pomroy Foundation Announces 2024 Grantees and New Website

The Rebecca Pomroy Foundation is pleased to announce a total of $131,032.00 in grant funding has been awarded to the eighteen organizations below that serve Newton residents and strengthen our community.

We are also excited to announce the launch of our newly designed website. With a fresh new look and feel, the more user-friendly website includes historical information about Rebecca Pomroy, grantee descriptions, and details about how to apply for a grant. Please visit us at: www.pomroy.org.

We are pleased to announce that Balraj Kalsi has joined the board. Balraj brings over 20 years experience in the Education Technology field. One Board Member, Emily Shumsky, has resigned. We are grateful for her many years of dedication and leadership.

The 2024 grantees include the following organizations:

Charles River Center: To help launch a new small group wellness program focused on self-care topics for women living with intellectual/developmental disabilities.

Citizens for Affordable Housing: To provide free tax preparation services to low income taxpayers, enabling them to receive tax refunds to cover ordinary expenses, such as food and health care, as well as additional expenses for participation in a range of enriching activities.

Dreamfar High School Marathon: To support a non-competitive running and mentorship program that promotes health and wellness, instills the value of hard work, and improves students’ self-confidence and positive attitudes toward school.

Families for Depression Awareness: To support the Youth and Young Adult Mental Wellness Program, which offers training, workshops, and resources to students, parents, school staff, youth workers, and other caring adults to recognize and address depression in teens.

Family Access of Newton: To support the Strengthening Young Families Project, which provides multilingual services to at-risk families with young children in Newton through Counseling and Consultation programs, Early Literacy Services, Child Assault Prevention Education, and its Early Learning Center child care.

Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Boston: To support comprehensive mentoring programs for girls, boys, and adults with mild to moderate disabilities.

John M. Barry Boys & Girls Club of Newton: To support STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) Futures, a nurturing and inclusive program to address the gender gap in STEAM fields through workshops, mentorship, and project-based learning and advocacy initiatives.

New Art Center: To support Expressive Arts Therapy and Youth Empowerment Programs to alleviate mental health struggles for women and girls and to provide comprehensive job readiness training for youth interested in learning about careers in the arts.

Newton Athletes Unlimited: To support Therapeutic Recreation Programs that improve the physical and emotional health and wellness of children and adults with disabilities.

Newton Community Development Foundation: To support programming for young residents of NCDF properties and their families, providing safe, structured and enriching after-school activities.

Newton Community Education: To provide need-based scholarships to girls for educational and recreational summer camp or school-year extracurricular activities.

Newton Neighbors, Inc.: To provide scholarships for Newton school children to attend summer camps, providing them with opportunities for ongoing learning, growth, fun, and confidence building.

Newton Theatre Company: To provide scholarships for elementary students to participate in Newton Theatre Kids where young actors sing, act, dance, and make scenery, all culminating in a musical production.

Pathway to Possible: To support direct mental health programming for adults with cognitive and/or developmental disabilities, their families, and the organization’s staff.

Ready Inspire Act (RIA, Inc.): To support Sisters Leading Sisters, a peer mentorship program to help adults healing and recovering from experience in the commercial sex trade by cultivating economic independence, emotional wholeness, and physical wellness, safety, and stability.

Suzuki School of Newton: To support music scholarships for female students and financial assistance for preschool students from economically disadvantaged, single-parent households.

The Second Step: To support the Steps to Justice Program, which provides trauma-informed, free legal services to women who are survivors of domestic violence.

West Suburban YMCA: To provide financial assistance for preschool-aged participants from low-income households enrolled in the summer day camp.

2025 grant applications will be available mid-January and will be due March 1, 2025 at 11:59PM. For more information about the Rebecca Pomroy Foundation, including the grant process, please visit www.pomroy.org.