GLCF Announces New Refugee and Immigrant Resettlement Fund Grants

Lowell, MA – The Greater Lowell Community Foundation (GLCF) announced $160,000 in grant awards from the Refugee and Immigrant Resettlement Fund to seven Greater Lowell nonprofits. This first round of grants supported a broad range of underfunded needs identified by Greater Lowell nonprofits including food and essential supplies, housing support, staffing and transportation.

“The seven nonprofits selected for this first round of funding are filling the gaps needed to support newcomers in Greater Lowell,” said Jay Linnehan, GLCF’s President and CEO. “Through the continued, generous support of our donors, we are hopeful that we will be able to fund a future round. The needs are great.”

2024 GLCF Refugee and Immigrant Resettlement Fund Grants:

  • Andover Islamic Center – The grant will supplement gaps in current benefits including purchase cleaning supplies, pest control items, as well as transportation gift cards for rides to doctors’ appointments and job interviews until they can obtain driver’s licenses.
  • Catie’s Closet, Inc. (Dracut) – Funding to provide newcomer families with access to emergency basic needs including clothing and toiletries.
  • Dignity In Asylum (Concord) – Funding to provide safe transitional housing and community support to people seeking asylum who are at risk of homelessness.
  • International Institute of New England (Lowell) – Grant for underfunded refugee case management costs and emergency housing subsidy for transitioning or housing-insecure families.
  • Lowell Community Health Center – Funding for a bilingual bicultural Patient Navigator (PN). This person will act as cultural liaison and advocate, linking newcomers to services they need while helping to eliminate racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic health disparities. As cultural bridge, PNs build trust and play a crucial role in promoting the health and wellbeing of vulnerable populations.
  • Open Table, Inc. (Maynard) – Grant to support the Open Table program which provides healthy, culturally appropriate snacks to immigrant and refugee children in Concord and, when applicable, Acton.
  • Stone Soup Kitchen Ministries (Ayer) – Funding to purchase and distribute personal care items to the approximately 150 newcomers currently living in Ayer, Mass.

Last fall, GLCF established the Refugee and Immigrant Resettlement Fund to provide support to local nonprofits working with newcomers, and with the intention that grant funds will aid to help ensure those in need are welcomed and connected with housing, employment, transportation, food, acculturation, and other related support. 

Donations to the GLCF Refugee and Immigrant Resettlement Fund can be made online at www.glcfoundation.org or by mail to the GLCF Refugee and Immigrant Resettlement Fund c/o GLCF, 100 Merrimack Street, Suite 202, Lowell, MA 01852.

For more information on the Greater Lowell Community Foundation, visit www.glcfoundation.org.

About Greater Lowell Community Foundation

Established in 1997, the Greater Lowell Community Foundation (GLCF) is a philanthropic organization comprised of more than 400 funds dedicated to improving the quality of life in 21 neighboring cities and towns. With financial assets of almost $60 million, GLCF annually awards grants and scholarships to hundreds of worthy nonprofits and students. It is powered by the winning combination of donor-directed giving, personal attention from Foundation staff, and an in-depth understanding of local needs. The generosity of our donors has enabled the Community Foundation to award more than $35 million to the Greater Lowell community.

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CAPTION:  Greater Lowell Community Foundation recently announced the first round of GLCF Refugee and Immigrant Resettlement Fund grants. International Institute of New England (IINE) received funding for underfunded refugee case management costs and emergency housing subsidy for transitioning or housing-insecure families. IINE volunteers take a newly arrived family grocery shopping. The family of six are refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and arrived in Lowell in 2023.