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Press Release: Boston Area Rape Crisis Center Receives $100K Award for Investment in the Future

Group of BARCC staffers in front of office building holding sign that says We were granted $100K from Cummings Foundation

Award is part of Cummings Foundation $100K for 100 program

Cambridge, MA, May 25, 2017―The Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC) announces today that it has been awarded $100,000 by the Cummings Foundation. The grant was made through Cummings Foundation’s “$100K for 100” program, which supports nonprofits in cities and towns where the Cummings organization operates commercial real estate and where many of its staff members and clients live. BARCC was chosen from a total of 549 applicants, during a competitive review process.

“This grant will support an expansion of our work with middle and high school students, and with colleges throughout the Greater Boston area,” said Gina Scaramella, BARCC’s executive director. “This investment in our young people is an investment in our future. I can’t think of a better way to allocate funds designed to strengthen local communities, as the $100K for 100 program does.”  

The largest and oldest rape crisis center in New England, BARCC empowers survivors of sexual violence to heal and provides education and advocacy for social change. It provides free, confidential support and services to survivors of sexual violence ages 12 and up, and their families and friends, regardless of when the violence occurred. BARCC also works with a wide range of organizations and communities, including schools, colleges, and police, to create cultures that prevent sexual violence in the first place.

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 benefitting 35 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 Cummongs 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.

“Nonprofits like the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center are vital to local communities where our colleagues and clients live and work,” said Joel Swets, Cummings Foundation’s executive director. “We are delighted to invest in their efforts.”

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

The complete list of 100 grant winners is available at www.cummingsfoundation.org.

Contacts: 
BARCC: media@barcc.org, 617-649-1288
Cummings Foundation: Julie DeSilva, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), 781-932-7093

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About the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center

Since 1973, the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC) has been a leader in the movement to end sexual violence. BARCC empowers survivors of sexual violence to heal and provides education and advocacy for the social change needed to prevent sexual violence. BARCC provides free, confidential support to survivors of sexual violence and their families and friends. It also works with high schools, colleges, police, organizations, and communities to advocate for change by providing training in how to respond to survivors and create cultures that prevent sexual violence in the first place. For more information, please visit www.barcc.org. Follow BARCC on social media: Twitter @barcc; Instagram @barccofficial; Facebook /barcc.org.

About Cummings Foundation

Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc., was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings of Winchester. With assets exceeding $1.4 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.

Our mission is to end sexual violence. We empower survivors of sexual violence to heal and provide education and advocacy for social change to prevent sexual violence.