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Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries Awarded $75,000 Cummings Grant


Newton nonprofit receives three years of funding from Cummings Foundation


Newton, June 02, 2023 – Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries is one of 150 local nonprofits that will share in $30 million through Cummings Foundation’s major annual grants program. The Newton-based organization was selected from a total of 630 applicants during a competitive review process. It will receive $75,000 over the next three years.


Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries (CMM) is Greater Boston’s oldest interfaith social action network. CMM’s mission is to mobilize congregations and communities across economic, religious, racial, and ethnic boundaries so that, in partnership, we can work more effectively for a just and peaceful society and for spiritual growth and interfaith understanding.


“Data, gathered by the Boston Police Department, points to serious violence highly concentrated in Roxbury among other areas between 2018 to 2022,” says Sophia Bishop-Rice, CMM’s Executive Director. “CMM provides violence prevention workshops through its Values over Violence (VoV) program, to the Boston Public Schools and beyond, with its youth-aimed, two-generation approach in reducing anger, aggression, and violence. This is needed now more than ever in the public health emergency of city-wide violence as seen in the headlines. We have also successfully offered VoV workshops at the Blackstone Elementary School in Roxbury with tremendous outcomes such as attitudes and behavior changes in their most challenging students.


“We are grateful for the Cummings Foundation grant which will allow us to run a summer leadership academy at the Blackstone Elementary School for middle school youth, focused on the skills taught in Values over Violence, as well as those beyond.”


The Cummings $30 Million Grant Program primarily supports Massachusetts nonprofits that are based in and serve Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties.


Through this place-based initiative, Cummings Foundation aims to give back in the areas where it owns commercial property. Its buildings are all managed, at no cost to the Foundation, by its affiliate, Cummings Properties. This Woburn-based commercial real estate firm leases and manages 11 million square feet of debt-free space, the majority of which exclusively benefits the Foundation.


“The way the local nonprofit sector perseveres, steps up, and pivots to meet the shifting needs of the community is most impressive,” said Cummings Foundation executive director Joyce Vyriotes. “We are incredibly grateful for these tireless efforts to support people in the community and to increase equity and access to opportunities.”



The majority of the grant decisions were made by about 90 volunteers. They worked across a variety of committees to review and discuss the proposals and then, together, determine which requests would be funded. Among these community volunteers were business and nonprofit leaders, mayors, college presidents, and experts in areas such as finance and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion).

 

“It would not be possible for the Foundation to hire the diversity and depth of expertise and insights that our volunteers bring to the process,” said Vyriotes. “We so appreciate the substantial time and thought they dedicated toward ensuring that our democratized version of philanthropy results in equitable outcomes that will really move the needle on important issues in local communities.”


The Foundation and volunteers first identified 150 organizations to receive three-year grants of up to $225,000 each. The winners included first-time recipients as well as nonprofits that had previously received Cummings grants. Twenty-five of this latter group of repeat recipients were then selected by a volunteer panel to have their grants elevated to 10-year awards ranging from $300,000 to $1 million each.


This year’s grant recipients represent a wide variety of causes, including housing and food insecurity, workforce development, immigrant services, social justice, education, and mental health services. The nonprofits are spread across 46 different cities and towns.

 

Cummings Foundation has now awarded $480 million to greater Boston nonprofits. The complete list of this year’s 150 grant winners, plus nearly 1,500 previous recipients, is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.


About Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries

CMM was established in 1966 by faith communities to address poverty, housing, and racial justice in Boston, and to link urban and suburban communities in just, transformative partnerships, CMM has tackled the most pressing issues facing our communities for more than 50 years, working to build Dr. King’s vision of a beloved community. CMM’s members include congregations, community partner organizations, educational institutions, and individuals around the Greater Boston Area. That is why CMM is NOT registered as a religious organization, but rather, it is registered and operates as a 501c3 COMMUNITY organization. It takes a village. Learn more at www.coopmet.org

 

About Cummings Foundation

Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings of Winchester, MA and has grown to be one of the largest private foundations in New England. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including New Horizons retirement communities, in Marlborough and Woburn, and Cummings Health Sciences, LLC. Additional information is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.


Contact: Sophia Bishop-Rice, Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries, (978) 645-7861, sophiarice@coopmet.org

Contact: Alison Harding, Cummings Foundation, 781-932-7093, aeh@cummings.com

Interfaith Climate Summit

Stories of the Spirit: The Role of Communities in Responding to Extreme Weather


Sunday, June 4, 2023, 4-6pm

Tufts University Breed Memorial Hall

51 Winthrop Street, Medford, MA 02155


Register here


In the wake of the National Climate Assessment and UN report in 2021 on the projected serious consequences of unchecked climate change, interfaith leaders from the greater Boston area will come together with Communities Responding to Extreme Weather (CREW) to host the fifth annual Interfaith Summit on vulnerability and climate change on the afternoon of June 4, 2023 from 4pm-6pm on zoom and in person at the Tufts University Breed Memorial Hall.


KEYNOTE SPEAKER: RABBI GREG HERSH


Greg grew up in Connecticut and earned his BA in Philosophy and Religion at George Washington University. After college, setting out to further bridge the gaps between Eastern and Western thought, Greg traveled to Southeast Asia where he taught English, lived in a Buddhist monastery, and explored other Eastern philosophies. The following year was spent in Jerusalem before applying to the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, where he is now in his final year of studies. Since starting at RRC in 2010, Greg participated in Tom Brown’s Tracker School which gave him a deeper understanding of Native American philosophy and an intractable love of the wilderness. Integrating his passions for Judaism and nature, Greg was certified by TorahTrek as a Jewish Wilderness Guide in 2013. As the student interim rabbi at Kehillath Shalom Synagogue in Cold Springs Harbor in New York, Greg brought all his passions to his work as he pushed each individual to grow into the best version of themselves. As a Rabbi, Greg will be able to combine his many interests such as music, teaching, and history to his work.

Rome & Assisi Spirituality & Sustainability Conference

Contemplation & Action for Social & Ecological Renewal!

June 4 - June 11, 2023



Click here for more info


The conference will gather participants and leaders (including Executive Director Emeritus, Rev. Dr. Rodney L. Petersen) from various eco-spiritual perspectives, centers, and organizations to share on issues around spirituality and sustainability.

Youth Violence-Prevention: Dismantling the Pipeline to Prison Through Values over Violence


Online, Saturdays, June 17 - July 22, 2023, 8:30am - 12:00pm

with a possible capstone in-person event in Boston on Sunday, July 23rd TBD


Zoom link will be emailed to registrants 1hr before the training begins.


Register today at: vovtrainingsummer23.eventbrite.com

Facebook Event


Values over Violence is a program to foster dignity through a civic culture based on forgiveness and reconciliation. It trains youth and adults to examine their emotions, learn to identify events which trigger anger and revenge, and look at choices about how to handle these events. We focus on the need to address the emotional issues stemming from violence, felt by victims, perpetrators, and the community. Without emotional and spiritual healing, it becomes impossible to step beyond violence and chart a new direction. Participants are trained to help move persons from the onset of violence through possibilities of forgiveness and degrees of reconciliation toward constructive civil engagement. Join us to learn of the holistic approach from the ESPERE materials in reducing violence in our communities today. For more info, please visit: coopmet.org/vov


Finding Health and Who I am


June 17

- Conquerors or Victims? Three Forms of Violence in Society

- Violence in my Experience: The Three “S’s”: Security, Sociability and Sense of Things


June 24

- The Three “R’s”: Revenge. Retaliation, Redirected Aggression

- Anger, Resentment and Bullying


July 1

- I Decide to Forgive (I have Agency)

- I am a Change Agent


Working for Change: Building Society


July 8

- I See with 2 New Eyes: Empathy and Compassion

- Freedom: Breaking Chains that Bind and Cleansing Pain


July 15

- Truth and Justice (Restorative)


July 22

- Making a Pact and Celebrating New Life


Facilitated by Rev. Dr. Rodney L. Petersen and Robert Lewis


For: Social Workers, Justice Workers, Community Leaders, Clergy, College Students, Parents, and more!!!


Questions? Please email: info@coopmet.org, if the cost is preventative.

The Golden Rule is Coming to Boston


June 18-21, 2023

Click here for more info



The 39-foot sailboat Golden Rule is sailing the coast of New England during June to alert us to the need for a world without nuclear weapons. In 1958, an intrepid crew of Quaker peace activists sailed the Golden Rule to the South Pacific, to try to “get in the way” of massive nuclear tests the U.S. was planning there. They were arrested in Honolulu, but they left a lasting legacy. Now, a new crew from Veterans for Peace is using this historic ship to campaign against the madness of nuclear weapons. They will be in Boston June 18-21.

1st Annual International Interfaith Youth Music & Arts Festival


A CMM Fundraiser


Sunday, September 10, 2023, 2-4pm

First Church in Cambridge, Congregational UCC

11 Garden St, Cambridge, MA 02138

Register today at: youthartsfest.eventbrite.com

Facebook event

Livestreaming will be available (Link will go out 1hr before performance to those who register)

Reception to Follow!


Theme: Guns Down, Peace Up

#thenumbersmatter


Gun violence has erupted in the City of Boston, erasing promising teen lives and countless others. Domestic violence has been on the rise as well. These acts have called for community action with ALL FAITHS TOGETHER, and what better way than through the power of music! Join us at Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries as we bring together powerful voices of international & local choirs, musicians, and artists for an unforgettable evening. You will not want to miss this event! Tickets are going fast!!!


Domestic violence, gang, and gun violence are urgent, complex, and multifaceted community traumatic problems. Domestic violence against women has increased dramatically during the pandemic and beyond. In 2008, domestic violence was declared a public health emergency in Massachusetts and it has only gotten worse.


  • Nearly 1 in 3 Massachusetts women has experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner
  • In a single day, 1,795 victims were served by Massachusetts domestic violence programs
  • Between 2003 and 2012, 266 victims were murdered in intimate partner homicides, and 74 domestic violence homicide perpetrators were killed
  • The presence of a gun in the home during a domestic violence incident increases the risk of homicide by at least 500%
  • 72% of all murder-suicides involved an intimate partner; 94% of the victims of these crimes are female


Join with us as the youth in our city say "NO MORE VIOLENCE!"


If you cannot join us, please consider purchasing a sponsorship/ad for your business, organization, committee, or foundation, and donate to our cause. Help us carry the message to those who need it the most and let us carry it together in solidarity. "We denounce violence of any kind" is our resounding message. With CMM Executive Director, Sophia Bishop-Rice, show up for an evening of healing through song. Find your light and voice towards forgiveness and reconciliation. Renew your spirit. Stand with us. Sing with us. Be with us.

See how we lived out a similar project in February:


"The International Choral and Arts Festival unites Boston community in observance of gun violence"


Check out the news article recap and the livestream recording of our Valentine's Day fundraising event, which brought together choirs and artists from all over the greater Boston area for an evening of transformation and transcendence through the power of music.

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