CACC in the Dorchester Reporter (Click here)

 

For Immediate Release - February 5, 2024

Contact: David Bresnahan, Director of Development, 617-729-4930

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DORCHESTER – Crispus Attucks Children’s Center announced today it has received a $50,000 grant from the Boston Foundation to provide life-changing early childhood education for children whose families are low-income but are not able to access a voucher or subsidy through the commonwealth or city, including children of recent immigrants.

 

“This grant will allow us to offer high quality early education for families we would not otherwise be able to serve,” Executive Director Amanda Gorner said today. “These resources are important as we continue our work to make sure every child gets the best possible start in school and life to help them reach their full potential.”

 

“This is amazing news,” added Director of Family Engagement and Enrollment Melissa Velazquez. “We have seen an increase in the number of newly arriving families without documentation asking for our services.  This funding will help us meet this critical and urgent need.”

 

Crispus Attucks Children’s Center was founded in 1971 and today serves more than 200 children each year, most of whom live in Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan, and Hyde Park.  96% of families who attend receive a subsidy or voucher through the city or commonwealth.

 

“For years, the Boston Foundation and our research partners have highlighted the importance of access to quality early childhood education on the lives of young children and their caregivers,” said Orlando Watkins, Vice President and Chief Program Officer at the Boston Foundation. “It has also shown the need to support providers, and to make care available to far more families. We are proud to partner with Crispus Attucks Children’s Center and recognize its half-century of meeting vital needs in Boston with this Safety Net Grant.”

 

Funds for this grant come from the Boston Foundation’s Fund for Boston’s Future, an endowed pool of funds built over more than a century by generous contributors who want to help the Greater Boston community thrive. Each year, the Boston Foundation distributes grants and other resources from the Fund to nonprofits serving the Foundation’s catchment area.

 

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Crispus Attucks Children’s Center (CACC) has a 53-year history serving young children on a 2.5-acre campus in Grove Hall. The largest single-site infant and toddler education and care program in the City of Boston, CACC also provides preschool education, and is part of the Boston Public School's Universal Pre-Kindergarten Program. CACC is licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care.

 

The Boston Foundation is one of the nation’s first and most impactful community foundations. Partnering with community members, donors, the public sector, businesses and nonprofits, we exist to close the gaps caused by our city’s greatest disparities, to advance economic justice, and to help build a better Boston. We collect data, commission research, share knowledge, develop dynamic programs, fuel new ideas, and fund change. Our work informs public policy, catalyzes conversations, and advocates not only for change but also for repairing the historical harms of inequity. Ultimately, we aim to support, contribute to and create well-being and opportunity within our communities. TBF is also one of New England’s largest grantmakers, supporting nonprofits in Greater Boston through our endowment and working closely with our donors to support nonprofits locally, nationally and internationally. To learn more about the Foundation and its work, visit TBF.org.