NewVue Awards Mini-Grants for Community Programs

NewVue Communities is pleased to award $1,000 grants to five local programs led by community residents who have completed a Steward training program.

The Steward Activation Fund was created in 2020 to foster community empowerment, community mobilization and volunteerism, said Francisco Ramos, NewVue’s Director of Community Organizing.

The goal is to support our passionate Stewards who are committed to making a difference in their community by creating and implementing their own initiatives,’’ Ramos said.

This year’s recipients are:

• Art Steward, Deb Giordano, president of the Gardner Area League of Artists (GALA) for “Pins for Possibility” through the GALA and the Winchendon Community Action Committee. Funding will be used for inter-generational activities with seniors and youth.
• Childcare Entrepreneur Stewards Flore and Samuel Luxama for “Circle of Security Classroom” through Luxama Community Resource Center Inc. Leominster and Fitchburg. The funding will provide trauma resolution education for childcare providers.
• Art steward Konnor Crewe for “Making Space.’’ This regional project will fund art activities at 923 Main, Inc. in Fitchburg to break isolation for members of the LGBTQ+ community.
• Community Ambassador Steward Felix Colon for “Feeding the Unhoused’’ through Meek and Humble Ministries Inc. Funding will help provide hot meals twice a week for unhoused individuals and families where they are, along with recovery referrals and peer support.
• Affordable Housing Steward Maribel Cruz, and other members of the 2024 Baltimore Community Leadership Institute Team, for the “Fitchburg Housing Summit.” This is an annual event to educate community residents in North Central Massachusetts about resources available to help them purchase their first home or an investment home.

Anyone who successfully completes a Steward training program is eligible to apply for a mini-grant as long as the funds are focused on serving one or several local communities within the North Central Massachusetts region and foster volunteerism and the wellbeing of the communities. Trainings are free of charge and usually conducted in English, or bilingually in English and another language.

To learn more about NewVue’s Steward Leadership Training Program, contact Ramos at framos@nvcomm.org or 978-288-0166.

About NewVue Communities: NewVue Communities is a nonprofit community development corporation dedicated to creating strong and healthy neighborhoods where residents choose to live, work, and invest. NewVue Communities is dedicated to serving the 240,000 residents of North Central Massachusetts, a region of 22 municipalities stretching from Harvard to Athol. We strategically use a five-pronged approach to strengthen communities and fuel economic and social progress through homeownership, small business development, housing development, asset management, and community organizing.