Jewish Family Service of Metrowest (JFS) is one of 100 local nonprofits to receive grants of $100,000 each through Cummings Foundation’s “$100K for 100” program. The Framingham-based organization was chosen from a total of 479 applicants, during a competitive review process.

The grant to JFS will help support its award-winning Patient Navigator program, an enhanced medical visit escort service designed to help frail older adults get to and manage their medical appointments.

Over the next three years, with the support of the Cummings Foundation, the Patient Navigator program will reach over 300 frail older adults living in the Metrowest and Greater Boston regions, increase access to medical care across more than 1,200 visits and provide meaningful engagement opportunities and training to over 50 highly-skilled volunteer Patient Navigators so they can support their neighbors and give back to the community.

The Patient Navigator program is offered free of charge to qualified enrollees and in addition to the Cummings Foundation, the program has received significant core support from the Metrowest Health Foundation, Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP), Sanofi Genzyme, Massachusetts Health Decisions and Mutual One Charitable Foundation, as well as many private donors.

“The Cummings Foundation is one of the great foundations in America,” said Marc Jacobs, Chief Executive Officer of JFS. “To receive this award for the JFS Patient Navigator program has sent waves of excitement throughout the entire organization and our community. It affirms our commitments to the importance of creating access to medical care for frail elders, many of whom are dealing with memory loss and the many challenges of chronic disease management.”

Representing JFS, Marc Jacobs and Amanda Coughlin, Manager of Program Operations, will join approximately 300 other guests at a reception on June 9th at TradeCenter 128 in Woburn to celebrate the $10 million infusion into Greater Boston’s nonprofit sector. With the conclusion of this grant cycle, Cummings Foundation has now awarded more than $140 million to local nonprofits alone.

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 benefiting 41 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 Cummings 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.

“We admire and very much appreciate the important work that nonprofit organizations like JFS of Metrowest are doing in the local communities where our colleagues and clients live and work,” said Joel Swets, Cummings Foundation’s executive director. “We are delighted to support their efforts.”

This year’s diverse group of grant recipients represents a wide variety of causes, including education, homelessness prevention, elder services, healthcare, 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.

About JFS of Metrowest
JFS is a nonprofit, community-based organization dedicated to standing up for those left behind and provides services to over 5,000 people in need within the Metrowest and Greater Boston regions each year, including afterschool academic support for low income children, nutrition and basic family assistance for struggling families, citizenship and immigrant programs and geriatric care management and other support services that enable frail older adults to live independently. JFS’ sound fiscal management practices and commitment to accountability and transparency have earned it a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, America’s largest independent charity evaluator. To learn more about JFS, visit www.jfsmw.org.

About Cummings Foundation
Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings of Winchester. With assets exceeding $1 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.

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