(l-to-r) Vice President of Development David Hirschberg, Manager of Institutional Giving Joelle Barton Nims, Senior Vice President of Services Nancy Mahan & President/CEO Bill Sprague celebrate CASPAR/Bay Cove Human Services receiving a Sustaining Grant from Cummings Foundation.

CASPAR, a homelessness and addiction recovery services provider working on the front line of the opioid epidemic in Massachusetts, is one of 33 local nonprofits awarded a total of $10 million from Cummings Foundation through its new Sustaining Grants program, which provides funding for up to 10 years. Bill Sprague, President & CEO of Bay Cove Human Services/CASPAR represented the nonprofit at a May 3 awards night at TradeCenter 128 in Woburn.

The mission of CASPAR is to save lives today so that recovery is possible. The agency’s goal is to improve the lives of individuals and families in Cambridge and Somerville who have been affected by substance use disorder and related issues—such as homelessness, mental illness, or domestic violence—through a comprehensive array of outreach, shelter, stabilization, residential, aftercare, education and prevention services. In 2014, CASPAR became part of Boston-based non-profit agency Bay Cove Human Services.

“All of us at Bay Cove and CASPAR are profoundly grateful to Cummings Foundation for this generous funding,” said Sprague of the grant. “It will have a significant impact on our ability to support individuals battling addiction and homelessness—not just today, but for years to come.”

CASPAR plans to use the Sustaining Grant funds to further the mission of its FirstStep Street Outreach Program, which provides lifesaving support to the homeless and unsheltered men and women of Cambridge. This support takes many different forms: providing meals and clothing, rides to our Emergency Services shelter, access to CASPAR’s full spectrum of addiction treatment programs, help in obtaining identification, referrals for medical and psychiatric treatment, and much more. The Sustaining Grant will make it possible for CASPAR to expand the FirstStep program and operate it seven days per week, helping to improve the health and wellbeing of the unsheltered residents of Cambridge, particularly those struggling with addiction.

The Sustaining Grants program builds on Cummings Foundation’s $100K for 100 program. First offered in 2012, $100K for 100 annually awards $10 million through multi-year grants of $100,000 each to 100 nonprofits that are based in and primarily serve Essex, Middlesex and Suffolk counties. Grant recipients that received their final grant disbursements in 2017 were automatically considered for the Sustaining Grants initiative in 2018.

“Long-term financial support is rare for nonprofits, making fundraising a constant and time-consuming task for organizations like CASPAR,” said Joyce Vyriotes, deputy director of Cummings Foundation. “The Sustaining Grants are intended to provide some relief, allowing them to focus more of their time and energy on delivering and enhancing their important services.”

Sustaining Grants winners were selected primarily by a 40-member volunteer committee, which included former state legislators, CEOs of companies and organizations in Greater Boston, and a retired justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, among many others. Committee members conducted two site visits with each nonprofit to learn how the $100K for 100 funds helped to advance its mission, and how it might put a 10-year grant to use.

The complete list of 33 grant winners is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.

Cummings Foundation has already awarded more than $200 million to date in Greater Boston alone, and it will award an additional $200 million over the next 10 years through the $100K for 100 and Sustaining Grants programs.

CASPAR (Cambridge and Somerville Program for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Rehabilitation) is a non-profit organization, founded in 1970 in response to the need for community-based services for those affected by substance use disorders. Since then, CASPAR has built a comprehensive array of outreach, shelter, stabilization, residential, aftercare, education and prevention services that meet the needs of a diverse population of high-risk men, women, children and adolescents. Each day, CASPAR works to alleviate the opioid and homelessness crises in Cambridge and Somerville, providing lifesaving work within the community.  In 2014, CASPAR became part of Bay Cove Human Services. To learn more about CASPAR, visit www.casparinc.org.

Bay Cove Human Services is a non-profit agency committed to improving the lives of individuals and their families who face the challenges of developmental disabilities, aging, mental illness, and drug and alcohol addiction. Bay Cove serves more than 6,000 people each day and 25,000 people per year throughout Boston and Southeastern Massachusetts. To learn more about Bay Cove Human Services, please visit www.baycove.org.

About Cummings Foundation

Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including New Horizons retirement communities in Marlborough and Woburn. Its largest single commitment to date has been to Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Additional information is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.