Learn what’s happening at the Foundation and in the communities where we work. Hear from staff and partners about their accomplishments and lessons learned along the way.
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All too often, children whom teachers say are ‘acting out’ or who are in conflict with family members at home are actually struggling with mental health. Experts estimate that as many as 41,000 children in Massachusetts have unmet mental health needs, and nearly 17,000 of those youth qualify for an Individualized Education Plan in school owing to … Continued
In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, we would like to take an opportunity to spotlight the work of the Children’s Mental Health Campaign (CMHC), a Massachusetts-based initiative. CMHC was created in 2007 as a partnership between the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC) and Boston Children’s Hospital. The idea was … Continued
The focus of this blog post is a webinar on the COVID-19 vaccines as they affect people with disabilities in Massachusetts. For more of a Western New York perspective, take a look at this webinar recording from the Developmental Disabilities Alliance of Western New York: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4_mz_pO3rk On Tuesday, March 9th, the Center for Public Representation … Continued
At long last, I’m pleased to announce that the Tower Foundation has launched its new grants portal. We hope that it will be easier and more pleasant for you to see what grant opportunities are available, apply for grants, check on grant payments, request technical assistance, and share stories about your work. If you had … Continued
We’re very excited about the transition to our new grants portal, but I’m sorry to say that we’re running a bit further behind schedule than we’d imagined. While we expected to “flip the switch” last week, it’s actually going to happen this Thursday. Here are a couple of things you need to know: If you … Continued
A little over a year ago, the Tower Foundation began to use a racial equity lens to reflect on our work: How can we be a more equitable grantmaker? (You can read more about this journey here.) While we focus on young people living with intellectual disabilities, substance use disorders, learning disabilities, and mental health … Continued
For this blog, we invited Anne Showers, a grant partner and CEO of Accessible Academics to describe the impact of COVID-19 on her organization and ways in which they were able to adapt to new realities. Accessible Academics, based in Buffalo NY, works with students that have a range of learning challenges, providing academic and … Continued
About five years ago, the Ford Foundation made public a commitment to award 40% of its grant dollars as unrestricted, general operating awards. They made this move in the face of mounting advocacy for loosening philanthropy’s widespread proclivity for tying grant dollars to specific programs or capital projects. Groups like GEO (Grantmakers for Effective Organizations) … Continued
For a little less than a year, the staff at the Tower Foundation has been exploring diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as it relates to our work. This post is the first of several in which we will share about our path and process, some of the challenges we have experienced, and the opportunities that … Continued
Last October, we wrote a blog about the Advisory Team of young people with intellectual disabilities that helped us review grants from the fall 2019 grant cycle. In that blog, we focused on the creation of the team, the process of coming together to review grants, and the great feedback that we got. The Advisory Team … Continued
