March 4, 2021 — The Worcester Together fund, a COVID-19 relief fund established by the Greater Worcester Community Foundation and United Way of Central Massachusetts in collaboration with the City of Worcester, yesterday announced it granted $1 million to six Worcester-based nonprofits working to help families in central Massachusetts deal with stresses arising from the pandemic.

Barbara Fields, president and CEO of the Greater Worcester Community Foundation (GWCF), said, “Worcester Together’s Reimagining grants were designed to encourage local leaders to step back from the immediate consequences of a social issue and address the root causes. The scale of these grants, at over $100,000 each, will position organizations to make lasting and fundamental changes.”

Added Tim Garvin, president and CEO of the United Way of Central Massachusetts. “COVID-19 has highlighted many of the community inequities and service gaps we have known existed for a long time. As we approach the one-year mark of the pandemic, we envision this last round of funding as helping the region’s nonprofits operate at an even more effective level and build an even better future for our community.”

Receiving the grants were the following:

• Legendary Legacies: $125,000 to create a youth-led civic engagement academy to increase voter registration and turnout among 18-25 year-olds.

• Pernet Family Health Service: $150,000 to provide in-home neonatal visits for all Worcester parents.

• Regional Environmental Council: $125,000 to improve food security by increasing utilization of federal and state programs designed to help residents purchase local produce.

• Together for Kids Coalition: $175,000 to establish an early childhood care coordinated system.

• Worcester Community Action Council: $175,000 to support delivery of services in Southbridge and surrounding communities.

• Worcester Education Collaborative: $250,000 to improve access to and quality of out-of-school time programs.

“In the past year, young people used their voices to speak out for social change in record numbers, yet less than five hundred 18-25-year-olds in Worcester voted in the 2019 Municipal election,” said Ron Waddell of Legendary Legacies. We know that the greatest impact on the political process happens at the local level, so with our Reimagining Grant, we will establish a youth-led Civic Engagement Academy. We know that peer-designed programming and activities are key to boosting interest and engagement in the political process.”