Children enjoy a sensory table in the MWCC Family Resource Center.

Mount Wachusett Community College has received a Career Readiness and Educational Access Grant from the Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts. This grant will enable MWCC to expand its Child Watch drop-in program for student-parents to use while they are on campus attending classes, meeting with advisors, participating in study groups, or otherwise working toward their degrees.

The Child Watch program was launched in April 2022 with support from the federally funded Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) project and the federal work-study program. The Child Watch program provides children with enrichment, play, and socialization with peers and the opportunity to see their parents pursue academics, creating a family value tied to academic growth and perseverance.

“By providing childcare for student parents, MWCC will help to increase educational access and equity for parents and create a pathway for parents to earn their degree and obtain gainful employment to support their families,” stated MWCC President James Vander Hooven.

“In its first year, over 50 students utilized the child watch, but this only scratches the surface of the current need,” notes Ann Reynolds, CCAMPIS Advisor at MWCC. “This program has helped our parenting students to stay in school. Childcare is an overlooked basic need for many student parents.”

For many student-parents, access to childcare can mean the difference between earning their degree or dropping out. With many of our parenting students attending part-time or in the evenings, the lack of evening childcare leads parents to take fewer classes and increases their time to graduation. Additionally, parents with unreliable childcare options may miss significant numbers of classes, leading to a decrease in their academic performance and possible loss of financial aid.

In addition to the expanded child watch program, MWCC has a number of programs for parenting students including the Parent Support Group, Family Resource Center, and Lactation Room and hosts the MOC Child Care and Head Start Services at the Garrison Center for Early Childhood Education. More information on these programs is available at mwcc.edu/student-parents.

Pathways for Change received a grant to pilot the Males Advocating Change (MAC) program. Pictured left to right is Wendy Aguilar, Assistant Director of Education & Outreach; Marguerite Mowry, Youth Education Specialist and Amparo L. Cruz, Director of Education & Outreach.

Grants given to eight agencies to tackle rising youth mental and behavioral health issues stemming from COVID-19 pandemic

United Way of North Central Massachusetts (UWNCM) recently awarded $90,000 in grants to 8 local agencies to pilot youth mental and behavioral health initiatives. The grants are part of a new area of work for UWNCM that seeks to address challenges faced by young people arising from increased isolation during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The following agencies received grants: Boys & Girls Club of Fitchburg/Leominster, Boys & Girls Club of Lunenburg, Girl Scouts of Central & Western Mass, LUK Crisis Center, Inc., Montachusett Community Branch YMCA, Mount Wachusett Community Foundation, Pathways for Change, Inc., and Spanish American Center, Inc.

Grants will support a variety of programs serving diverse populations from different perspectives, from providing free behavioral health services for uninsured marginalized youth, to enabling girls to discover art and nature as tools for mental well-being, and using dance movement therapy to support youth who identify as Latino, Black, and Indigenous.

UWNCM first identified a need for increased youth mental and behavioral health services after hosting a community roundtable on the topic in December 2022. Participants, including representatives from local agencies and the health field, noted that in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many young people have become isolated and unprepared for healthy social relationships.

The grant program is a new initiative for UWNCM that seeks to begin identifying the most effective ways of delivering services to young people who are struggling with mental and behavioral health. Grants will run through June 30, 2024, and results will be used to create targeted programs going forward.

Pathways for Change, Inc., based in Worcester, received a grant to pilot Males Advocating Change (MAC), a program that will engage middle school, high school and college-aged men to address male violence, particularly sexual and dating violence against women.

Kim Dawkins, CEO/President of Pathways for Change, says, “We are grateful to UWNCM for our recent Youth Mental/Behavioral Health grant. The role of MAC is to raise awareness of the myths about masculinity and play a part in building and expanding young males’ understanding of healthy, non-violent masculinity. These funds will provide critical resources needed to continue our work to engage young males and train them to be leaders in our effort to end sexual violence in North Central Massachusetts.”

Judy Tomlinson, Director of Community Impact at UWNCM, adds, “Youth mental and behavioral health problems are reaching crisis levels in our region. With our new grant program, UWNCM is dipping our toes in the water of a larger issue and learning as we go. We are excited to support a wide variety of initiatives that will use creative methods to support our youth.”

The United Way of North Central Massachusetts serves the communities of Ashburnham, Ashby, Athol, Ayer, Devens, Fitchburg, Gardner, Groton, Harvard, Hubbardston, Leominster, Littleton, Pepperell, Lunenburg, Petersham, Phillipston, Royalston, Shirley, Templeton, Townsend, Westminster and Winchendon.

Creates Network Upgrades to benefit new Community Center at Waterford Street School and Improve School Security

Mayor Mike Nicholson and Anne Gobi, Massachusetts Director of Rural Affairs at the Grant Award Ceremony for the Commonwealth Community Compact Municipal Fiber Grant Award Ceremony. Director Gobi presented the awards on behalf of the Healey-Driscoll Administration.

The City of Gardner was awarded a $200,000 grant as a part of the State’s Community Compact Municipal Fiber Grant Program. The funding will allow the city to connect its School Department, Police Department, and the new location of the Gardner Senior Center at Waterford Street School to a single fiber optic network. This will allow for a streamlining of the management of IT infrastructure by adopting a unified approach which covers network monitoring, cybersecurity, records management, and backup and recovery, achieving a long-held goal of more efficient and secure communications between city departments.

Speaking on the Grant, Mayor Michael Nicholson expressed high hopes for the new project, “This funding will do a lot of good in helping us improve our public safety efforts and our work to create a new community center at the Waterford Street School location. Thank you to Director Gobi, Rep. Zlotnik, and all of our state partners for their efforts to give local governments the tools they need to be successful. I would also like to thank our City’s Director of Technology, Bob O’Keefe, for his efforts in writing and obtaining this funding for the City.”

“The immediate benefit will be the police will have access to school cameras from the Police Station. Future benefits include faster internet and greater internet connectivity.” said Gardner Director of Information Technology Bob O’Keefe, “The fiber connection to the former Waterford School will bring Internet Service without a monthly recurring cost. This will save our Senior Center approx. $60,000 over the next ten years. The savings will also be available for the non-profits that will be in that building. With the fiber the City’s Tech Dept will be able to monitor and maintain its computers, phones, and security without leaving City Hall.”

The Municipal Fiber Grant Program offers competitive grants to support the closing of critical gaps that exist in municipal networks. Awards are focused on connecting municipality-owned facilities and assisting municipalities in achieving critical goals associated with their fiber networks, including protection from the growing risk of cyber security exploits targeting local government, the expansion of remote work and meeting the expectations of constituents who enjoy the convenience of interacting with government online.

State Representative Jon Zlotnik also voiced his opinion of the importance of the grant, stating, “These funds from the state are important Mayor Mike Nicholson and Anne Gobi, Massachusetts Director of Rural Affairs at the Grant Award Ceremony for the Commonwealth Community Compact Municipal Fiber Grant Award Ceremony. Director Gobi presented the awards on behalf of the Healey-Driscoll Administrationto make sure Gardner’s IT infrastructure is capable of serving its purpose to the fullest, and is secure. These systems are critical to the operations of the City and the services it provides, so these investments are equally important.”

The substantial funding received through the Community Municipal Fiber Grant Program will pave the way for an essential communication upgrade in the city, enabling crucial connections between the School Department, The Police Department, The Senior Center, and the connection to the Radio Repeater. With this integration, the city has taken a significant step towards streamlining its IT infrastructure management. By adopting a unified approach encompassing network monitoring, cyber security, records management, backup and recovery, this development will provide for an improved communications environment amongst crucial city departments.

Representatives of Cities and Towns who were awarded grants from the Commonwealth Community Compact Municipal Fiber Grant Program gather with Massachusetts Rural Affairs Director Anne Gobi as awards are announced. Mayor Nicholson represented the City of Gardner at the ceremony.

“Having reliable communication is important for delivering quality emergency response to the citizens as well as providing a critical safety lifeline to first responders” said Fire Chief Greg Lagoy, going into detail about the importance of the connection to the radio repeater for first responders. “The City is in the process of making upgrades to the site, including the installation of a new communications equipment shelter building. This new fiber connection will provide a dedicated, reliable connection for radio, data, and security systems from the repeater site to the City’s Public Safety agencies and the Central Dispatch Center at the Police Station. This is an excellent upgrade for the City, and will provide future expansion capability for emerging technology in Public Safety communication systems.”

This project continues the progress that the City has made in connecting its municipal buildings to one fiberoptic network. Currently, Gardner City Hall, Gardner Fire Headquarters, and the Gardner Police Headquarters are all connected by fiberoptic cable.

City Council President Elizabeth Kazinskas added “The installation of these services is costly and essential, and the receipt of this grant is a financial and operational win for our city. Rep. Zlotnik and our State partners continue to recognize our needs in Gardner, and in this instance have rewarded our active pursuit for assistance to improve infrastructure – many, many thanks to them.”

In this round of funding, $4 million was given as grants to benefit 32 municipalities and school districts across Massachusetts.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
OFFICE OF MAYOR MICHAEL NICHOLSON:
Colin Smith, Executive Aide to the Mayor
csmith@gardner-ma.gov
978-630-1490

OFFICE OF STATE REPRESENTATIVE JON ZLOTNIK
Nolan King, Legislative Aide
Nolan.king@house.ma.gov

OFFICE OF CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT ELIZABETH KAZINSKAS
ekazinskas@gardner-ma.gov