Beverly Police Department Awarded $100,000 Cummings Grant to Fund Officer Health and Wellness Program
BEVERLY — The Beverly Police Department has been selected as one of 150 nonprofits to receive funding through Cummings Foundation’s annual grant program, which awarded $35 million this year.
Chosen through a competitive review process that drew a record 959 applicants, the City of Beverly Police Department will receive $100,000 over three years.
Grant funding will support programmatic, training, and resources to enhance department wide wellness, resilience, mental health, and overall well-being within the Beverly Police Department. This new wellness and resilience program will be co-coordinated by Lieutenant Mark Panjwani and Officer Ted Lane.
The Beverly Police Department recognizes that the well-being of officers, dispatchers, civilian staff, and their families is directly connected to the strength, safety, and effectiveness of our agency and our service to the community.
“Thank you to the Cummings Foundation for supporting Beverly’s new law enforcement wellness and resilience program,” said Chief John LeLacheur. “Police work can be stressful and resilience building helps reduce PTSD, trauma, and prevent burnout resulting in improved health and better judgement and decisions. We are truly grateful for this grant funding which will make a significant difference.”
This year, the Woburn-based Cummings Foundation increased its annual grant program from $30 million to $35 million and shifted to fully unrestricted funding, allowing recipients to direct grant dollars where they are needed most. Foundation executive director and trustee Joyce Vyriotes noted that the changes reflect growing concerns among Greater Boston nonprofits about rising costs, increased demand for services, and sustained uncertainty around public funding.
“Nonprofit professionals are closest to the challenges facing their communities, making them best positioned to determine where and how new funds will drive the greatest impact,” said Vyriotes. “By providing increased, flexible funding, we hope to strengthen organizations’ long-term stability and help them respond to evolving community needs.”
This year’s grant recipients represent a wide range of causes, including housing and food insecurity, education, workforce development, healthcare, mental health services, social justice, immigrant support, and youth programming.
The annual grant program supports Massachusetts nonprofits 1 that are based in and primarily serve Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties, as well as Brookline, Dedham, Milton, Needham, Quincy, and Wellesley. Through this place-based initiative, Cummings Foundation reinvests in the areas where it owns commercial real estate. Its buildings are all managed at no cost to the Foundation by its affiliate, Cummings Properties, a Woburn-based commercial developer that leases and manages 11 million square feet of debt-free space. All rental profits support the Foundation.
Since its founding, Cummings Foundation has awarded more than $650 million to Greater Boston nonprofits. The complete list of this year’s grant recipients, along with additional information about the Foundation and its grant programs, is available at CummingsFoundation.org.
About the Beverly Police Department:
The Beverly Police Department is an organization comprised of law enforcement professionals who are ethically and morally dedicated to providing the finest quality of law enforcement services to the citizens of Beverly, MA. While maintaining respect for individual rights, human dignity, cultural diversity and community values, we pledge to sustain a working partnership with our community to protect life and property, and to maintain a safe and peaceful environment for all. For more information, please visit: BeverlyPolice.org/.
About the Cummings Foundation:
Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings of Winchester, and has grown to become one of the largest private foundations in New England. In addition to its annual grant program, the Foundation directly operates two not-for-profit retirement communities: New Horizons at Marlborough and New Horizons at Choate, in Woburn. Additional information is available at: CummingsFoundation.org.
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