$100,000 Grant Received from the Point32 Health Foundation

Grant Received from Point32Health Foundation!

MFFC received a $100,000 3-year grant from the Point32Health Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to racial justice and improving the access of healthy foods for communities. As of April 2024, they announced $2 million in grants to 20 organizations, including MFFC.

Point32Health Foundation took the time to meet with our Executive Director, Shavel'le Olivier, as she explained why grants like these are essential to our organization.

"From what we observe in our current programming, is that most of the residents who attend are older. They are our elders and we need to be able to provide programming for them as they continue to age. Those types of programs include green spaces, healthy eating spaces, active living spaces, but more importantly, spaces for social connectivity."

MFFC remains committed to advocacy for our community. Throughout the years, we have been able to develop deep ties with individuals within the community and through this commitment centralize the voices of Mattapan. Hear from Shavel’le on how these ties were originally fostered.

"So because our organization was founded by a community resident and informed by community residents, how we're able to support our community is just by being a friend. Because we have established that relationship, we will be able to hear what it is that they need, not only in formal ways… we can even hear it in informal ways."

Grants such as these enable us to continue to elevate community voices and provide flexible resources to each individual. The grant received from the Point32 Health Foundation will be allocated into our upcoming programming available to all residents of Mattapan and neighboring communities. 

A portion of the grant will be used to fund our physical activity focus area, specifically the community Walking Challenges. These walk challenges, organized by Active Living and Environment coordinator Kay Savage, are low-impact exercises in Mattapan green spaces. They are designed to be accessible to residents looking to bond with neighbors, while exercising and enjoying Mattapan. MFFC’s walk challenges feature a mix of competitions, fitness classes, and nutrition education. In 2023, residents accumulated 2,323,463 steps from our Walk Challenges! This grant allows us to continue to offer these walk challenges to residents, providing a space to exercise, connect with community members, and appreciate Mattapan.

Mattapan Square Farmers Market, a program in our food access focus area, will also receive funds from this grant. For the past 18 years, MFFC has been serving Mattapan residents fresh and locally sourced produce at an affordable price. The market is also a space where residents can gather resources such as SNAP and HIPP. Last season, in 2023, MFFC served a total of 3,400 individuals, provided residents with 7,258 farmers market coupons, and saw $36,290 given to our farmers. Funding for this market is essential to continue to bring fresh and healthy food to Mattapan, which faces health challenges such as diabetes, obesity, and high hypertension rates.

The final portion of the grant will be allocated to community empowerment and our collaboration with the Edgewater Neighborhood Association (ENA). MFFC has supported the ENA for the past 8 years to empower the residents of Edgewater by providing a community run entity guided by community voices. The goal was to form deeper ties with community members, which is realized together through implementing neighbors into leadership positions, such as Block Captains, who act as a liaison between the block and ENA. Currently, the ENA has opened a food forest and collected voices about a walking path along the Neponset River to provide residents with accessible green and blue spaces. There are foundations for health and wellness. 

Thank you to the Point23 Health Foundation for choosing MFFC as a grant recipient. The importance of healthy food and fitness opportunities remain as essential as ever, thank you for joining our mission in bringing these opportunities to Mattapan.