Gov. Charlie Baker announced Tuesday the state has provided $3 million in small business technical assistance grants to four dozen nonprofits, including six in Central Massachusetts.

Among the local recipients include Ascentria Community Services in Worcester, Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce in Whitinsville, the Center for Women and Enterprise in Westborough, NewVue Communities in Fitchburg, North Central Massachusetts Development Corp. in Fitchburg, and the South Middlesex Opportunity Council in Framingham.

Ascentria is ranked 39^th in the 2019 list of Top 100 Women-led Businesses, its fourth consecutive appearance on the list! The criteria considered for the Top 100 list include revenue or operating budget, number of full-time employees in the state, and impressive records of innovation and workplace diversity.  Read more

Meet Marlena Springstubb! Marlena is a former Highland Street AmeriCorps Ambassador of Mentoring for Ascentria’s Unaccompanied Refugee Minors (URM) program in Worcester, MA.
 
When Marlena came to Ascentria, her goal was to create a successful and sustainable volunteer mentoring program for refugee youth. During her two years with Ascentria, Marlena developed PartnerUp! a one-on-one volunteer mentoring program. Read more

Volunteering as a mentor at Ascentria's Ruth House makes perfect sense to Leona. Although many years have passed since she was a teenage mother, she still vividly remembers the challenges she faced and the emotional pain that she felt.  Fortunately for Leona, her mother was very supportive and stood by her. She didn’t judge Leona, and often assured her by saying “We’ll get through this.” She discouraged Leona from marriage and took care of her baby so that Leona could continue her education. Looking back Leona recalled, “I think that the emotional pain gave me the drive to keep moving forward. There were bumps in the road, but I made it!” Read more

In the spring, Florence House residents and staff welcomed local politicians church members, philanthropic leaders, businesses, and donors to a ribbon-cutting ceremony that officially opened the doors to this new home. Florence House provides a safe haven for single teen moms with small children who might otherwise be homeless, living in unsafe situations or substandard housing. Read more

Ascentria’s Immigration Legal Assistance Program (ILAP) was recently awarded a generous grant of $81,600 from the Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts’ Activation Fund Grant. This grant will support our work to provide free and low-cost legal services to immigrants in Massachusetts.  Read more

Ascentria is partnering with Quinsigamond Community College (QCC) to develop a program to train workers for jobs in Health Care and Social Assistance.  This partnership was made possible by one of the first-ever round of Senator Kenneth J. Donnelly Workforce Success Grants. Read more

Volunteers from the Aramark Building Community (ABC) program came together to assemble backpacks and school supplies, and bean soup packages for Ascentria’s clients. Read more