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NewVue Awards Grants to Community Stewards

August 28, 2024

NewVue Communities is pleased to award $1,000 grants to five community stewards in support of local art and childcare initiatives in North Central Massachusetts. NewVue’s Steward Activation Fund awards grants to local community leaders who have successfully graduated from a steward training program.

“We started this program in 2020 as a way to foster community empowerment, community mobilization and volunteerism, ‘’ said Francisco Ramos, NewVue’s director of community organizing. “It’s one way we are able to support our dedicated stewards as they develop their own initiatives for the community.’’ Since 2020, NewVue has awarded 15 mini-grants, including five this year. This year’s recipients are:

  • Childcare Entrepreneur Steward Marites MacLean to prepare Calming Kits with toys for children to regulate their emotions. These calming kits will be distributed free of charge in the community through teachers, agencies, and more.
  • Art Stewards Shara Osgood to support her Lowe Park Chalk Art Festival. The event will take place in September 2024.
  • Art Steward Laura DiCaronimo to support her Words from the Burg event. The event will write poetry in the walking district of Fitchburg with chalk. The event will take place in the Fall 2024.
  • Art Steward Bridie Wolejko for the Gallery Marquee Entornos two-week exhibition in the fall of 2024. The gallery integrates several Art Stewards.
  • Art Steward Deb Giordano for the Seniors with Art’s Gogh project in Winchendon. The Gardner Area League of Artists (GALA) will implement art classes and workshops with seniors in collaboration with the Senior Center in Winchendon. Activities will take place in late Summer and Fall of 2024.

Sidewalk Chalk

Anyone who successfully completes a steward training program is eligible to apply for a mini grant as long as the funds are focused on serving one or several local communities within the North Central Massachusetts region.

Training attendance can be in-person, virtually, or hybrid. Trainings are free of charge and usually conducted in English, or bilingually in English and another language.

To learn more about NewVue’s steward training program, contact Francisco Ramos at framos@nvcomm.org or 978-288-0166. (Photo credit: Laura DiCaronimo)