The Boston Home on Dorchester Avenue has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the Cummings Foundation to support two of its core programs, the B.Fit! day program and the Wheelchair Enhancement Center. The Boston Home, an innovative community for adults with multiple sclerosis and other advanced neurological disorders, willuse the funding over the next ten years.

B.Fit! is The Boston Home’s day program that offers adults living in the community with multiple sclerosis and other advanced neurological disorders an opportunity for exercise, nutrition, education, community outings and cultural field trips within a supportive and welcoming community. The program operated virtually since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, offering daily check-ins, games and trivia, online classes and virtual field trips. The Cummings Grant will ensure that B.Fit! is fully resourced to support participants as B.Fit! re-opens for on-site programming in June.

The Wheelchair Enhancement Center, also supported by the Cummings Grant, provides timely and cost-effective wheelchair customization and repairs for residents of The Boston Home and wheelchair users who live in the community. Services include individualized seating adjustments for comfort and functionality, as well as adaptations for communications devices, such as tablets and smartphones, and customized joysticks or head arrays for mobility control and independence. Boston Home’s Cummings Grant will allow the Wheelchair Enhancement Center to increase its capabilities and expand its reach.

The Cummings Foundation aims to give back in the area where it owns commercial buildings, all of which are managed, at no cost to the Foundation, by its affiliate, Cummings Properties. This Woburn-based commercial real estate firm leases and manages 10 million square feet of debt-free space, the majority of which exclusively benefits the Foundation.

“We aim to help meet the needs of people in all segments of our local community,” said Cummings Foundation Executive Director Joel Swets. “It is the incredible organizations we fund, however, that do the actual work to empower our neighbors, educate our children, fight for equity, and so much more.”