21 Mar SPECTRUM NEWS: CATA awarded $2M from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott
March 21, 2024—
SPECTRUM NEWS – Olivia Lemmon (Watch or read on spectrumnews1.com)
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — A Western Massachusetts nonprofit is among 18 across the state chosen to receive grants from billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.
Community Access to the Arts in Great Barrington is getting $2 million to support their work serving people with disabilities through art. They were among thousands of organizations who applied for a $1 million grant a year ago through Scott’s Yield Giving organization. CATA said it was one of the highest scoring applicants so the panel decided to double their award to $2 million.
Executive Director Margaret Keller said they’ll use the money to launch the CATA FOR ALL Capital Campaign to reach even more people with disabilities.
“We know there is unmet need in our community especially among children and young people with special needs and among people with the fewest resources and we want to be there for our community” said Keller. “We are almost entirely community funded. We really turn to generous members of our community and ask them to help us make this powerful work possible. So this incredible opportunity will really make that unwavering support that we receive from the community go even further.”
CATA started 30 years ago and now serves more than 1,000 artists with developmental and intellectual disabilities, autism and brain injuries across 16 cities and towns.