The Dedham Savings Community Foundation awarded a grant to Boston's Saint Francis House to fund Move-In Kits for formerly homeless people settling into their first stable apartments, the foundation announced on July 29.
Each kit will be stocked with bedding, kitchenware, cleaning supplies, and other household essentials that help residents maintain long-term housing stability after transitioning out of homelessness and into affordable apartments.
The grant amount was not disclosed.
Barsha McGrath, vice president and business banking relationship manager at Dedham Savings, represented the foundation in the announcement alongside Kati Sigel, director of corporate and foundation relations at Saint Francis House. Sigel brings a decade of development experience at hunger relief organizations to her role stewarding the shelter's foundation and corporate partnerships.
New England's largest day shelter
Saint Francis House is the largest day shelter in New England, welcoming up to 500 individuals experiencing homelessness each day. In fiscal year 2025, the organization served 9,695 unique individuals, provided 252,319 hot meals, and housed 105 residents through its permanent supportive housing programs.
Local roots
The Dedham Savings Community Foundation is a privately funded foundation created by Dedham Savings to support charitable organizations serving disadvantaged populations within the bank's community reinvestment area, which includes Dedham, Needham, Norwood, Sharon, South Boston, Walpole, Westwood, and contiguous areas.
The Saint Francis House grant is the latest in a series of recent foundation awards. Other recipients have included Needham-based Hope & Comfort, which provides hygiene products to young people in need, as well as Rosie's Place and JF&CS/CHAI Works.
Dedham Savings, incorporated in 1831, manages $2.5 billion in assets through full-service branches in those same communities.
Grant cycle
The foundation's trustees accept grant requests from community organizations and make awards twice per year. Nonprofits serving the bank's reinvestment area can apply through the Dedham Savings website at dedhamsavings.com/community.
