Sudbury Foundation: Children, Youth & Families - Youth Emotional Well-Being Grant Program

The Sudbury Foundation's Youth Emotional Well-Being Grant Program aims to enhance emotional health supports for children and youth, particularly underserved populations. Nonprofits in the Sudbury area are invited to apply for funding to develop or expand programs addressing issues like stress, anxiety, and grief. The foundation prioritizes organizations with a strong youth development focus and encourages innovative programming that fosters long-term relationships between youth and caring adults.

Zoom Calls between February 2-27, 2026. Applicants are encouraged to discuss their needs with Foundation staff prior to submitting a full proposal. Telephone inquiries are welcome.
Funding Objectives
To keep the well-being of children and youth at the forefront of our response and recovery, we are offering youth development nonprofits in our catchment area a grant opportunity to develop new or expanded programs and resources that enhance emotional health supports for children of all ages.
Programming may be targeted to children, parents/guardians, caregivers, teachers, and others working directly with youth, and could include one-on-one supports, support groups, education, outreach and messaging, or other creative strategies that address a range of issues including, but not limited to, stress, anxiety, depression, fear, loneliness, and grief.

Eligibility

Agencies must serve children and youth (birth to age 22). Agencies that serve a broader age constituency may be eligible for a capacity building grant targeted toward youth-serving programs within the organization and will be asked to provide data on the percent of total programming directed to children and youth. The Foundation does not generally fund projects in public or private schools in CY&F communities.Content Areas: Successful grant applicants will be nonprofit organizations (or, in some cases, a program within an organization) who address such issues as early health and learning, literacy, academic enrichment and support, skill building, drop-out prevention, college/job readiness, or career exploration; or who focus on personal/behavioral enrichment including leadership development, self esteem building, mentoring, promotion of healthy behaviors, emotional health supports, etc. Agencies offering parenting education and parenting support programs are also eligible to apply.Program Intensity: We support organizations that offer a medium-to-high level of engagement with children and youth as determined by the number of hours and depth of contact the programming involves. We also support programs featuring a continuum of supports that encourage strong, longer-term relationships between youth and caring adults. Preference is for underserved populations.Agencies must meet geographic criteria Nonprofit organizations must be located in Sudbury and the contiguous communities including Acton, Concord, Framingham, Hudson, Lincoln, Marlborough, Maynard, Natick, Stow and Wayland.Organizations based outside of these communities whose programming substantially benefits residents from one or more of the towns listed may also apply. They will be asked to provide data on the percent of total youth programming vs. youth programming in our catchment area.In addition, nonprofits may receive one grant per calendar year. Applicants who received prior funding from the Sudbury Foundation must submit their final grant report (or interim report) before applying for additional support.