Efforts by the Lowell Public Schools to combat mental health issues received a major boost this past Friday, when they received word that the Cummings Foundation had awarded them a three-year, $225,000 grant.

The award is part of the Foundation’s $30 million grant program and will allow the LPS Mental Health office to partner with the Mass General Psychiatry Academy to improve the mental health system and services in the Lowell Public Schools.

As a place-based philanthropic initiative, the annual Cummings $30 Million Grant Program seeks to support nonprofits in eastern Massachusetts’ Essex, Middlesex, and Suffolk counties and the Norfolk County cities of Brookline, Dedham, Milton, Needham, Quincy, and Wellesley. Each year, this program awards 150 grants to a diverse group of organizations. These awards include 125 three-year grants of $30,000–$300,000 each, plus 25 ten-year grants of up to $1,000,000 each. These grants fund a wide variety of local causes, including human services, healthcare, social justice, and education.