Newton-Wellesley Hospital receives $4 million grant – one of the largest in its history – to expand mental health program to middle school students

Newton, Mass. (October 22, 2019)— Newton-Wellesley Hospital today announced it received a $4 million grant from The Manton Foundation to support the expansion of The Resilience Project, an innovative school and community-based initiative designed to promote the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents. This is one of the largest gifts in Newton-Wellesley’s history.  It is also The Manton Foundation’s second gift of

$4 million to Newton-Wellesley to support mental health prevention, evaluation and treatment programs for children, teens and their families.

Launched in 2015 and funded by The Manton Foundation’s initial grant, The Resilience Project provides mental health support to high school students, parents, educators, counselors and communities through collaboration with school personnel, customized educational programming, parent support and improved access to treatment by clinicians in Newton-Wellesley’s Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. The program serves students of public high schools in Natick, Needham, Newton, Waltham, Wellesley and Weston.

With this additional philanthropic support, Newton-Wellesley will be able to expand The Resilience Project to support the emotional wellbeing of more than 8,000 middle school students from 11 public middle schools in surrounding communities. The program will be customized based on need and existing resources within the schools.

“We are extremely grateful for the generous donation from The Manton Foundation that allows us to broaden the scope of our program to include greater access to treatment, education and prevention efforts where it is desperately needed,” said Michael R. Jaff, DO, President of Newton-Wellesley. “The Resilience Project has taken an innovative and holistic approach to helping students, parents and staff identify, diagnose and treat mental health disorders, and this donation will help us continue to move forward and make a difference on this critical national issue impacting our community.”

As the only community hospital in the region to offer pediatric psychiatry services both in an emergency department and outpatient clinical setting, Newton-Wellesley has experienced a significant rise in the number of child and adolescent psychiatry visits in recent years. The grant will enable the hospital to continue its ongoing commitment to prevention and treatment in pediatric mental health.

“We believe that good mental health is not just the absence of illness, but also the presence of wellness. We started The Resilience Project to support students, parents, educators, counselors and communities, and are thrilled to have the additional resources to continue our efforts,” said Elizabeth Booma, MD, Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Newton-Wellesley. “This donation will propel Newton-Wellesley to be a leader in child psychiatry care delivery and make our children, families and communities healthier.”

The Resilience Project will host its Annual Educational Summit for community partners and educators on Friday, October 25 to discuss effective tools for overcoming obstacles in education. For more information, please email NWHResilienceproject@partners.org.

For more information about The Resilience Project, visit nwh.org/theresilienceproject and on Facebook @NWHResilienceProject

About Newton-Wellesley Hospital

Newton-Wellesley Hospital is a full system member of Partners HealthCare System, Inc. (PHCS), a nonprofit organization that includes academic medical centers Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Serving its community for more than 130 years, NWH provides a wide range of services to its surrounding communities, including medical, surgical, obstetric and gynecological, cardiovascular, emergency, orthopaedic, neonatal, pediatric, hematology/oncology and psychiatric care—with a medical staff of more than 1,000 physicians practicing a full range of specialties. NWH is a major teaching hospital for Tufts University School of Medicine and has established post-graduate training programs for residents of Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, teaching hospitals of Harvard Medical School.

About The Manton Foundation

The Manton Foundation was established by Sir Edwin and Lady Manton to support philanthropic efforts of interest to the family. The foundation has made significant contributions in the fields of art and culture, education, equine care, health care and biomedical research, historic preservation and land conservation.