NORTHBOROUGH – The town of Northborough has received a $50,000 grant from the MetroWest Health Foundation to aid its COVID-19 efforts.
Health Agent Kristin Black announced the grant during the Board of Selectmen’s Feb. 14 meeting. The board then voted to accept the grant.
Black noted that COVID-19-related needs had evolved since the town first applied for the funding a month prior.
At that time, the primary need was to secure test kits and get them into the hands of residents. Now, test kits are more widely available.
“There will be some tweaks, but overall this grant is to help a municipality and to support its community through the COVID-19 response,” Black said.
According to the grant application, the town wanted to use funds to purchase test kits. Town officials would then work to develop a plan to distribute the tests to the town’s vulnerable populations. For example, kits could be included in Meals on Wheels distributions to seniors.
That remains an opportunity despite the decrease in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, particularly with recent news that many state Stop the Spread testing sites may soon close.
“We’re all going to be relying more on the at-home tests,” Black said.
Northborough also wants to hire a part-time outreach coordinator to support its COVID-19 efforts and distribute these items.
She said the town further wrote its grant request in a way that would allow the ability to purchase hand sanitizer and disposable masks.
One of the projects the department wants to work on involves purchasing these items to distribute to various organizations including the Senior Center.
“[This is] really like an essential care package for those residents in need,” Black said.
Goods would also be available for the schools.
Black said the town wanted to get these resources into the community within the next three months.
Southborough and Westborough were also awarded the same amount for this grant.
The towns are part of a larger collection called the Greater Boroughs Partnership for Health.
“We are working with those two towns in our partnership to really try to be consistent and to try to provide COVID response resources to our community,” Black said.
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