Mabazza Foundation Awarded $9,999 Grant to Support Boston Veterans Facing Cancer
Mabazza Foundation Awarded $9,999 Grant to Support Boston Veterans Facing Cancer
The Mabazza Foundation is honored to announce that we have been awarded a $9,999 Bridge the Gap Mini Grant to support the next phase of our work serving veterans in Boston.
The funded project, Art That Heals: Phase II, Hospital-Based Wellness for Boston Veterans, will provide Healing Backpacks for veterans undergoing cancer treatment. These backpacks are designed to offer both practical support and emotional comfort during a difficult and often overwhelming season of care.
For many veterans facing cancer, treatment is not only a medical journey. It can also involve transportation challenges, financial stress, housing concerns, food insecurity, caregiver strain, emotional isolation, and the exhausting task of navigating multiple systems at once. The Healing Backpacks project was created to respond to those layered needs with dignity, warmth, and practical care.
What the Healing Backpacks Will Include
Each Healing Backpack will include carefully selected comfort and wellness items, art-based reflection materials, printed encouragement cards, and practical supplies that veterans can use during appointments, treatment visits, or recovery days.
The project will also include a professionally designed Boston Veterans Cancer Support Guide, a resource booklet created to help veterans and caregivers connect with medical, social, and community assistance in the Boston area.
The guide will include information on:
- VA Boston cancer care and patient support
- Urgent and crisis contacts
- Veterans benefits and Chapter 115 assistance
- Transportation and lodging options
- Food, housing, and emergency support
- Mental health, caregiver, and peer support
- Community wellness resources
- Appointment notes and care planning pages
Our goal is to create something veterans will keep nearby, not a disposable flyer. The booklet is intended to be a practical companion that can sit beside appointment papers, discharge instructions, medication lists, and caregiver notes.
Why Art Matters in This Work
At the Mabazza Foundation, we believe art can help carry what words sometimes cannot. For individuals facing illness, art can offer stillness, reflection, memory, hope, and emotional release. It can soften clinical spaces and remind people that they are more than their diagnosis.
The artwork included in this project will come from the foundation's broader healing arts mission. These images are meant to provide visual comfort, beauty, and a sense of human connection throughout the resource guide and related materials.
Supporting Veterans and Caregivers
This project is designed not only for veterans, but also for the caregivers, family members, social workers, nurses, and community partners who help veterans move through cancer treatment.
Cancer care can be a maze. A veteran may need help finding a ride, asking about benefits, understanding a referral, managing fatigue, locating food support, or knowing who to call when stress becomes too heavy. The Healing Backpacks and resource guide are intended to make that maze easier to navigate.
Each backpack is a simple but meaningful message:
You are not alone. Your care matters. Your story matters.
A Grant-Funded Step Forward
The Bridge the Gap Mini Grant allows the Mabazza Foundation to expand our hospital-based wellness work and bring practical, art-centered support to veterans receiving cancer care in Boston.
We are grateful for this investment in community healing and veteran care. This support helps us continue building programs where art, compassion, and practical assistance meet.
About the Mabazza Foundation
The Mabazza Foundation uses art-based emotional support to help individuals and communities affected by chronic illness, cancer, trauma, and caregiving. Through healing-centered art projects, wellness initiatives, and community partnerships, the foundation works to bring beauty, dignity, and connection into spaces where people are carrying difficult journeys.
To learn more or support this work, visit:
www.mabazzafoundation.com
info@mabazzafoundation.com