{"id":27332,"date":"2026-03-05T16:29:36","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T21:29:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/?post_type=story&#038;p=27332"},"modified":"2026-03-06T10:04:57","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T15:04:57","slug":"health-foundation-of-central-mass-invests-additional-400k-in-southbridge-cares","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/05\/health-foundation-of-central-mass-invests-additional-400k-in-southbridge-cares\/","title":{"rendered":"Health Foundation of Central Mass. invests additional 400K in Southbridge CARES"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thfcm.org%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7CMelLynch%40clarku.edu%7Cc2af10e498e4466901c608de7ac1044b%7Cb5b2263d68aa453eb972aa1421410f80%7C0%7C0%7C639083166629732191%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=60msz8n88ZyJzljfY6ab4qCb%2FT8IJK97CWP2zb8zEto%3D&amp;reserved=0\">The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts<\/a>&nbsp;today announced an additional $400,000 grant for&nbsp;the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhs.southbridgepublic.org%2Fapps%2Fnews%2Farticle%2F1873842%3FcategoryId%3D17430&amp;data=05%7C02%7CMelLynch%40clarku.edu%7Cc2af10e498e4466901c608de7ac1044b%7Cb5b2263d68aa453eb972aa1421410f80%7C0%7C0%7C639083166629747037%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=tX%2BTmg1dK3hJR%2FYYa567EUv5Hp%2FRdr7%2F5TrbfCTfn1s%3D&amp;reserved=0\">Southbridge CARES<\/a>&nbsp;(Clark Advancing Resilience in Education and Support) Project, a mental health initiative at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhs.southbridgepublic.org%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7CMelLynch%40clarku.edu%7Cc2af10e498e4466901c608de7ac1044b%7Cb5b2263d68aa453eb972aa1421410f80%7C0%7C0%7C639083166629762260%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=Mwh9o0lvqfHARi75UhL2I5mw7o0HfBj4mMbFITbbFvE%3D&amp;reserved=0\">Southbridge High School<\/a>&nbsp;designed to improve students\u2019 academic performance, strengthen social-emotional and behavioral health, increase school engagement, and better prepare high school students for college and career success.&nbsp;The Health Foundation has now awarded $1,075,000 to the project to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"wp-block-group alignright boxout has-light-warm-gray-background-color has-background is-content-justification-left is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-12dd3699 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p style=\"font-size:1rem\">Pictured above, left to right: Aaron Haddock, director of behavioral health initiatives and programs at the Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise; Nadia Ward, project co-director and executive director of the Mosakowski Institute; Amie Shei, president and CEO of The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts; Stefania Doucette, principal of Southbridge High School; DESE Commissioner Pedro Martinez; and Bill Metzger, receiver\/superintendent of Southbridge Public Schools, in the Sensory Immersion Room at Southbridge High School on March 3.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n\n\n\n<p>The Southbridge CARES Project is supported by a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhfcm.org%2Fsouthbridge-cares-synergy-initiative-round-6%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7CMelLynch%40clarku.edu%7Cc2af10e498e4466901c608de7ac1044b%7Cb5b2263d68aa453eb972aa1421410f80%7C0%7C0%7C639083166629778560%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=XxEVz3ROw032rxJsD0a%2FkYtXl5ScXKfFQL8qn6JFcxw%3D&amp;reserved=0\">Synergy Initiative grant<\/a>\u00a0from The Health Foundation and implemented in partnership with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/centers\/mosakowski-institute\/\">Clark University\u2019s Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise<\/a>.\u00a0The announcement of continued funding was made during a visit by Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Commissioner Pedro Martinez to the Sensory Immersion Room (SIR) at Southbridge High School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Southbridge CARES Project is redefining the traditional high school experience,\u201d said Amie Shei, president and CEO of The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts.\u00a0\u201cIts\u00a0dynamic, layered approach shows an understanding that every student learns differently and has varying needs in school.\u00a0We are honored to put our support behind a team that is contributing to a brighter future for these Southbridge students and that is developing an innovative and comprehensive model for others to emulate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The SIR is the first of its kind in a public school setting in Massachusetts that integrates immersive technology, virtual reality, and sensory equipment to create customizable, calming, and therapeutic environments for all students, including those experiencing behavioral health challenges or sensory differences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During his visit, Commissioner Martinez took a tour of the SIR and attended a demonstration session, experiencing how the state-of-the-art technology works to help students manage anxiety, decompress, improve their mindsets, and self-regulate while receiving support from trained counselors.\u00a0Commissioner Martinez also spoke with students and staff about the implementation of the SIR, and its positive impact on the school community since its opening in October 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled that The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts is continuing to fund the Southbridge CARES Project,\u201d said Nadia Ward, project co-director and executive director of Clark University\u2019s Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise.&nbsp;&nbsp;\u201cWe\u2019ve enjoyed working with school administrators, teachers, and students at Southbridge High; it is truly amazing and incredibly rewarding to see firsthand how all three of our behavioral health interventions have transformed the lives of the students in this community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to welcome Commissioner Martinez to Southbridge High School to learn more about the CARES project and observe the sensory immersion room in action,\u201d said Judy Maisonet, project co-director and assistant superintendent of\u00a0Southbridge Public Schools.\u00a0\u201cThis initiative reflects our deep commitment to caring for the whole child and ensuring every student feels safe, supported, and ready to learn.\u00a0We are proud of the meaningful difference this work is making in the lives of our students each day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) initiative is reaching up to 400 students across grades 9 through 12 and stimulating mental, personal, and academic growth and achievement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts has announced an additional $400,000 grant for Southbridge CARES, a mental health initiative at Southbridge High School implemented in partnership with Clark\u2019s Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":27333,"template":"","meta":{"story_color":"var(--clarku-color-purple)","story_headerImg":27333,"section_label":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[246,245],"displayed_author":[498],"featured":[494],"topic":[],"class_list":["post-27332","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-wellbeing","category-social-sciences","displayed_author-clark-news-staff","featured-secondary"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Health Foundation of Central Mass. invests additional 400K in Southbridge CARES | ClarkU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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Haddock, director of behavioral health initiatives and programs at the Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise at Clark University, Nadia Ward, project co-director and executive director of the Mosakowski Institute, Amie Shei, president and CEO of The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts, Stefania Doucette, principal of Southbridge High School, DESE Commissioner Pedro Martinez, and Bill Metzger, receiver\\\/superintendent of Southbridge Public Schools, in the Sensory Immersion Room at Southbridge High School on March 3.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/story\\\/27332#breadcrumbs\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":0,\"name\":\"ClarkU\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"ClarkU 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