Cummings offers heating stipends to employees

By Maureen Sullivan Assistant Editor

MARLBOROUGH - According to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, home heating costs will reach the highest level in more than 10 years this winter.

An affiliate of the New Horizons at Marlborough senior living community has pledged to support its staff during this challenging time. The Cummings Organization has announced a heating stipend for employees of up to $184 per month from January through March 2023.

“We recognize the financial strain of increased heating costs for our colleagues and hope this new benefit will provide some measure of relief,” said Cummings chairman and CEO Dennis Clarke. “This offering is one way to thank Cummings and New Horizons team members for their valuable contributions to our organization’s success.”

NEADA projects that compared to last year heating oil is up 25% and natural gas increased 31%, making home heating costs increasingly unaffordable.

To help offset this anticipated cost, Cummings colleagues will receive a stipend of $1 for every hour worked, up to a maximum of $40 per week, from Jan. 1 to April 1. About half of Cummings’ 650-person staff is employed by commercial real estate firm Cummings Properties, and the others by Cummings Foundation’s two not-for-profit senior living communities, New Horizons at Choate (in Woburn) and New Horizons at Marlborough.

The total payout is expected to be nearly $440,000.

Cody Steele is a member of the maintenance team at New Horizons and a resident of Lunenburg.

“I appreciate that the company is helping out in this way; it just blew me away,” he said. “My rent just got raised, and this eases the pain of that.”

The organization also leads the Cummings Community Giving, which is an annual philanthropic initiative under which employees are invited to choose a local charity to receive a donation from Cummings. This holiday season, colleagues had the opportunity to choose two nonprofits to receive a donation of $1,000 each.

The two New Horizons senior living communities and the large majority of Cummings buildings are owned by Cummings Foundation, which grants more than $30 million a year to local nonprofits.

“We are a mission-driven organization, focused on supporting the communities in which we operate. Our commit- ment to employees is an important part of that,” said Clarke. “In addition to competitive salaries and traditional benefits like health insurance, we hope that personally meaningful supplemental benefits make colleagues feel even more appreciated.”

More information is available at www.cummings.com.