After 15 years, a program on Cape Cod that teaches mindfulness skills to children in schools is shutting down.
Since its founding in 2010, Calmer Choice has taught an estimated 45,000 children across Cape Cod how to breathe deeply and settle their minds in the face of stressful situations. At the program’s busiest in 2017, it served 17 schools across seven school districts.
The organization also serves adults through different programming.
On March 17, Calmer Choice announced they would be shutting down effective May 31, but said they hoped to raise enough money to finish out the school year.
In recent years, the non-profit had trouble raising its annual budget of nearly $1 million but had managed to survive until now.
Executive director Sarah Manion told CAI it wasn’t a single factor that led to the difficult decision to close. Still, looming cuts to federal education grants created a gap that was too big to fill.
“To set the stage,” she said, “There are 2,700 nonprofits on Cape Cod, with more starting every year. In this environment, already there are not enough funders to support all of us.”
The problem of stiff competition for donors was compounded as COVID relief money ended.
Then came an announcement that the Trump Administration would be cutting education funding, which Manion says is likely to hit Cape Cod hard. Other funders started reconsidering their support of Calmer Choice when they heard about the cuts. And schools said weren’t sure they could spend the money on the program next year.
“You can understand how schools are really questioning whether they can invest in Calmer Choice when they need to ensure that they are able to pay their teachers,” she said. “It is an impossible decision.”
Schools pay 25 percent of the bill for the 8-week Calmer Choice program, while the nonprofit picks up the other 75 percent of the cost through fundraising. Calmer Choice has four full-time and 10 part-time employees.
Manion notes that the 2024 Barnstable County Children’s Behavior Health Needs Assessment found anxiety is a top concern among young people. The report cited Calmer Choice programming as a strategy for addressing this concern.
“Frankly, what we are feeling right now is deep sadness — a lot of grief — for losing this work for ourselves, and for the community, and for our schools. We are so aware that we are in the midst of an escalating mental health and collective wellbeing crisis,” she said.
“To have to make a decision to not continue in the face of this, is truly, truly, heartbreaking.”
