Boston Foundation announces grants for summer programs for at-risk city youths: Funders join in $750K fund to expand positive opportunities
June 18, 2008
Boston –More than 70 organizations that provide safe, supervised programs for city youth after school during the summer will receive financial support enabling them to expand their hours of operation. This is the third year that funders, led by the Boston Foundation, have made an investment beyond their usual funding of summer programs to combat an increase in violence.
The funding and the names of programs that will receive grants were announced today at the Roxbury YMCA, at an event attended by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. The Governor was represented by Tina Brooks, Undersecretary for Housing and Community Development in the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.
“This funding is a vote of confidence in our city and in the young people we all care about,” said Paul S. Grogan, President and CEO of the Boston Foundation. “The opportunity to change the culture, and invite worthy organizations to expand to meet the needs of young people has been matched by the generosity of these funders.”
In addition to the Boston Foundation and individual donors of the Foundation, support was provided by the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley; the Yawkey Foundation, Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development; the Barr Foundation; the Clipper Ship Foundation, the Foundation To Be Named Later; the Klarman Family Foundation; the Linde Family Foundation; the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation; and the Lenny Zakim Fund. The Greater Boston Food Bank also volunteered to serve as a partner for the program.
“I am thrilled that so many organizations collaborated to produce this terrific showing of support that will help ensure a safe summer for our youth,” said Mayor Menino. “By heeding my call to action, these local funders have raised an impressive amount of money to fund the hiring of additional youth and outreach workers, building program capacity, and extended hours at youth-serving facilities.”
Last summer, the Summer Safety program served an estimated 17,000 youth by making it possible for organizations with effective and popular programs to add days and hours to their schedules, especially on weekends, when concerns about the potential for violence was heightened.
“One of Governor Patrick's top priorities is to create a culture of opportunity for all by targeting resources to strengthen neighborhoods in Boston and communities all across the Commonwealth,” said DHCD Undersecretary Tina Brooks. “We are delighted to, once again, be a financial partner in the Summer Safety initiative because by working together, we can keep our neighborhoods safe and vibrant places in which one can live, work and raise a family.”
Program funding was concentrated in neighborhoods with a history of summer violence. That included the Dudley Square and Grove Hall areas of Roxbury; neighborhoods in the South End and Lower Roxbury; the Morton and Norfolk Street section of Dorchester; and the Bowdoin Street and Geneva Avenue sections of Dorchester. The organization ROCA, which serves young people in Chelsea, East Boston, Lynne and Revere also received funding. Centro Presente serves youth in Somerville.
The following programs received funding the Summer Safety program.
ACEDONE, $6,615 for a summer enrichment program
Appalachian Mountain Club, $10,000 for its Youth Opportunities Program
Artists for Humanity, $10,000 for its extended summer hours program
Bird Street Community Center, $10,000 for Summer Evenings at the Bird
Boston Asian: Youth Essential Service, $10,000 for Summer Learn + Adventure programs
Boston Centers for Youth and Family, for peace fellows, basketball league, girls programming and Boston at Night events at the following locations
- Blackstone, $10,000
- Grove Hall, $10,000
- Hennigan, $10,000
- Holland, $10,000
- Marshall, $10,000
- Mildred Avenue, $10,000
- Orchard Gardens, $10,000
- Tobin, $10,000
- Vine Street, $10,000
Boston Neighborhood Network Television, $12,000 for Teen TV Summer Program
Boston Ten Point Coalition, $10,000 for Trotter Park Summer of Fun program
Boston Urban Youth Foundation, $10,000 for Building Futures Summer program
Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston Blue Hill, $15,000 for extended summer operations
Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston Charlestown, $10,000 to extend hours at the club
Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston Roxbury/Yawkey, $15,000 for extended summer hours
Brookview House, Inc., $10,000 for the Homeless Youth Safety Project
Castle Square Tenants Association, $10,000 for the Peace on the Move program
Catholic Charitable Bureau of the Archdiocese of Boston, Inc., $10,000 for the Teen Center at St. Peter’s
Centro Presente, Inc., $10,000 to expand its We Paint Our World program
City Mission Society, $10,000 for the Humboldt Youth Partnering for Empowerment
Codman Square Neighborhood Development Center, $10,000 for the Girls Talk Development Program
Boys & Girls Club of Dorchester (also known as Colonel Daniel Marr Boys & Girls Club), $18,000 for the Safe Streets program
Dorchester Nazarene Compassionate Center, $7,500 for the DNCC Summer Safety program
Dotwell, $15,000 for Dotwell/Dorchester Youth Collaborative Safe Summer Program for Teens
Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, Inc., $11,875 for the GOTCHA Collaborative
East Boston Social Centers, $10,000 for the Boston Youth Network
Federated Dorchester Neighborhood Houses, $9,981 for the Adolescent Development Program
Fishing Academy, Inc., $10,000 for Hooked on Fishing 2008
Fourth Presbyterian Church, $10,000 for Summer Safe Teen Crib
Franklin Park Coalition, $10,000 to expand the Drop-in Youth Sports Night program
Friends of Rafael Hernandez School, Inc., $7,500 for Arts in the Park
Generation Excel, $10,000 for the Summer Odyssey Program
Haitian American Public Health Initiative, Inc., $7,500 for Haitian School Success
Hawthorne Youth and Community Center, $6,468 for the Summer Scene 2008 program
Hispanic Office of Planning and Evaluation, $10,000 for extended hours for the HOPE Steamroller Printmaking Project
Hull Life-Saving Museum, $5,045 to expand the Maritime Apprentice Program
Hyde Square Task Force, Inc., $10,000 for Summer Nights at the Cheverus
Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion, Inc., $10,000 for Cacique Youth Learning Center
Lower Roxbury Youth Collaborative, $15,000 for Lower Roxbury Summer Girls Program
Madison Park Development Corporation, $7,500 for summer dance and theater programs
Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers, $10,000 for Dorchester Youth Girls Program
Metro Boston Alive, Inc., $10,000 to provide a night-time basketball program
MissionSAFE: A New Beginning, Inc., $10,000 for summer teen nights, in collaboration with the Tobin Community Center
Phillips Brooks House Association, $9,828 for summer urban program
Project R.I.G.H.T., Inc., $10,000 for the basketball league in Grove Hall
Project Think Different, $7,500 to expand its empowerment program
Roxbury Multi-Service Center, Inc., $7,500 for expanding summer hours
Sociedad Latina, Inc., $10,000 for expanded summer hours
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, $10,000 for B-Safe Teen Counselor-in-Training employment program
Teen Empowerment, $9,748 for Egleston Square Teen café Series
The Home for Little Wanderers, $10,000 for Boston’s Hope and Federated Dorchester Neighborhood House’s Street Safe Boston Program
United South End Settlements, $10,000 for Artful Transformation Program
Villages Without Walls, $10,000 for the Greenwood project
West End House Boys & Girls Club, $10,000 for the Safe Summer program
YMCA of Greater Boston Central, $10,000 for the Get Summer program
YMCA of Greater Boston Chinatown, $10,000 for the Get Summer program
YMCA of Greater Boston Dorchester, $10,000 for the Get Summer program
YMCA of Greater Boston East Boston, $10,000 for the Get Summer program
YMCA of Greater Boston Egleston Square, $10,000 for the Get Summer program
YMCA of Greater Boston Hyde Park, $10,000 for the Get Summer program
YMCA of Greater Boston Oak Square, $10,000 for the Get Summer program
YMCA of Greater Boston Roxbury, $10,000 for the Get Summer program
YMCA of Greater Boston West Roxbury and Roslindale, $10,000 for the Get Summer program
Youth Enrichment Services, Inc., $9,408 for the Outdoor Adventure Program
Greater Roxbury Track Club, $7,500 to support a series of evening track clinics
Urban Dreams, Inc., $12,000 to support the free evening roller skating at the Chez Vous Roller Rink
ROCA, $8,000 to support outreach, leadership groups and activities in Chelsea
The Boston Foundation, $18,532 to support community picnics, neighborhood events and small grants in high-impact neighborhoods
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The Boston Foundation, Greater Boston’s community foundation, is one of the oldest and largest community foundations in the nation, with assets of over $964 million. In 2007, the Foundation and its donors made more than $92 million in grants to nonprofit organizations and received gifts of more than $155 million. The Foundation is made up of some 850 separate charitable funds established by donors either for the general benefit of the community or for special purposes. The Boston Foundation also serves as a major civic leader, provider of information, convener, and sponsor of special initiatives designed to address the community’s and region’s most pressing challenges. For more information about the Boston Foundation, visit www.tbf.org or call 617-338-1700.