Boston Foundation announces nearly $270,000 in grants targeting youth summer employment and opportunities

Read an article appearing in Inside Philanthropy that discusses the importance of summer jobs for young people and cites My Summer in the City as an example.

Boston – The Boston Foundation today announced its summer grants docket made through the My Summer in the City and grassroots grant-making programs. In addition to substantial commitments to Camp Harbor View ($50,000) and The Summer Fund, hosted by Associated Grant Makers ($25,000), the docket features grants to nearly two dozen organizations that provide more than 700 jobs to Boston-area youth this summer.

“Summer jobs have become an all-too-scarce commodity in some communities – we are able to provide flexible dollars that will allow our partners to offer pre-employment opportunities to our 13- and 14-year-olds who so often feel too old for camp but not quite ready for summer employment, and employment opportunities to our most vulnerable youth which includes LGBTQ, immigrant, homeless and court involved young people,” said Paul S. Grogan, President and CEO of the Boston Foundation.

“We also want to ensure that summer employment opportunities get extended beyond the summer application deadlines that can easily be missed due to the complexity of their day to day lives.   My Summer in the City creates access for young people to gain work experience and develop real skills, while giving them opportunities to learn and expand their horizons,” Grogan added.

The programs funded by the My Summer in the City and grassroots grants will receive between $5,000 and $20,000, with a target of supporting employment for young people between 13 and 18 years old who might not otherwise have job opportunities this summer.

The grant amounts and recipients are below:

Transformative Culture Project - $7,500
Sustainability Guild International - $7,500
Medicine Wheel Productions - $7,500
Pleasant Hill Baptist Church - $7,500
YMCA of Greater Boston - $7,500
Catholic Charities - $7,500
Caribbean Youth Club - $7,500
United Somali Youth - $7,000
Dorchester Family YMCA - $5,250

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The Boston Foundation, Greater Boston’s community foundation, is one of the largest community foundations in the nation, with net assets of some $1 billion. In 2016, the Foundation and its donors made $100 million in grants to nonprofit organizations and received gifts of more than $107 million. In celebration of its Centennial in 2015, the Boston Foundation launched the ongoing Campaign for Boston to strengthen the Permanent Fund for Boston, the principal endowment fund focused on the most pressing needs of Greater Boston. The Foundation is proud to be a partner in philanthropy, with more than 1,000 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, think tank and advocacy organization, commissioning research into the most critical issues of our time and helping to shape public policy designed to advance opportunity for everyone in Greater Boston. The Philanthropic Initiative (TPI), a distinct operating unit of the Foundation, designs and implements customized philanthropic strategies for families, foundations and corporations around the globe. For more information about the Boston Foundation and TPI, visit tbf.org or call 617-338-1700.