Boston Foundation announces $200,000 in grants targeting youth summer employment and opportunities

Boston – The Boston Foundation today announced its summer grants docket made through the My Summer in the City and grassroots grantmaking programs. In addition to substantial commitments to Camp Harbor View ($50,000) and The Summer Fund, hosted by Philanthropy Massachusetts ($25,000), the My Summer in the City docket features $200,000 in smaller grants to more than 20 organizations that seek to support opportunities for 12-to-14-year-olds and other young people otherwise excluded from other summer programs.

“My Summer in the City strives to help ensure that all young people in and around the city of Boston have summer opportunities to learn new skills and get access to experiences, employment and supports that can help them not just in the summer, but further into their academic and professional careers,” said Orlando Watkins, Vice President for Program at the Boston Foundation. “We hope our grants can help many of these small but vital programs gain a higher profile and generate more donations for their remarkable work throughout the city.”

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.

My Summer in the City is making grants to:

Foundation for Boston Centers for Youth & Families - $15,000
The BCYF summer program engages 275 youth in activities and programs that meet their interests and build their skills in visual arts, sports, dance, technology etc. The program runs for 6 weeks, with each week focusing on a specific skill set.

Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA)- $15,000
PBHA’s Summer Urban Program, or SUP, is a network of 10 summer camps at 11 different sites across Boston and Cambridge for seven weeks each summer. SUP is staffed by 130 college students and 90 local high schoolers. Each summer welcomes more than 800 young people ages six to 13.

St. Stephen's Youth Programs - $15,000
The B-SAFE Program (The Bishop’s Summer Academic & Enrichment Program) is a five-week, full-day academic and enrichment program serving young people from first grade through high school.  The program runs ten programs in six Boston area neighborhoods.  Each site will include academic programs in reading, writing and math; visual and performing art workshops; science activities; recreational activities; and many field trips.

African Community Economic Development of New England (ACEDONE) - $10,000
The summer learning program held at the Hannagan K-8 school serves 100 youth. The program is centered on social, emotional, and academic development of K-8 children under the supervision and mentorship of young adults.

Bikes Not Bombs, Inc. - $10,000
Bicyclists Organizing for Community Action (BOCA) provides youth with the opportunity to reflect upon and assess their own experiences and community needs as a basis for initiating social change around the cycling-related concerns of Boston’s most disenfranchised communities. Participants of BOCA emerge with skills in action research, public speaking, lobbying, organizing, and urban planning, while acquiring a sense of themselves, individually as well as collectively as formidable social actors and active citizens.

Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, Inc. (BCNC) - $10,000
The Youth Center during the summer months works with the City of Boston’s Department of Youth Engagement & Employment (DYEE) and My Summer in the City to employ 27 youth across the agency, offering weekly professional development and coaching for youth employees.

Cape Verdean Community UNIDO - $10,000
CVC UNIDO’s Youth Leadership Academy seeks to foster leadership skills among Cape Verdean Youth.  The seven-week program provides teens the opportunity to develop their opinions and put their beliefs into action towards the social change they desire.  Youth develop research skills, write and practice public speaking, participate in on-going community projects, and host a culminating Youth Summit.

Caribbean Youth Club - $10,000
The Haitian Youth Initiative (HYI) supports Afro-Caribbean immigrant and refugee youth, ages 16-19, to access summer employment, build leadership skills and engage in safe evening recreation.

Center to Support Immigrant Organizing - $10,000
The CSIO Youth Ubuntu Program (YUP) engages 90 teens from underrepresented backgrounds. YUP gives teen and young adult grassroots leadership skills in facilitation, community organizing, root cause analysis, and teen-led workshops on anti-Muslim Racism and roots of migration.

Hyde Square Task Force - $10,000
Jóvenes en Acción/Youth in Action (JEA), combines intensive, year-round Afro-Latin arts training in music, dance, or theatre; mentoring, tutoring, and other college and career preparation activities; and civic engagement training. JEA offers a summer employment component in which youth work 16-20 hours per week as JEA Youth Leaders and use their training to develop enrichment arts, cultural, and civic engagement activities that benefit the community.

My Life My Choice - $10,000
The Survivor Mentoring Program is a unique seven-week program for exploited youth that seeks to provide structured summer jobs and leadership development. Young girls served through the program will build the intangible skills that they need to be successful, healthy adults: self-worth, a positive self-image, the ability to trust, and the tools to know how and where to seek help when they need it.

Sociedad Latina - $10,000
Sociedad Latina’s Summer Bridge Academy engages rising 9th graders who are Latino, English Learners, and youth of color in academic instruction, college access support, career exploration activities, and service learning projects throughout the summer.

The City School - $10,000
The Summer Leadership Program provides young people aged 14-19 with an exciting, powerful and life-changing summer of community building, political education and leadership development.

YMCA of Greater Boston/East Boston Branch - $8,000
The YMCA East Boston branch is committed to providing summer enrichment activities with a specific focus on aquatic lessons. Young teens who were previously campers themselves are trained to become camp counselors/swim instructors over the summer months.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston (BGCB) - $7,500
BGCB’s Young Leaders and Counselor in Training Programs at hire young adults, many who have gone through the program as campers, to provide stipends for work-type responsibilities, such as assisting younger campers, chaperoning field trips, and administrative tasks.  Youth counselors are also required to participate in trainings focused on career exploration, conflict resolution, and community involvement.

Hawthorne Youth and Community Center - $7,500
The Hawthorne Youth and Community Center (HYCC) will employ 6 youth through a culturally responsive youth employment, urban gardening, fitness and nutrition program that reaches over 150 children, youth and families in the Highland Park, Roxbury neighborhood.

Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion - $7,500
IBA’s Youth Development Program (YDP) stipends high school teenagers who are interested in creating positive change in the community. Youth served through the program partake in workshops centered on community building, art, and leadership. Youth leaders work on community action projects in order to put their skills to use.

Transformative Culture Project - $7,500
Beyond Creative's summer program is an intensive creative workshop and summer jobs program in creative digital media. Youth work on personal and community projects through video and photography to increase their community awareness, sense of self and career readiness.

UMass Boston Immigrant Student Program Summer Leadership Institute - $7,500
The UMass Boston Immigrant Student Program Summer Leadership Institute summer directly serves 11 undergraduate students, and offers 10 undergraduate DACA, TPS and other vulnerable immigrant students from UMB the opportunity to participate in an intensive leadership development training over 4 days. This training will teach them leadership, organizational, team building, and mentoring skills that they will then use as peer mentors throughout the 2018-2019 academic year.

Sportsmen’s Tennis and Enrichment Center - $5,000
Sportsmen’s Tennis and Enrichment Center is engaging 10 youth ages 12-14 from the Dorchester, Mattapan and Roxbury community to serve as counselors-in-training for Volley Against Violence (VAV) and weekend community tennis programs. The program provides a positive pre-employment experience that builds their skills, nurtures their leadership and prepares them for future work opportunities while at the same time supporting programming that makes a positive impact in the community.

Triangle Inc. - $4,500
Triangle, Inc.’s summer Career Pathway program gives up to 15 students the chance to learn employment skills and specialized culinary arts training and credentialing, as well as a chance to explore different parts of the food world through culinary exploration days. These students will be placed into career-track jobs throughout Greater Boston after completing the program.