June 8, 2007

Boston Foundation, United Way, announce added support of summer programs for at-risk city teens

State, local funders provide $840K to expand evening, weekend programs

Boston – Neighborhood-based organizations that provide safe and constructive summertime activities for thousands of Boston youth will receive a total of more than $840,000 in grants from the Boston Foundation, United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley and a host of other area foundations and individuals today. This funding will enable proven programs to add evening and weekend hours this summer, when young people are in greatest need of a safe place to be. More than 75 organizations distributed across city neighborhoods are included in the program, to ensure that all Boston teenagers have safe places to spend time and programs to engage their interest.

The announcement of the grants was made Friday, June 8, at an event at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston Roxbury facility attended by Mayor Thomas M. Menino as well as a representative from the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, which contributed $250,000 to the Summer Safety initiative.

“Young people need constructive activities made available to them during the summer when school is out,” said Paul S. Grogan, President and CEO of the Boston Foundation. “There are a host of programs with proven track records that can make this season a positive experience during the evenings when experience shows they are most at risk. This program builds on that record of success, serving the young people who represent our future.”

Support from the state helped to boost the total amount of funding, and the number of programs that could be supported.

"On behalf of Governor Deval Patrick, we are delighted to partner for the first time with the Boston Foundation and contribute $250,000 in state resources towards this very important summer safety initiative," said Tina Brooks, the state's Undersecretary of Housing and Community Development. "Our thanks also go to the Black Ministerial Alliance for helping to make this partnership possible."   

The Summer Safety Collaborative complements the work of the City of Boston, which recently announced $300,000 in funding for Boston R.O.C.K.S!, which provides recreational opportunities for city youth. More information on that program is available online at the city’s website at http://www.bostonyouthzone.com.

“ Boston is committed to the safety and development of our young people and the more activities and programming we can offer them this summer the better,” said Mayor Thomas Menino. “From jobs to sports to camps, we have an incredible range of opportunities for our teens to grow and learn all summer long.”

Grogan noted that the support of the first Summer Safety Collaborative in 2006 encouraged the development of extended hours in evenings and on weekends—and that organizations began to change their practices as a result, making an ongoing commitment to city youth when the need is greatest.

“To cite just one example, last year, Summer Safety Collaborative funding enabled the Boys & Girls Clubs to extend their hours, and this year, they have kept those extended hours since May,” Grogan said. “This is a real tribute to the impact of this kind of civic collaboration—philanthropy making a real difference in the lives of our children.”

The money will help to fund a total of 75 grantees this summer, representing more than 16,000 hours of extended programming. This builds on existing programs that serve more than 8,000 teenagers, including 39 programs designed specifically for girls, a particular focus of concern for United Way of Massachusetts Bay.

“Overall, we want to ensure that girls and boys continue to be surrounded by caring, supportive adults during the summer months,” said Milton J. Little, Jr., president and chief executive officer at UWMB/MV. “The growing number of young women involved in the criminal justice system also gives increased urgency to our goal of ensuring girls feel safe in their neighborhoods and that they are provided alternatives to violent or destructive behavior. We applaud our city’s youth-serving organizations for developing sustainable programs that will excite and engage our young people and are proud to support their work.”

The sheer number of organizations—and sites—that can expand services because of Summer Safety funding is notable. They include nine YMCAs, 14 Boston Centers for Youth and Families, seven Boys and Girls Clubs, as well as programs such as the First Hoops Network, which draws large numbers of girls, in particular. Together, these programs create a network of safe and constructive opportunities to include young people in every neighborhood in Boston.

“These are anchor institutions,” said Richard Ward, Director of Grantmaking for the Boston Foundation. “They offer a whole variety of programs plus opportunities for young people to connect with leaders and mentors in their own neighborhood—this is a community building program as well as a Summer Safety program.”

Other examples of programs supported by the Summer Safety Collaborative include:

• Dance instruction and arts and cultural workshops sponsored by a collaboration among the Hyde Square Task Force, the South Jamaica Plain Health Centers, Bromley Heath Cheer & Dance Saints All-Stars Urban Edge, the Martha Eliot Community Health Center and Berklee School of Music. A total of 75 young people will be able to take part in dance instruction, writing and painting workshops and other recreational activities including sports, based at the Mozart Park, a popular hangout spot for teens in Hyde Square.
• The Fishing Academy, a very popular activity that teaches young people to fish in Boston’s inner harbor. Last year a special version of the Academy developed for girls proved particularly appealing.
• Filmmaking and digital storytelling will be provided by ROCA, a program based in Chelsea, serving Chelsea, Revere and East Boston. ROCA engages teens considered at particularly high-risk, included those who have been involved with gangs, served jail time or have struggled with drug abuse.

Major donors to the Summer Safety Collaborative in addition to the Boston Foundation and United Way include individual donors who use the Boston Foundation to accomplish their private philanthropy, who together gave $100,000 to the program. Other contributors included the Yawkey Foundation, the Barr Foundation, the Cabot Family Charitable Trust, the Boston Globe Foundation, the Hyams Foundation, the Klarman Family Foundation, the Linde Family Foundation, the Foundation To Be Named later, the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation, the Lenny Zakim Fund and the Clipper Ship Foundation.

The following programs received funding through Summer Safety Collaboration:

Appalachian Mountain Club, $10,000,For Youth Opportunities Program

Bird Street Community Center, $17,000, For Summer Creative Expression for Peace

Black Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston, Inc., $18,000, For Workshops, technical assistance

Boston Asian: Youth Essential Service, $10,000, For expanded summer hours

Boston Centers for Youth and Families (14 sites), $10,000 each to extend summer hours

Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, $8,000, For faces of Chinatown and South End program

Boston Learning Center, Inc., $10,000, For the Girls Connection Program

Boston Neighborhood Network Television, $14,000, For Teen TV Summer Program

Bowdoin Street Health Center, $7,500, For the Growing Through Loss Program

Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, Inc.-Blue Hill, $20,000, For extended summer hours

Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, Inc. – Charlestown, $19,000, For extended summer hours

Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, Inc. –Roxbury/Yawkey, $20,000, For extended summer hours

Brookview House, Inc., $10,000, For the Teen Visionaries Program

Castle Square Tenants Organization, Inc., $10,000, For Peace on the Move

Catholic Charitable Bureau of the Archdiocese of Boston, Inc., $15,000, For the Teen Center at St. Peter’s

Centro Presente, Inc., $9,000, To expand its We Paint Our World program

Children’s Services of Roxbury, Inc., $10,000, Youth and Police In Partnership Program

CityKicks, Inc., $10,000, for Soccer is Safer Program for Girls

City Mission Society, $10,000, For the Humboldt Youth Partnering for Empowerment

ColonelDaniel Marr Boys and Girls Club, $20,000, for the Safe Summer Program

Dimock Community Health Center, Inc., $10,000, Dimock Teen Center

Dorchester Community Center for the Visual Arts, $15,000, For Sisters for Change Program

Dotwell, $15,000, for Dotwell/DYC For Safe Summer for Teens

Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, Inc., $10,000, For the GOTCHA Collaborative

Ella J. Baker House, $10,000, For the Examined Life Project

Federated Dorchester Neighborhood Houses, Inc., $10,000, For the Summer Girls Groups

First Hoops Network, $10,000, for the Girls Hoops and Network Nights Program

Fishing Academy, Inc. $10,000, For the Roxbury-Dorchester Collaborative to expand the number of fishing trips

Fourth Presbyterian Church, $19,000, For an expanded Youth Center

Franklin Park Coalition, Inc. $10,000, For Drop-in Youth Sports Night

Friends of Rafael Hernandez School, Inc. $10,000, Arts in the Park

Generation Excel. $10,000, Summer Do the Write Thing Girls Program

Girls' Leap Self Defense, Inc. $4,000 For LEAP Programs at Yawkey Club of Roxbury

Haitian American Public Health Initiatives, Inc. $10,000, For Haitian School Success Program

Hawthorne Youth and Community Center, Inc., $9,000, For Summer Scene 2007

HydeSquare Task Force, Inc., $10,000, For Youth Dance After Hours Program

Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion, Inc., $15,000, For the Cacique Youth Learning Center Program

Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers, $9,000, For Dorchester Youth Girls Program

MetroBoston Alive, Inc., $8,000, For Mentorship Basketball Camp and League

MissionSAFE: A New Beginning, Inc., $15,000, For YLSC Summer Programs

Project R.I.G.H.T., Inc., $18,000, For Grove Hall Community Building Initiative

Project: Think Different, $5,000, To expand the Summer Youth Media Institute

ROCA, Inc., $10,000, For ROCA Summer Media Project

Roxbury Multi-Service Center, Inc., $10,000, For the Extended Day Program

Salvation Army - South End, $10,000, For the Teen Evening Enrichment Program

Social Justice Education, $8,000, For the Power of Peace Collaborative

Sociedad Latina, Inc., $10,000, For the Unique Rhythm Program

South Boston Neighborhood House, Inc., $18,000, For expanded hours for South Boston Summer Collaborative

Sportsmen's Tennis Club, Inc., $10,000, For Girls Friday Night Out

Straight Ahead Ministries, Inc., $15,000, For Summer Safety Re-entry Initiative

Teen Voices, $10,000, For the Journalism, Leadership and Writing Program

United South End Settlements, $10,000, For the Arts Incentives Program

West End House Boys & Girls Club, $17,500, For the safe Summer program

YMCA of Greater Boston – Central, $10,000, For the Summer Safety Initiative

YMCA of Greater Boston – Dorchester, $10,000, For the “Get Summer” Program

YMCA of Greater Boston - East Boston, $10,000, For the Summer Safety Initiative

YMCA of Greater Boston - Egleston Square, $10,000, For the “Get Summer” Program

YMCA of Greater Boston - Hyde Park, $9,000, For the Summer Safety Initiative

YMCA of Greater Boston - Oak Square, $10,000, For the Summer Safety Initiative

YMCA of Greater Boston – Roxbury, $10,000, For the “Get Summer” Program

YMCA of Greater Boston – Wang, $9,000, For the “Get Summer” Program

YMCA of Greater Boston - West Roxbury and Roslindale, $9,000, For the “Get Summer” Program

Youth Enrichment Services, Inc., $18,000, For the SOS Summer of Safety Program

The Boston Foundation, Greater Boston’s community foundation, is one of the oldest and largest community foundations in the nation, with assets of over $830 million. In 2006, the Foundation and its donors made more than $70 million in grants to nonprofit organizations and received gifts of $71 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.

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United Way of Massachusetts Bay (UWMB), a nonprofit organization with a proven track record for mitigating risk factors contributing to early childhood, adolescent and adult problems is the largest United Way in New England.  Unmatched in expertise and understanding of the ingredients for successful management in community service organizations, UWMB raises and guides the investment of close to $40 million dollars annually, in a portfolio of community based organizations that strive to create positive impact for individuals across the Greater Boston area. For more information, please visit www.uwmb.org.