Boston Foundation, United Way, other funders join to strengthen, extend summer programs for city teens

Boston –The Boston Foundation and United Way of Massachusetts Bay and 10 other local funders have joined together to provide $500,000 to expand programs serving at-risk youth in Boston this summer. The Summer Safety Funding Collaborative announced the grants to 41 agencies serving more than 4,000 young people in Boston at the Blue Hill Boys and Girls Club of Boston on Talbot Avenue in Dorchester today.

Partnering with the Boston Foundation and the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, through its Today’s Girls … Tomorrow’s Leaders Initiative, are the Barr Foundation, the Baupost Group, the Clipper Ship Foundation, the Foundation to be Named Later, the Hyams Foundation, the Klarman Family Foundation, the Lenny Zakim Fund, the Linde Family Foundation, the Ruth and Carl Shapiro Family Foundation, and the Yawkey Foundation.

“Boston is well served by organizations in neighborhoods across the city that can provide thoughtful and effective programming to help keep our young people safe this summer,” said Paul Grogan, President and CEO of the Boston Foundation. “This summer everyone needs to do more, and this partnership makes that possible.”

The programs selected for funding serve young people across the city, and include a new focus on serving girls.

“There is an alarming trend of increasing violence and delinquency among high-risk girls,” said Milton J. Little, Jr., President and CEO at United Way of Massachusetts Bay.  “This funding will allow many effective programs that are designed specifically to engage girls through sports, recreation and leadership development activities to continue operating throughout the summer or to expand to serve more girls.  These new resources reflect a tremendous spirit of collaboration in our city.”

The funding will bolster efforts at 15 major organizations, including five YMCAs, two Boys & Girls Clubs, as well as nine Boston Community Center sites. It will enable existing programs to remain open later in the evening—until midnight in the case of the Dorchester Boys and Girls Club—and will put an additional nine street outreach workers into targeted neighborhoods deemed especially at risk.

“We all need to work together to keep young people in Boston safe and secure this summer, and good summer programs in the neighborhoods are an important part of the solution,” said Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who attended the event today. “I want to thank the Boston Foundation, United Way and the other foundations for answering the City of Boston’s call to action on this.  This will help the city serve as many young people as possible.”

The list of specific programs and organizations that received grants from the Summer Safety Funding Collaborative includes the following:

Action for Boston Community Development-- $18,000
For support of the Girls Production in Radio, Internet, Newsletter, and Television program (Dorchester)

Bird Street Community Center-- $21,000
 For the Summer in the City program (Dorchester)

Boston Center's for Youth & Families-- $40,000
 For the Street Outreach/Program expansion

Boston Community Learning Center -- $9,000
 For the Extended Summer School Program (Boston)

Boston Learning Center-- $7,500
 For the BIFF Millionaire's Bootcamp (Boston)

Boston Urban Youth Foundation--$7,500
 For support of the Building Futures Educational Initiative Program (Boston)

Boys and Girls Club- Charlestown-- $25,000
 For Extended Hours (Charlestown)

Boys and Girls Club of Boston – Dorchester-- $25,000
 To support extended summer operations at the Blue Hill Club (Dorchester)

Bridge Over Troubled Waters-- $6,000
 For the Artistic Expressions through Dance  program (Boston)

Brookview House-- $7,500
 For the Teen Leadership/Sportsman Tennis program (Boston)

Castle Square Tenants Organization-- $10,000
 For the Peace on the Move Program (South End)

Catholic Charities-- $10,000
 For support of expanded summer hours at the St. Peter's Teen Center (Dorchester)

Children’s Services of Roxbury-- $10,000
 For the Youth and Police in Partnership (Boston)

CityKicks-- $15,000
 For the "Soccer Is Safer" program (Boston)

Dimock Community Health Center-- $7,500
 For the Teen Center (Boston)

Dorchester Family YMCA-- $10,000
 To support extended hours for teens (Dorchester)

Dotwell-- $21,000
 For support of the Summer Extended Hours Program for Teens (Dorchester)

Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative-- $7,500
 For the GOTCHA program (Dorchester)

E.S.A.C-- $7,500
 For the GED Plus summer program (Jamaica Plain)

East Boston YMCA-- $10,000
 For After Hours Program and for support of the Summer Safety Initiative (East  Boston)

Egleston Square Youth Center YMCA-- $10,000
 To support expansion of Teen Center Hours (Jamaica Plain)

Ella J. Baker House-- $10,000
 For expanded summer hours for Youth Programs (Dorchester)

Generation Excel-- $10,000
 For Summer Basketball League (Jamaica Plain)

Haitian American Public Health Initiative-- $7,500
 For Haitian School Success Summer Leadership Program (Mattapan)

Hull Lifesaving Museum--$7,500
 For the Home Waters program (Boston)

Hyde Square Task Force-- $21,000
 For the Youth Dance After Hours program (Jamaica Plain)

Mattapan CDC-- $20,000
 For the Building Trades / New Beginnings Program (Mattapan)

Metro Boston Alive-- $7,500
 For the Damien Funderburg - Emmanuel Wilson Mentorship Camps (Boston)

MetroLacrosse-- $7,500
 For the H.S. Summer Lacrosse Camp (Boston)

Partners in Health-- $15,000
 For support of the Prevention and Access to Care and Treatment's Strengthening Our
 Collaborative Action (SOCA) Program (Dorchester)

Project Hip-Hop-- $7,500
 To expand Drop-in Nights during the summer (South End)

Project R.I.G.H.T-- $10,000
 For Outreach/Basketball programs and the Swirls Double Dutch Programs (Dorchester)

Roxbury Multi-Service Center-- $19,000
 For the Girls Connect to the Future program (Roxbury)

Roxbury YMCA-- $10,000
 For the Teen Center’s SAFENIGHTS Friday program (Roxbury)

Salvation Army (South End)-- $10,000
 For the South End Service Center serving (South End)

Spontaneous Celebrations-- $7,500
 For the Extended Academic Year Programs  (Jamaica Plain)

The Fishing Academy--$7,500
 For the Community Collaborative Late PM Fishing Trips program (Boston)

The Home for Little Wanderers-- $10,000
 For the Media Awareness & Youth Entrepreneurship program (Dorchester)

Urban Dreams-- $7,500
 For the "Ladies 1st Summer Café" (Dorchester)

Wang Center YMCA-- $10,000
 To support expansion of Teen Center Hours serving the (South End)
 
ZUMIX--$10,000
 For the "Hands On" Youth Development Program (East Boston)

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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 an endowment of over $730 million.  In 2005, the Foundation and its donors made more than $60 million in grants to nonprofit organizations and received gifts of more than $70 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.