Boston Foundation announces ‘My Summer in the City’ grants for 2012 with a focus on Parks and Programs
July 13, 2012
Nearly $600,000 in grants create jobs, summer opportunities for youth – parks and open spaces programs begin this week
Boston – The Boston Foundation, Greater Boston’s community foundation, has announced the organizations that will receive nearly $600,000 this summer to provide summer programs and summer jobs for youth in the city of Boston. Summer programs begin this week, with special events planned in neighborhoods throughout Boston during July and August.
More than 30 Boston-area organizations will receive grants as part of My Summer in the City, an initiative developed and coordinated by the Boston Foundation and funded in conjunction with other local philanthropic organizations.
Together, the grant recipients will create programming in 17 Boston parks and open spaces and create more than 300 summer jobs for youth in the city of Boston. At an event on June 28th, Paul S. Grogan, President and CEO of the Boston Foundation, said that more than 60 of those jobs will be allocated to young people with CORI records, who are among the most disadvantaged when seeking summer employment.
“The funding we are able to provide each summer through My Summer in the City gives many of Boston’s great neighborhood organizations the resources to expand their summer programs, while creating much-needed jobs for young people across the city,” said Grogan. “We are pleased to be working with dozens of great local organizations to create programs and opportunities for a third year.”
Launched in 2010, My Summer in the City (MSITC) seeks to ensure that a range of quality summer programs and activities are available to Boston’s youth and families throughout the summer months. The initiative supports a diverse range of programming, reflecting the unique character of the city’s many neighborhoods, with four core elements:
- Programs and activities are based in neighborhood parks and outdoor spaces;
- Programming takes place during non-traditional, extended hours – weekday evenings and nights after 5pm, and on weekends;
- Employment opportunities are created for youth and young adults; and
- Organizations work collaboratively with local community partners to provide programming in a selected open space.
The 2012 grantees include:
ACEDONE
Black Ministerial Alliance
Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center
Boston Housing Authority
Boston Neighborhood Network
Caribbean Youth Club
Charlestown Against Drugs
CollegeBound Dorchester
Community of Minority Center
Dorchester Youth Collaborative
Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative
East Boston Athletic Board
Ella J. Baker House
Family Services of Greater Boston
Franklin Park Coalition
Freedom House
Hawthorne Youth & Community Center
Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción
Madison Park Development Corporation
Mattapan Pop WarnerMedicine Wheel Productions
Metro Boston Alive
North End Against Drugs
Patriot Girl Scouts
Pleasant Hill Baptist Church
Project Right
ROC
Sisters At Work
City of Somerville
Sportsmen's Tennis and Enrichment Center
St. Peters Teen Center
St. Stephens Episocpal Church
Strand Theatre (City of Boston)
Teen Challenge
Ten Point Coalition
Uphams Corner Community Center
West End House
YMCA of Greater Boston
Youth Design
Funding for 2012 programs was enhanced by generous donations from the Yawkey Foundation, the Barr Foundation, an anonymous corporate donor and several individual donors.
A schedule of the events for the “Parks and Open Spaces” grantees is attached. Many of the outdoor programs will be featured in a video to be produced by Boston Neighborhood Network this summer. Call the contacts for each organization to learn more about their summer programming plans.
For an interactive map of the ‘My Summer in the City’ outdoor programs, click here.
View My Summer in the City programs - 2012 in a larger map
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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 net assets of $850 million. In 2011, the Foundation and its donors made almost $78 million in grants to nonprofit organizations and received gifts of $81 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.
In 2012, the Boston Foundation and The Philanthropic Initiative (TPI) merged, with TPI operating as a distinct unit of the Boston Foundation. TPI pioneered the field of strategic philanthropic advising over 20 years ago and remains a national leader today. Through its consulting services and its work to advance the broader field of strategic philanthropy, TPI has influenced billions of dollars of giving worldwide. TPI’s Center for Global Philanthropy promotes international giving from the U.S. and indigenous philanthropy abroad. For more information about the Boston Foundation and TPI, visit www.tbf.org or call 617-338-1700.