Boston Foundation announces $365,000 in grants to support grassroots summer programs in Boston

Grants target creating opportunities for city teens, providing programs and pre-employment experiences for 12-14 year-olds in city

July 18, 2018

BostonThe Boston Foundation today released its list of grants to support summer activities through the My Summer in the City program, totaling $365,000. In addition to grants to Camp Harbor View and the AGM Summer Fund, the Foundation is making more than 30 small grants targeting neighborhood programs throughout the city of Boston that are providing opportunities and programs for young people often excluded from traditional summer programs.

Grants for the summer of 2018 target two areas:

  • Programs for young people in middle school ages 12 to 14 years old, those who are too old for traditional summer camp and too young for the city’s employment programs;
  • Opportunities for young people, including recently migrated youth (arrived to Boston in the last five years), undocumented youth, “Dreamers,” young people who identify as LGBTQ+, those who have experienced homelessness, foster care youth, court involved and youth with seen and unseen disabilities.

“Once again, we are pleased to be able to offer grants to a slate of remarkable grantees, who are filling critical gaps in the system of summer opportunities available to young people in Boston,” said Natanja Craig-Oquendo, Director of Grassroots Programs for the Boston Foundation. “By providing opportunities for 12-14 year-olds and other youth who are marginalized or disconnected from other programs, these grantees are providing valuable work and pre-employment experience, and giving kids who might otherwise have nowhere to go a rewarding summer.”

Funds will be used in most cases to provide stipends and/or create job opportunities for youth, as well as supporting youth summer activities. Media can receive more examples of how grant funds are being utilized by contacting the Boston Foundation. The grantees are listed below:

Camp Harbor View

$50,000

AGM Summer Fund

$25,000

   

Foundation for Boston Centers for Youth & Families

$15,000

Friends of St. Stephen's Youth Programs

$15,000

Phillips Brooks House Association, Inc. (PBHA)

$15,000

West End House, Inc.

$15,000

Cape Verdean Community Unido

$12,000

Caribbean Youth Club

$10,000

Sociedad Latina

$10,000

Center to Support Immigrant Organizing

$10,000

Pleasant Hill Baptist Church

$10,000

The City School

$10,000

My Life My Choice

$10,000

Immigrant Student Program, UMass Boston

$10,000

Triangle, Inc.

$10,000

Hyde Square Task Force

$10,000

Project RIGHT, Inc.

$10,000

Catholic Charitable Bureau of the Archdiocese of Boston, Inc. d/b/a The Teen Center at St. Peter’s

$10,000

African Community Economic Development of New England

$10,000

Transformative Culture Project

$10,000

Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC)

$10,000

Bikes Not Bombs

$10,000

East Boston YMCA

$8,000

Urban Guild, Inc

$7,500

Level Ground Mixed Martial Arts

$7,500

IBA - Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion, Inc.

$7,500

Hawthorne Youth and Community Center Incorporated

$7,500

Mothers for Justice and Equality

$7,500

Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, Inc.

$7,500

Medicine Wheel

$7,500

Groundwork Somerville

$5,000

Sportsmen's Tennis & Enrichment Center

$4,500

Silver Lining Mentoring

$3,000

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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 more than $1 billion. In 2017, the Foundation and its donors paid $130 million in grants to nonprofit organizations and received gifts of more than $194 million. The Foundation is a close partner in philanthropy with its donors, with more than 1,000 separate charitable funds established either for the general benefit of the community or for special purposes. It 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.