Boston Foundation announces ‘My Summer in the City’ grants for 2012 with a focus on Parks and Programs

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 Warner

Medicine 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.

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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.

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