Recipients of the 2022 Youth Development Fund Grants announced

Mayor Kim Janey and the Offices of Health and Human Services and Public Safety today announced the nonprofit organizations selected to receive grants from the 2022 Youth Development Fund. Totaling $1,250,000 in funding, 54 Boston-based organizations will receive funding to provide positive violence intervention, prevention, and response services throughout the city. 

“Programming to support youth and young adult violence prevention is an important part of ensuring safety, healing and justice for all of our residents in every neighborhood,” said Mayor Janey. “I want to thank all the organizations involved for their dedication and support to Boston’s young residents.”

This year, funding will be awarded to Boston non-profit organizations that focus on increasing the number and variety of youth development programs intentionally addressing the metrics that prevent youth and young adult violence in Boston neighborhoods. There is a concentration with this year’s funds to support activities that implement evidence-based prevention strategies intended to shape individual behaviors as well as relationship, community, and societal factors that influence the risk for violence.

The FY22 Youth Development Fund will be supporting organizations that are in neighborhoods disproportionately impacted by gun or youth violence, youth serving entities with an intentional focus on outreach and engagement of high-risk/proven-risk youth and young adults, and organizations using the Positive Youth Development framework and/or Meaningful Youth Engagement practices. 

Of the organizations receiving funding, 57% are led by a woman and 50% are led by a person of color. Of those receiving funds, 48% of organizations will service Dorchester and 27% will service Roxbury, in addition to other neighborhoods.  

“We are grateful to the City for the continued support of More Than Words and positive youth development throughout the city,” said Jodi Rosenbaum, Founder & CEO of More Than Words. “Mayor Janey’s connection to our young people and the issues that matter to them were clear in her recent visit to talk with our youth, and this award is a testament to the hard work of our young people moving their lives forward.”

“This funding is a lifeline that helps us continue our work as an organization dedicated to empowering women and girls impacted by community harm incarceration," said Ruth Rollins Executive Director of We Are Better Together Warren Daniel Hairston Project. “We thank Mayor Janey and her administration for creating this funding resource, which allows so many local non-profits to continue working towards social justice and equity. 

Mayor Janey has increased funding for the Youth Development Fund this year, marking the fourth year of increases, bringing the investment total from $1M up to 1.25M for FY22. 

Below are the grantees awarded funding from the 2022 Youth Development Fund. Additional funding will be available in the spring as part of the Fund.

Action for Boston Community Development, Inc.: ABCD’s SummerWorks and WorkSMART programs serve both in-school and out-of-school youth, providing them critical employment skills through weekly intensive work readiness workshops followed by job placements.

All Dorchester Sports & Leadership: ADSL’s focus on wellness and academic success encourages healthy habits and choices for youth and their families. ADSL offers an alternative to risky behaviors where young people can excel in sports and academics, build self esteem, develop leadership skills, and engage with positive role models and mentors. 

Artists for Humanity: AFH provides teens from Boston opportunities to learn and earn income through paid employment in art and design.

Beat The Odds: Beat the Odds is dedicated to serving under-resourced youth in Boston’s low-income communities through its Creative Youth Development Program. Their mission is to provide a safe space, where young people will have access to the creative tools necessary to inspire self-awareness and encourage mental health and healing from trauma through music and arts. 

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Massachusetts: Diversity, equity, and inclusion are the core values at Big Brothers Big Sisters that aid them in maximizing their impact and truly thrive as an organization.

Boston Asian Youth Essential Service: Boston Asian YES provides services and programs for at-risk and high-risk Asian youth, ages 13-22. It is the only Chinatown community agency that provides outreach, prevention and intervention services to this cohort and has a long history of partnering with BPD, alternative education programs and other social service providers.

Boston Debate League: Their mission is to integrate argumentation and competitive debate into public schools in Boston to develop critical thinkers ready for college, career, and engagement with the world around them.

Boston Project Ministries: The Boston Project engages and equips neighbors, volunteers, and congregations to build strong communities characterized by God’s shalom.

Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, Inc.: BGCB’s YouthConnect Social Workers provide gang and at-risk youth confidential, voluntary community-based mental health support and resource coordination, including via tele-health sessions. 

Boys and Girls Clubs of Dorchester, Inc.: Partnering with BDP, the Club supports programming that forges positive community-police relations and teaches young people alternatives to violence; summer programming provides enrichment activities such as field trips.

Breaktime United, Inc.: Breaktime is a non-profit that works to end young adult homelessness. They operate Boston’s first transitional employment program for young adults experiencing homelessness in which young adults launch their careers, nurture their talents, and serve their communities.

Bridge Over Troubled Waters: Bridge is Boston’s foremost agency providing life-changing services for homeless, runaway and at-risk youth.

Bryce's Journey, Inc: Bryce’s Journey, Inc. is a minority woman led non-profit organization dedicated to serving the underserved Autism Spectrum Disorder/ADHD community of Boston, MA. The Mission of Bryce’s Journey, Inc. is to provide free or low-cost support to low-income inner city families of children with these high functioning disabilities.

Businesses United in Investing Lending and Development (BUILD Boston): BUILD ignites the power of youth in under-resourced communities to build career success, entrepreneurial mindsets, and opportunity. They help students become the CEO of their own lives!

Cape Verdean Community Unido DBA Cape Verdean Association of Boston: The Cape Verdean Association works to empower the Cape Verdean Community since 2000. They run parents’ and women’s support groups, as well as youth programs and training to promote the skill development needed to affect change.

Casa Myrna Vazquez, Inc. : Casa Myrna is Boston’s largest provider of shelter and supportive services to survivors of domestic violence, providing safety, resources, advocacy and information since 1977. 

Catholic Charitable Bureau of the Archdiocese of Boston Inc.: Catholic Charities’ Teen Center at St. Peter serves as a safe haven for adolescents living in Dorchester’s most troubled areas during after school hours and throughout the summer months. The Teen Center’s staff, programs, and activities aim to increase teens’ self-esteem while providing the tools needed for academic and personal growth, as well as their success in the community.

Codman Square Health Center: Programming to support young people aged 13-18, and their families, through targeted leadership development programs, mentoring, and healthy lifestyles education.

EVkids, Inc.: EVkids provides a continuum of services to help low-income, academically vulnerable children and teens (beginning in grades 4-12) succeed in school and life by systematically strengthening core academic skills, organizational habits, and other life skills.

Friends of the Children-Boston: Impacting generational change by empowering youth who are facing the greatest obstacles through relationships with professional mentors – no matter what.

Future Chefs: FC prepares teens for successful life and work after high school. Future Chefs teens work hard in the kitchen and use this training as a foundation for a broad range of academic and professional careers. Their conviction is that the life skills and knife skills learned in the kitchen can be applied meaningfully in all avenues of a fulfilling life.

Hyde Square Task Force, Inc.: They amplify the power, creativity, and voices of youth, connecting them to Afro-Latin culture and heritage so they can create a diverse, vibrant Latin Quarter and build a just, equitable Boston. 

Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA): IBA prepares young people aged 13-18 for school and life success by offering an employment-based program, centered on arts education, that fosters meaningful relationships and experiences integrating community organizing, social and emotional support.

Justice Resource Institute, Inc. dba STRIVE Boston: Programming provides proven-risk youth with support, leadership and work experience opportunities that will help them to become productive, responsible and law-abiding. 

LEAP Self-Defense, Inc.: Girls' LEAP interrupts the cycle of violence by empowering all girls and nonbinary youth to value and champion their own safety and well-being. Their goal is to provide girls with the tools and skills to keep themselves safe, both emotionally and physically. They partner with local schools and community centers to deliver empowerment and self-defense services to girls aged 8-18 in Greater Boston.

Lena Park: Lena Park’s mission for the 21st century is to provide integrated programs, services and access to resources that will help youth and families in the Lena Park catchment area build healthy lives, healthy families, and a healthy community. 

Level Ground Mixed Martial Arts Inc.: Their Mixed Martial Arts, Jiu Jitsu, kickboxing, and yoga offerings empower members of all ages to embrace a healthy lifestyle while enjoying a connection to a supportive, family-oriented community. They also provide college access and career opportunities to Boston youth.

Madison Park Development Corporation: Their mission is to foster a vibrant, healthy Roxbury neighborhood that supports the well-being and advancement of the community.

Maverick Landing Community Services: MLCS is a multi-service organization with a primary focus on helping children, youth, and adults to build 21st-century skills.Their mission is to enhance the lives of the culturally and economically diverse residents of Maverick Landing, East Boston, and surrounding communities

MissionSAFE: Their mission is to work with Boston's highly at-risk youth and their families to gain the skills and confidence to thrive, not just survive, and to improve their community and their world.

More Than Words: MTW programming empowers young people to move their lives forward, supporting them in accessing the education and employment services they need to build healthy, safe, and self-sufficient futures.

Mothers for Justice and Equality, Inc.: MJE harnesses and focuses the fierce love and protectiveness of mothers to create neighborhoods where playgrounds are safe and sidewalks are not threatening. 

MBK617: MBK617 is supporting a range of youth development activities for young people in Dorchester and Roxbury that allows them to create and maintain healthy relationships with other youth regardless of where they are from in Boston. Their efforts focus on supporting the psycho-social development of young people through peer mentoring, youth support and other enrichment activities.  

Piers Park Sailing Center: PPSC provides inclusive and accessible recreational, educational, and personal growth opportunities for people of all ages, abilities, and identities. PPSC empowers participants to become stewards of a stronger community, advocates for a healthy Boston Harbor, and leaders of individual and family wellness. 

Project RIGHT, Inc.: They create, nurture, establish, strengthen, mobilize and coordinate resident and youth involvement in neighborhood stabilization, economic development and community building efforts within the neighborhoods of North Dorchester and Roxbury (Greater Grove Hall) through the grassroots organizing of neighborhood residents.

Roxbury Youthworks, Inc.: A community-based, minority non-profit organization whose mission is to help youth caught in cycles of poverty, victimization and violence transition successfully into adulthood.

Soccer Without Borders: SWB uses soccer as a vehicle for positive change, engaging newcomer refugees and immigrant youth in East Boston and surrounding communities.

Sociedad Latina, Inc.: Sociedad addresses four key focus areas towards youth success: Education, Workforce Development, Civic Engagement, and Arts & Culture, and aims to build deep relationships with families to move students through middle school, high school, and college.

Sportsmen's Tennis & Enrichment Center: STEC is a year-around, youth centered organization offering tennis, academic and enrichment programs for K-12 aged youth; programming supports closing the achievement gap.

Street Litigators, LLC: Street Litigators provides legal education classes to youth aged 13-25 to help them avoid making bad decisions that lead to violence and incarceration. 

Summer Search: Sumer Search creates futures for youth 7+ with purpose and equity by empowering young people through mentoring and experiential learning programs. 

TEAM New England Youth Academy: TEAM New England is a youth development organization that employs academic, mentoring, athletic, and service learning programming that positively impacts the development of the youth in our community.

Team Spartans: Their mission is to provide an inclusive and diverse environment for youth basketball players who seek to improve their overall skill set, not only in the game of basketball, but also in practical life skills.

The City School: The City School develops and strengthens youth to become effective leaders for social justice. They work with young people ages 14-19 living in Boston and its surrounding suburbs who are emerging leaders and have a passion for social justice. 

The Center for Teen Empowerment: TE’s violence prevention and youth arts groups meet online (and/or in person, when possible) to implement initiatives that engage peers and adults in addressing community violence, educational equity, racial equity and mental wellness.

The Clubhouse Network: The Clubhouse encourages young people to explore the creative uses of technology and develop professional and life skills such as problem-solving and teamwork; students learn computer-generated art, develop scientific simulations and design animations.

The Food Project: Their mission is to create a thoughtful and productive community of youth and adults from diverse backgrounds who work together to build a more just and sustainable food system. Their community empowers and equips youth leaders, grows and distributes fresh, healthy, affordable food in the city and the suburbs, and inspires and supports others to create change in their communities.

The3PointFoundation, Inc.: 3PF seeks to close the opportunity and achievement gap caused by economic inequality for underserved, low-income Boston elementary and middle school youth by providing free community-based programs that integrate project-based learning, athletics, dance, and other activities to foster the development of 21st century skills, social-emotional growth, and a growth mindset - all of which are crucial to future success. 

Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center: Their core educational program for Boston public middle school students combines field science, social-emotional learning, and outdoor challenges — all infused with Outward Bound’s unique approach to promoting compassion, leadership, and service. 

Uphams Corner Community Center DBA Bird Street Community Center: Bird Street provides a space where young people, under structured adult supervision, can focus on positive, productive activities and identities. 

We Are Better Together Warren Daniel Hairston Project Inc : WAB2G connects and heals women and girls affected by homicide and incarceration to prevent the cycles of violence and victimization.

Yardtime Entertainment: YE Inc. seeks to shift the narrative of ex-offenders from “public safety concern” to a positive contribution to society. They’re often the first line of support for ex-offenders, and are committed to reconnecting families and the community.

Youth Guidance: BAM is a school-based counseling and mentoring program that improves the social-cognition and behavioral competencies of predominantly young men of color who have been exposed to stressors and face social, behavioral, and/or emotional challenges.

YMCA of Greater Boston: The YMCA will support summer employment for teens: last year the Y hosted 934 young people; and continue with Academic Credit Recovery where students can “recover” academic credit and so they can graduate on time.