‘My Summer in the City’ grants highlight Boston Foundation summer investments for youth in 2013

‘My Summer in the City’ grants highlight Boston Foundation summer investments for youth in 2013

Boston – The Boston Foundation, Greater Boston’s community foundation, has announced that it is investing more than $600,000 in funding for summer programs in and around the city of Boston in 2013, providing much needed opportunities for youth to build skills, retain learning and gain employment during the summer months. The investment includes more than $325,000 in grants for ‘My Summer in the City,’ a network of nearly 30 programs providing activities and summer jobs for youth in the city of Boston. The full slate of summer programs begins this week, with special events planned in neighborhoods throughout Boston during July and August.

This is the fourth year for My Summer in the City, an initiative developed and coordinated by the Boston Foundation and funded in conjunction with the Yawkey Foundation, the Barr Foundation, an anonymous corporate donor and several individual donors. In addition, the Foundation will invest $200,000 in support of the Boston Opportunity Agenda’s Summer Learning Project, which will serve 1500 students from 50 Boston public schools to reverse summer learning loss, improve skills and build school-community partnerships by providing an engaging, active summer learning and skills program.

The Foundation is also committing $50,000 to the Summer Fund, a donor collaborative to ensure that at-risk and economically disadvantaged children in Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea and Somerville have access to quality summer camps and programs, and $50,000 to Camp Harborview, which brings 900 inner-city youth ages 11-17 to Long Island in Boston Harbor for an immersive summer camp program emphasizing sports, arts, aquatics, education and leadership development.

Together, the grant recipients will create programming in Boston parks and open spaces for thousands of Boston youth and create more than 250 employment opportunities for youth in the city of Boston. Many of those jobs will be available to young people with CORI records, who often find gaining employment exceptionally difficult. In addition, the My Summer in the City programs will expand their program offerings to seven days a week, giving people safe opportunities for recreation throughout the summer.

“We are pleased to be able to continue the growth of My Summer in the City with the expansion of weeknight programming this year,” said Paul S. Grogan, President and CEO of the Boston Foundation. “My Summer in the City and these other valuable programs provide opportunities that make a notable difference in the quality of life for young people in the city throughout the season.”

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 2013 My Summer in the City grantees include:

The BASE

Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center

Boston Housing Authority

Catholic Charities

Charlestown Against Drugs

Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation

Franklin Park Coalition

Friends of St. Stephen’s Youth Programs

Hawthorne Youth & Community Center

Hyde Square Task Force

Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción

The Institute for Pan African Cultural Education (PACE)

Madison Park Development Corporation

Mattapan Pop Warner Football and Cheerleading

Medicine Wheel Productions

North American Family Institute

North End Against Drugs

The Oscar Micheaux Theater Program

Pleasant Hill Baptist Church

ROC Teen Saturday

Sociedad Latina

South End Technology Center @ Tent City

Sportsmen’s Tennis and Enrichment Center

Steppin’ in the Bean

Sustainability Guild International

United Somali Youth, Inc.

West End House Boys and Girls Club

YMCA of Greater Boston