DA Hayden Presents $60k in Grants to Suffolk County Nonprofits

           BOSTON, July 1, 2022 — District Attorney Kevin Hayden today announced the distribution of $60,000 in grants to Suffolk County nonprofit organizations dedicated to promoting the health and safety of the county’s residents.

            Hayden’s Community Reinvestment Grant (CRG) program awarded 13 nonprofits with grants of $2,500 and $5,000.

            “Throughout my career as a prosecutor and a defense attorney, I’ve witnessed young people with promise veer onto dangerous paths due to lack of opportunity and guidance.  We fail these children when our intervention starts in a courtroom.  We achieve a more just and equitable legal system when we help communities provide interventions, services and opportunities necessary for youth to succeed.  We can accomplish far more together than we can alone,” Hayden said.

            The program draws from cash and assets seized from drug traffickers to support organizations preventing youth violence or providing substance use prevention or treatment in Boston, Revere, Winthrop and Chelsea.  State auditors have repeatedly praised the Suffolk County process for turning “the profits of crime into something positive for the community,” while carefully documenting all forfeiture-related income and expenditures.

            This year’s grant recipients are:  

  • Action for Boston Community Development

Founded in 1962, ABCD offers comprehensive services to improve the lives of 100,000 low-income individuals across Greater Boston each year. In response to the pandemic, ABCD has provided and continues to provide affordable emergency services and resources to Boston area residents. Funding will help provide stipends for youth participating in the nonprofit’s WorkSMART work readiness and mentorship program.

  • Artists for Humanity

Artists for Humanity provides under-resourced teens with tools to become self-sufficient by providing them with paid art and design opportunities. AFH focuses on building up students in urban environments, which fosters a more creative and diverse business community. This funding will be used to provide youth jobs in the field of art and design.

  • Center for Teen Empowerment

The Center for Teen Empowerment hires youth leaders to create and implement initiatives that create meaningful changes within their communities. These youth-led initiatives engage thousands of community members each year in conversations about racism, poverty, violence, and numerous other pressing issues. Funding will help provide employment to teens as Youth Organizers, who will help identify pressing issues within the community and then implement actions plans to create positive change.

  • Charlestown Coalition/Turn It Around

The Charlestown Coalition works to improve the health of Charlestown residents in all senses of the word. The community-based organization strives to end cycles of addiction, poverty, violence, and racism in Charlestown by increasing the accessibility of education, recovery support services, mental health resources, and more. Turn It Around was formed in 2012 by Charlestown youth with the initial mission of raising awareness about substance use and providing supports for Charlestown youth. Turn It Around is a longtime juvenile diversion partner of the Suffolk District Attorney Office’s Juvenile Alternative Resolution (JAR) program.

  • Community Action Programs Inter-City, Inc.

Since 1967, CAPIC has identified and addressed the needs and concerns of individuals and families in East Boston in order to empower them to achieve and maintain self-sufficiency. CAPIC assists over 10,000 low-income individuals and families to develop self-sufficiency and problem-solving skills each year.  CRG funding supports the Revere Police Activities League (PAL) Summer Youth Academy. 

  • Future Chefs

Since 2008, Future Chefs has been preparing young people for professional excellence by providing them with culinary education and experience. Future Chefs helps teens gain confidence and other life skills that translate to all other aspects of their lives.  This year’s grant will support the School to Career Program.

 

  • Girls’ LEAP

Girls’ LEAP teaches girls and gender expansive youth in the Greater Boston area a unique combination of physical self-defense and socio-emotional skill building. Since 1997, the organization has served over 20,000 young women and gender expansive individuals to fulfill their potential and to protect their own safety and well-being. This grant will help support the organization’s Teen Mentor Program.

  • Hyde Square Task Force

Formed in the 1980s by a coalition of neighbors and leaders in Jamaica Plain, HSTF connects young people to Afro-Latin culture and heritage to create a Latin Quarter and promote diversity among Boston’s youths.  They will use grant funding to support summer jobs for youth through the Jóvenes en Acción/Youth in Action (JEA) program.

  • Louis D. Brown Peace Institute

The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, founded by Chaplain Clementina M. Chéry in honor of her murdered son, helps families and communities impacted by murder, trauma, grief, and loss to heal. The organization is a leader in providing community re-entry services for incarcerated individuals and healing support groups for anyone experiencing grief or loss.  CRG funding will help the Peace Institute provide staff and volunteer training and to distribute the organization’s resource guide to homicide survivors they serve.

  • Partakers

Partakers was founded in 1997 with the mission to promote education in Massachusetts prisons. CRG funds will support the Partakers Empowerment Program (PEP), a comprehensive, evidence-based re-entry program for women and men recently released from Massachusetts prisons.

  • Silver Lining Mentoring

For 20 years, Silver Lining Mentoring has created empowering mentoring relationships with young people in foster care that have aided in the development of essential life skills. This grant will support the nonprofit’s Community Based Mentoring and Lean & Earn programs.

  • We Are Better Together

Founded in 2017 by homicide survivor Ruth Rollins, WAB2G connects and heals families on all sides of homicide, violence and incarceration to end cycles of violence and victimization. WAB2G provides food, transportation, and home assistance, as well as therapy and other resources to families affected by homicide and incarceration.  Funding will support the nonprofit’s community workshops, healing retreat and emergency aid to families.

  • Young Man with a Plan

YMWAP is a four-year mentorship program serving male youth at Boston high schools.  The program creates a culture of brotherhood, respect and achievement among young men of color in Boston in order to improve their post-secondary outcomes.  Funding will help pay stipends for program mentors.

 

“I look forward to visiting each of these partners over the coming weeks to thank them for their invaluable work on behalf of our communities.  Public safety relies on equity, opportunity, engagement and tireless dedication to our youth.  Each of these organizations – as well as so many other vital community agencies and nonprofits – have lifechanging impacts on our young people and the communities we serve,” Hayden said.

 

 James Borghesani, Chief of Communications

Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office serves the communities of Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop, Mass. The office handles over 20,000 cases a year. More than 160 attorneys in the office practice in nine district and municipal courts, Suffolk Superior Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the Supreme Judicial Court, and the Boston Juvenile Courts. The office employs some 300 people and offers a wide range of services and programs to serve anyone who comes in contact with the criminal legal system. This office is committed to educating the public about the services we provide, our commitment to crime prevention, and our dedication to keeping the residents of Suffolk County safe.

SCDAO