Mayor Walsh announces additional funding for youth jobs

BOSTON - Monday, August 3, 2015 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh today announced $230,000 in corporate and individual sponsorships through the Mayor's Summer Jobs Fund, to create an additional 175 youth jobs for nine community-based organizations. Sponsorships are among the various partners and organizations that support youth employment for the City of Boston and help to create the more than 10,000 jobs through the Mayor's Summer Jobs Program.

"Jobs provide Boston youth with meaningful work experience," said Mayor Walsh. "Thanks to our community sponsors, who understand how to make a difference in a young person's life, we will be able to continue to create more opportunities for our young people and invest in the future of our City."

In 2014, Mayor Walsh established the Mayor's Summer Jobs Fund to financially assist community-based organizations in need of additional funding to fully operate and execute youth employment programs. 

The following is the list of grant recipients : 

Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD) SummerWorks: ABCD's SummerWorks program has provided over 5,000 Boston youth between the ages of 14 to 21 years old with a summer job at more than 500 partner worksites across Boston Award Amount: $125,000; Mayor's Summer Jobs Fund ($100,000) and Comcast ($25,000) Number of Jobs: 91

Boston Youth Wrestling: Teen youth employees assist instructors in developing curriculum for a week long camp that will expose 50 youth participants to various disciplines of martial arts, including wrestling, Brazilian jiujitsu, muay thai, Striking and more. Award Amount: $3,000 Number of Jobs: 3

Eliot Church: Youth employees, ages 14-22, serve as Junior Counselors, Counselors and Lead Counselors for a camp program that focuses on arts and recreation. Award Amount: $23,320 Number of Jobs: 28

Mothers for Justice and Equality (MJE): Youth employees (advocates) participate in the Junior Advocates Youth Leadership Development Program. Advocates participate in professional development workshops, organize community events for residents, design and deliver workshops on peacebuilding and conflict resolution, and work alongside MJE staff. Award Amount: $9,450 Number of Jobs: 6

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Boston Branch: Youth employees participate in professional development, conduct nonpartisan voter registration, promote healthy lifestyles and violence prevention, encourage support for local businesses and City of Boston initiatives, and work with other youth groups to explore solutions to community problems. Award Amount: $11,950 Number of Jobs: 7

Phillips Brooks House Association: Youth employees develop leadership experience staffing the Summer Urban Programs, a network of 12 camps which serve low-income youth throughout greater Boston and Cambridge by providing a high-quality, affordable summer enrichment experience. Award Amount: $20,000 Number of Jobs: 10

Smart from the Start: Smart from the Start offers comprehensive coordinated set of services for parents, caregivers and children. Youth employees are trained to provide administrative support to central staff, organize data and documentation of clients, assist with special projects and initiatives, and support families as needed. Award Amount: $12,500 Number of Jobs: 5

Southwest Boston Community Development Corporation (CDC): Youth employees, ages 18-22, participate in an environmental employment program to restore the urban wild in the Hyde Park community. The employees are trained to engage residents in planning and stewardship of the greenway along Fairmount Line. Award Amount: $8,605 Number of Jobs: 3

Talented And Gifted (TAG) Latino Program, University of Massachusetts Boston: Youth employees will serve as teaching assistants (TAs) in the 31st annual Summer TAG Program, which provides academic enrichment coupled with athletic and artistic programming to 200 BPS middle and high school youth, including special programming for English Language Learners. The Summer TAG TA program has been a pipeline to teaching careers, developing urban educators, many of whom are currently teaching in BPS. TAs are 17-22-year-olds working in classrooms, supporting implementation of curriculum, and working in small groups and with individual students and benefiting from ongoing professional development. Award Amount: $41,995 Number of Jobs: 22

"Through the additional support of the Mayor's Summer Jobs initiative, we were able to hire three youth interns who designed and implemented wrestling clinics and mini-camps for youth wrestlers in grades 4-8 across the City of Boston," said José Valenzuela, President of Boston Youth Wrestling. "Thanks to their leadership, our clinics and mini-camps reached over 150 new youth across 4 sites, exposing them to fun and dynamic wrestling workouts that inspired them to participate in more active and healthy habits. These are opportunities that would not have existed for these children without the support of the Mayor's Summer Jobs Fund."

"The funding provided by the Mayor's office has made it possible to have one of our most successful and productive Hyde Park Green Team seasons," said Mat Thall, Executive Director of the Southwest Boston CDC. "The additional funding has allowed us to introduce the 21 youngsters in the program to environmentally responsible, landscaping with goats. We have also been able to make great progress in our five year partnership with the Boston Parks Department to build recreational trails in Sherrin Woods. The grant helped us hire Green Team members from previous who were eager to return to the Green Team, but could only be waitlisted earlier this year."

"Mayor Walsh's support of Youth Jobs provided us with the resources needed to provide six additional youth who had lost a friend, sibling and/or parent to street violence with a safe space to learn and heal from the aftermath of their lost, while earning money and learning the importance of civic leadership," said Monalisa Smith, President and CEO at Mothers for Justice and Equality. "We believe the Mayor's leadership in youth employment is key in support of our efforts in ending street violence." 

"Experience has shown us that the opportunity to work at an early age is a powerful tool to addressing a host of economic, health and social issues that impact our city," said Michael Curry, President of the Boston NAACP.  "The Mayor's investment in our young people through the Jobs Fund will pay dividends for the City of Boston and is certain to deliver the next generation of business and civic leaders."

"We are so grateful that Mayor Walsh and his Administration have demonstrated this additional commitment and funding for youth jobs," said Maria Dominguez Gray, Executive Director of the Phillips Brooks House Association. "The grant has allowed us increase the number of counselors we can hire to work our summer camps and is especially important because it supports 18-22-year-olds who have fewer opportunities though traditional funding sources. With this support, we are able to ensure they a have the opportunity continue in their own professional and personal development while also serving as mentors to the younger teens."

Corporations interested in supporting youth employment may contact the Mayor's Office of Health and Human Services at summerjobs@boston.gov or 617-635-1845.