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BOSTON - Thursday, June 15, 2023 - Mayor
Michelle Wu and the Office of Black Male Advancement today announced 60
community organizations will receive grants totaling $747,467 for the
Community Empowerment Small Grants program. These grants, ranging from $5,000
to $25,000, aim to empower Black male-serving community-based organizations
and amplify their impact in alignment with the BMA's core values and
strategies.
"Empowering our Black-led community
organizations is essential to ensuring that Boston is truly a city for
everyone,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “We are thrilled to support
these critical organizations across the Boston area and increase their
capacity with resources and technical assistance, deepening their impact
and building stronger infrastructure for Black men and boys in our city.”
“For too long, black men and boys have faced
stark disparities in education, health, employment and economic outcomes,”
said Council President Ed Flynn. “We must bolster and support
community organizations that provide important mentorship, youth and
workforce development, housing and wealth building, mental health and
wellness programs for our black communities so that they have greater
opportunities and better pathways to succeed. The Community Empowerment
Small Grants equip Black-led community organizations with what they need to
better advance their youth, at-risk families and community."
"These funds are a critical commitment
to uplifting Black men in our City and there is no better approach than to
fund the organizations in our communities doing that work every day,"
said City Councilor Brian Worrell. "I am proud that many
of these organizations and their leaders call District 4 home and I look
forward to continuing to partner with them and the mayor to create a more
equitable future for Black men in Boston."
The Community Empowerment Small Grants are
being awarded to programs that expand at least one of the following seven
focus areas:
· Mentoring and Out-of-School Time: Supporting quality mentoring,
literacy, and out-of-school time programs that create nurturing learning
environments, promoting social-emotional and physical well-being
· Youth and Young Adult Pathways: Providing educational and career pathways to
empower youth and young adults in their journey towards economic prosperity
· Housing Mobility: Offering housing opportunities,
resources, and support that result in affordable housing and homeownership
for individuals and families
· Economic Inclusion and Wealth Building: Fostering financial empowerment and
economic mobility for individuals and communities
· Workforce Training and Development: Assisting unemployed and underemployed
individuals in acquiring livable wage jobs, while providing businesses with
employee training programs to cultivate a skilled workforce
· Fatherhood Engagement: Supporting fatherhood education, case
management, and peer-to-peer support to strengthen positive father-child
interaction, improve social and economic outcomes, and foster healthy
relationships
· Mental Health and Wellness: Promoting the mental health and
well-being of men through support programs and initiatives
“We are proud to witness the positive impact
of the Community Empowerment Small Grants program on the Black community in
Boston,” said Mariangely Solis Cervera, Chief of Equity and
Inclusion. “These grants will serve as catalysts for access, promoting
equity and inclusion within our city. By investing in mentoring, education,
housing, economic inclusion, workforce development, fatherhood engagement,
and mental health, we are co-creating pathways for young Black men to lead.”
“The Mayor’s Office of Black Male
Advancement is committed to providing continued support to increase
capacity and deepen the impact of community based organizations that are
providing essential services to improve outcomes Black men and boys throughout
Boston neighborhoods,” said Frank Farrow, Director of the Office of
Black Male Advancement. “By empowering Black male-serving organizations
that are aligned with
our core values, we are creating
pathways to success and leading towards a stronger support network for
Black men and boys in our city.”
Funded by the City of Boston FY23 operating
budget, the Community Empowerment Small Grants program exemplifies BMA's
work in advancing opportunities for Black males and creating a more
inclusive and prosperous city. The grants will be awarded to the following
organizations:
· 617 Peak
· A Bright Future, Inc.
· A Different Path Foundation
Inc.
· Afrimerican Culture Initiative
Inc
· Beantown Panthers Inc.
· Bikes Not Bombs
· Black Biz Development Group LLC
· Blue Collar Academy
· Bmen Foundation
· Boston Chargers Youth Football
and Cheerleading
· Boston Pirates Youth Sports
· Boston Project Ministries
· Boston Public Schools
(Generational Talent Mentoring)
· Boston Raiders Youth Football
& Cheer Pop Warner Little Scholars
· Boxing Power and Fitness
· Boys Without Barriers Inc.
· Cape Verdean Association of
Boston/Cabral Leadership and Innovation Center
· Children's Services of Roxbury
· Chills Diamond Ring Education
Foundation Inc
· Codman Square NDC (Brothers
Building)
· Concrete LYFE
· Cornerstone Collaborative MA
· Dadball Boston
· Daddy & Me Inc
· Dorchester Eagles
· Dreamcatcher Boston, Inc
· Dunk the Vote/Circle of Nations
Inc.
· Family Nurturing Center of MA
· Fatherly Justice Association
Corp.
· Fathers' UpLift, Inc.
· Follow Suit
· Greatest MINDS Boston
· He is Me Institute, Inc.
· Hoops Collaborative Youth
Development Program/Herc42skills
· Justice For Housing, Inc
· Kings Amongst Kings
· Lives Are Meant To Be Changed
Resource Center
· Mbadika, Inc
· Next Leadership Development
· No Books No Ball
· Not On My Watch Mentoring, Inc.
· OJFit Foundation Inc.
· One Love Sports Academy
· Panthers Legends Academic Youth
Program
· READY Prep Inc.
· Roulhac Enterprises Inc.
· Score4more, inc.
· Team New England Youth Academy
· The Blackbury Organization,
Inc.
· The Bradshaw Family Foundation
· The Clubhouse Network
· The Loop Lab
· The Nubian Square Foundation
· The3PointFoundation, Inc
· Torch Light Recovery Inc.
· Union of Minority Neighborhoods
· Voices of Liberation Inc
· X-MEN OF BOSTON
· Yardtime Inc
· Young Man with a Plan
Building on the office’s work to strengthen
Black male serving community organizations, Black Male Advancement is
partnering with Resilia to launch the office’s Capacity
Building and Impact Institute. The Institute will provide critical capacity
building support and on-demand technical assistance to equip proven or
promising Black male serving organizations with long-term capacity needs.
The Institute will also support Community Empowerment grantees to deepen
their impact and bring their work to scale.
“Young Man with a Plan is honored to receive
a Community Empowerment grant from the Mayor's Office of Black Male
Advancement,” said Dr. Jaykyri Simpson, Executive Director of Young
Man with a Plan. “This funding is truly impactful as we grow our
programming, enrollment, staff, and space to serve more young men and close
the racial achievement and well-being gaps that are unacceptable."
“Family Nurturing Center is honored and
thrilled to receive the Community Empowerment Grant from the Office of
Black Male Advancement. It is the mission of FNC to work with others to
create nurturing communities, where children are cherished, and families are
supported,” said Richard Claytor, Director of Programs of Family
Nurturing Center. “This partnership with the city will help us to
advance a public interest, and provide essential services to strengthen
Black families by supporting Black fathers.”
For more information on the Office of Black
Male Advancement’s Community Empowerment Small Grants program, please visit
this link.
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