►
Description
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announce $1.5M in Youth Development Fund grant awards to 60+ Boston nonprofit organizations and the creation of the Office of Youth Engagement and Advancement (OYEA). The YDF is intended to prevent violence in Boston by providing youth with positive activities, supportive community environments, and connections to caring adults. This year, the YDF received an increase of $250K, which will enable increases in both the number of grantees and in the amounts available to grantees.
In addition to announcing the YDF, the Mayor will also announce the creation of the Office of Youth Engagement & Advancement, an office dedicated to promoting youth voice in city decision-making and ensuring that all youth in Boston have access to positive youth development programming in their neighborhood.
C
A
I
just
want
to
say
thank
you
for
coming
and
we
have
exciting
news
and
so
I'm
not
going
to
stay
up
here
long.
But
you
didn't
go
to
see
me
as
good
as
I
look
but
I
do
want
to
say
thank
you
to
all
of
the
community
members
here
to
all
of
my
students
here
in
faculty
and
of
course,
members
of
the
press
and
so
without
further
Ado
I
will
turn
it
over
to
the
mayor's
office.
A
D
Families
I
want
to
thank
principal
Daniel
for
hosting
us
this
morning.
We
have
a
long-standing
and
very
lengthy
partnership
with
the
Boston
Public
Schools,
the
Boston
centers
for
Youth
and
families
are
in
15
co-located
and
15
Public
Schools.
So
we
are
grateful
for
that
partnership
and
you're
standing
in
one
of
them.
It
serves
as
a
school
as
well
as
a
community
center.
That's
been
here
since
1970s.
D
It
is
full
of
history,
and
you
know
the
students
that
are
here
some
of
the
adults
in
the
room
were
in
those
seats.
You
know
10
15
20
30
years
ago,
so
we
are
thrilled
to
be
here
to
make
this
exciting
announcement
this
morning
in
a
place
that
has
so
much
history
and
that
is
such
a
an
asset
in
the
community
and
has
been
a
safe
haven
for
many
people
in
this
room
and
generations.
So
without
further
Ado
I'm
going
to
turn
over
to
our
mayor,
Michelle.
E
E
So
we
are
excited
that
today
we
can
put
a
little
bit
of
detail
behind
that
and
show
some
real
steps
in
progress.
Thanks
to
the
hard
work
of
amazing
people,
it's
been
a
long.
You
know
we
do
a
lot
of
these
press
conferences
where
we
get
to
share
news
and
information
with
the
city
and
sometimes
there's
a
small
number
of
us
here.
E
E
Want
you
to
hear
who
each
of
these
amazing
people
are
in
just
a
quick
snippet?
We
actually
have
cabinet
members
who
are
sitting
up
in
the
audience
too,
so
so
they're
all
around,
but
just
so
you
have
a
sense
of
who
you
matter
to,
and
who's
been
involved
in
making
sure
that
this
city
will
be
the
best
possible
for
young
people.
A
E
Okay,
so
this
is
this
is
a
snapshot
of
all
the
ways
in
which
we're
plugging
in
all.
We
got
for
young
people
in
the
city
and
the
folks
that
you
just
heard
introduce
themselves
who
are
making
important
decisions
who
are
driving
what
happens
in
the
city
of
Boston.
They
include
bcyf,
kids,
BPS,
kids,
YMCA,
kids,
kids
from
every
neighborhood,
and
so
we're
just
we're
just
keeping
these
seats
warm
for
for
you
all
to
step
into
it.
E
We
know
that
healthy
city
is
one
that
doesn't
just
understand
the
importance
of
empowering
its
young
people,
but
takes
action
to
invest
and
to
do
that
with
urgency.
That's
why
today
we
are
so
excited
to
announce
two
major
Investments.
Our
team
is
making
to
expand
supports
for
young
people
across
Boston.
First,
we
are
putting
in
place
the
people
power
to
make
sure
that
we're
always
thinking
100
of
the
time
about
what
comes
next
following.
B
E
City
last
year
alone,
the
Youth
Development
Fund
helped
uplift
more
than
6
000
young
people
across
Boston
and
we're
hoping
to
empower
even
more
this
year
with
the
largest
investment
that
Boston
has
ever
made
in
this
field.
We
want
to
be
clear
that
Boston
is
a
city
committed
to
our
growth
and
future
being
built
on
a
foundation
of
investments
in
our
young
people.
E
E
E
E
Together,
these
Decades
of
experience
and
Leadership
serving
representing
working
alongside
our
communities
and
our
young
people
will
be
channeled
into
building
the
next
foundation
for
our
city,
investing
in
people
today
as
a
source
of
strength
for
tomorrow.
Okay,
so
next
up
is
going
to
be
Chief
muscle.
I
I
I
I
I
E
G
Thank
you
so
much
good
morning
yeah.
This
feels
good.
It
feels
good.
This
feels
right.
Yeah
yeah,
oh
yeah,
I,
would
like
to
first
start
by
sending
my
gratitude
to
those
that
made
today
possible
our
team
at
bcyf,
Marco,
Torres
Sandy,
the
other
teams
from
bcyf
as
well
Commission,
of
course,
and
from
those
from
BPS
principal
Daniels,
the
Educators,
the
teachers
and,
of
course,
the
students.
G
Additionally
I'd
like
to
extend
it
to
my
team,
Lisa
Janessa,
Dana
and
Justin,
and
also
big
shout
out
to
the
staff
who
have
been
leading
the
mayor's
youth
Council
for
this
period
of
time,
they're
also
in
the
crowd,
Janae,
Dan,
Lindsay,
I,
don't
think
I
see
Ozzy,
but
I
also
want
to
give
recognition
to
deputy
chief
Rashad
cope
for
his
stewardship
and
all
the
work
that
he
was
done
throughout
the
years
as
well.
So
thank
you.
G
G
This
is
true:
authentic
engagement
and
partnership
and
I
am
honored
to
have
you
in
attendance
for
the
special
occasion.
The
announcements
made
today
fill
me
with
a
great
sense
of
Pride
and
hope
for
our
city.
It
is
special
for
many
reasons.
It's
a
full
circle
moment
for
some
of
us,
a
reunion
for
many
of
us
and
a
celebration
for
all
of
us.
It's
almost
cliche
to
say
this,
but
you
hear
it
all
the
time.
G
Today's
young
people
are
tomorrow's
leaders,
so
many
other
challenges
that
we
face
today
as
a
city,
whether
it's
climate
change,
income,
inequality
or
the
lack
of
affordable
housing
are
being
felt
by
young
people.
Today,
this
office
will
ensure
that
youth
voices
uplifted
not
only
when
it's
convenient
or
a
token
opportunity.
Yet
at
every
juncture
that.
G
Youth,
those
who
are
unhoused
those
with
disabilities
dealing
with
challenges
of
our
built
environment,
but
those
aging
out
of
foster
care,
are
seen
and
heard
with
the
deliberate
intention
to
engage
in
city
government
for
my
days
as
a
youth
worker
and
coming
up
in
the
youth
development
space.
But
I
know
to
be
true
is
that
when
young
people
are
engaged
in
helping
us
solve
the
problems
of
our
day,
we
will
always
be
more
successful.
G
G
He
and
his
three
brothers
would
give
me
a
handful
of
fits
Pedro
will
be
quick
to
crack
jokes,
but
he
always
knew
when
to
get
everyone
together.
When
it's
time
to
get
serious
and
I
always
appreciated
that,
and
just
to
give
you
a
snippet
of
what
is
I
had
to
deal
with
his
youngest
brother's,
nickname
was
Nono.
G
G
That
year
we
swam
in
the
city
city
championships.
Excuse
me
and
came
in
third
place
in
the
city.
I
share
that
story,
often
because
it's
one
of
my
proudest
moments
of
my
career,
but
I
would
say
that
comes
second
to
today,
because
today,
with
all
of
you
all
in
attendance
and
the
many
of
you
in
your
positions,
the
leadership
and
influence
and
with
our
mayor
and
with
Pedro
Cruz.
Taking
on
this
leadership
role,
we
are
in
first
place
foreign.
G
Became
immensely
of
mine
and
develops
his
own
career
as
a
youth
worker
and,
like
so
many
of
us
in
this
room
that
Journey
started
with
a
positive
relationship
with
a
caring
adult
in
a
community
space
such
as
this
community
center,
where
that
relationship
could
take
through
and
for
my
Village,
as
many
of
you
have
given
me,
Grace
and
guidance
I.
Kindly
ask
that
you
would
send
that
to
Pedro
support
him
as
he
builds
relationships
and
Partnerships.
G
So
he
is
successful
to
carry
on
the
work
I
thank
each
and
every
one
of
you
for
being
here
for
all
the
work
that
you
do.
If
your
ongoing
commitment
to
supporting
and
uplifting
the
young
people
in
our
city.
Now
with
that,
it
is
my
pleasure
to
invite
Angel
Cruz
to
say
a
few
words.
Ladies
and
gentlemen,.
H
It's
definitely
it
feels
more
like
a
reunion
to
me
just
seeing
a
lot
of
people
in
the
crowd
that
helped
me
when,
when
I
was
sitting
in
that
chair
often
I
know
a
lot
of
us
here.
When
we
hear
the
term
he
or
she
or
they
are
a
product
of
the
environment,
we
hear
it
in
a
negative
term.
It's
usually
used
in
a
negative
term,
well
I'm,
here
to
change
that
today.
H
For
those
who
don't
know
me,
my
name
is
Pedro
Cruz
and
I
am
a
product
of
my
environment.
I
say
this
because,
36
years
ago,
in
1987,
my
parents
don't
do
the
math.
My
parents,
like
many
others
before
them,
moved
to
Boston
searching
for
a
better
future,
more
opportunities.
They
left
their
home
behind.
They
made
sacrifices
all
for
their
children.
H
H
So
she
did
what
any
other
parent
was
doing.
She
leaned
our
community
organizations.
We
were
just
a
block
away,
so
it
only
made
sense.
I
come
here
to
swim
by
doing
that,
that's
where
I
would
first
cross
paths
with
Chief
Jose,
my
soul,
which
back
then
was
coach,
Jose
and
just
for
the
record
he
had
braids
back.
Then
I
got
to
say
that
now
before
he
becomes
my
boss.
H
So
after
that
I
was
I,
joined,
I
got
my
first
summer
job,
so
so
I
swam
here
I
was
part
of
the
swim
team
and
I
grew
up
in
these
Halls
literally
ran
through
so
I
got
in
trouble
in
these
Halls,
but
by
the
time
I
was
open
up
to
work
at
14
years.
Old
I
got
my
first
job
here
as
a
lifeguard
intern
in
the
pool
about
three
four
floors
down.
H
For
me.
I
would
work
every
summer
in
the
Blackstone.
At
the
pool,
because
it
made
sense
around
the
water
and
then
every
school
year,
I
would
go
back
to
eber's
youth
development
program
and
I
did
that
for
four
years
up
until
I
hit
18
years
old
and
that's
how
I
was
able
to
learn
and
really
fall
in
love
with
Community
work.
H
I
am
what
we
mean
when
we
say
that
use
our
product
of
the
environments
and
my
new
role
as
director
of
the
mayor's
office
for
youth
engagement
and
advancement,
I
promise
to
do
everything
in
my
power
and
my
knowledge
and
with
all
my
energy
to
make
sure
that
the
youth
in
this
city
have
the
same
opportunities
and
access
to
resources.
The
same
way
that
I
did
because
it's
truly
life-changing
I
will
be
their
voice
and
I
will
be
their
advocate.
H
H
So
with
that,
I
just
want
to
thank
everybody
that
made
this
possible
whether
it
was
helping
my
parents
raise
me
because
that's
what
it
was
I
was
not
only
raising
my
household
but
I
was
raised
at
the
black
Zone
I
was
raised
at
ebook.
I
was
raised
in
BPS,
so
I
think
everybody
that
played
the
role
in
my
upbringing
and
I
encourage
everybody
in
this
room
to
please.
Let's
sit
down.
Let's
talk,
let's
work
because
there's
work
to
be
done.
Yes,
today
is
just
the
first
day
of
the
job
starting.
H
That's
because
there's
work
to
be
done,
there's
lives
to
change,
there's
kids
that
need
us
so
with
that
I
just
want
to
say
and
extend
or
one
big.
Thank
you
to
everybody
in
this
space.
Everybody
that's
hearing
my
words
and
just
know
that
I
truly
appreciate
this
opportunity,
and
it's
really
a
celebration
for
me
and
now
with
that
I'll
wrap
up
the
program
and
would
like
to
turn
it
over
to
superintendent,
Mary
Skipper,
to
say
a
few
words.
But
thank
you.
C
C
I
keep
having
to
pinch
myself
every
time.
I
I
come
to
these
events,
because
what
they
all
have
in
common
is
a
mayor
who
is
really
committed
to
our
young
people
to
making
sure
that
you
have
everything
you
need
to
succeed
and
she's
doing
it
in
a
way
that
she's
reuniting
The
Village
and
that's
what
Pedro
talked
about
how
in
each
step
it
takes
all
of
the
partners
together
and
so
some
of
the
funding.
C
That's
going
to
happen
today
to
bring
Partners
to
the
table
when
I
look
at
the
partners
that
are
here,
I've
had
the
the
pleasure
of
working
with
all
of
them.
The
Boys
and
Girls
Club,
the
YMCA
right,
Boston,
there's
the
United
Way,
there's
just
so
many
of
them
and
what
they
all
have
in
common.
Is
that
they're
about
our
youngin
they're,
about
making
sure
that
our
students
have
what
they
need?
C
What
I
think
is
a
little
different
for
our
students
and
I
and
I
I
want
the
students
to
hear
this.
So
the
oh
yeah
right,
oh
yeah,
the
reason
that
this
is
being
created
is
for
you,
it's
for
your
voice.
It's
to
hear
what
you
need.
What
you
want,
what
your
dreams
are.
That's
why
this
initiative
is
here.
That's
the
vision
of
the
mayor.
C
That's
the
vision
of
Chief
maso,
that's
the
vision
of
Pedro,
and
so
all
of
this
is
coming
to
find
out
through
serving
through
doing
a
summit,
a
youth
Summit
where
our
youth
of
our
city
can
come
together
and
talk
about
that.
There's
such
a
power,
because
you
are
the
future
of
this
city
I'd,
like
all
the
adults,
to
do
something
for
the
students.
C
Students
hear
that
all
of
these
adults
are
here
for
you.
They
want
you
to
succeed
me
everybody,
that's
here,
especially
our
mayor.
So
thank
you
to
all
of
you.
Thank
you
to
our
mayor
for
your
vision
and
for
more
than
just
vision
for
putting
the
resource
behind
it
and
for
everybody
that's
been
able
to
make
today
possible.
Thank
you.
D
D
E
E
E
That
might
not
feel
like
they're,
making
a
big,
big
splash,
let's
say
otherwise,
far
down
the
line,
we're
gonna
have
to
pay
for
it
right.
The
fact
that
the
pool
is
closed
now
is
because
we,
as
a
city,
didn't
have
the
funds
or
didn't
make
the
choice
to
put
the
funds
into
maintaining
and
fixing
things
up
every
single
year.
We
need
to
do
things
a
little
bit
differently
right
now
and.
E
Need
little
bits
of
cleanup
along
the
way
it
might
be
new
paint,
it
might
be,
fixing
the
heating
system
or
the
the
walls
or
the
foundation
or
something
else.
We
have
to
be
pushing
ourselves
to
plan
for
that
50
years
down
in
the
future,
where
we
can
build
new
buildings.
Now
we're
going
to
build
a
new
community
center
in
Grove
Hall.
We
just
made
an
announcement
about
the
North
End,
we're
thinking
about
how
we
fix
our
pools
across
the
entire
city,
but
it
all
has
to
be
about
how
we,
when.
E
And
so
that's
a
really
important
part
of
what
we're
doing
we'll
have
a
facilities
plan
completed
for
all
of
our
Boston
Center
for
Youth
and
families
facilities,
including
our
Pools,
by
the
end
of
this
calendar
by
the
end
of
this
fiscal
year.
Meaning
about
a
few
months
from
now.
And
then
once
we
have
that
plan.
We
know
exactly
how
much
we'll
need
to
spend
on
different
things
like
pools
or
buildings,
or
libraries
so
and
schools,
so
that
we
can
have
the
most
up-to-date
facilities
and
spaces
for
you
all
to
grow.
In.
E
E
E
E
Of
time
we
need
to
plan
out
where
our
seniors
are
going
to
go,
and
our
commissioner
for
our
age,
strong,
commissioner
Shea,
has
opened
a
new
Senior
Center
as
well,
and
I'll
go
and
do
a
similar
kind
of
announcement
with
our
seniors
or
other
parts
of
our
community.
It
can
be
really
early
days.
It
could
be
really
late
nights,
but
I
I'm
also
the
first
mayor
in
a
little
bit
of
time
in
the
city
to
have
kids
who
are
at
home
as
well.
E
E
With
you
today
and
whenever
you
are
ready
to
really
see
what
a
whole
day
looks
like
as
a
mayor
or
I'm
sure
as
any
of
these
other
leadership
positions,
let
us
know
you
can
come
intern
in
City
Hall
when
it
when,
when
you're
ready,
you
can
come
Shadow
us
for
a
day.
Come
visit
me
in
city
hall
and
then
you'll
get
to
see
a
little
bit
more
of
what
I
do
too
foreign.
E
That's
a
really
good
question
and
after
school
programs
is
one
thing
that
we
have
heard
over
and
over
and
over
again
superintendent
Skipper
and
many
other
members
of
our
cabinet
have
spent
time
in
schools
as
well.
Just
saying
what
do
you
all
need?
What
do
our
students
need
right
now?
It's
been
a
while,
where
there
are
several
years
where
people
were
at
home
for
school
or
home
and
school,
it's
just
a
bit
different
for
a
long
time.
E
E
I
E
Of
choices
available
and
then
you
can
actually
get
there,
whether
it's
right
nearby,
your
school,
so
you
don't
have
to
go
very
far
or
nearby
your
house,
or
we
have
transportation
back
and
forth,
and
so
that's
something
that
we
are
looking
to
do.
A
big
focus
of
mine
is
going
to
be
making
sure
that
arts
and
Sports
youth,
sports
and
arts
get
the
full
amount
of
coordination
and
resources
in
the
city.
E
We
have
some
exciting
planning,
that's
happening
alongside
our
business
Community
with
the
Boston
public
schools
and
with
some
of
our
partners
in
the
sports
and
youth
sports
field.
So
there's
a
lot
more
coming
on
that
front.
But
if
you
have
ideas
on
what
after
school
programs
you
would
like
to
see
or
how
much
how
we
could
make
it
easier
for
you
to
get
there,
please.