Hawthorne Youth and Community Center

CONTACT:

9 Fulda St.
Roxbury, MA 02119
617-427-0613

Samantha Sadd

DESCRIPTION:

Begun by a handful of concerned adults and teens--who converted a coal cellar on a leased parcel of land into a clubroom-- HYCC has for 30 years been a grassroots, community-based organization committed to providing educational, cultural, vocational, and recreational programs to Roxbury's Highland Park community. Ten years after fire destroyed their home on Fulda Street, HYCC rebuilt a new facility on the same site. Their belief that low- and moderate-income community residents of all ages, races, and ethnicities can succeed when given access to knowledge and resources has yielded impressive results. After- school students in a "History in the Highlands" project won a 1993 Boys and Girls Club Challenge Award and also a 1995 SAGEE award for Excellence in Environmental Education for their model of the Highland Park Greenway. A Boston Foundation "Arts in the Community" grant helped HYCC involve community residents in creating a 148-foot ceramic mosaic mural that enhances Marcella Park. Youngsters have shared their artistic work with audiences at six First Night Processions and exhibited their "Community Creations" at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. HYCC is an active place where the Positive Youth Development Program includes after school and evening programs in everything from daily homework help to reading circles and chess classes, while the Community Outreach program gives all residents an opportunity to discuss problems and formulate strategies to improve and celebrate neighborhood life. A donation to this enterprise will be used wisely and well.

(2002: HUMAN SERVICES: Well-Being)