Sociedad Latina, a nonprofit located on Mission Hill, recently received funding through the My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) Boston mini grant program.
Sociedad Latina is a citywide organization that focuses on supporting the unmet needs of youth and families from Boston’s Latino and Mission Hill/Roxbury communities.
The organization will use the $4,600 in grant money for its Achievers Boston program, which entails working with male youths at Madison Park High School who are under credit academically and who have issues with attendance. Sociedad Latina will work to help those students to recover credit and attendance through family engagement and support with other personal issues.
Sociedad Latina Executive Director Alexandra Oliver-Davila said that the goal of the program is to support youths to graduate from high school and to have opportunities once they complete school.
The grant will also go towards finding mentors for the youths enrolled in the program. The organization will be seeking more mentors soon for some of the 150 students that it works with at Madison Park.
Mayor Martin Walsh launched MBK Boston in September 2014, accepting President Barack Obama’s MBK Community Challenge as part of the White House initiative to creative positive pathways for youths, especially boys and men of color. The MBK mini grant program launched last August, and is designed to support local organizations working to help MBK improve outcomes for young people of color.
“In Boston, we are proud of our national leadership in adopting My Brother’s Keeper as a guide to how we work to increase opportunities in our neighborhoods,” said Mayor Martin Walsh in a statement. “An important part of our success is through partnerships with local organizations who work with our community every day to empower our young people to reach his or her potential.”
Oliver-Davila also sent out a newsletter regarding the organization’s opposition to President Trump’s policies, and emphasizing the inclusiveness of Sociedad Latina. Oliver-Davila said that she received many positive comments back from the newsletter, and that the organization stands by that statement.
“We are very concerned about what’s happening across the country,” Oliver-Davila said. “We are a safe haven.”
Oliver-Davila added her admiration for Walsh’s recent actions and statements. “I’m really proud of the Mayor for standing up for Boston and for all of his comments. I’m proud that we live in a place where people feel this way.”