WELCOME to the Hyde Square Task Force's new "e-updates," a periodic electronic newsletter featuring the accomplishments of our programs and participants.  To learn more about the Hyde Square Task Force, please visit our newly re-designed website at http://www.hydesquare.org  To add or remove your name from our e-updates mailing list, please see "subscription" info at the end of this email.

AWARD-WINNING STAFF & PROGRAMS:  Over the past several weeks, the staff and programs of the Task Force have received both awards & recognition for their achievements:

• On February 4th, 2005, the Hyde Square Task Force was recognized by Boston’s After School For All Partnership (http://www.afterschoolforall.org/index.html) for our excellence in the category of “Teen Leadership & Achievement.”  To read more, go to http://www.hydesquare.org/news_and_events/awards/awards.html

• On March 8th, 2005, The Philanthropic Initiative (http://www.tpi.org) presented Community Organizer Jesús Gerena with a Boston Neighborhood Fellows Award.  To read more, go to http://www.hydesquare.org/news_and_events/awards/TPI_awards.pdf

• Executive Director Claudio Martinez was recently selected by the Barr Foundation (http://www.barrfoundation.org) as a Barr Fellow, a prestigious program that recognizes Boston’s “most gifted and experienced nonprofit leaders”   To read more, go to http://www.barrfoundation.org/resources/resources_show.htm?doc_id=262107
  

PROPOSAL FOR A NEW JACKSON SQUARE:  Jackson Square Partners, a partnership of the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation, Urban Edge, and the Hyde Square Task Force, presented their recently-completed proposal for the development of Jackson Square to a crowd of more than 400 at Roxbury Community College on Wednesday, February 9th, 2005.  To read a press release describing the new proposal, go to http://www.hydesquare.org/news_and_events/prs/jacksonpartners.html

“DISCOVERING COMMUNITY” INITIATIVE:  The Hyde Square Task Force has received $15,000 from The Met Life Foundation to help build stronger ties between the students & staff of the Mary E. Curley Middle School and the community.  This initiative builds on the work of the Curley Consortium, a collaboration between Curley staff and the after school & social service providers that work with the Curley school community.  To learn more about the effort, please contact Curley After School Coordinator Ana Almeida at (617) 524-8303 x324 or via email at ana@hydesquare.org

SAVE THE DATE:  It’s official:  The Hyde Square Task Force will be holding its Annual Meeting on Thursday June 9th, 2005.  Open to the community, this event provides a showcase for our youth and programs.  TIME & LOCATION TO BE ANNOUNCED.

And please don’t forget to CHECK OUT OUR NEW WEBSITE at http://www.hydesquare.org  With revised program information, regularly updated highlights, and a beautiful new look, our new site will keep you current with what’s happening at the Task Force. 

In the News:

Community Organizer Jesús Gerena was recently interviewed in the Boston Globe’s City Weekly section about the issues surrounding Somerville’s recently-enacted anti-gang ordinance.  To read the story, go to http://www.hydesquare.org/news_and_events/stories/suspicion.pdf

The youth-led organizing efforts of the Boston Tobacco Advocacy Project (a collaboration between Sociedad Latina, Whittier Street Health Center, and the Hyde Square Task Force) were recently featured by the Boston Globe.  To read the complete story, go to http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/02/27/no_match_for_kids/

Our Women Engaged in Physical Activity! (WEPA!) program and WEPA! Coordinator Ana Almeida, were featured by Boston Children’s Hospital’s Office of Child Advocacy in their publication, kidvocate.  Last year the Task Force received a $5,000 from Children’s Hospital in support of WEPA!  To download this publication in Adobe PDF format, go to http://www.childrenshospital.org/about/childadvocacy/kidvocate/kidweb.pdf

Teen Youth Community Organizers Wandy Peguero and Gian Gonzalez (who is also chair of the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council’s Youth Affairs Committee) spoke out in favor of affordable housing at a February 17th community meeting at the Kennedy Elementary School in Jamaica Plain.  Both spoke as lifetime neighborhood residents who hoped to someday buy a home in their neighborhood.  The meeting was sponsored by the JPNC to solicit community input on the potential sale and development of the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church.  To read about this meeting, go to http://www.hydesquare.org/news_and_events/stories/blessed_sacrament.pdf

Upcoming:

March:

To learn MORE ABOUT A PARTICULAR PROGRAM or find out how TO ENROLL, contact:

* Ritmo en Acción Youth Dance Troupe - Brenda x323 or brenda@hydesquare.org

* YouthFirst in Jackson Square Community Organizing Initiative - Jesús x304 or jesus@hydesquare.org

* Kennedy Elementary School After School Program - Brenda x323 or brenda@hydesquare.org

* Curley Middle School After School Program - Ana x324 or ana@hydesquare.org

* Paths to College & Career Program (PCCP) - Yi-Chin x303 or yichin@hydesquare.org

* Women Engaged in Physical Activity (WEPA) - Ana x324 or ana@hydesquare.org

We are always SEEKING NEW VOLUNTEERS to work with youth and support our programs.  To download a flyer on current volunteer opportunities, go to:

http://www.hydesquare.org/get_involved/volunteer.html 

or contact Yi-Chin Chen at 617-524-8303 x303 or at yichin@hydesquare.org

And of course we always WELCOME YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT.  To make an online donation, please visit:

http://www.hydesquare.org/get_involved/donate.html

FOR A COMPLETE STAFF DIRECTORY: http://www.hydesquare.org/about_us/board.html

FOR DIRECTIONS TO THE HYDE SQUARE TASK FORCE: http://www.hydesquare.org/contact_us/directions_main.html

TO ADD OR REMOVE YOUR NAME FROM OUR E-UPDATES MAILING LIST, please email paul@hydesquare.org