Community Development

 

“Several hundred youth from the Greater Jackson area participated in community meetings…the level of youth participation in this development is unprecedented in recent history.” – Boston Redevelopment Authority

Jackson Square Mural Project

Originally designed to “increase the peace” and transform a T Station plagued by violence, the Mural Project develops the artistic skills of youth and allows them to create public art that is representative of themselves, their community, and their vision for our future.

The Jackson Square Mural Project began in the summer of 2004 as part of a youth-led initiative to stem rising violence in the Hyde/Jackson Square neighborhood of Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. After several incidents of violence, including the stabbing of a 14 year old girl in the Jackson Square T Station, HSTF teens mobilized the community to make the station safer. Working with the MBTA and the City of Boston, youth advocated for more policing and better lighting in the station, as well as physical improvements to the station itself. The Jackson Square Mural Project was born out of their efforts.

 

• The Mural Project is a unique collaboration between the Hyde Square Task Force, Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) and the office of State Representative Jeffrey Sanchez

 

• Over the past four summers, the Mural Project has employed over 50 local youth and involved hundreds of community members

 

• In addition to the murals, the MBTA has contributed thousands of dollars for improvements to the Jackson Square T Station, transforming the station into a landmark of community pride

 

• The Mural project was completed under the leadership of well known community artist, Roberto Chao (link to his website)

Parks Initiative

An effort to create thriving, dynamic open spaces that welcome and celebrate the diverse cultures of the Hyde/Jackson Square neighborhood.

 

In 2001, HSTF’s Youth Community Organizers, in an effort to ensure a wide range of activities and resources were available for those living in our community, began to identify parks in the Hyde/Jackson Square neighborhood in need of care. In order to secure the needed resources for improvements, youth petitioned the city to allocate funding for nearby Jefferson and Mozart Parks. With support from the city, our youth helped to completely redesign both parks, adding new batting cages, basketball courts, play structures, and community art. Most recently, we have petitioned the city to change Mozart Park’s name to Parque de las Americas, to reflect the themes of cultural celebration and community pride which the newly-renovated park will reflect.

 

In the future, the Youth Community Organizers hope to continue working with local government to further improve these parks, and others, through additional public art projects that represent the diversity of our neighborhood.

Summer Nights Out

A series of events that bring together local youth and families in a variety of different educational, cultural and art activities in order to build positive relationships and strengthen our community.

 

Since 2001 the Hyde Square Task Force has hosted community events during summer evenings in an effort to prevent neighborhood violence and build our community. The idea for Summer Nights Out came in response to the lack of positive activity and community engagement in nearby Mozart Park, which had instead been the scene of frequent crime and violence. HSTF youth and adults began holding evening activities for local residents to create a stronger sense of community.

 

Today, the Summer Nights Out series continues to celebrate community and culture through fun activities, live music and youth dance performances. These events are also opportunities to create positive relationships and raise awareness about current youth organizing initiatives. In 2007, over 1,100 Hyde/Jackson Square residents attended Summer Nights Out, held on the grounds of HSTF’s recently acquired program space at the Cheverus (just steps away from our main office on Centre Street) while Mozart Park was being renovated.

 

Youth First in Jackson Square/Jovenes Primeros en Jackson Square

An initiative that engages youth in community-decision making processes and ensures that the needs of youth are a priority in all neighborhood projects.

The Hyde/Jackson Square Neighborhood of Roxbury and Jamaica Plain has a large and increasing youth population. Without community support and positive opportunities for young people, the trends of violence, drugs, and gang involvement that plague inner city youth will only worsen. The Hyde Square Task Force, with the support of city and state government as well as other community groups, has been active in working to solve these widespread problems by cultivating strong youth leaders and finding creative solutions to these issues.

Recognizing the need for community facilities and affordable housing, Youth First/Jovenes Primeros was begun in 1999 to defeat the building of a large Kmart on a vacant lot in Jackson Square. Rather than a “big box-store,” HSTF youth, staff and supporters envisioned small retail, housing and a place for youth activities, and they spent the next three years organizing to stop Kmart so they could make that vision a reality. 

During this campaign, youth mobilized hundreds of teens, parents and supporters in marches, protests, community forums and development planning meetings to advocate for the building of a Youth and Family center, as well as affordable housing units and space for locally-owned small businesses. 

 

In 2005, the Hyde Square Task Force joined with Urban Edge and the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation to form the Jackson Square Partners, LLC (JSP). At a press conference on June 4, 2005, the Boston Redevelopment Authority announced that the JSP will be the developer of the $250 million Jackson Square Redevelopment Project. Thanks to the exhaustive efforts of our youth leaders, the centerpiece of the Redevelopment Project will be a state-of-the-art Youth and Family Center.  The Redevelopment Project will also include affordable housing. At the press conference, Mayor Menino said of the youth involved in this campaign, “They were out there getting people excited about this project. It was a great lesson in civic engagement.”

 

Solving the problems of an inner city is like a puzzle—many pieces must come together to build the total picture. One key piece that has grown out of HSTF’s Youth First in Jackson Square campaign is the creation of a 30,000 square foot Youth and Family Center in Jackson Square, which will serve residents living in Jamaica Plain and Roxbury. The Center was designed by Leers Weinzapfel Associates, winner of the 2007 AIA Architecture Firm Award, with input from our HSTF youth. These youth have surveyed over 500 local middle school and high school students to determine programming priorities for the Center.

 

The new Youth and Family Center, projected to be completed by 2010, will serve youth and families in Jamaica Plain and Roxbury with educational, cultural, artistic, and civic engagement programs, and will have space for recreational programming as well. In the new Center, the Hyde Square Task Force will provide its core programs, which focus on children, teens and young adults. Additional services, provided by the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation, will focus on job training and placement, career counseling, and small business development.

 

“I knew that it would take years and years for the Youth and Family Center to get built, and I wouldn’t be able to use it, but I thought of my younger brother” – Leo, Hyde Square Task Force alumnus and current Boston College student

 

Youth First in Jackson Square has received a Progressive Leadership Award for “Reinventing Democracy” from the Commonwealth Coalition.

 

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