Providing community support

The 16th annual Harvard Allston Partnership Fund awarded grants totaling $200,000 to 26 Allston-Brighton nonprofits at a special gathering in April.

Held at the Harvard Ed Portal, the event brought together interim President Alan Garber, Boston’s Chief of Planning Arthur Jemison, City Councilor Liz Breadon, and State Rep. Kevin Honan among others.

Since its inception, the fund has provided $1.8 million in grants to the local community, aiding a variety of grassroots organizations.

“Allston-Brighton is home to an exceptional network of nonprofits, and I thank all grant recipients — past and present — for delivering meaningful initiatives and programs,” said Garber. “I also thank our advisory board members for evaluating grant applications each year and for helping to determine how best to serve the needs of our community.”

HAPF was established by Harvard University and the Boston Planning & Development Agency, in collaboration with the Allston community, as part of a cooperation agreement related to development approval of Harvard’s Science and Engineering Complex in 2008. Since then, thousands of residents in Allston-Brighton have benefited from programs funded by these grants in areas ranging from youth enrichment programs to public health initiatives.

“This fund is a great example of a community harnessing the power of development to positively impact its residents,” said Jemison.

One of the grant recipients was Road to the Right Track, which received $10,000 to fund educational scholarships for team members from Allston-Brighton. “The money we’re receiving tonight will be going directly to the kids,” said founder and head coach Frank Hughes. “Nobody receives a paycheck for this work, so we really appreciated these funds and they will make a huge impact.”

Other grant recipients ranged from Boston String Academy and other programs for youth music instruction, to the Brazilian Women’s Group for mental health and domestic violence advocacy, to summer camp scholarships. A complete list of recipients can be found here.

In addition to presenting the grant recipients with certificates, the evening celebrated four Harvard College students from Allston-Brighton — Richard D. Flores ’25, Jose Marco C. “Marcky” Antonio ’25, Khalid Abdulle ’26, and William A. Hu ’27 — who are recipients of the Joseph M. Smith Scholarship Program. Also honored were the five retiring members of the Harvard Allston Task Force, a city of Boston advisory body for Harvard’s institutional development. Breadon presented the retiring task force members with a resolution from the Boston City Council “in recognition of their years of service on the Harvard Allston Task Force.”  Breadon noted that many of the retiring members of the task force had served for more than 20 years and thanked them for their “incredible service to the community.”

A volunteer board of community members evaluates the grant applications and makes annual funding decisions for the Partnership Fund. For more information.