Youth Enrichment Services receives Cummings Foundation grant

Youth Enrichment Services (YES) been selected as one of 100 local nonprofits to receive grants of $100,000 each through Cummings Foundation’s $100K for 100 program. YES was chosen from more than 400 applicants during a very competitive review process.

Youth Enrichment Services is a Boston non-profit which gives inner-city youth access to high-quality out-of-school-time outdoor and enrichment programming. Through new experiences in the outdoors and leadership opportunities, YES youth develop the skills and confidence they need to succeed in school, work, and life.

“We are honored to receive such a prestigious award,” says YES Executive Director Bryan Van Dorpe, “We look forward to using the funds to support YES’s high-impact YES Academy programming. Our YES Academy programs help inner-city youth gain the skills they will need to succeed in overcoming the systemic barriers that put them at a disadvantage.”

The YES Academy includes YES’s Career Exploration, College Preparation, Girls Outdoor Adventure Leaders (GOAL), and Junior Volunteers (JRV) programs. Middle and high school students in YES Academy are physically, mentally and socially engaged through service learning, weekly workshops, athletics, and peer helping. The YES Academy will serve nearly 200 inner-city middle and high school students in 2015 and has grown by 40% over the last three years.

The $100K for 100 program supports nonprofits that are not only based in but also primarily serve Middlesex, Essex, and Suffolk counties. Through this “place-based” initiative, Cummings Foundation aims to give back in the area where it owns commercial buildings, all of which are managed by its affiliate Cummings Properties. Founded in 1970 by Bill Cummings, the Woburn-based commercial real estate firm leases and manages more than 10 million square feet of space, the majority of which exclusively benefits the Foundation.

Joel Swets, Cummings Foundation’s executive director, says, “It is our great pleasure to support Youth Enrichment Services’s very worthy efforts in making a meaningful difference in our local communities.”

This year’s group of grant recipients represents a wide variety of causes, including human services, education, healthcare, and social justice. The complete list of 100 grant winners is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.