Community Action

Youth Development


Young adults between the ages of 14-20 who live in urban neighborhoods such as Roxbury are disproportionately at-risk to becoming involved in gangs, drug use, and other behaviors that lead to leaving school before graduating and attaining the life skills necessary to succeed as an adult. In response, we have developed programs to engage young people and celebrate their assets.

 

Youth Employment Program

MPDC employs over 25 young people each year to work alongside our staff and our partner agencies to learn the “hard” and “soft” skills necessary to succeed in the workforce.  Our staff serve as mentors, challenging them to pursue higher education as the best route to financial independence.

As part of this employment program, our youth workers have made numerous contributions to the community.  One summer, 10 teenagers painted a mural, “Peace Through Music,” in Dudley Square. The young muralists are depicted in their art as musicians and dancers.  The word 'peace' is written in the languages representative of the neighborhood: Spanish, English, Haitian and Cape Verdean Creole, Arabic, Somali, Yiddish, Cambodian, and Chinese. 

Childcare

The Ellis Memorial School Age Program, located in Madison Park Village, provides high-quality after school and summer programs for low-income children from Roxbury. For more information click HERE.

College Scholarships

MPDC’s college scholarship program was established through a bequest from the estate of Ralph Smith, the agency’s co-founder and first Executive Director and a gift in honor of Danette Jones, the agency’s second Executive Director. Each year several college-bound applicants from Roxbury receive scholarships ranging from $250 to $5000 to attend school. Scholars have attended schools such as Holy Cross, Wheaton and Northeastern University.