Centerboard announced it has received a $12,100 grant from the Boston Foundation to help fund the We Rise program, which addresses issues of the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), through the Foundation’s Open Door Grants program.
“This grant will allow us to continue to fund innovative programming to combat the issues associated with CSEC,” Centerboard CEO Mark DeJoie said. “We look forward to building upon our mission of bringing together survivors of commercial sexual exploitation with key community allies in order to prevent, intervene against, and promote recovery from the commercial sexual exploitation of children”
Centerboard was founded in 1987 and today serves over 2,000 families annually on the North Shore.
Open Door Grants are competitive, one-year grants designed for organizations whose proposal is focused on Greater Boston and whose values align with those of the Boston Foundation. Grants are awarded quarterly, and are selected by staff through an inclusive evaluation process. Funds for this grant come from the Boston Foundation’s Permanent Fund for Boston, Greater Boston’s only endowed fund focusing on the pressing needs of Greater Boston. The Permanent Fund has been made possible by more than a century of gifts from those who seek to support innovative solutions to the region’s most pressing problems since 1915.
Centerboard is a community-based, non-profit charitable organization that supports families and young people through housing, access to employment, education and financial empowerment. We work with local residents, businesses, and elected officials to increase economic opportunity in the community. In addition, Centerboard is invested in Lynn’s creative economy by spearheading public art projects and running the non-profit gallery Visionspace. Through these efforts, we serve over 2,000 people each year. We believe communities thrive when you invest in people and places.
The Boston Foundation, Greater Boston’s community foundation, brings people and resources together to solve Boston’s big problems. Established in 1915, it is one of the largest community foundations in the nation—with net assets of $1.3 billion. In 2018, the Foundation and its donors paid $129 million in grants to nonprofit organizations. The Foundation works in close partnership with its donors, with more than 1,100 separate charitable funds established for the general benefit of the community or for special purposes.
It also serves as a think tank and advocacy organization, commissioning research into the most critical issues of our time, promoting civic engagement and helping shape public policy that advances opportunity for everyone in Greater Boston. The Philanthropic Initiative (TPI), a distinct operating unit of the Foundation, designs and implements customized philanthropic strategies for families, foundations and corporations around the globe. For more information about the Boston Foundation or TPI, visit tbf.org or call 617.338.1700.