In August, Urban Edge’s President and CEO Frank Shea was on hand to receive the William L. Boyan Award from Boston Children’s Hospital Board of Trustees.  The award, named in honor of longtime trustee William L. Boyan, grants $50,000 annually to a community organization, community health center or Boston school for their work and commitment to the children and families of Boston.  Urban Edge was honored for their Family Financial Capability Program.

Urban Edge is a community development corporation that works in the Boston neighborhoods of Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. The nonprofit’s mission is dedicated to strengthening communities and families. They do this by building quality affordable housing but also through community-based programs such as microloan funds, foreclosure prevention, and summer youth jobs.

Urban Edge’s Family Financial Capability program has a nearly ten-year history of providing high-quality, integrated financial support services for more than 100 low and moderate income families living in Urban Edge’s portfolio.  By identifying the needs of families with severe income issues and by helping them access public benefits through family budgeting and long-term planning, Urban Edge provides tailored services that simultaneously address residents’ short and long term goals.  Tenancy preservation and family economic resiliency are the primary goals of the program, but staff also engage residents to become involved local projects and events that suit their interests and become leaders in the community.

“We are so thankful to Boston Children’s Hospital for recognizing the hard work Urban Edge does every day to help the families in our community,” said Shea.  “Assisting families in their efforts to be financially stable is at the center of the work we do in community development.  It is gratifying to have an institution of Children’s Hospital stature acknowledge and aid us in that work.”

Previous recipients of the Boyan Award include The Home for Little Wanderers, Family Nurturing Center of Massachusetts, East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, and Sociedad Latina.

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