There are a number of alumni and Fellows who have been working on youth organizing in the City of Boston and also out in the suburbs. Dan Gelbtuch, JOI 07-08 said “After making a commitment at the Youth Issues Forum and the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization’s (GBIO) Gubernatorial Action the Governor has written our request for 8 million dollars for the Youth Works line item into the budget he just released. This commitment is especially amazing in light of the rest of the Governor’s budget which includes cuts to many other line items (see quote below). It truly highlights the power of organizing.
The story in the Boston Globe, January 27th read: “The governor sought to blunt the bad news by highlighting a few spending increases – notably for youth violence prevention programs that he had singled out as a priority in his inaugural address earlier this month. Spending would double, for example, on antigang and teen job programs that have been hit by cuts in recent years. Special education would receive $213 million more, Patrick said.”