Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced the distribution of $260,000 in grants to Suffolk County nonprofit organizations dedicated to improving the health and safety of residents in Boston, Chelsea, Winthrop and Revere.
Hayden’s Community Reinvestment Grant (CRG) program awarded 45 nonprofits with grants ranging from $4,000 to $7,500. This year’s fund dispersal is the largest amount in Suffolk County CRG history.
“I am extremely proud our office has been able to provide the most funding ever from this important program. The mission-driven work undertaken by all of these organizations is inspiring and important. Throughout my career as a prosecutor and a defense attorney, I have witnessed young people with promise veer onto dangerous paths due to lack of opportunity and guidance. We fail these children when our intervention starts in a courtroom. We achieve a more just and equitable legal system when we help communities provide interventions, services and opportunities necessary for youth to succeed,” Hayden said.
The program draws from cash and assets seized from drug distribution cases to support organizations preventing youth violence or providing substance abuse prevention or treatment. State auditors have praised the Suffolk County process for turning “the profits of crime into something positive for the community,” while carefully documenting all forfeiture-related income and expenditures.
This year’s grant recipients include:
· Charlestown Coalition – Turn It Around, Charlestown
· Charlestown Mothers Association, Charlestown
· Community Action Program Inter-City – CAPIC, Revere, Chelsea
· Dreamcatcher Initiative, Inc., Suffolk County
· HarborCOV, Chelsea, Revere, East Boston, Charlestown, Winthrop
· Health Story Collaborative, East Boston
· Neighborhood of Affordable Housing, Inc., East Boston
· Playworks New England, Boston
· Rehearsal for Life, Dorchester, Chelsea
· Silver Lining Mentoring, Suffolk County
· Suffolk University – Center for Entrepreneurship, Boston, Revere
“I look forward to meeting with each of these partners to thank them for their commitment and invaluable work on behalf of Suffolk County. Public safety is more than just the law; it relies on equity, engagement, and dedication to our youth. We can accomplish far more together than we can alone. These organizations all do great work and have life changing impacts on the communities they serve,” Hayden said.