Harvard to Give $500,000 to Allston Non-Profits

Harvard has decided to extend the Harvard Allston Parternship Fund, an organization that gives grants to non-profits in the Brighton-Allston community, by allocating $500,000 in new funds and granting its support for another five years to supplement the existing program.

The fund was founded five years ago as a partnership with the Boston Redevelopment Authority. Since then, HAPF has infused approximately $100,000 per year into about 20 local nonprofits chosen by a panel of representatives from Allston, the Boston Mayoral office, and the BRA.

“Over the past five years, the Harvard Allston Partnership Fund program has worked to improve quality of life for thousands of Allston-Brighton residents,” Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino told the Harvard Gazette. “I’m pleased that Harvard has recommitted to the partnership for another five years, and will continue to serve our residents through this important work.”

By 2018, Harvard will have invested about a million dollars into the Allston community through HAPF.

Vice President for Public Affairs and Communications Christine Heenan called the Fund “a unique partnership between Harvard, the city of Boston, and our Allston neighbors, and an example of how we can work together to achieve our shared goal for a thriving Allston community.”

“We are pleased to support the excellent work of many Allston-Brighton nonprofits that work tirelessly to better the lives of our Allston neighbors and enrich our community,” Heenan told the Gazette.

HAPF funds nonprofits such as the Gardner Pilot Academy, the Honan Allston Library, and the Vocational Advancement Center, that strive for cultural and educational enrichment and neighborhood improvement. In the past, grants have ranged in size between $4,500 and $25,000.

According to a University press release, the funds allocated by HAPF have allowed these organizations to widen their breath to reach about 3,500 more members of the Allston-Brighton community.

“With Harvard's support and under diligence and guidance of Inez Foster, the program’s administrator, we’ve enabled hundreds, if not thousands, of dreams to come true," John Bruno, a member of the HAPF advisory board and the Harvard Allston Task Force, told the Gazette.

“I’m proud to be part of an effort that has had such a widespread impact on people in our community who needed it most,” he added.

—Staff writer Laura K. Reston can be reached at laurareston@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter @laurareston.