During the Spring of 2006, a precipitous rise in violence in the City of Boston compelled GBIO, the Black Ministerial Alliance, the Boston Ten Point Coalition, the Jewish Community Relations Council, the Dorchester Youth Collaborative and the Massachusetts Communities Action Network to work together on a short term emergency strategy to maximize funding to assist agencies that serve at-risk and high risk youth in the City of Boston.

Our collaborative efforts, combined with the leadership of Mayor Thomas Menino, resulted in $700,000 being made available in state funds by Governor Mitt Romney. These funds provided critical resources to support existing community and faith based organizations in positive gang prevention and diversion activities for the summer and fall of 2006. This new funding was awarded on a competitive basis through the State Executive Office of Public Safety and helped increase the capacity of twenty nine organizations to serve our city’s youth.