BOSTON (February 2, 2021) WinnCompanies today announced a $100,000 donation to the Black Ministerial Alliance TenPoint, Inc. (BMATP), an alliance of churches, faith and community-based organizations that works with more than 100 nonprofits, churches, and ministries to deliver services to low-income youth and their families.

BMATP will use this funding for initiatives supporting community youth leadership development.  Working in partnership with the Boston Police Department and the City of Boston, BMATP will support Officer Manny Dambreville’s work developing leadership in youth through civic and community engagement activities, including programs focusing on census Information and registration, voter education and registration and community/political activism. Through such projects, youth gain first-hand knowledge of our government, how it works and how it effects our communities. They also learn to take a leadership role in implementing those activities that support community participation in our democracy.

“Communities of color in greater Boston have been hit the hardest during the coronavirus pandemic, not just in terms of health consequences but also by the larger economic consequences,” said WinnCompanies CEO Gilbert Winn. “As a Boston-based company that provides housing to thousands of households in the city, we see the daily challenges facing the community and we’re pleased to support the vital mission of David and the Black Ministerial Alliance TenPoint at this urgent time.”

“We are deeply appreciative of WinnCompanies’ investment in our community and, in particular, our youth,” said Rev. David Wright, executive director of BMATP. “In light of recent assaults on our government, it is more critical than ever that our youth value and understand our democracy.  It is even more important that they learn how to use its systems and processes to help underserved communities gain necessary resources and services through effective and peaceful means. This funding is helping us show that through effective collaboration, community, government, BPD, the faith community and the business community can make relevant, meaningful, and effective change in our city.”

“We are proud to support BMATP’s efforts to give young people in greater Boston the experience, information and mentorship they need to shape a new generation of active, informed and engaged citizens,” said Larry Curtis, president and managing partner of WinnDevelopment. ”Funding for important programs like these has suffered under the economic and health burdens of the pandemic. We hope this donation will make an important difference.”   

Founded during the 1960’s civil rights movement as an interdenominational group of 20 clergy, the BMA today serves as a clearinghouse that convenes resources, redistributes funds and provides technical assistance to build the capacity of faith and community-based organizations that reach around 20,000 ethnically diverse parishioners and clients in Greater Boston.

According to data from the Boston Public Health Commission, people of color have contracted more than two thirds of the known cases of coronavirus in Boston, with Latin/Hispanic residents accounting for 31 percent of the known cases and black residents accounting for 24 percent. Non-white citizens account for 55 percent of known COVID-19 deaths in Boston.

Lower-income communities of color in greater Boston have higher shares of essential frontline workers with a higher risk of infection and higher unemployment rates, exacerbating housing cost burdens, food insecurity and other household challenges. 

In the City of Boston, WinnCompanies operates 121 apartment and public housing properties, serving more than 16,500 residents living in nearly 8,000 households in almost every neighborhood of the city. Nationally, the company is the largest manager of affordable housing in the United States.