Dear USES Community,

It takes a community to create meaningful differences in the lives of families. Each of our staff, families, donors, and community members make an impact by empowering USES to achieve its mission. In our 127th year in the South End, we continue to grow and evolve so we can make a significant impact on the children and families that we work with. Thank you!

As we begin 2019, I want to start with a message from our staff in gratitude for all who invest in USES with their time, resources, or other forms of support:

In April 2017, we finalized our Vision125 strategic plan, defining the impact that we will have by focusing on disrupting poverty in the lives of children and families in the South End.

As we enter a new year, we want to celebrate our organization’s accomplishments throughout 2018 with you – which will propel us to an even more successful 2019:

1) We developed a robust two-generation program model.

We refined and focused our program model to include coaching for adults & STEAM in our Early Childhood Education and After School programs.

In March of 2018, our Change Maker Dinners were recognized by Get Konnected as one of Boston’s Top 10 Game Changing Equity Ideas that if scaled, have the potential to transform Boston into America’s most equitable and inclusive city.

2) We made investments to demonstrate our impact.

We launched an Impact & Evaluation Department to ensure the best possible success in meeting our mission, setting the foundation for our practices to be more evidence-based, and ensuring our programs are more competitive for funding.

In 2018, we had 339 children participate in our youth programs and 59 adults participate in coaching, of which 60% have children.

3) We began the process of creating state-of-the art facilities that achieve our vision and mission.

We fundraised and started Phase 1 of our Camp Hale Master Plan to improve Camp Hale facilities on Squam Lake in New Hampshire.

We repaired and renovated our 48 Rutland Street location - including creating a new STEAM lab and art studio - after the pipe burst in January 2018.

After an eighteen month planning and due diligence process, we held our third community meeting, released an RFP exploring monetization options for 566 Columbus Ave, and shared our plans to build the New Harriet Tubman House all to expand our programs and increase impact. Save the date: the next community meeting is scheduled for Monday, February 25th.

4) We laid the foundation for a financially sustainable future for USES.

In 2018, 859 individuals, foundations, and businesses invested in Vision125 and our work toward disrupting the cycle of poverty for children and their families.

We celebrated USES's work and impact with over 400 neighbors and friends at our annual event, The Neighborhood Gala, raising $430,000, a 93% increase since 2016.

We are grateful for the role so many have played in this work and look forward to the work that will come in this next year!

Warmly,

Maicharia Z. Weir Lytle
President & CEO

P.S. If you wish to donate, you can do so here. If you or anyone you know would like to sign up for our newsletter, please do so here. Make sure to check out out FY18 Annual Report available here.