Castle Square Receives Music Grant

05/10/2005

Boston, Massachusetts––The Castle Square Tenants Organization (CSTO), Inc., recently received an $18,480 grant, and, for youth at the Castle Square Learning Center, it’s music to their ears. In awarding the grant, Connections for Tomorrow (C4T), a Massachusetts-based nonprofit organization, selected CSTO from a nationwide pool of 68 applicants. “We applied for the C4T grant because a music program is a great outreach tool to bring youth to the center,” says Deborah Backus, Castle Square’s executive director. CSTO will use the funds to buy multimedia technology that will encourage youth to express their voices through music and video. To find professionals to teach in Castle Square’s new program, center staff is recruiting audio and visual producers, rappers, and disc jockeys from local music conservatories, according to Carli Russell, CSTO’s program committee chair. Using the center’s computer lab, Castle Square youth are creating flyers to promote the program to residents and the community. Castle Square’s afterschool program enjoys many successes. Center youth regularly enter art competitions, including poster contests sponsored by the National Affordable Housing Management Association and Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency. One young man interested in journalism wrote and submitted articles to The Boston Herald, which recently published his interview with a Nickelodeon personality. “One of the greatest benefits of Neighborhood Networks is that both generations––parents and their children––come to use the center together,” says Cynthia Koll, peer leader coordinator at Castle Square. “From management’s perspective, the center is a real asset,” says Castle Square Senior Property Manager Crystal Watler. “Adult residents appreciate the fact that youth on the property are not running around because the center gives them something to do.” Located in downtown Boston, Castle Square Apartments has 1,300 residents in 500 units. About 80 residents—15 adults and 65 children––use the Neighborhood Networks center each week. For more information about Neighborhood Networks centers in Massachusetts, contact: Mari Adams U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development–Boston Office Thomas O'Neil Federal Building. 10 Causeway Street, Room 301 Boston, MA 02222-1092 Phone: (617) 994–8521 E-mail: mari_e._adams@hud.gov For more information about Castle Square Computer Learning Center, contact: Deborah Backus Castle Square Computer Learning Center 476 Tremont Street Boston, MA 02116 Phone: (617) 357–8548 E-mail: dbackus689@aol.com

Center(s) Highlighted or Profiled:	Castle Square Computer Learning Center
Scope:	National

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