November 20, 2024
Mitigation money from the approval of South Bay Center’s expansion will be distributed for the first time in a competitive process that will allocate roughly $140,000 to eligible non-profits.
The funding has been accumulated by the city’s Planning Department under a 2016 agreement with the owners of South Bay that stipulated an annual payment of $20,000 annually for 40 years.
Applicants are required to submit a plan to the Planning Department that describes how their organization would utilize a grant to help the Dorchester community. All awards will be subject to BPDA Board authorization, and applicants are required to submit a detailed budget to receive funding.
When the project was approved, the South Bay Center developers made payments to various non-profits at that time, including Dorchester Historical Society ($100,000), Boys and Girls Clubs of Dorchester ($20,000), Dot Art ($5,000), Dorchester Arts Collaborative ($5,000), The Record Company ($5,000), Uphams Corner Main Streets ($3,750), and College Bound Dorchester/UnCornered ($3,750).
That tranche of funding also gave $6,000 each for the parent teacher organizations from the Roger Clap School, Boston Collegiate Charter School, Pope John Paul II Catholic Academy, Samuel Mason School, and the Russell Elementary School.
Those non-profits will not be precluded from applying for the new funding and are invited to apply again, said the Planning Department. The deadline to apply is Dec. 10. Go here for more information on the application.