Reopening Letter

Dear friends of BYS,

I am pleased to share with you exciting news:   Boston Youth Sanctuary (BYS) will be re-opening this September for the 2021-2022 school year.

BYS services are needed now, more than ever.  While the COVID-19 pandemic severely affected the lives of children and families throughout Boston, and indeed the world, the community we serve had already experienced trauma and upheaval in their lives prior to the pandemic.  Boston Youth Sanctuary (BYS) is a trauma-informed after school program designed for the young children of Boston’s communities who have faced significant personal trauma as well as ongoing systemic adversities. Impacted by cycles of poverty, racism, violence, addiction, and incarceration over generations and at a young age, children are enrolled in BYS’ unique after school services as young as 6-12 years old, already having experienced undue stress and grief for their age.

In anticipation of our September re-opening, we will soon begin to recruit and train staff, then to begin the process of accepting referrals of children for the 2021-2022 school year.  We will be reaching out to the families and caregivers who we have worked with in the past as part of this process.  We anticipate enrolling 30 students in September.

After pausing programming last September due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we took the opportunity to research and plan measures to provide safe, effective care that prioritize the best interests of the children and families we serve in this new environment.  We are confident that we will be able to continue to provide the quality and depth of services necessary for BYS’s unique trauma-informed and community-based model, including transportation, group play, individual support, high child to staff ratios, shared community space, and other services.

On behalf of all of us at BYS, I would like to thank you for your continuing commitment and support.  We look forward to continuing our many partnerships and to once again, providing the sanctuary and services so needed at this time.

Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at jkarp@bostonyouthsanctuary.org.

Stay well and take care,

Jana Karp

Executive Director, Boston Youth Sanctuary