PRESS RELEASE
24 February 2009
Mission Hill / Fenway
Neighborhood Trust, Inc.
c/o Lauren Dewey Platt
41 Park Drive
Boston, MA 02215
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Lauren Dewey Platt
Phone: 617.429.0480
ldeweyplatt@gmail.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mission Hill / Fenway Neighborhood Trust Will Fund Proposals for 2009
The Mission Hill / Fenway Neighborhood Trust (MHFNT)
announced that it will fund proposals for 2009 for projects and programs that
benefit residents of Mission Hill and Fenway. Although the Trust has decreased in value as a result of the
ongoing downturn in the stock market, board members agree that now is not the
time to withhold funds from community organizations that are struggling with
budgets to meet their programmatic and staffing needs.
ÒThe unmet needs in these two neighborhoods are staggering
enough in a favorable economy. All
of the wonderful programs that these organizations undertake and which we have
funded in the past will be jeopardized if funds are not forthcoming to keep them
afloat,Ó says Lauren Dewey Platt, board president and a resident of the Fenway. The Trust has not determined what
the total funding will be in this cycle, however, but is requesting that
neighborhood organizations submit their proposals by the end of March for
funding to be distributed in June at its Annual Meeting.
The MHFNT was established by an act of the legislature and
received an initial grant from Beth Israel Hospital when that institution
acquired the former Massachusetts College of Art Building on Brookline Avenue,
now known as the Carl J. Shapiro Clinical Center. The Trust began official operations in 1999 with a total of
6 board members—3 from Fenway and 3 from Mission Hill. The board meets regularly in the tower
building of the Massachusetts College of Art on Huntington Avenue, which
graciously offers its meeting and event space to the Trust on an as-needed
basis. Because the Trust
will be dipping into principal and the total distribution in 2009 will be
curtailed, Òwe invite and welcome financial support from area educational and
health institutions, commercial and residential developers, and the local
entertainment and sports facilities to offer expanded funding to needy groups
and agencies providing services to residents in their abutting neighborhoods,Ó says
Richard Orareo, Fenway board member. Each year the Trust receives requests for funding which are two or three
times the amount available for distribution. This
PRESS RELEASE, Page Two
year it expects the requests for funding to far exceed those
numbers.
The Mission Hill / Fenway Neighborhood Trust in an accredited
501(c)3 organization that can accept tax-deductible donations from individuals
and corporations. Current board
members include Bettye Robinson—an original board member from Mission
Hill—Tina Pankievich and Alison Pultinas, both from Mission Hill, and
Bonnie Thryselius of the Fenway, who just joined the board in February.
For more information about the Trust and to download a proposal
form, refer to the website at www.missionhillfenwaynt.org. The deadline for receipt of proposals
is Tuesday, 31 March 2009.
END OF PRESS RELEASE