D7’s GRANT MAKING AREAS

Educational Scholarship Grants Community
Fund will provide scholarships to graduating high school seniors from the district to support post-secondary educational plans.

Arts & Cultural Facilities Grants
Showcase local and other prominent artists, promote cultural exchange, foster creativity and imagination, and provide educational and recreational opportunities for people of all ages & backgrounds.

Land Activation Grants
Create, expand and improve parks and gardens in D7 for open spaces which include city owned land that is not buildable.

Economic Development Grant Program / Anti-Displacement of Business Community
Fund’s Community Economic Development Grant Program will provide grants for three types of projects:

Beatification of storefronts for small businesses
Startup Fund for individual low-income marginalized residents looking to start their own businesses
Projects resulting in hiring unemployed/underemployed low-income residents

LOUIS ELISA

PRESIDENT

NEFERTITI LAWRENCE

VICE PRESIDENT

J LUCKY HENRY

SECRETARY

ROBERT (BOB) BARNEY

TREASURER

BRIDGETTE WALLACE

DIRECTOR

OUR MISSION & VISION

District 7 Community Fund, Inc. is dedicated to uplifting and empowering the residents of Boston’s District 7. Rooted in the lived experiences of our community, we are committed to repairing the harms of systemic neglect and building a future where every neighbor—in Roxbury, the South End, Fenway, and Dorchester—has access to the resources, opportunities, and support they need to thrive. We invest in people, strengthen neighborhoods, and champion community-led change.

We envision a thriving, self-determined District 7 where all residents, particularly those in Roxbury, the South End, Fenway, and Dorchester—possess the power, resources, and opportunities to create a just and equitable future.

WHAT IS THE DISTRICT 7 COMMUNITY FUND, INC.?

Community members formed a Massachusetts nonprofit corporation in 2024 for exclusively charitable purposes to raise a pool of funds for scholarship awards and grants to projects that will benefit marginalized populations in Boston’s District 7 and combat community deterioration and poverty in the district.

WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?

D7 Community Fund’s founders, long-term residents of Boston’s District 7 with backgrounds in state and local government, public education and local neighborhood associations, created D7 Community Fund as a response to historical industry and government practices that have resulted in harms to marginalized populations in the greater Boston area as well as the deterioration of District 7’s neighborhoods. In particular, the founders recognize that the city’s minority populations were historically segregated from most areas of Boston, resulting in their concentration particularly Boston neighborhoods. Subsequent practices systematically denied investment resources and employment opportunities to those geographies. These included D 7 neighborhoods such as those in Roxbury and Dorchester, which continue to be majority-minority today.