Activating Boston Project
2022–Present
Boston, MA
Overview
In Boston, John Hancock invested in accessible, age-inclusive outdoor spaces as a way to improve health, longevity, and wellbeing. In 2022, the City of Boston released a report on Heat Resilience Solutions for Boston, which highlighted five neighborhoods as priority areas. This heightened attention on the climate’s impact on Boston residents presented an opportunity for John Hancock and Healthy Places by Design to create a new initiative to improve and activate outdoor spaces in places experiencing high heat stress.
Our Approach
Healthy Places by Design coordinates Activating Boston in collaboration with John Hancock, the City of Boston’s Age Strong Commission and other city agencies, AARP Massachusetts, and UMass Boston. Activating Boston aims to grow the capacity of neighborhood organizations, community members, and partners to increase social connectedness where they live and work, with a focus on public greenspaces.
Results & Impact
In 2022-2023, two grantees—Asian Community Development Corporation (Chinatown) and Four Corners Main Streets (Dorchester)—piloted the initiative. Each had a strong record of working alongside community members and within diverse neighborhoods experiencing severe heat and other environmental stresses. Project coordinators used community-engaged processes to elevate and celebrate the uniqueness of their neighborhoods. ACDC worked with residents and nonprofit partners in Chinatown to create a lasting public art project that enhanced an essential outdoor space and brings people together across generations, cultures, and socio-economic backgrounds. Four Corners Main Street’s project supported youth and “community ambassadors” to prioritize, improve, and activate public spaces to support neighbor-to-neighbor social connections. Healthy Places by Design provided technical assistance and facilitated peer learning and exchange sessions to strengthen cross-community relationships.
Building on the pilot’s success, second and third rounds of awards funded four additional neighborhood projects in 2024-2025, and a total of seven communities for 2025-2027Neighborhood teams collectively determined the most appropriate project—activating and improving a physical space—which connects community members across generations. Activating these spaces involves new infrastructure or design elements, public art, youth and intergenerational programs, community celebrations, and other public events that bring people together to honor neighborhood culture and its unique assets.
Four grantees were funded in both the second and third rounds. Their accomplishments and current efforts include:
- Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC) organized neighborhood events and completed a collaborative community mural project called The Secret Gardens We Share, activated in an alleyway in Chinatown. Local high school-aged youth and resident leaders work with ACDC organizers to create popular cultural events that create connection while also addressing critical community issues (e.g., heat resiliency).
- Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation led a project to improve and activate a vacant lot in Dorchester, currently owned by the City of Boston. Working with Boston Project Ministries and the Boston Food Forest Coalition, they now await approval from the City to ultimately develop the space as a “food forest” that will be preserved as green space through a land-trust model.
- EASTIE Coalition’s vision is to create a place where young people and families can thrive and receive the support needed to be healthy and happy, with equitable access to public spaces. The coalition works with youth and activated Central Square Park through their Carnival of Hopes and Dreams summer art campaign. The park became a vibrant community hub, bringing people together through public art, music, entertainment, and other intergenerational activities.
- Madison Park Development Corporation (MPDC) focuses on two adjacent parcels of land in Roxbury’s Grove Hall neighborhood. MPDC engaged young people and adults in the Roxbury Sunflower Project, created by local artist Ekua Holmes. The project is a neighborhood beautification initiative focused on planting sunflowers, and repainting fencing and other structures at the vacant lots in the heart of neighborhood.
The 2025-2027 Activating Boston grantees include the following three neighborhood organizations in the group:
- Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation is bringing seniors, youth, and artists together to co-create eco-friendly public art and intergenerational gatherings in Chinatown.
- Eastie Farm is turning urban farms and a year-round greenhouse in East Boston into hubs for food security, climate justice, and community connection.
- Greater Ashmont Main Street is advancing equity-first streetscapes and neighborhood activations in Dorchester, including multilingual programming and dementia-friendly design.
Left: Asian Community Development Corporation, The Secret Gardens We Share mural project in Chinatown, Photo credit: Lee-Daniel Tran. Right: Eastie Coalition, Youth at the Carnival of Hopes and Dreams summer art campaign in Central Square Park, East Boston, Photo credit Sara Ladino Cano.