At a brand-new community center where Jamaica Plain meets Roxbury, nearly 100 people gathered on July 25 to celebrate the launch of the Jackson Square Neighborhood Association (JSNA) as the voice of their community.
“This is a huge step for us,” said JSNA Chair Willie Mitchell, a resident who participated in nearly seven years of planning, leadership development, and family resilience activities funded by grants from Boston Children’s Hospital. “People are Jackson Square’s most important resource. With the JSNA, they’ll have a voice in the community’s future.”
Jackson Square today bears little resemblance to the neighborhood of 20 years ago. Blighted land – the legacy of a planned but defeated eight-lane highway – once dominated views in most directions. A partnership of nonprofit developers, with city and state support, has since developed 601 new homes as well as new commercial space, green areas, and a remodeled Anna Mae Cole Community Center.
Most of that new housing is affordable to low-income households, so revitalization has taken place without gentrification. Jackson Square is also home to the Mildred C. Hailey Apartments, one of Boston’s largest public housing developments.
In 2020, following nearly a year of preparation supported by a Boston Children’s planning grant, the Living Safely in Jackson Square collaborative was awarded $1 million through the Children’s Health Equity Initiative (CHEq) and then renewed for another $1 million in 2024. These funds are intended to advance child health through strengthening neighborhood collaboration and self-determination. JSNA is one of the impactful outcomes to come from the work of the collaborative.
“We are incredibly proud to support this important milestone for Jackson Square and to celebrate the launch of the Jackson Square Neighborhood Association. While the CHEq Initiative grant helped advance this work beginning in 2020, the foundation building began years earlier through the dedication, leadership, and vision of community residents and partners. The work has continued and grown with this tenacious group of residents and partners,” said Stacy Kaiya Walker, Director of Community Health Programs and Partnerships at Boston Children’s. “The JSNA is a powerful example of what can happen when communities shape their own future.”
JSNA’s launch results from years of hard work. The three organizations facilitating CHEq in Jackson Square – Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC), Hyde Square Task Force, and Jamaica Plain Coalition: Tree of Life – engaged hundreds of residents in youth enrichment, financial and career education, leadership training, and community-building activities.
“Revitalization isn’t just about physical change,” said JPNDC CEO Teronda Ellis. “It’s also about how much people feel invested in their community. It’s about the empowering impact of having a voice.”
State Senator Liz Miranda (Second Suffolk), City Councilor Ben Weber (District 6), and Councilor Miniard Culpepper (District 7) cheered on the local leaders, shared some history, and urged attendees to get involved in the new association.
Mr. Mitchell and several CHEq Building Captains volunteered to represent the large multifamily developments within a half mile radius of the Orange Line station, met on a near weekly basis to advance their top priorities: making the neighborhood safer and keeping it affordable.
“We are here for all of you,” said Bianca Terry, who served as a Building Captain and now chairs the JSNA’s Safety Committee. “From street lighting to relationships with the police to making our neighborhood accessible to people of all abilities. Let us know what’s important to you!”
Ms. Terry invited all to participate in the next JSNA meeting, on Thursday, August 27, and in the annual Jackson Square Peace Walk on Saturday, September 12.
Upcoming events
•Saturday, Sept. 12, 10 AM-12 PM: Jackson Square Peace Walk
To get in contact or join, email JSNA at: [email protected] and follow along on JSNA’s Instagram.
Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC) is a community development corporation dedicated to building community wealth, stability, and opportunity in Boston and beyond. With the underlying belief that prosperity belongs to everyone, JPNDC’s work spans affordable housing development, small business support, economic prosperity services, and community organizing, working with individuals and families to accelerate their journeys toward stability, opportunity, and belonging, creating whole communities where people put down roots and build lives that grow with them. For more information and updates on JPNDC, visit jpndc.org or follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
The Hyde Square Task Force is a youth development and community organization based in Boston’s Latin Quarter Cultural District, located in the Hyde-Jackson area of Jamaica Plain. Founded in 1991, its mission is to amplify the power and creativity of youth by grounding them in Afro-Latin culture so they can become changemakers in their community. The organization centers its efforts around several key pillars to support youth ages 6 to 25:
The Jamaica Plain Coalition: Tree of Life/Árbol de Vida is a community-driven organization operating under the nonprofit status of its fiscal sponsor, Community Service Care, Inc. Guided by a dedicated Steering Committee, the Coalition leads initiatives informed by community voices and data-driven decision-making.
