Youth Enrichment Services (YES), a nonprofit organization committed to providing impactful and rewarding year-round outdoor experiences to young people throughout Boston, celebrated the grand opening of its new headquarters, the Richard Williams Youth Development Center, at 267 Amory Street in Jamaica Plain, on October 29.
“The new Richard Williams Youth Development Center will provide young people across the City with transformative experiences through sports and outdoor adventures while building a community,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “We thank our partners at Youth Enrichment Services (YES) for this investment and for ensuring that even more young people across the City have access to these opportunities.”
Named in honor of YES’s founder, the late Richard Williams, the three-story, 16,000-square-foot facility features a rock climbing wall, ski shop, classroom and learning spaces, a multipurpose community room, and more. The new headquarters will support year-round outdoor enrichment, leadership development, and college and career preparation for Boston youth.
“When Richard Williams founded YES in 1968, his mission was to give youth a chance,” said Bryan Van Dorpe, Executive Director of Youth Enrichment Services. “This new home allows us to carry on Richard’s legacy while creating transformative opportunities for Boston’s young people. We are thrilled to open a headquarters that will help us reach and inspire even more Boston youth to experience the outdoors, build self-confidence, and develop into young leaders through YES’s challenging sports-based programs and leadership opportunities.”
The Richard Williams Youth Development Center will enable YES to expand its reach and serve more than 500 additional Boston youth in its first three years of operation and 700 more within five years. YES currently serves more than 1,600 children and teens annually, primarily from Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan and Jamaica Plain.
The facility’s opening marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for YES, which has provided children and teens from low- to moderate-income families throughout Boston with sports-based youth development programs through activities like skiing for nearly 60 years. Over time, YES has expanded its programming to include snowboarding, rock climbing, biking, track and field, and more. Through these experiences, YES empowers youth to reach their full potential, building confidence, inspiring leadership and equipping young people with the skills they need to navigate life’s challenges.
“Richard believed every young person deserved the opportunity to dream bigger, discover their potential and experience the transformative power of the outdoors,” said Mary Williams, wife of YES founder Richard Williams. “Seeing this beautiful new facility carry his name is deeply meaningful to our family. It ensures that his commitment to giving youth opportunities will continue to inspire generations of Boston’s young people.”
The $16 million project’s Capital Campaign reached its fundraising goal through philanthropic organizations, public partners, proceeds from the sale of YES’s former South End home, and generous donors, including $1 million gifts from Phill and Liz Gross and Brian Lash and Family. The Yawkey Foundation, whose longstanding partnership with YES spans more than two decades, awarded YES a $1.5 million grant to name the facility in honor of Richard Williams.
“What began with a single grant to YES nearly 25 years ago, at a difficult time following Richard Williams’ passing, has grown into a cherished partnership,” said Alicia Verity, CEO of the Yawkey Foundation. “Richard believed in giving youth a chance, a conviction our founders, Jean and Tom Yawkey, shared, and our Trustees felt strongly that this center should carry his name. The Richard Williams Youth Development Center is both a tribute to an extraordinary founder and a promise to the generations of Boston youth who will discover here what is possible for themselves.”
The project was built by Timberline Construction and designed by Embarc. Causeway Development and VVA Project & Cost Managers acted as project managers.
Community members are invited to visit the Richard Williams Youth Development Center at its Open Houses on November 5, 12 and 19 and December 3 and 10 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
For more information visit YESKIDS.ORG.