Urban Edge awarded $10,000 from U.S. Soccer Foundation

Boston, MA  Urban Edge has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the U.S. Soccer Foundation, the national model for sports-based youth development programs in underserved communities. This grant is intended to fund the installation of turf in the Jackson Sq. Recreation Center. Urban Edge was one of seven organizations to receive a grant. “We want to thank the U.S. Soccer Foundation for this grant, which demonstrates even more support for the Jackson Sq. Recreation Center,” said Frank Shea, CEO of Urban Edge.  “The center will not only be an important place for the children and young people of Jackson Sq. to learn and play, but it will serve as a capstone to a twenty year, $350 millioin revitalization efforts in Jackson Sq.” The $21.5 million Jackson Sq. Recreation Center is part of the effort to redevelop the Jackson Sq. neighborhood.  The two story center, which will provide recreational and after school activities for the young people of the neighborhood, will have a regulation-size ice rink on the first floor, a turf field of equivalent size on the second floor, and academic and social service space. Young people in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain will be able to use the facility year-round for organized and unstructured recreational activities. This grant was awarded as part of the U.S. Soccer Foundation’s Safe Places to Play program. Across the country, children in underserved communities face an acute shortage of safe places to play largely because there isn’t enough space in which to create them or funding to maintain them. Safe Places to Play gives kids safe and accessible areas to play by funding the costs of design, construction, surfacing and enhancement in these communities. “The U.S. Soccer Foundation is proud to support organizations that are working to give kids safe and accessible places to play,” said Ed Foster-Simeon, president & CEO of the U.S. Soccer Foundation. “We know that making these spaces available to youth not only introduces them to the game of soccer, but also encourages a healthy and active lifestyle.” Since its inception in 1994, the U.S. Soccer Foundation has awarded more than $100 million in grants to non-profit organizations in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Support for the U.S. Soccer Foundation’s grant process is provided by the Foundation’s corporate partners, including Hellas Construction, Hunter Industries, Kwik Goal, Musco Sports Lighting, Soccer.com, Sport Court.