- On December 29, 2021
- In People
2021 Highlights of our programs
This year is coming to an end, and in case you missed any of the things that have been happening at IBA (many things happened!), we wanted to point out a few of them . We’re beyond happy to say all five of our programs were busy at work, and this only means positive impact for our community.
Please join us in remembering some of what we accomplished in 2021.
Resident Services Program:
Héctor Ruíz is one of our residents from Villa Victoria. Like many in our community, he has an incredible talent, and in his case, it's reciting poetry.
He was extremely excited to share this piece with his family, friends, and all of us at IBA.
In 2021 we held several Covid-19 vaccination clinics, contributing in all ways possible to the health of our community and Boston.
This is the first clinic we held earlier this year. It felt great to see so many people getting their shots.
Arts Program:
With the theme "Latinos Siempre Unidos" [Latinos Always Together], this year, Festival Betances 2021: en Casa was lit with performances by Yuba Iré and “Oscarito El Más Loco,”. These talented Latinx artists had everyone on their feet, dancing to the rhythms of bomba, plena and merengue.
Later in the year, Villa Victoria was honored with a Puertorican flag, hand-painted by artist Héctor Collazo who flew in from the Island. This event became a block party with the unveiling of his masterpiece. Here are some pictures you’ll enjoy as much as we did!
Financial Empowerment Program:
As one of our most valuable programs for residents, this time, the Financial Empowerment Program teamed up with the Youth Development Program and developed a complete project to help prepare our young adults to be in control of their finances. It was a great project called The Lemonade Stand, and you can learn more about it here.
Another helpful service this program offers to residents is the possibility of improving their finances in different ways. Here we share a couple of real stories from participants of the program, who explain how it was helpful to them.
Preschool Program
This was an exciting year for our preschool kids who graduated and moved into the “big kids school.” Students and parents alike had a great time and enjoyed the outdoor ceremony. Click here and smile as much as we did seeing all those tiny happy faces.
IBA’s Preschool has many assets, among them that it is tuition-free and affiliated with the Boston Universal Pre-K Program (UPK). UPK is a city-wide preschool program at UPK community-based centers and Boston Public Schools. To learn more about how this can help you and your child, click here.
Youth Development Program
Empowering the youth to become who they want to be is the principal goal of this program, and one way of doing so is by giving these young adults a voice to express themselves freely. We provide an uncensored platform to these future leaders to talk about their own social and cultural challenges while proactively working toward solutions.
Take a look at their Summer poetry event, Mi Boston and their December’s poetry event, Unspoken Words: Voices of the Unheard and watch what these young voices had to say.
So many more things have happened we could go on for pages. But we wanted to thank YOU for making all this possible. It is a fact that without you, our donors’ support, this could not have happened.
It’s thanks to each of your donations that our programs can provide the services, assistance, and entertainment our community so desperately needs, but most importantly, deserves. Please make your donation at ibaboston.org/donate
Thank you for a fantastic 2021! We’re looking forward to an even better 2022 alongside all of you.