The history of Greater Boston spans almost 400 years and is tied to the history of America. While we pride ourselves on top-class health and academic institutions and the acceptance of people of all identities and beliefs, systemic issues continue to persist for those around our communities. Communities around Boston, primarily those composed of people of color, have found themselves continuing to feel the effects of redlining efforts that began nearly 85 years ago. One of the most shocking statistics of this systematic issue was reported by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston in 2015 detailing the city’s wealth gap:

The average white household in Boston had an average net worth of $247,000 while the average black household had a net worth of only $8.

Nearly all redlined areas in Boston were created in largely due to the Home Owners Loan Corporation’s 1938 mortgage refinancing risk map. Rating neighborhoods from low to high risk by labeling them A to D respectively, these “high risk” D areas, which are presently low-income communities, have continued to reel from the effects of the HOLC map and its extreme redlining. Child Opportunity Index data from diversitydatakids.org show that 61% of youth in mainly C areas, and 84% of youth in mainly D areas, both of which being low income, have opportunity index levels of low to very-low. That is compared to the fact that 66% of children in mainly B areas and 91% of children in mainly A areas, both being high income, have high to very-high opportunity index levels, in addition to mainly A areas having 0% low or very-low opportunity indexes. As a result, children of color constituted 76% of very-low and low opportunity indexes, while white children have a similar rate of very-high and high opportunity at 69%. With this issue at the forefront of our consciousness, we knew it was necessary to institute change for a chance to create a better future for all.