Bird Street Community Center (legally incorporated as "Upham's Corner Community Center, Inc.") is a private, nonprofit organization providing high quality, affordable child care and recreational, educational and developmental activities for children and youth in Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan, and Hyde Park. We serve more than 1300 youth between the ages of 5 and 22 year-round with a variety of programs that encourage and promote their intellectual, physical, and social development.

History: In the early 1900s we began as the Bird Street Gym, owned and operated by the City of Boston. Budgetary constraints forced the City to close the gym in the 1970s. The residents of Upham's Corner, recognizing a serious community need, organized to reopen the facility in 1978. Through a then-unique private-public partnership with the City of Boston, the residents transformed the abandoned City Gym into a non-profit, 501(C)3 youth center, which was run for a decade by volunteers.

Vision: Bird Street Community Center is the "hub" for children and youth who seek intellectual, physical, emotional, and personal growth and well being. Courts, social service agencies, schools and families trust Bird Street to help the community's low income/high risk children achieve important life goals and grow into young adults who are community change makers and leaders. Bird Street is the major provider of intentional programming for out-of-school and after school activities. Generations of children and then their children find a safe and caring place for growing and developing character and skills.

Mission: To provide low income high-risk youth with all of the critical programs and services that allow inner city children and youth to rise above poverty, to become the first in their families to graduate from college, to lead the community as a place of peace and prosperity, and to thrive as the adults of tomorrow. Bird Street provides these programs and services in an environment that is youth-friendly, safe, and supportive of the potential that is possible when families schools, and agencies work together to nurture the young.

The Bird Street Community Center meets the day-to-day needs for building strong minds, healthy bodies and outlets for creative expression and social interaction for families and children. Bird Street enables individuals across generations to engage in educational activities and life-long learning. Bird Street is a "second home" for our members, providing space for local events, community gatherings, and celebrations. Bird Street remains vibrant, flexible, and responsive to the changing needs of the children and families of the North Dorchester / Roxbury neighborhoods.

Contact:If you have any questions about Bird Street please contact Executive Director, Andrea Kaiser at (617) 282-6110, ext. 21