As the Covid-19 crisis engulfs East Boston, the YMCA's pursuit of community wellness shines through

Shifting gears, East Boston YMCA stays true to its mission: Community Wellness; Cargo Ventures' donation arrives at critical point for YMCA

The historic landmark building where the East Boston YMCA calls home is quiet. Its 2800 members remain at home and not at its Bremen Street facility or at its satellite location on Ashley Street.

The exercise classes are gone, for now. So are the teenagers who check in over the weekend for programs. The applications for the Y's summer camp are up for discussion. And so are the swimming lessons, the YMCA's traditional staple, blocks away at the Umana Academy. Like many other social service agencies, the YMCA is facing a loss of revenues to support its programs.

But the YMCA is far from closed. And it is certainly not down and out. It is ground zero for providing community support in a neighborhood that is severely swamped by the COVID-19. According to the Boston Public Health Commission, East Boston has the highest percentage of coronavirus cases in the city.

The austere brick building which was once the Boston and Albany engine house and located along the Mary Ellen Welch Greenway has emerged a critical center of activity not only distributing food but also providing child care for front line workers.

"We're the only child care facility in East Boston for front line workers for free of charge," notes YMCA Executive Director and East Boston native Joseph Gaeta. Moreover, the Y is spearheading food distribution, along with the City of Boston and Project Bread, to make sure children and families receive healthy meals during the pandemic here in Eastie.

"A lot of our parents are doctors, nurses, EMTs, UPS drivers, Post Office employees and Stop and Shop workers. All of these workers are essential. Being able to provide our front-line workers a safe place for their children while they support our community is very important to us at the Y."

Little did Gaeta know that he'd be leading relief efforts in a major health crisis in his hometown. "I worked my way through every job to be executive director," he said. "I don't ever expect to distribute personal protection equipment (PPE) and face masks."

The YMCA has always stressed health and wellness in its programs. Some of the ones now in a holding pattern include not only the group and personal exercise routines but the LiveStrong programs for cancer patients and diabetes control. The transition to providing nutrition is natural for the East Boston YMCA.

Some of the Y's members are still paying their dues so that they can keep the programs going. Members are aware their dues enable free programs to feed people. "They know the money is going to feeding children," explains Gaeta. They are also busy making calls to check up on fellow members.

But unfortunately, the needs increase.

"Right when we think we have a steady stream to fill the need, it doubles the next day," says Gaeta, "We serve about 20,000 meals a week just out of Bremen Street," says Gaeta.

"Sometimes we run out and have to turn people away or refer them to another partner. Because of the generous donation from our friends at Cargo Ventures we are able to fill gaps and extend our reach to families directly when we do run out of our daily meals."

Cargo Ventures, the industrial real estate and logistics firm, stepped up to the plate with a major donation to the Y just when the crisis broke. The Cargo Ventures donation enabled the Y to purchase gift cards for its members and the community.

"Cargo Ventures is pleased to help out this extraordinary organization," says Pat Capogreco, the firm's liaison to the community. "The staff members at the Y are working hard every day so that needy families in East Boston are fed. They are doing a tremendous job. As in East Boston resident and employee of Cargo Ventures, I am grateful that I can get help for the YMCA."

The YMCA is also using its resources to extend support beyond East Boston. Gaeta says its Ashley Street location has doubled up as a citywide kitchen staffed with two chefs that provide meals. The first chef also provides halal meals for East Boston's growing Muslim population while preparing 200 to 300 meals each time he cooks. The second chef is working with the city of Boston to produce 500 meals not only for East Boston but Dorchester and Roxbury.

"It's hard to figure out what's next," says Gaeta. He notes that the summer camp might take place during Phase 2 of the governor's reopening plan and maybe some semblance of normality not much later for online fitness, perhaps as early as June 29. The summer camp program draws 300 local kids.

The agency supports a pre-school program for 93 children, weekly programs for 75 seniors and afterschool programs for 200 children.

Teleconferencing online has kept everyone connected and in shape. Members have access to virtual fitness options that are streamed live and archived for usage on-demand.

Visit the East Boston YMCA's web site here.

You can support the Y with an online donation here.

Read more local news at Eastboston.com.

Photographs courtesy of the East Boston YMCA.

Arriving in East Boston, the ICA Watershed throws open its doors

Last year at one of the mayor's press conferences on local improvements, longtime activist and neighborhood fixture David Arinella took note of what many of his neighbors knew for a lifetime: "East Boston is now 'HD' which is not ‘high definition’ but rather what we call 'highly desirable.'"  

To residents who battled airport expansion and fought for open space for generations, East Boston was always a prized neighborhood with its vibrant civic life and an impulse to thrive, an impulse often driven by its geographic isolation.   Everyone who claimed Eastie as their hometown embraced the great possibilities, an outlook passed along from cascades of immigrants dating back to the middle of the 19th century to the more recent arrivals.

Across the harbor and at City Hall, many began to take notice of a neighborhood that never had to be resilient because it was always alive — weaves of families roaring with the ferocity of jetliners passing overhead. The families cultivated the civic virtues with fraternal clubs, sports leagues, public meetings and charitable events. The value added is priceless. Over the past decade, real estate developers, high-tech millennials, artists and entrepreneurs streamed to Noddle's Island. The breathtaking Piers Park and East Boston Greenway completed the puzzle of passive and recreative parkland long missing.  Now cultural institutions are —literally and figurately — crossing the harbor to take a stake in the East Boston's future.

This week the Institute of Contemporary Art, fulfilling an aspiration of players on both sides of the harbor, cut the ribbon to its new outpost announced to the world as ICA Watershed.  The final product is the result of a two-way collaboration between residents and the city’s arts elite, with public entities such as city government and Massport playing midwives. By converting an old sheet metal factory on Eastie's waterfront in the middle of a reborn cottage maritime industry boats are still built, the ICA has cast an anchor that connects downtown’s creative class with a socially dynamic neighborhood, extending its mission to present and curate the cutting edge.  However, since the foundations of the new prosperity were established by the hard work and persistence of vision of residents, it can be said that East Boston elevates the stature of the ICA, rather than simply the reverse. But credit the ICA for its foresight for the watershed is not just a destination devoid of context. The new space pays generous tribute to East Boston’s maritime history, a short film featuring the stories of local residents welcomes visitors. With its open area for artist projects, meeting space, teen programming and a small outdoor patio with views of the ICA’s main Seaport campus and Boston’s 21^st century skyline. Admission to the waterfront will be free to all, an incentive for middle and low-income residents to participate in the creative groundswell. Mindful of the transportation issues facing the city, the ICA forged a contract with Boston Harbor Cruises for ferry services. Sustaining a partnership with the community going forward is critical for local patronage. The ICA is relying on assistance from the East Boston Neighborhood Health, the East Boston Social Centers, Maverick Landing Community Services and Zumix, the renowned music learning center to provide programming. 

The June 22 event was punctuated by a display of photography by teens who compose a panorama of East Boston’s architecture, people and settings as it transitions from winter to spring. Expect more creative engagement from local artists such as Atlantic Works and others already established across the neighborhood.

The cavernous space is large enough for the ambitious installations that are the ICA's trademark. The walls are exceedingly generous. In her first Boston work, the inaugural artist Diana Thater seizes upon the raw industrial space before her, the “great room”, with a thoughtful multi-media installation that underscores the fragility of the natural world. "Diana Thater's strategies of intensified color and visually stunning moving images will offer visitors an extraordinary introduction to the Watershed and raise urgent questions about the impact of human intervention on the environment," says Jill Medvedow, the ICA’s director.  The work which deserves serious contemplation was almost lost in the excitement of the opening. (It will be on display through October 8 around the time of the neighborhood’s biannual Columbus Day Parade.)

Exploration and movement have always been undercurrents in East Boston life.  Thater’s moving images, in their own way, capture the restlessness and energy that has always made East Boston and its people a special place.  The famous shipbuilder Donald McKay designed and crafted the clippers barely a mile from the Watershed. A central historical figure beloved by later generations, McKay was endowed with a great imagination that set sail ships connecting New York and San Francisco in record time. It is entirely possible that the ICA, cutting down the boundaries between East and South will sustain that imagination.

Frank Conte is the editor and publisher of EastBoston.com, established in 1995.

The ICA Watershed will open to the public on the Fourth of July. Admission to the Watershed will be free. Preview days for East Boston residents will take place on June 30, July 1 and July 3. For more information visit www.icaboston.org. 

The Farmers Market Is Back! Healthy Summer Food and Fun at EBNHC

This just in from the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center:

Summer is officially here! What better way to celebrate warmer weather than enjoying delicious food with friends and neighbors? The East Boston Neighborhood Health Center makes eating healthy easy and fun with our food access programs!

Food is a basic necessity. The World Health Organization and the United Nations deem access to safe and nutritious food a basic individual right, but many of our community members may face barriers to accessing healthy and affordable food. As a proud member of this community, we work to overcome food access issues. Here's how!

East Boston Farmers Market: It's that time of year again: The East Boston Farmers Market returns July 5! The Let's Get Movin' program at EBNHC runs a bustling farmers market through the summer and early fall. Come have fun while you shop for fresh produce and other healthy foods!

Hours: Wednesdays, 3:00 pm to 6:30 pm
Dates: July 5 through October 18
Location: Lewis Mall, behind the Maverick T station
Payments accepted: Cash, credit, debit, WIC Coupons, Senior Coupons, SNAP/food stamps
Learn more about the Farmers Market!

EBNHC Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA): Our CSA connects community members interested in supporting local agriculture with Farmer Dave's, a farm located in Dracut, MA. Members of the CSA purchase a "share," or part of the farm's harvest, and receive convenient weekly shipments of healthy, affordable produce that change with the growing season! The program began June 15, but we accept applications on a rolling basis. Please join us! Learn more about our CSA!

Healthy Incentives Program: The East Boston Farmers Market and CSA are proud to participate in the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP). HIP is a statewide program that provides SNAP recipients with a 100 percent incentive -- a dollar-for-dollar match -- for each SNAP dollar spent on fruits and vegetables purchased at farmers markets, farm stands, mobile markets, and CSA programs. By increasing access to locally grown fruits and vegetables for SNAP clients, the program seeks to benefit family and community health, and support farms and the local economy. Learn more about the Healthy Incentives Program!

Fair Foods: On the first and third Friday of every month beginning at 2:30 pm, community members can purchase mixed bags of fresh produce for $2 per bag. Fair Foods is open to all and aims to increase access to fresh, affordable, healthy food in Boston communities. Learn more about Fair Foods! 

EBNHC Wellness Garden: Our Wellness Garden is a collaborative project throughout which participants share in the maintenance and products of the garden, including healthful and affordable fresh fruits and vegetables while building gardening skills, engaging in physical activity, skill building, and creating green space. Learn more about our Wellness Garden >>

Our community initiatives coordinator, Gabrielle Witham, is deeply connected to these programs. "It feels very meaningful to be able to help people gain access to healthy, fresh, affordable foods," Gabrielle says.