Programs and Classes
Foreclosure Prevention Counseling
Providing individualized, one-on-one counseling, Urban Edge staff members analyze the household’s budget and reviews options to prevent foreclosure. Some of those options include forbearance, loan modifications, short sales and buy-backs by Boston Community Capital. Since 2006, Urban Edge has counseled more than 1,300 at-risk homeowners to prevent foreclosure. In 2020, 7 homeowners avoided foreclosure.
Keeping Your Housing
Urban Edge initiatives help to keep residents in their homes. Our Community Engagement staff works closely with residents as well as WinnResidential – the property management company involved with Urban Edge developments – to maximize stable tenancy for residents of Urban Edge-owned properties. First, we assess the needs of residents across a spectrum of circumstances, define their needs, and connect them with appropriate social services such as elder services, rental assistance, and job and after-school placements. We then follow up to ensure that the right services are being provided. If you are worried about your housing, ask your property manager about Urban Edge’s program to keep you in your home, or contact the Urban Edge employee listed at the right.
Strong Start Program
The Strong Start Program was launched in 2013 to provide an opportunity for parents to help develop children’s literacy skills, expose preschool children to a school setting, build parenting skills and knowledge about child development, and build social cohesion amongst families.
This free 12-week program offers:
- Parenting strategies to support your child’s learning & behavior
- Kindergarten readiness for kids between the ages of 2.9 and 5
- Networking, leadership and learning opportunities and resources
This program includes graduation gifts, meals, and childcare for children ages 2-5
On Tuesday and Thursday evenings, children ages 3-5 can participate in Jumpstart’s early literacy program. Children will…
- Get ready for kindergarten (and beyond!)
- Develop oral language and literacy skills
- Build social-emotional skills
On Tuesday evenings, parents can participate in the Power of Parenting program, exploring topics like…
- Play As Learning
- Media and Brain Development
- Children’s Temperaments
- Growth and Change in the Early Years
- Building Self-Esteem
- Resilience
- Language Development
- Positive Discipline
On Thursday evenings, parents can…
- Attend yoga classes
- Participate in community meetings run by Union Capital Boston
- Learn about Financial Literacy
- Participate in raffles
- Take advantage of additional services provided by Urban Edge
Through interactive workshops and discussion groups, you can gain new parenting strategies to support your child’s learning and behavior while connecting with other parents.
Our Fall English Program begins September 20th, 2022
Sign up here: https://tinyurl.com/StrongStartFall2022
- WHEN: Tuesday and Thursday evenings, 5:30 – 7:30pm
- WHERE: Urban Edge, 1542 Columbus Avenue, Roxbury
- LANGUAGE: English and Spanish
Student Loan Borrower Repayment Counseling
Hard-pressed families struggling to pay their mortgage and juggle other bills may miss a student loan payment and damage their credit. Mortgage lenders reviewing applications for refinancing or loan modifications would push back until student loan arrearages were cleared up. Parents who co-signed their children’s student loans, or who were themselves student loan borrowers, were in the same boat with that unforgivable debt threatening the roof over their heads.
As a result, Urban Edge began working with students, former students, and parents to help them consolidate their student loans, refinance, lower repayments, remove defaults, or decrease the burden of high-interest rates. Based on the outcomes achieved after one year of the program, and the feedback received from the people it has served, over 80% of participants were counseled on their student loan debt through various repayment solutions.
In 2020, Urban Edge counseled 30 borrowers on alleviating student loan debt.
Summer Youth Jobs
Urban Edge runs a summer Youth Leadership Academy in partnership with Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD) through which young people who live in Urban Edge properties are placed in meaningful jobs, either in the neighborhood or throughout the City of Boston. Urban Edge has placed young people in jobs in WinnResidential, the YMCA, other Community Development Corporations (CDCs), and financial institutions like Boston Private Bank & Trust. In 2020, Urban Edge placed 6 young people into summer jobs.