Roxbury Youth Initiative
PBHA's Roxbury Youth Initiative, or RYI, is a Summer Urban Program camp offering seven weeks of academic programming for youth in Roxbury.
APPLICATION INFORMATION:
RYI costs $120 for the first child and $100 for each additional sibling. Preference is given to returning campers and children who have particular academic or financial need for the program.Families should submit one camper application for each child who wishes to enroll in camp.
About RYI
A consolidation of what were formerly two separate camps – Academy Homes Summer Youth Enrichment Program (AHSYEP) and Dudley Youth Initiative (DYI) – RYI provides high-quality, low-cost educational and recreational summer programming to 80 youth from low-income families primarily from public housing developments in Roxbury. AHSYEP began in 1980 in two housing developments, Academy Homes I and II, while the Dudley Youth Initiative grew out of the Dearborn Summer Program, which the Youth Advocacy Project (YAP) of the Roxbury Defenders Office started in 1993. Dearborn Summer was designed to address the academic needs of the children of the Orchard Park (currently, Orchard Gardens) community. In 2000, AHYSEP and DYI combined to form RYI and continued to run through PBHA’s Summer Urban Program. Currently, RYI is serving members of the Academy Homes, New Academy Estates and Orchard Park.
WORK AT RYI
RYI, like all Summer Urban Program camps, is run by college students who serve as directors and senior counselors, or teachers, in the camp. Directors oversee all camp operations, working through the spring and summer to train and supervise camp staff, manage finances, and ensure high program quality. Learn more about directing RYI.
Senior counselors manage a classroom of 10 children throughout the summer, implementing a self-designed academic curriculum, supervising field trips and community service projects, and supporting the operations of their camp. Learn more about working as a senior counselor.
In addition to its college-age staff, RYI employs high school students as junior counselors. Teens partner with a senior counselor to co-teach a class and participate in leadership workshops throughout the summer. The majority of SUP’s junior counselors once attended the same camp in which they work; many junior counselors at RYI were once campers in the program. Learn more about working as a junior counselor.
This Camp must comply with regulations of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and be licensed by the Cambridge Board of Health.