On this 40th Anniversary of the signing of the Economic Opportunity Act that set forth as the policy of the United States "...to eliminate the paradox of poverty in the midst of plenty in this Nation by opening to everyone the opportunity for education and training, the opportunity to work, and the opportunity to live in decency and dignity," ABCD reaffirms its lifelong mission to promote self-help for low-income people and neighborhoods. ABCD implements this mandate through a decentralized, neighborhood-based structure and a process that provides innovative, practical, and timely programs and services which emphasize education and skilled job-training at all levels and develop problem-solving skills for people and neighborhoods. ABCD programs provide opportunities for tens of thousands of individuals and families each year to improve their lives and contribute to their communities, thus offering a significant return on investment for our city, state and nation.



Action for Boston Community Development was incorporated in 1962, prior to the national War on Poverty, as a "Gray Areas Project," one of several initiatives across the nation that recruited people from all sectors of the community to come together to plan and implement programs to combat poverty. In Boston this project was funded with an initial annual $2 million grant from the Ford Foundation and funding from several other sources including the Permanent Charity Fund. Then, with the passage of the Economic Opportunity Act in 1964 and the birth of the War on Poverty, ABCD was designated Boston's antipoverty agency by the federal government, the state of Massachusetts and the City of Boston.



Today, as the largest independent, private, 501(c)3 non-profit human services agency in New England, ABCD assists more than 100,000 low-income individuals and families annually. ABCD serves low-income residents through its central office and a decentralized, neighborhood-based, city-wide network of Area Planning Action Councils (APACs), Neighborhood Service Centers (NSCs), Head Start and Child Care Centers, and many other neighborhood programs, with neighborhood residents from all over the city making up the majority of board members.



ABCD programs and affiliates include Head Start; Child Care Services; Child Care Choices of Boston (CCCB); Multi-Cultural Independent Living Center of Boston, Inc. serving disabled inner-city residents; Foster Grandparents; Family Friends; Youth Programs including an Alternative High School (University High) in cooperation with the Boston Public Schools; SUMMERWORKS, providing career-oriented work experience for low-income teenagers; a partnership with the now-independent and fully accredited Urban College of Boston: A Two-Year College; LearningWorks Career Development programs; management of the Massachusetts Bay Area Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), Commonwealth of Boston Employee Charitable Campaign (COMECC); City of Boston Employee Campaign (COBEC), and private sector campaigns which together reach out to more than 150,000 federal, state, city and private sector employees and benefit more than 3,000 501(c)3 charities annually; Health Services/Family Planning; Housing and Homeless Services; Operation Re-entry Ex-Offenders Program, Community Services; Elder Services; Intergenerational Programs; Fuel Assistance; Weatherization; consumer services; and advocacy.