This article first appeared in the Boston Globe and was co-authored by Camp Harbor View Chief Executive Officer Sharon McNally and chair of the board of the Yawkey Foundation John L. Harrington.
BOSTON (The Boston Globe) – Boston is a hub for excellence in education, innovation, creativity, sports, and connection. But every great city must evolve to thrive in changing times. Such change entails dedicated leadership and investments across many sectors — public, private, philanthropic — to close the gaps to opportunity. Since its inception in 2007, Camp Harbor View has been fulfilling its mission to provide Bostonians and their families one-of-a-kind summer camp for students in grades 6 through 8, year-round leadership development for students in grades 9 through 12, and comprehensive family services, including college and career planning, scholarships, clinical support, and resource coordination — all at no cost to families.
Much has been said about the loss earlier this year of Camp Harbor View cofounder Jack Connors. He was many things to many people, but there is an important common thread pulled across his many endeavors. Jack invested in youth, in families, in communities, and in the potential of every individual in Boston to have the resources and support to achieve their aspirations.
As two people who were privileged to be close to Connors, we know that he would want us to move ahead with what he had placed in motion, and that’s why our two organizations — Camp Harbor View and the Yawkey Foundation — are doubling down on the investments Connors made in the next generation of our city’s leaders.
In the months before his death, Connors was in discussions with the Yawkey Foundation about how to make sure that his investment in Boston’s youth continued to spin off dividends for generations to come. The foundation, perpetuating the philanthropic legacy of Jean and Tom Yawkey, who were owners of the Red Sox, was a natural partner in this goal — Camp Harbor View and the Yawkey Foundation share a mutual commitment to providing young adults with opportunities for out-of-school time and the Yawkey Foundation has provided more than $800,000 over 15 years in support of Camp Harbor View’s teen programs.
Connors and John Harrington, chair of the Yawkey Foundation, carried out their strategic planning over hot dogs at Sullivan’s Castle Island — yet Connors soon learned that he would have less time than he had expected to continue these conversations to map out the long-term plan for the camp.
While many people are aware of its iconic summer camp in the Harbor Islands, few are familiar with the fact that the camp operates after-school and weekend leadership and social-emotional development programs from a modest space in the South End, specifically for teens who are part of the camp community. These year-round programs have been making a difference in the lives of campers, and campers’ families, long after the youth have aged out of the traditional summer program. Yet there’s a wait-list of teens who want to get involved and countless opportunities to grow. It’s clear that the organization needs a new home base, and that was a priority project for Connors that, sadly, he was unable to accomplish. This is where the Yawkey Foundation has decided to step in.
With a $7.5 million grant announced Wednesday, the foundation is helping Camp Harbor View move all of its year-round operations to a space in the Southline Building in Dorchester. Convenient to various modes of public transit and bringing the totality of the camp’s programs and resources under one roof, it will be a game changer for thousands of Boston teens and families. This new space, this hub of year-round youth enrichment, will be named The Connors Leadership Academy. Fittingly, the academy will ensure that all the youth and family programming that Connors invested in when he created the camp will be sustained over generations to come.
Camp Harbor View is not just a camp. It’s a community of teens and families building a more inclusive, equitable, joyful, and connected next generation for our city. From summer camp to year-round leadership workshops and after-school programs, to college prep, college scholarships, and guaranteed monthly income for families — its mission is to be the holistic partner families need to achieve the kind of economic mobility and opportunity that propelled Connors from his humble beginnings to the privilege of being among the many community leaders determined to create a better Boston for all.
Here’s to delivering on Connors’s vision for investing in Boston’s children. And here’s to a new home — a welcoming, supportive, and resource-rich harbor — for Camp Harbor View and its programs so it may continue to provide opportunities for future generations of our great city.
The whole of Boston is mourning the death of Jack Connors. And for those of us who worked with him every day, as I did for 17 years, we are trying to find our footing in a world without him. There are lessons from his approach to life that will serve us well as we seek to continue his legacy.
There has been much written about Jack’s immense generosity, his leadership, his business acumen and boundless energy for making positive change. It would be tempting to think that all of it came easily to him, that he was a born natural and destined for success. That would give the rest of us an excuse. But Jack would — and did — proclaim that he was anything but a natural. He spoke often about having been a “late bloomer” and a proud member of the bottom half of his graduating class in college. Was he charming? Yes, he sure was. But I have never known anyone who prepared so assiduously for every challenge, whether making a pitch for a philanthropic gift, introducing the president of the United States at a fundraiser, or preparing a gift basket for an ailing friend.
Jack’s standards were high, for himself and for the rest of us. Speeches were drafted, edited, rehearsed out loud, rejected, tossed, and started again from scratch. The final draft was never truly final, because when it came time to deliver it, there was something that had occurred to Jack before it was time to speak — often something funny — and it was incorporated at just the right place with just the right timing. Even the joke lines he used over and over again somehow remained hilarious.
The author, center, with Jack Connors and former Mayor Marty Walsh in 2019 at Camp Harbor View. (Courtesy Camp Harbor View)
A self-reported terrible athlete (though he did ski, play golf and tennis and finish three Boston Marathons), the sport Jack truly excelled at was fundraising. He was organized, determined and bold when it was time to raise money for a cause or organization that mattered to him.
Many years ago, when Sen. Ted Kennedy asked if he would consider raising $100 million for what became the Edward M. Kennedy Institute, Jack approached the task like it was a military campaign. He divided the world of corporate prospects into sectors and identified a captain for each one. The strength of his relationships and the goodwill he had earned over many years of just “being Jack” along with a disciplined goal setting and reporting structure resulted in a collegial and effective fundraising machine that produced the EMK Institute that stands next to the JFK Library on Columbia Point.
There were no days off for Jack. Camp Harbor View, which was founded in 2007 as a summer camp and now engages 1,000 Boston kids and their families year round, was near and dear to him. He never missed an opportunity to promote the camp to a new acquaintance; he was never at a loss when someone asked what they might do for him.
Once we met his initial goal of creating a safe and beautiful place for city kids, he moved the end zone. He wanted us to do more, be better, think more creatively about meeting needs, removing barriers and creating opportunity. Thanks to his relentless pursuit of additional resources and support, the scope of Camp Harbor View’s work has broadened to become much more than a summer camp. As Jack proudly said at the 2024 Beach Ball on June 8th, we are now “a social equity organization.”
[Jack] was also a quiet source of support and solace for countless people who stumbled into a place of need for one reason or another. Compassion and generosity were his reflexes.
Jack was known for his huge contributions to the fabric of Boston, but he was also a quiet source of support and solace for countless people who stumbled into a place of need for one reason or another. Compassion and generosity were his reflexes. He wrote rent, mortgage and tuition checks; he found a hospital bed for your child or your mother when none were available; he dispensed career advice to newly minted college graduates and stuck-in-a-rut mid-career folks; he listened to new business pitches and even made forays into marriage counseling. It was never a one size fits all approach. He tailored his assistance to the needs of the individual involved, and he didn’t lose track of people — he followed up to be sure that the situation was improving; he was relentless in finding a solution.
Working for Jack was challenging in all the right ways. His call list was endlessly long, his inbox bursting at the seams, and there was always a line outside his door, which is exactly how he liked it. His standards were high, and he expected a lot. His boundless imagination and creativity made for some difficult assignments, a few of which you just hoped he’d forget about. He never did forget, but there were a few times when he would finally agree that an idea was just a little too crazy and he’d say, “okay, uncle, you’re right, forget about it.” These victories were few, but sweet and filled with relief.
The ethos of the Connors Family Office and Camp Harbor View, a blended and close-knit team, is one of service and thoughtfulness, because that is what Jack modeled for us. His gratitude for a job well-done was profound. He thanked us, in words and deeds, constantly for our work — and he made sure we had fun. There were office scavenger hunts, gingerbread house contests, barbershop quartets, musicians, magicians, karaoke, birthday serenades, wine and cheese parties, first day-of-spring daffodils, restaurant feasts and catered birthday lunches. We celebrated everything: a fundraising milestone, a work anniversary, a warm winter afternoon. Jack used to say, tongue in cheek, that we couldn’t allow ourselves to be jaded. We didn’t, and we won’t. We embraced the champagne toasts, the thrill of success, the euphoria of being part of a winning team.
Our coach worked harder than anyone we knew. Jack was in the office nearly every single day until the end, and he inspired us to be always our best. He told us all the time that he loved working with us and that he loved every one of us. We loved him back tenfold.
A funeral mass for Jack Connors will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 30 at St. Ignatius of Loyola Church in Chestnut Hill. A livestream of the service is available here.
Camp Harbor View announced a new three-year partnership with Biogen and the Biogen Foundation to promote the wellbeing of more than 200 Boston families by helping address social determinants of health through increased food security, more equitable access to clinical mental health resources, post-secondary education, and career development pathways.
The Biogen Foundation’s support will bolster Camp Harbor View’s Family Health Initiative, a holistic approach to youth development that empowers Boston’s next generation leaders and furthers positive economic, social and health outcomes. This funding will make it possible for Camp Harbor View to connect teens and their families to greater food security, one-to-one clinical health services, social-emotional learning, and skill building and career development opportunities. As part of this relationship, participants also have the opportunity to explore the field of life sciences by visiting Biogen’s CoLab, a community space offering life science training from employees and leading local educators. The Biogen Foundation’s commitment will also establish and fund annual Biogen Scholars, awarding three graduating high school seniors with $40,000 scholarships to pursue their post-secondary plans.
“We are grateful for Biogen’s leadership on key health equity initiatives. Social emotional learning, clinical support, and food security are essential wraparound support that promote economic and social mobility,” Camp Harbor View CEO Sharon McNally said. “Partnering with, and trusting in, Boston families, this is a meaningful investment in the next generation.”
“Biogen believes that everyone deserves access to a supportive ecosystem that enables them to live the healthiest, fullest life possible,” Biogen Vice President of Asset Development and Portfolio Management and the Chair of the Biogen Foundation’s Board of Directors Teresa Cachero said. “This partnership with Camp Harbor View reflects our credo of caring deeply, and it will enable us to provide assistance in many aspects of a family’s life, from social to health.”
The partnership, inclusive of Biogen sponsorship for events, will total $500,000.
– About Camp Harbor View: Established in 2007, Camp Harbor View (CHV) is a youth-centered, multi-service organization with year-round programs that address the long-term wellbeing and economic mobility of underserved Boston youth and their families. Our shared vision is an inclusive, equitable Boston where every young person and family has the opportunity and resources to succeed. To pursue this vision, we offer free, high-quality summer camp and year-round programs, nurturing deep relationships and empowering a thriving community of future leaders and their families. Additional information is available at www.campharborview.org.
About Biogen Foundation: Established in 2002, the Biogen Foundation seeks to advance better health by collaborating with high-impact partners in local communities. Through the Foundation, we strive to make an impact beyond our medicines, focusing our grantmaking on equitable access to healthcare by strengthening health systems and providing access to nutritious food, a critical social determinant of health. For more information, please visit: www.biogen.com/company/biogen-foundation.
BOSTON (The Boston Globe) — Nobody says good morning like Chazz Guerra says good morning.
“G-O-O-D M-O-R-N-I-N-G,” Guerra half sang, half shouted into a bullhorn in front of the Great Hall. There are few things Guerra, a 25-year-old camp counselor, likes more than The First Day of Camp.
More than 200 Camp Harbor View middle schoolers were assembled in front of him on the sports fields, wilting in the hot and humid conditions around 9 a.m. on Monday — a tough crowd.
Camp Harbor View is a free summer camp for Boston middle schoolers on the southern end of Long Island in Boston Harbor. The Great Hall is the mess hall in the center of camp, with the ferry dock, sports fields, and high-ropes course to the north and the pool and arts pavilion to the south.
BOSTON (Boston 25 News) — Camp Harbor View is the brainchild of former Boston Mayor Tom Menino and Boston businessman Jack Connors, who wanted to find a use for the then-untouched land on Long Island. The idea was just to engage middle-schoolers during summer months. But whether it’s learning to sail, fish, climb a rock wall or learn a new sport, the free summer camp has become so much more to the city’s young people over the last 15 years.
Our Executive Director, Lisa Fortenberry, recently sat down with Jenny Johnson on Comcast Newsmakers to discuss the unforgettable summer ahead for CHV campers and why, now more than ever, the joys of just being a kid at camp can be a life-changing experience for middle schoolers emerging from pandemic isolation.
BOSTON (The Boston Globe) – Cities aren’t the only proponents of giving no-strings-attached cash to people in need. Here come the nonprofits.
The national movement, whichhad its local roots in Chelsea and spread to Cambridge, aims to empower low-income households with monthly stipends and settle an age-old debate about whether we can trust poor people with money instead of having them constantly jump through hoops to receive aid.
Advocates of so-called guaranteed income programs believe that low-income households know best how to lift themselves out of poverty rather than being told what to do. It’s that combination of confidence and cash that can help people move up the economic ladder.
At least threelocal nonprofits have launched pilots in recent months: Camp Harbor View with 50 families that are receiving $583 a month for two years; United South End Settlements with 16 families that are getting $800 a month for 18 months; and UpTogether — in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance, Harvard Business School, and others — has embarked on a research project providing nearly 1,500 families with varying amounts of money and social capital over 18 months.
BOSTON (CBS) – A popular Boston summer camp is working hard to provide summer fun, even though it can’t open in the traditional sense this year. The staff of Camp Harbor View on Boston’s Long Island spent Wednesday making special ‘summer engagement kits’ for would-be campers.
BOSTON (CBS) – Boston’s Camp Harbor View is a summer camp for kids who may not otherwise have the chance to have a special summer. Camp Harbor View is in its 13th year helping kids thrive. And this camp is about much more than just having fun.
BOSTON (The Boston Globe) – Sporting pink reflective sunglasses that matched her bright lipstick, Lisa Fortenberry clapped and yelled “Day one, baby!”
In front of her, campers exited their buses in single file Monday. Some tried to keep a cool countenance — one even kept his arms crossed as he strode along — but the staff’s energetic welcome was tough to resist. When the teenager thought no one was looking, he let a smile cross his face.
The campers were headed for a boat that would take them to Camp Harbor View, where a high-ropes course cuts the skyline, orange flags line a scenic boardwalk onto the island, and waves crash against the rocky waterline next to the basketball and tennis courts.
