An Investment in Inclusion: CRI’s Transportation Initiative

BOSTON, MA [Monday, April 25, 2022]—The Liberty Mutual Foundation is supporting a new transportation initiative of Community Rowing, Inc. (CRI) with a total of $80,000 over the next two years.

CRI's location in Brighton may be termed a "transportation desert"—it is not on a public bus or subway line and it is not easily reached by pedestrians. In order to enhance safety during the pandemic, CRI began picking up students from their homes instead of from central boarding points, for example, the Ruggles T Station. This highlighted how critical transportation is for young people in CRI's programs, especially those from lower income families.

“We saw firsthand the need for transportation access for the youth of Boston last summer. While 20 Boston Public School students expressed an interest in learning to row at CRI, only six signed up, all from Allston-Brighton,” said Ted Benford, Executive Director of CRI. “We are grateful to Liberty Mutual Foundation for this investment, which will allow us to advance our mission to serve our community with a resource that makes a significant impact.”

Many BPS rowers rely on the transportation RowBoston provides—transportation that had become a burden on coaches as the program grew. Coaches were shuttling participants from Ruggles Station to CRI and back. For the team's average size of 25 kids, this meant over an hour of driving every day at rush hour, into the city and back, for up to six days a week.

“The pilot transportation initiative is an investment not only in diversity and inclusion for future CRI athletes, but in the athletes we serve right now,” said Janice Hagerman, RowBoston Head Coach. “This winter, reliable transit from inside Boston to CRI has shown RowBoston constituents, and staff, that consistent accessibility is a priority by the larger organization and that their interests belong, also, to the wider community.”

Last summer differed from previous years; CRI encouraged new BPS students to join CRI's Learn to Row program at no cost. While RowBoston, the Boston Public School scholastic team at CRI, still welcomed novice athletes in the summer, all week-long learn-to-row camps were part of CRI's summer youth programming.

The pilot phase was launched in November 2021. Its goal is to reduce transportation as a barrier for every youth in the Boston area who wants to take part in a CRI rowing program, making it easier for approximately 400 more participants to get to the boathouse.

At the same time, CRI reorganized youth programs, so that any youth participant residing in Boston will be eligible to use this transportation, and all CRI resources—healthy snacks, homework tutoring and assistance with the college admissions process—will be available to every student, regardless of program. Young rowers trying to make it to practices, six days a week, can now make it to the boathouse and back with a choice of two pickup and dropoff times.

This grant marks one of many between these two organizations; the Liberty Mutual Foundation has been a longstanding, generous partner of Community Rowing, Inc.

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Community Rowing Inc. (CRI) was founded in 1985 as a nonprofit organization dedicated to the belief that the sport of rowing provides unique opportunities to promote personal and community growth through teamwork, discipline, and physical fitness. We invite individuals of all backgrounds, abilities and experience to grow through rowing.