Micro-Financing Allston

The Harvard-Allston Partnership Fund has been a high note in an often tenuous inter-community relationship. The program provides small grants to local non-profit organizations to support community development projects in the Allston area. The first grants were distributed in June, and the project will begin accepting its second set of proposals this month. The plan is in line with Harvard’s commitment to support the Allston community, and we are encouraged by its progress.

Harvard has promised to distribute $100,000 in these awards each year for five-years. We understand that $500,000 is not an especially large sum of money, even within the $25 million in benefits that Harvard will disburse to Allston as part of the Cooperation Agreement for the Harvard Science Complex. However, the money is important in that it demonstrates Harvard’s real interest in fostering community in Allston. The grants are distributed by a team of Allston-Brighton residents, fostering a sense of ownership in the Harvard construction projects that has been absent in the past. The money goes directly to the residents of Allston through projects like Arts Bridge, in which professional filmmakers teach Allston teenagers how to make short films about their community.

This community investment is especially important given the long duration of the construction projects in Allston. In February 2009, the university announced that it would delay construction in Allston as part of a series of budget cuts in response to the financial crisis. This slowdown is understandably testing the patience of Allston residents. But goodwill overtures such as the fund indicate that, despite construction uncertainty, Harvard is not wavering in its commitment to a healthy relationship with the Allston community.

Nevertheless, while the grants are a step in the right direction, Harvard’s responsibilities don’t end there. Harvard needs to bring businesses and infrastructure to ensure long-term growth. A well-cited concern of Allston residents is that Harvard will develop over commercial areas—such as the historic Barry’s Corner—without replacing them with equivalent revenue sources. The university still has a duty to show that it recognizes the needs of Allston’s economy. Additionally, it needs consider smaller but still-pressing concerns, such as the problem of rats originating from Harvard construction sites. Allston must remain a good place in which to live and work.

Additionally, Harvard still holds responsibility for connecting the Allston and Cambridge communities; Allston development cannot occur in a bubble. Harvard has already taken certain steps to ensure this. Members of the Allston educational portal were given free passes to Blodgett Pool this past summer, and Allston residents also receive discounted season tickets to Harvard football games. However, Harvard can continue to do more to open up our facilities and share our physical resources as well as our monetary ones.