ABCD History Timeline

ABCD is incorporated to provide urban “human renewal” with a $1.9 million grant from the Ford Foundation and funding from the Permanent Charity Fund (now The Boston Foundation).

Congress passes the Economic Opportunity Act (EOA) that creates the War on Poverty; ABCD is designated Boston’s antipoverty agency.

Nation’s first community health center is established by ABCD and Tufts University at the Columbia Point Housing Development.

Urban College Program begins.

Robert M. Coard becomes ABCD Executive Director.

ABCD holds first Community Awards Dinner. Dr. Paul Ylvisaker, former Ford Foundation officer in charge of the “Gray Areas” project that started ABCD, is keynote speaker.

Photo: C-SPAN

ABCD makes its legal services program an independent entity, thereby creating Greater Boston Legal Services.

ABCD and three other community action programs file a successful class action lawsuit to prevent President Nixon from abolishing the Office of Economic Opportunity and destroying the community action network.

Fuel assistance program begins.

Under President Gerald Ford, additional funding for Summer jobs results in ABCD putting 10,000 youth to work at community sites.

President Reagan presents award to ABCD for exemplary public-private partnership in the ABCD / Shawmut bank training program.

Ford Foundation gives ABCD a special award for its Summer Training & Education Program (STEP) to combat high school dropout problem.

ABCD establishes Massachusetts Immigration & Refugee Assistance (MIRA) to ensure immigrants’ rights are protected.

Mass. Board of Higher Education votes to charter Urban College of Boston as a degree-granting institution of higher education.

ABCD starts University High – an alternative high school in collaboration with the Boston Public Schools to serve young people who struggle academically or otherwise in the traditional system.

With the aid of a $7.4 million HUD grant, ABCD and the Church of the Holy Spirit establish 45 units of elder affordable housing in Mattapan. This is the first of four such initiatives that brought $28.2 million in HUD funds to Boston and created 206 units of elder housing in low-income neighborhoods.

Photo: jiawangkun – Fotolia

ABCD, as lead agency, wins contract to manage the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) in the Massachusetts Bay area. That campaign raises approximately $2 million annually to benefit 3,000 charities.

The first Field of Dreams corporate softball tournament at Fenway Park raises $150,000 for ABCD youth programs. Since then this annual fundraiser has raised more than $2 million.

ABCD starts WorkPathways project with $2.8 million from the U.S. Department of Labor to help welfare recipients find and keep jobs.

ABCD opens William J. Ostiguy High School, one of three recovery high schools in Massachusetts.

ABCD begins the Community Health Worker Initiative funded with a $1 million grant from The Boston Foundation to provide career enhancement for community health workers, improve health outcomes and reduce health disparities for low-income families.

The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act provides significant funding that enables ABCD to launch comprehensive weatherization, job creation and community initiatives that address unmet needs. ABCD develops a place-based model for integrated services with one-stop access to benefits.

Legendary ABCD President/CEO Robert M. Coard passes away, just a few months after retiring. The ABCD Board of Directors elects John J. Drew President/CEO of ABCD.

ABCD takes statewide leadership role in massive weatherization initiatives funded by ARRA and utility partners including 35 “green” solar hot water heating projects in public and subsidized housing developments across Massachusetts.

ABCD holds its first Hoop Dreams fundraiser with 10 corporate teams paying to play in a basketball tournament on the famed TD Garden parquet floor.

ABCD dedicates its main building at 178 Tremont Street, Boston, to Bob Coard, renaming it the Robert M. Coard building.

Grammy award winner Natalie Cole performs at the ABCD 50th anniversary gala! Sargent Shriver, first head of the War on Poverty programs, is inducted into the ABCD Hall of Fame and his son, Mark Shriver, accepts the award.

ABCD expands to serve the Mystic Valley region, receiving federal Community Services Block Grant and other funding and successfully providing vital services and programs.

ABCD renovates an historic building on the ABCD Roxbury/North Dorchester campus and names it for community activist, educator, volunteer and health champion and longtime ABCD board member Thelma D. Burns.

COVID-19 poses unprecedented challenges for ABCD and the world, but ABCD turns adversity into action by scaling up emergency services, using technology to meet people where they are, and providing direct relief to community members who need it most.

The MassHire Metro North Workforce Board (MNWB) selects ABCD as the operator of the MassHire Metro North Career Center.

John J. Drew retires and Sharon Scott-Chandler, Esq. becomes the first woman to serve as ABCD President & CEO. ABCD celebrates its 60th anniversary at the Community Heroes Celebration. John J. Drew is inducted into the ABCD Hall of Fame.

The Embrace memorial is unveiled and ABCD co-founder Melnea Cass and former President/CEO Robert M. Coard are among 69 local civil rights leaders featured as part of the 1965 Freedom Plaza.