The Beacon Hill Friends House is a Quaker meeting house and a nonprofit residential co-op. Two adjoining row homes on Chestnut Street house 21 tenants who pay rent in exchange for room and board. The rent money goes to support the Beacon Hill Friends House, which hosts a Quaker meeting service every Sunday from 10:30am - 11:30am.
The Friends House mission is to embody the principles of simplicity, integrity, community and faith. The property was handed over to the Quakers when the owner died in 1957. In addition to serving as a co-op and a meeting house, the Friends House hosts a Quaker Studies Program every fall and occasionally presents speakers.
Residents of the co-op typically only stay for two years. Many are Quakers but the house invites anyone to apply for a spot and they encourage diversity among tenants. The rent is lower than the average rent on Beacon Hill and meals are included in the price. The Friends House has a charming library and parlor for resident use.
The meeting space is simplistic but classically beautiful and looks out onto a lovely garden. Typically, between 30 and 40 people attend meeting services.
The Massachusetts chapter of the National Association of Social Workers represents and advocates for its members, 8,400 social workers across the state. The Association is headquartered in Washington D.C. but the Massachusetts chapter is housed on the 4th floor of the Congregational Library building at 14 Beacon Street. The Association represents its member's interests on Beacon Hill, works on political campaigns and provides continuing education for its members.
Youth Enrichment Services is a Boston-area youth development organization that introduces kids and teens to the great outdoors through sports. Sports programs offered include skiing, snowboarding, biking, hiking, rock climbing, and others. The organization also offers YES Academy, which is a year-round college prep program. To sign up or for information on ways to donate, call the number provided.
Friends of the Public Garden is a nonprofit organization that formed in 1970 in response to the deterioration of Boston's public parks. Today, the organization partners with the city of Boston to maintain the beauty and splendor of the Boston Public Garden, the Boston Common and the Back Bay's Commonwealth Avenue Mall.
From its headquarters in Beacon Hill, Friends of the Public Garden helps to preserve and protect the parks by repairing fences and fountains, restoring monuments and maintaining trees and foliage. It takes care of 44 monuments and more than 2,000 trees in all three parks. In 2009, the organization spent more than $150,000 on pruning, fertilizing and injecting trees against disease.
The group partners with the city of Boston and is supported largely through private donations. Executive Director Elizabeth Vizza and a board oversee the organization's activities. To join Friends of the Public Garden, residents can make a donation online of $25 or more.
City Year is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping students throughout the country who are at risk of dropping out of school. It offers tutoring, mentoring and after-school programs led by recent college graduates who have been trained by the organization. This office is the Boston headquarters for the organization.