Boston Globe, May 2026
Rachel Mejia has to raise her voice to be heard over the din of children running into St. Stephen’s cafeteria in the South End. The 17-year-old works with local kids a few days each week after school — helping with homework, being a buddy during playtime, and acting as a sounding board if someone needs a friendly ear. Mejia’s proud of her job, funded by the city as part of an afterschool jobs program for teens and young adults. But that job is among 1,800 positions that would be eliminated by Mayor Michelle Wu’s proposed budget for next year. “To them, it’s just like another program,” Mejia said. “But for us, it’s more than just the money; it’s a family, it’s a community.”
Advocates say the city-funded jobs provide more than a paycheck to predominantly Black and Latino students from lower-income backgrounds. The afterschool work allows them to test the water in future careers at nonprofits, community groups, and public universities, and more. “That’s benefiting all of us — to have young people who are productive members of our community,” said Alicia Sasser Modestino, a Northeastern University professor and director of its Kitty and Michael Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy.
