In the beginning, many residents were perplexed about the objectives of this new initiative, even though the mayor is well known for his creative way of inventing new projects that produce amazing results.

Today, the achievements of this newly established city organization are already noticeable citywide. This summer the Office of New Bostonians published its first guide to city services. This guide is presented in seven languages including the Haitian Creole. It allows the non-English speaking residents to become aware of the diverse services available to them. The Office of New Bostonians is also coordinating a translation service in collaboration with other public and private organizations and hundreds of volunteers.

The O.N.B is managed by Reverend Cheng Tan, an inspiring, devoted and community oriented person. More recently this office has taken some meaningful initiatives that impressed the Boston leaders and activists. For the first time, the community-based organizations were invited to take part of an information session about city grants and other resources available to boost their non-profit projects and to obtain applications for grants. The room was packed with leaders, activists and local news media personalities from every ethnic group.

Most of the city’s departments were present, even those that did not have any money to offer, such as the Minority/ Women Business Enterprise which helps minority contractors obtain licenses that allow them the opportunity to contract with the city government.

Among the most generous donors were the Boston 2:00 to 6:00 Initiative, the Boston Cultural Council, The Department of Neighborhood Development and the Boston Police Department.

The Boston Cultural Council is offering project grants ranging from $500 to $2,500. The Department of Neighborhood Development and the Emergency Shelter Commission is giving away grant money up to $ 1,500,000 through two funds: The Emergency Shelter Fund and the McKinney Homeless Assistance Funding. Grants ranging from $10,000 to $90,000 are available for organizations that provide emergency shelter services, and grants ranging from $100,000 to $1,500,000 to shelters and other homeless provider organizations.

The Boston Police also have a grant program although they have imposed tougher conditions. The Boston Police have established the Violence Prevention Grants program but this grant is given only on a reimbursement basis, which means that the grantees must pay costs up front, then they will have to provide invoices for payment with proof of all expenditures.

However, it seems that the City of Boston does not have the community newspapers in their books, not only did they not mention any grants for the community newspapers, they didn’t even make any reference about how to get advertising contracts through the city departments. Apparently the money is reserved for the Globe and the Herald, but so far the community newspapers play a very important role in the neighborhoods.

Ever since Mayor Menino has chosen Reverend Cheng Tan as the head of the Office of New Bostonians, the City Hall has become the people’s house. Reverend Cheng Tan has been conducting a series of meetings with different ethnic groups, social and religious organizations, where the community leaders and activists joined together to discuss the issues that are affecting their respective community. These meetings are held in order to encourage the direct participation of the residents of the ethnic groups in city affairs and also help the mayor and the different city departments to identify the areas of concern that need immediate intervention.

According to Mr. Gaston Poufong of the Office of New Bostonians this grant information session is the first of a series of similar events that will be held in order to inform the community based organizations about resources available to them. This initiative reaffirms the commitment of the mayor to fully integrate every community and every Boston resident in city affairs.