Well-Known Dorchester Youth Center At Risk Of Closing Without Additional Funding

A longtime Dorchester nonprofit that provides after-school programs to at-risk youth says it's fighting to stay open as it deals with a budget crisis.

The Dorchester Youth Collaborative gives a safe place to Boston area young people ages 11-20.

The group now says it needs to raise $50,000 to operate through this summer.

Founder and executive director Emmett Folgert says government funding has been declining — and the group won't get private grant money until September.

Folgert says this is the tightest it has ever been financially since the collaborative opened in 1981.

"We've been working with kids who have great potential and are brilliant," he says, "but they are some of the most desperate young people in Boston."

Folgert says the collaborative is trying to raise funds through calls to action on social media and by asking for private donations. He says the collaborative intends to reorganize itself so it isn't as dependent on public funding.

Folgert also says he is not taking his $72,000 yearly salary until the situation is resolved.