Background

MyDorchester came to fruition through an organization, Social Capital Inc. (SCI). Social Capital Inc. (SCI) was founded in 2002 by David Crowley to build social capital and increase civic engagement in his hometown of Woburn, MA. After initial success in Woburn, SCI developed plans to expand to other local communities. At the beginning of 2004 SCI partnered with DotWell, a health services partnership between Codman Square Health Center and DotHouse Health, to develop Dorchester as the second flagship site. "SCI Dorchester" spent the next 6 months going through a needs assessment and planning process to determine how it could best serve the community. "SCI Dorchester" transitioned into what we now call MyDorchester, and is now managed by Codman Square Health Center.

MyDorchester's Kick-Off event was a Citizenship Breakfast with Boston Mayor Tom Menino on July 8, 2004. It was a part of "Celebrate Boston 2004," which provided events around Boston before the Democratic National Convention. MyDorchester then held 3 brainstorming sessions in August and September 2004 in Codman Square and Field's Corner to allow community members to discuss community issues and their ideas on how MyDorchester could address them. MyDorchester programming began in October 2004 with the Dorchester Youth Council and the development of a Community Resource Guide.
To learn more about SCI's history and mission click here.

Since MyDorchester.org first launched in 2007, it has been replicated by the following websites: Social Capital Inc., SCI Woburn, SCI Lynn and MyFallRiver.org