(From left to right: William L. Boyan, former Children's Board of Trustees chair and chair of Children's Board Committee on Community Service; James Mandell, MD, Children's CEO; Alexandra Oliver-Davila, executive director, Sociedad Latina; Stephen R. Karp, chairman Children's Board of Trustees.)

Sociedad Latina honored with Children's Hospital Boston's first Boyan Award

On November 14, 2011, Children's Hospital Boston awarded the first annual William L. Boyan Award for Excellence in Community Health to Sociedad Latina. For more than 40 years, Sociedad Latina has served Latino youth and the community of Boston, pioneering new and innovative solutions to end destructive cycles of poverty, health disparities and lack of opportunity in our community.

The William L. Boyan Award is an annual award to honor a community organization for their work and commitment to the children and families of Boston. Each year, the theme of the award will change. The focus for the 2011 William L. Boyan Award was to support a program within a community organization, health center, city agency or Boston school that addressed the mental health needs of children.

The event celebrated Mr. Boyan's legacy and Sociedad Latina's outstanding community work. M. Laurie Cammisa, vice president for Child Advocacy welcomed the group and talked about the award and the selection process. Stephen R. Karp, chairman of Children's Board of Trustees spoke about Mr. Boyan's leadership and why the Board established this award to honor him. James Mandell, MD, Children's CEO, presented Sociedad Latina with the award, and spoke about the hospital's long-time partnership with Sociedad Latina and the work they are doing in the community to help Latino youth.

Alexandra Oliver-Davila, executive director of Sociedad Latina was on hand to receive the award and shared how the group will use the $50,000 award to expand their mental health services by hiring a full time case manager. For the first time ever, Sociedad Latina will be an internship site for Boston College social work students who will provide weekly mental health workshops to families to help members of the community identify mental health issues, access resources, understand mental health through a cultural lens and work together to use culture as a tool to promote good mental health in their Latino community. Two youth members of Sociedad Latina spoke about how the program has positively impacted them by providing support around decisions in their lives. The event was capped off by a lively performance from the Sociedad Latina music ensemble.