Connor Schoen, cofounder and executive director of Breaktime, has been recognized with Eastern Bank’s 2023 Community Advocacy Award and award grant for his organization’s impactful role in fighting LGBTQ and youth homelessness.
Schoen is among 12 honorees in total from Greater Boston, across Massachusetts and New Hampshire who attended an afternoon of celebration and a roundtable at Eastern Bank headquarters.
A nationally recognized organization, Breaktime serves people aged 18-25 who are at a high risk of homelessness, currently experiencing homelessness, or transitioning out of temporary housing —notably those from LGBTQ communities. Working in complement to housing providers and agencies and acting as an advocate to break apart unjust stigmas, their mission is to disrupt the cycle of homelessness by empowering young people with the job experience and financial education and support they need to achieve housing security. They are currently working to expand their geographic footprint and bring their successful service model North and West of Boston.
“Data shows that every day that a young adult has housing insecurity their chance of becoming chronically homeless increases by 2 percent, so we are very happy to be acknowledged and supported for the work we are doing to fight these sobering statistics,” Schoen said.
“Connecting with other honorees was a great opportunity to share thoughts and approaches as we all work to combat many common and persistent challenges. We appreciate Eastern Bank Foundation’s shared passion on the issue of affordable housing — especially for the youth in our communities.”
Each year the Foundation honors a few of the many inspirational people and nonprofits working to address the most critical needs across the communities Eastern serves with the award. This year’s focus is on affordable housing, one of the core strategy areas of the Foundation’s commitment to expanding economic inclusion and mobility. See full honoree information here.
— from a Breaktime press release
Not a subscriber? Sign up today for a free subscription to Boston Spirit magazine, New England’s premier LGBT magazine. We will send you a copy of Boston Spirit 6 times per year and we never sell/rent our subscriber information. Click HERE to sign up!
