826 to open its doors in Roxbury this summer

From the inbox:

Dear friends of 826 Boston:

First, we apologize for being out of touch. We've been very busy this spring putting together all the nuts and bolts of the organization. We cannot wait to open our doors to the Boston community this summer and meet all of you!

Expect a more detailed newsletter soon, as well as the launch of our new and improved 826 Boston website, but for now, a brief update:

We have secured a space in Roxbury and expect to open in the late summer. All of the details on our space will be included on our website. The board just finished the second round of interviews for the executive director search and will announce its decision by the end of the week. Our initial programming at The English High School is going well. We'd like to thank authors Steve Almond, Junot Diaz, Kelly Link and Holly Black for visiting the students. We'd also like to thank our team of tutors who have volunteered  their time in the classroom.

826 Boston is holding also holding a benefit at the Cloud Foundation:

826 Boston, Inc. invites you to "Fill in The _____ ", an evening of
literary entertainment led by authors Charles Coe (Picnic on the
Moon), Julia Glass (National Book Award-winning Three Junes, The Whole
World Over) Tom Perrotta (Little Children, Joe College, Election, The
Wishbones, Bad Haircut) and Heidi Pitlor (The Birthdays), with musical
guest Eli "Paperboy" Reed.  Please join us for food, drinks, music and
word play on Wednesday, May 23rd from 6-9 PM at the Cloud Foundation
(647 Boylston Street) in Boston, and help "fill in the blanks". 
Writers will read from their latest work, and each will present an unfinished
piece for audience members to help complete.

826 Boston is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting
students ages 6-18 with their creative and expository writing skills.
The program is the newest addition to 826 National, an organization
that supports similar programs across the country.  The first chapter,
826 Valencia, was founded by best selling author Dave Eggers and
educator Ninive Calegari in San Francisco's Mission District.  There
are now chapters in Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Ann Arbor, and New
York City.  Like its "sister" programs, 826 Boston is looking forward
to engaging Boston-area writers, artists and other volunteers to
provide one-on-one tutoring, workshops, field trips, in-school
assistance, and to create student-published works.  While the bulk of
826 Boston's activities will begin once the program opens it's space
this Fall in Roxbury, tutors and volunteers have already begun an
exciting in-school program at The English High School in Jamaica
Plain. 826 Boston hopes to fill gaps in students' literacy and arts
education, exposing them to things they may not experience in school.
We work to provide every single volunteer teacher with the level of
support, training, and supplies they need to create exciting
project-based learning experiences that will deeply impact students.

We are proud to have this opportunity to introduce 826 Boston to the
Greater Boston community, and we look forward to seeing you at our
first Boston event!

Please follow this link to purchase tickets to the event:

http://www.826national.org/content/67/826-boston-presents

Read Nina's piece on 826's awesome program here.