indoor tennis, during the winter.
Children at Hill House are encouraged to engage their artistic abilities,
working on sketching, painting, and crafting.
Little footsteps patter across the hardwood floor, while instructors and volunteers attempt to get everyone in line. Toddlers yell with excitement, interrupted by the occasional anxious cry-turned-laughter.
This is the regular symphony at Hill House, a nonprofit Beacon Hill community center that serves families throughout the downtown Boston area. Founded in 1966, Hill House – whose slogan is “Your backyard in the city” – has been providing families, particularly their children, with physical and intellectual enrichment through a variety of activities and weekly programs.
“We were founded 60 years ago by the Beacon Hill Civic Association,” said the center’s chief executive officer, Katherine Snider.
The association was a group of families concerned about their neighbors moving to the suburbs and abandoning downtown.
“This group of parents said, ‘How are we going to make Boston more livable for families? What do we need to do?’” Snider explained.
Hill House began at 74 Joy St., but the demand and needs from families continued to grow. The organization later expanded to 127 Mount Vernon St, a former firehouse near the Boston Public Garden where the main operations currently take place.
Former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino sold the building to Hill House for a single dollar, and a group of families came together to have the former firehouse undertake the necessary renovations to make it safe for children.
Jamie Kelly, programs director, said Hill House provides an opportunity for her to pursue a lifelong passion.
“I have always enjoyed working with children, and I thought I would be a teacher at one point,” Kelly said. “Then I was looking to relocate to Boston, and Hill House is just an outstanding organization that really drew me in.”
“I realized that there’s so much that I can learn and so much that I can give, and it’s been that way ever since,” Kelly said.
Diana Fabbrucci, a South End parent of two and recent board member, said Hill House gives her ease of mind that her children will be in good hands.
“I’m a very overprotective parent,” Fabbrucci said. “[Hill House] is a safe place. There are no other adults in the building. That …makes me feel really comfortable.”
From ninja warrior training to painting and from Dungeons and Dragons games to cooking, HIll House offers an array of programs and activities six days a week.
Most of HIll House’s programs are designed for younger participants, particularly those anywhere between age 3 and 12. However, there are also programs targeting seniors and other groups, such as expecting and new mothers.
Hill House has thrived through multiple generations. People who start as children become volunteers and then parents who bring their children to Hill House to engage in the same community that they once did. It’s “my community,’’ Fabbrucci explained.
“I feel like I am part of the organization because I’m so invested and my kids are doing so many of their programs,” Fabbrucci said.
People who use the center grow up familiar with Hill House’s mantra – give back to the community.
“It’s a partnership,” Kelly said. “It’s families turning to us for something…and then they’re on our soccer field next week.”
“A lot of families that will be part of those programs have lots of means,” Fabbrucci said. “They will be part of the programs, but they also will contribute to Hill House so that they can make programming accessible for everyone.”
Hill House offers a scholarship fund for individual families and people from underserved communities, the officials said. It also promotes volunteer opportunities on its website.
Snider said the center’s next focus will be on locating space to facilitate new programs and finding capital supporters to fund the project and maintain the buildings.
On a recent day this month, several parents and children took refuge from the cold to test their swings in indoor tennis.
In another area of the building, other children could be seen huddling with an instructor as they tapped into their artistic abilities, such as sketching, painting and crafting.
Fabbrucci said that being at the Hill House is a “wonderful feeling.”
“I’d hope it lasts for another 60 years,” Fabbrucci said of the center.
Ryan Owens is a student in the Boston University Journalism program. This story is a partnership between The Beacon Hill Times and the Boston University Journalism program.