Arguably the largest attended ribbon cutting in recent years and certainly with the longest ribbon – about 40 feet – was the Oct. 29 ceremony opening the new YES (Youth Enrichment Services) headquarters at 267 Amory St., Jamaica Plain.

The standing-room-only event in the third floor Martin’s Room (named after the Martin Richards Foundation) was hosted by Channel 7 news anchor Amaka Ubaka and even opened with a prayer from Rev. Jeffrey Brown from Union Baptist Church in Cambridge (notwithstanding YES is in Our Lady of Lourdes parish).

The $16-million, three-story center “will be the home base for year-round outdoor enrichment, leadership development, and college and career preparation experiences for Boston youth ages 7 to 18 from Dorchester, Mattapan, Roxbury, Hyde Park and Jamaica Plain” according to the press release.

Eleven names were listed on the press release including State Rep. Samantha Montano, State Sen. Liz Miranda and Boston City Councilors Ben Weber and Ed Flynn. Montano, Weber and Flynn attended.

A surprise was Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, who was called up to the podium after YES director Bryan Van Dorpe, who spoke about “this incredible and iconic organization.”

Van Dorpe spoke proudly about the late Richard Williams, for whom the new building is named. Williams founded YES in 1968 in a building on Hemenway Street.

“This new home will carry on Richard’s legacy for teens from low- and moderate-income families throughout Boston with sports-based activities,” Van Dorpe said.

Wu’s remarks were brief, acknowledging that YES was serving the youth of Boston with new experiences. “Thank you for giving life skills,” she said.

She acknowledged the Community Preservation Act Fund which contributed $400,000 to the center, calling out its Director, Thadine Brown.

Wu also called out José Massó, Chief of Human Services for the City of Boston, who was standing in the back. There were the usual thank you’s and shout outs, applause and stories.

“Donors, partners, board and staff, this is our chance to say thank you,” Ubaka said and she called out Bill Richards sitting in the fifth row, the father of Martin Richards, whose foundation was a major giver to build the center.

Richard Williams’ widow Mary, standing with her son Martin, gave a warm talk about her early years as a volunteer with YES.

“Richard started YES to get kids out of doors,” Willams said. “There are 100 Richard Willams in this room.”

Two of them were 18-year-old Jordan Johnson and 17-year-old Maeme King, both from Dorchester who spoke about what YES meant to them.

“It changed my life for the better,” Johnson said.

Van Dorpe received a standing ovation at the close of his remarks in which he emphasized that the night was the beginning of the next 50 years “to reach young leaders through YES’s challenging, sports-based programs and the experience of the outdoors.”

“This building is yours,” Van Dorpe said.

Much like the ground breaking ceremony in January 2025, the YES ribbon-cutting was very emphatic about all those who contributed; in his remarks Van Dorpe listed four, million-dollar givers: The Lash family, Lois and Phillip Gross, the Yawkey Foundation ($1.5 million), and the Martin Richards Foundation.

On the Power Point screen before the event were pages of other givers, 91 names in total.

The 5 p.m. ribbon cutting ceremony was preceded by a 4 p.m. “leadership donor reception and donor wall unveiling.”

As The Bulletin reported on July 1, 2021, the most important donor was Watermark Development.

In 2021 Watermark bought the property for $3.2 million and partnered with YES, which had been searching for a new site to build a larger youth center headquarters, to develop the property.

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As Lee Goodman of Watermark said at the June 23, 2021 Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) Board meeting, the development was “50-50”: YES would build its headquarters and Watermark would build a four-story, nine-condominium residence next to it adjacent to an entrance to the Southwest Corridor Park; both designed by Embarc architects.

Watermark suffered a successful abutter lawsuit that forced it to reduce the height (three stories) and unit count (now seven) of the residence and YES to lower its height by removing a mezzanine level, both of which cost time and design money. Visit designer Embarc’s site to see design ideas: https://www.embarcdesign.com/project/yes

“This could not happen without Watermark,” Van Dorpe said at one of the BPDA public meetings five years ago describing the new YES headquarters designed by Embarc.

Watermark’s Lee Goodman did not reply to The Bulletin’s question about how much YES contributed to the “50-50” split.

YES put its old headquarters at 412 Mass Avenue – where it had been since 1987 – up for sale in January 2025. Watermark’s condominium building has completed the steel floor frame foundation.

Goodman was at the ribbon cutting but he was not introduced.

Steven Kelly owner of Timberline Construction, which built the YES building was one of the speakers. If there is a resurrection of social services agencies, YES would qualify.

The shining new headquarters is directly opposite the venerable Jamaica Plain House that closed in 1996.

The Jamaica Plain Neighborhood House opened in 1919 in what was originally a German glee club built in 1891 (enlarged in 1898).

For 77 years, the Neighborhood House served the kids of Stonybrook factory workers in the breweries, leather and rubber factories, the railroad and blacksmiths.

These factories are long gone but YES can be said to be the new Neighborhood House in that it serves the youth of the community in the same way: skill training, mentoring, outdoor programs and after-school activities.

YES spokeswoman Jessica Hesiam explained some of this to The Bulletin the next day.

“YES prioritizes low- and moderate-income households from Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, Hyde Park and Jamaica Plain. Programs are open for 6-7 years through middle school.”

“There are sliding scale fees for snow sports and summer camp programs. All other programs are free of charge.”

“We permit for outdoor track at English High School from June to August for the YES track and field program,” she said.

“We thank Jamaica Plain for welcoming us,” Van Dorpe said at the ribbon cutting.

Whether YES welcomes Jamaica Plain remains to be seen, but it is off to a good start; it is offering three open houses at the new headquarters: Nov. 8, Nov.12, and Nov. 19 from 5-7 p.m.