Meet
Keyla Kelly
Meet Keyla Kelly, our partner from Fields Corner Crossroads Collaborative.
Keyla is the Director of Fields Corner Crossroads Collaborative (FCCC), a coalition of nine community organizations formed in 2019 as part of Boston Children's Hospital's Health Equity initiative. FCCC aims to leverage collective influence to make impactful changes in health equity in the Dorchester area, focusing on healthcare, social services, youth development, labor and occupational health, economic development, civic participation, community organizing, and affordable housing.
"My commitment to community advocacy dates back further than I realized."
Keyla's involvement in community advocacy began at a young age, inspired by her grandfather's dedication to the Boston Elderly Center. Growing up, she accompanied him to community meetings, and today a bench stands in his memory at the BEC location in Dudley.
Keyla's deep roots in the community are evident through her knowledge of and personal connection to the inequities she's working to address. Inspired by her family's legacy, Keyla found her passion working with families and children who had special medical needs as a child life specialist. This work exposed her to the systemic inequities affecting her Dorchester community.
My commitment to community advocacy dates back further than I realized.
As a lifelong Dorchester resident, Keyla is driven to uplift her community and provide better, more accessible resources. Her journey in community advocacy took off when she joined Vital Village, a Boston-based collaborative network focused on children and family wellbeing. Vital Village's emphasis on community-driven initiatives resonated with her, leading to her current role as the Director of FCCC in Dorchester.
Keyla envisions a future where organizations work towards sustainable impact through shared influence and connections. She believes larger, systemic changes backed by institutions and governments are necessary to meet community needs.
When asked about pressing issues facing Dorchester, Keyla highlights housing injustice, food insecurity, and workers' rights. She expresses concern about illegal evictions and rising rent costs displacing long-time BIPOC residents.
Maybe this is not where I could make the most powerful impact, but this is where I can make the most meaningful impact to me.
Food injustice is another major issue. "People [in Dorchester] do not have access to clean, fresh, affordable food," she says. While organizations like Daily Table and About Fresh are improving the food landscape, Keyla feels more city backing is needed for systemic change.
Keyla stresses the importance of more equitable and humanizing social systems, noting the difficulties in accessing programs like SNAP due to bureaucratic hurdles. To address these issues, Keyla emphasizes the need for multilingual resource hubs across the city. She believes these hubs would improve access for community members and reduce the burden of navigating a disjointed system. Keyla also advocates for equitable funding across all areas of the city.
Vital CxNs has partnered with Keyla and FCCC on various initiatives, including food access and vaccine equity work. Keyla emphasizes the importance of collaboration across organizations and residents to expand reach and strengthen impact. She expresses disappointment with the existing lack of collaboration, stating, "If we don't have the connections within the community, we really don't have anything; [otherwise] we're all just walking around blindfolded. We can't do this work without knowing who else is doing the work."
Written by Ameina Moseley (March 2022)