3. More Than Words:
More Than Words was created to give Boston’s homeless, at-risk youth (aged 16-24 yrs old) a way to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business. More importantly, More Than Words was created as a ‘mattering business’. The social enterprise recognized that there is nothing greater for kids who are homeless or in foster care than to know that their lives have meaning.
Today More Than Words is a vibrant retail and online bookstore, café and transformational vehicle for youth that includes intensive case management and transitions services. Thanks to a fall 2018 bookstore expansion, the youth now have access to 50,000+ books at More Than Words’ location in Boston’s Southend. This year the youth will earn $3.9M from their book business, covering 55% of the program’s budget. More Than Words sources 3M books per year, manages an online inventory of 140,000 books and two store inventories of about 50,000 books, all while shipping out over 750 orders per day.
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