summer 2014 - Lawrence CommunityWorks

SUMMER 2014
A Community Network, Powered by People
HIGHLIGHTING LEADERSHIP
Photo: Annual Meeting
2014 Time Line
Alli Estuve...Aqui Estoy
I was There...I am Here
LCW TEAM
VOICES FROM THE BOARD
our present reminds us of our past
Board of Directors
Peter Cole, President
Dolores C. Calaf
Cindy Cook
Tasha Espendez
Maria Fina
Patrick Grotton
Armand Hyatt
Jose Medina
Maria Natera
Sarah B. Perez
Denise Perrault
Rosa Pina
Ana Rodriguez
Esther Sanchez-Blazquez
Miguel Sanchez
Board of Advisors
Carmen Carrion
Francis Hyatt
Bill Traynor
Linda Ulisse
Charlie Wibiralske
Staff
Jessica Andors, Executive Director
Rosa Alemán *
Ana Bello
Juan Bonilla, Deputy Director
Cinthia Brea
Sebastian Brown *
Terri Bruce
Spencer Buchholz
Reyna Burgos
Mercedes Cabrera *
Anderson Diaz *
Anna Elzer *
Todd Fry *
Kathy Gallagher, CFO
Hershey Hirschkop
Lisa Kozol
Victor Martinez
Iris Matias
Kristin McCauley *
Ruchi Mukerjee *
Maggie Pagan
Abdiel Perez
Altagracia Portorreal
Jared Ravreby
Osvaldo Salomon
Rachelly Suriel *
Arisleyda Veloz *
Kristin Wallace *
Arleen Zorrilla
*Welcome to new staff who have
joined in the last year
Editor
Kristin A. McCauley
Designer
Matt Brown
T
his year’s Annual Meeting marked
the election of two new members
to LCW’s Board of Directors, Dolores
Calaf, and Sarah Perez, and the re-election
of Mikey Sanchez and Armand Hyatt, who
has served continuously since our CDC
was founded in 1986. The election also
signified the “end of an era”. Long-time
Director, Maureen McCarthy—who had
served almost the entirety of her 15 year
term of Board service on the Executive
Committee as LCW’s Treasurer—decided
that her role as Board Director and Officer
had reached its sunset. Fortunately,
Maureen has agreed to continue her
service on the LCW Board of Advisors.
During the May Board meeting—the next
one that followed the Annual Meeting—
the Board of Directors, in conjunction with
LCW’s Executive and Deputy Directors
and its Finance Department, honored
Maureen for her 15 years of dedicated
service. Maureen helped steward LCW
through its storied “renaissance” period
when current Executive Director, Jessica
Andors and her two classmates from M.I.T’s
Urban Planning Master’s Program (Tamar
Kotelchuck and Kristen Harol) teamed up
with then Executive Director, Bill Traynor,
(and key staff members Deb Fox and
Alma Couverthie) to work closely with the
Board to catapult LCW into far broader
community impact. LCW soon gained
recognition as a model for community
development corporations nationwide.
Executive Committee members Miguel
Sanchez and Peter Cole, who joined LCW’s
Board around the same time as Maureen,
together with Executive Committee
members Ana Rodriguez and Armand
Hyatt, who had both already been serving
in leadership roles for several years prior,
all reminisced with E.D. Jessica Andors at
the May Board meeting about Maureen’s
valuable stewardship during her tenure.
As a token of appreciation, admiration and
affection, Maureen was presented with a
plaque which contains the inscription:
LCW Rocks . . . . because of its
devoted Leaders
Outstanding leadership, for 15 years,
Rocks, big-time
Thank you, Maureen, for your guidance
and dedication.
A token of our deep appreciation for your
great service.
Lawrence CommunityWorks, Inc. is a community development corporation
founded in the late 1980s that weaves together community planning,
organizing, and asset-building efforts with high-quality affordable housing
and commercial development to create vibrant neighborhoods and empowered
residents. By facilitating conversations and action on community priorities, we
engage partners and a network of youth and adult residents in opportunities to
move themselves and the city of Lawrence forward.
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DO YOU WANT YOUR SHARE OF $3,000,000 MASSACHUSETTS TAX CREDITS?
Support High-Impact Community Development and Invest in Lawrence
There are new opportunities this year (and beyond) via a Community Investment Tax Credit program. Massachusetts tax filers (residents
and non-residents) —individuals, foundations, and corporations or businesses—who make a donation to a state certified community
development corporation like Lawrence CommunityWorks, can receive a credit on their MA taxes.
As a donor, you are also still eligible to take the standard federal charitable giving deduction for the other 50% of your gift. For example:
• A $1,000 donation = $500 credit on your MA tax return
• A $1,000 donation = $175 net value of $500 federal tax deduction (35% tax bracket)
• Total tax savings = $675
• Cost of your $1,000 donation = $325
• Feeling you have helping Lawrence= PRICELESS
LCW received an allocation of $100,000 in tax credits for 2014, enabling us to raise $200,000 to support our vital investments in the
people and places of Lawrence. Credits are awarded at LCW’s discretion and are available to new donors or existing donors.
Benefits:
• Considerable tax savings
• Individuals and corporations can take advantage of tax credit
• Credit is equal to 50% of the total
qualified investment made by the taxpayer
•M
inimum investment of $1,000 and maximum of $1,000,000
• Excess tax credit is REFUNDABLE
Contact Terri Bruce or Kristin McCauley Resource Development Office at 978-685-3115
Or via email: [email protected] for more information
* Above used for illustration purposes only. Schedules for 2014 are not currently available. The following is not tax or legal advice. If you have questions about your own tax situation, please
consult with a tax professional.
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MOVEMENT CITY LEADING THE WAY
By Jared Ravreby, Leadership Development Coordinator at Movement City
W
hile the typical Friday night of a
Lawrence youth might consist
of roaming around the mall,
scrolling through Instagram feeds, or
feasting at McDonalds, on May 9th,
Movement City youth gathered to
channel their creative talents into
taking a stand against bullying. In
collaboration with Lawrence Public
Schools and Andover Bread Loaf,
Movement City students, staff, and
young leaders from local high schools
united to host “Real Talk: Stand Up,
Speak Out,” a creative conference
seeking to use love, community, and
artistic expression to raise awareness
about bullying and provide positive
tools with which to address the issue.
With workshops offered in dance,
spoken word poetry, improvisational
acting, and mural painting, participants
were presented with an array of
avenues to explore imaginative
solutions to bullying.
Though the conference took place in
the Movement City dance room on a
warm spring night, the process that
brought the event to fruition started in
the exact same room nearly six months
prior. One weekend in late November,
Lawrence CommunityWorks’ own Jared
Ravreby and Victor Martinez teamed up
to guide a group of 18 passionate
students from Lawrence High School
and Phoenix Academy through a
service learning driven leadership
development program called goLEAD.
After three intense days of activities
geared around team building, problem
solving and community fact-finding,
these freshly empowered teens
pledged to come together and
spearhead a project that would
address what they viewed as one of
the most pressing issues facing their
community: bullying.
After many months of reflecting,
brainstorming, and planning, the
goLEAD team decided that pairing
their cause with the annual Bread Loaf
writing conference at Movement City
would make for a fun, unique means of
bringing the community together to
take a stand against bullying. Once
parents, teachers, friends, and family
had all arrived, Movement City’s spoken
word team, Guerilla Society, kicked off
the conference with a collection of
extremely powerful, original pieces,
awakening the audience’s creative
juices. The crowd then dispersed into
their respective workshops, ready to
tackle bullying in their own unique
way. Paintbrushes were flicking, feet
were flashing, thoughts were flowing,
and smiles were abundant. After about
an hour of intense work the groups
were ready to showcase their pieces
– bullying hardly stood a chance. One
by one, the workshop leaders and their
teams took the stage, said a few words
about their projects, and graced the
audience with truly memorable,
uplifting performances. Ranging from
a gut-busting depiction of a Dominican
grandmother’s trip to the pharmacy by
the acting team, to tragic, yet beautiful
poetry recounting personal experiences of being the bully or the bullied,
the acts evoked a myriad of emotions.
By the end of the night those who were
in attendance undoubtedly left feeling
empowered to continue their advocacy
of ridding our community of such a
damaging trend.
A big thanks goes out to the generationON, Nelson Butten, Lou Bernieri,
Leldamy Correa, and the countless
volunteers who made both the goLEAD
retreat and the creative conference
such big successes and who’ve been
instrumental in guiding our young
leaders throughout the journey.
goLEAD indeed!
ARMAND HYATT SCHOLARSHIPS AWARDED
T
o honor many years of hard work,
fierce intelligence, intense and
energetic commitment, creativity,
tenacity, and an outstanding generosity of
spirit, Lawrence CommunityWorks created
a scholarship fund in the name of founding
Board member Armand Hyatt. While
Armand is officially recognized by LCW
for his pro-bono legal counsel and role on
our Real Estate Development Committee,
he is equally valued for his support,
encouragement, and affection for the
young people who are a part of LCW and
our Movement City programs.
We are pleased to award four $1,000
scholarships in 2014 to the following
students as they all demonstrated
creativity, dedication to community,
and leadership during their time at
Movement City:
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Karttieris Medina attending
Salem State University
Rayza Carrasco attending
Berkeley College in NY
Elissa Salas attending Parsons,
the New School of Design in NY
Josia Reyes attending
University of Massachusetts Boston
MILL CITIES LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE
By Todd Fry, Director MCLI
L
awrence CommunityWorks develops everyone’s assets and
strengths - physical, financial, civic, and human assets. After a
successful first year at LCW, Mill Cities Leadership Institute joins the
great LCW tradition of building on human strengths across our communities. The Class of 2014 graduated in June, at a ceremony featuring
Lawrence Mayor Daniel Rivera.
One highlight of MCLI is the leadership projects that members of the
class develop and commit to working on. These “Leadership
Commitments” address both personal and public leadership efforts to
make our community stronger. If you want to see the Commitments from
this year’s class, you may check them out on the LCW website:
www.lawrencecommunityworks.org/mcli.
Want to learn more, or even apply for the MCLI Class of 2015? Check out
the website for an overview of the Institute and get the application. You
can also plan to attend an information session about the Institute. The
info sessions feature coffee and conversation with recent graduates:
Tuesday, July 29 from 3:30pm – 5:00pm
Merrimack Valley Federal Credit Union
500A Merrimack Street
Lawrence
To sign up for an info session or ask questions about MCLI, contact
Todd Fry: [email protected]
“Most importantly I have learned that we do
not need to feel as though we work in silos! It
doesn’t matter if our background is for-profit
or non-profit, banking and business or
entrepreneurship, corporate or other… We
are a community of professionals and are all
interconnected in some way, shape or form. We
have a lot to learn from one another and a lot to
give! We can make a difference if we support
one another in any way possible. Sometimes
our ideas or visions seem farfetched or
unattainable and MCLI has helped me to put
things into perspective and make them become
more attainable. The MCLI experience has been
truly inspiring to me and it has allowed me the
opportunity to take action! I highly recommend
the program to other professionals seeking a
challenge and an opportunity for growth
and empowerment. “
Thank you MCLI!
- Lorie Mendoza, Girl Scouts of Eastern
Massachusetts (Class of ’14)
EMPOWERING IDA PARTICIPANTS WITH LEADERSHIP TRAINING
By Arleen Zorrilla, Individual Development Account (IDA) Program Coordinator
O
f our IDA participants, 90% are
lower-income residents of the city
of Lawrence.
Few participants were familiar with the
economic past and great contribution that
this city provided to the entire nation. In the
fall of 2013, Lawrence CommunityWorks
started to implement the PODER Institute
curriculum into the IDA’s workshops. PODER
is our leadership building program that
teaches people to take active roles in their
community to make collective change.
Classes include learning about the history of
Lawrence, from the Bread and Roses strike
to the cities’ constantly developing
landscape. The IDA workshops included 4
sessions of 2 hours each with topics such as:
What is PODER?, Personal Finance, and
Barriers and Wealth Inequality. The
combined curriculum was to not only
support and educate participants to build
wealth through Financial Education and
Asset specific trainings, but also provided
them with the knowledge and opened
conversations around Lawrence’s history,
economic past, and why Lawrence is
considered a “Gateway City”.
The intensive conversations seeded in our
participants a deep respect for the city and
a great desire to be part of the economic
development of their community. In the
end, we accomplished our goal of participants looking forward to taking action in
order to answer questions such as: What
can the City of Lawrence do to reinvent
itself? But the most important question
citizens must ask themselves is: What can I
do as an individual to empower this city?
What did you gain through your
participation in the PODER
Leadership Institute?
“Communication skills, American
history, learning to work on a team,
community engagement.” Beyazmin
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LCW
gets candid
PODER team building
Saying goodbye to Lisa
Annual Meeting dinner
Facilitator Training
LCW team gathers
Connecting at Friday Together
LCW Board
LCW Casa di Anna ribbon cutting
Movement City at Youth Jobs Rally
Mapping it out
Welcome!
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THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS
Foundations: 3M, Abrams Family Fund, Abt Associates, Anonymous, Ash
Charitable Corporation, Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Bank of New
York Mellon, Catherine McCarthy Memorial Trust Fund, Charles G. Pringle
Foundation, Citi, Citizens Bank, Citizens Housing & Planning Association, Inc.,
Clipper Ship Foundation, Comcast Foundation, Consumer Federation of
America, Cummings Foundation, Deshpande Foundation, Eastern Bank
Charitable Foundation, Economic Development & Industrial Corporation of
Boston, Edward S. and Winifred G. Moseley Foundation, Enterprise Bank, Essex
County Community Foundation Andover Group Fund, Essex County
Community Foundation Betty Beland Greater Lawrence Summer Fund, Essex
County Community Foundation Women’s Fund, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
– Working Cities Challenge, Forest Foundation, Foundation for Financial
Planning, Foundation M, Frank W. & Carl S. Adams Memorial Fund, Bank of
America, N.A., Trustee, General Mills Community Action Council, George P.
Bishop Foundation, Gisela B. Hogan Charitable Foundation, Goldman Sachs,
Greater Lowell Community Foundation – Top of the Hill Fund, Herman and
Frieda Miller Foundation, Jenjo Foundation, Josephine G. Russell Trust,
Lawrence Community Development Department – CDBG, Lawrence Public
Schools, Lawrence Rotary Club, Liberty Mutual Foundation, LLH/LHM
Foundation, Margaret M. Collins Charitable Trust, MA Association of Community
Development Corporations, MA Department of Housing & Community
Development, MA Department of Public Health, MA Division of Banks, MA
Housing Finance Agency, MA Housing Partnership, Massachusetts Cultural
Council/Lawrence Cultural Council, Massachusetts Public Charter School
Association, Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance, Metropolitan Credit Union,
National Council of La Raza, NeighborWorks America, New Balance Foundation,
Northern Essex Community College, People’s United Community Foundation,
Project Bread, Rogers Family Foundation, Roy A. Hunt Foundation, Santander
Bank Foundation, Smith Purdon Fund, Artemas W. Stearns Trust, Abbot and
Dorothy H. Stevens Foundation, Nathaniel and Elizabeth P. Stevens Foundation,
Matthew J. & Gilda F. Strazzula Foundation, TD Bank, TD Charitable Foundation,
The Community Group, The Savings Bank, UMass Medical School –
Commonwealth Medicine, United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack
Valley, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Wells Fargo Housing Foundation
McGravey, Diane Huster, Blair Roberts and Caren Jacobson, Priscilla and Nathan
Keliher, Langley Keyes, Tamar Kotelchuck, Erica Marcus, The McCauley Family,
Jose Medina, Phillip Moss, Peter Munkenbeck, Sara Manaugh, Maureen
McCarthy, Gary Martin, Maggie and Jorge Pagan, Denise L. Perrault, Chris
Plourde, Richard Purinton, Judith Prestosz, Susan and George Rappaport, Terrie
and Kevin Reid, Ana S. Rodriguez, Delfin Rosado, Jared Ravreby, John Raser,
Derek Mitchell and Lydia Sisson, Maureen and Tim Sheehan, Faye and Chester
Sidell, Deborah J. Becker and Karl F. Seidman, Michael and Rose Sabbagh,
Miguel Sanchez, David Stolow, Esther Sanchez Blazquez, Stefanie Steines, Lisa
Torrisi, Maria Torrisi, Dave Turcotte, Gail L. Forsyth-Vail and P. Stephen Vail, Joan
and Edward Warnshuis, Dr. David Wegman & Carolyn Mugar, Jesse Wegman,
Charlie Wibiralske, Samantha Winslow, Mark Winthrop, Pamela Yameen
Businesses: Boehm Architecture, Boston Foundation, Citizens Bank, ClarkstonPotomac Group, Inc. – matching gift program, Committee to Elect Sue Tucker,
Consoli & Wilshusen, Attorneys at Law, Davis Square Architects, Durkee Brown
Viveiros Werenfels, First Realty Management, FM Global Foundation – matching
gift program, Greater Lawrence Young Professionals Network, Groundwork
Lawrence, Home Shop Properties, Internet & Telephone LLC, Jackson Lumber &
Millwork Co., Inc., Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union/We Share a Common Thread, JJ &
C Partnership, Kody & Company, Inc., Landmark Structures, Lawrence General
Hospital, Mary Immaculate Health Care Services, Metro Credit Union,
Millennium Communications, Muddy Pond Trust Fund, Munro Graphics,
Northeast Association of Realtors Inc., Northern Essex Community College,
North Parish of North Andover, Pacific Mills Industrial Complex, Robert S.
Dorfman Company, Inc., Rodman Insurance Agency, Inc, RTN Federal Credit
Union, Second Congregational Church of Boxford, TEC, Inc., The Savings Bank,
Three Dogz Diner, United Way of Greater Portland - Campaign 2013/2014,
United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley - Campaign 2013/2014
Annual Meeting: Community Crusader - MassHousing, Summit Supporter Chet & Faye Sidell, Mary Young Raffle/In-Kind Donations: - Ashante Cafe & Deli,
DharmaCrafts, Inc., El Taller, Go United Express Transp. LLC, Headlight Audio
Visual, Hyatt & Hyatt Law Office, Latitude Sports Clubs, Miranda Seafood
Restaurant & More, Piro’s Bakery & Pizzeria, The Colosseum Restaurant, The
Vitamin Shoppe, Three Dogz Diner, LCW Staff, Board & Volunteers
Individuals: Jessica Andors, Joanne Anton, Anonymous Donor, Patricia and
Stuart Beatty, Trevor Bloom, Debbie and Bradley Buchholz, Louann and Gregory
Basillio, Juan P. Bonilla, Thomas J. Burke, Nelson Butten, Jeri Bayer, Julie Bernson,
Cinthia Brea, James Barnes, Cynthia and David Cook, Lawrence Ardito and Linda
Carpenter, Peter Calkins and Susan Casey, Judi and Kilburn Child, Peter Cole,
Keith Connors, Mark Cutler, Carla and Leonard Degnan, Marcos Devers, George
Duncan, James D’Angelo, Tasha Espendez, Deborah Olander and Joseph C.
Ferguson, Patricia Flynn, Robert Forrant, Kay Frishman, Jeffrey Froikin Gordon,
Linda and Patrick S Grotton, John and Anne Marie Giarrusso, Marilyn and Paul
Gigliotti, Kathy Gallagher, Susan Garth Stott, Francis Hyatt, Carol Hajjar
Community Investment Champions ($1,000+)
Robert S. Dorfman Company, Inc., First Realty Management, Klein Hornig LLP,
Landmark Structures, Peter Munkenbeck, TEC, Inc.
* Although we try to be diligent in our donor tracking, we sometimes make
mistakes. Please forgive us if we have inadvertently excluded your contribution
from this list. We would love to hear from you so we can correct it. Please
contact the Resource Development Office [email protected].
Cut off here
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 General Support
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Please mail to Lawrence CommunityWorks, Inc., 168 Newbury Street, Lawrence, MA 01841
7
Our House Campus
168 Newbury Street
Lawrence, MA 01841
UPCOMING EVENTS, WORKSHOPS & CLASSES
National Night Out
Tuesday, August 5th 5:00-8:00pm
Join us at Scarito Park for food, fun & friends
First Time Home Buyer
HomeSafe: Post-Purchase
October 16,17, 23 & 24 (Thurs & Fri)
5:30pm-8:30pm
ENGLISH
4 sessions
November 15 (Sat)
9:00am-3:00pm
SPANISH
1 session
November 8 & 15 (Sat)
9:00am-3:00pm
SPANISH
2 sessions
Landlord Training
September 13 & 20 (Sat)
9:00am-3:00pm
SPANISH
2 sessions
Friday Together/Viernes Juntos
Friday, September 26th 6:00pm-8:00pm
Adult Basic Education Fall Classes
Classes start Tuesday, September 2, 2014
All classes held Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday
from 6:00pm to 8:30pm
English for Speakers of Other Languages - Level I
English for Speakers of Other Languages - Level II English for Speakers of Other Languages - Level III Basic Computer For information on Adult Basic Education classes,
please contact Francheska Taveras (978) 722-2622
or Reyna Burgos (978) 722-2623
December 6 & 13 (Sat)
9:00am-3:00pm
ENGLISH
2 sessions
For information on Homebuyer
classes, please contact Ana Bello
(978) 722-2627
www.lawrencecommunityworks.org
Follow us for announcements at:
www.facebook.com/lcworks
September 20 (Sat)
9:00am-3:00pm
ENGLISH
1 session
October 24 (Fri)
5:30pm- 8:30pm
SPANISH
1 session
November 22 (Sat)
10:00am- 12:30pm
ENGLISH
1 session
Wallet Wise
September 9, 16, 23, 30 (Tues)
6:00pm-8:00pm
ENGLISH
October 7, 14, 21, 28 (Tues)
6:00pm-8:00pm
SPANISH
www.twitter.com/lcworksorg