Network News_Spring2015 - Lawrence CommunityWorks

SPRING 2015
A Community Network, Powered by People
HIGHLIGHTING PARTNERS
LCW TEAM
Board of Directors
Peter Cole, President
Cynthia Cook
Michael Driscoll *
Tasha Espendez
Maria Fina
Patrick Grotton
Armand Hyatt
Digna J. Jhonson *
Jose Medina
Maria Natera
Sarah B. Perez
Denise Perrault
Rosa Pina
Ana Rodriguez
Osvaldo Salomon *
Miguel Sanchez
Board of Advisors
Kristen Harol
Francis Hyatt
Maureen McCarthy
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
Anna Elzer
Todd Fry
Kathy Gallagher, CFO
Hershey Hirschkop
Lisa Kozol
Iris Matias
Kristin McCauley
Ruchi Mukerjee
Maggie Pagan
Abdiel Perez
Altagracia Portorreal
Jared Ravreby
Julio Recio
Robert Ritter *
Lorena Salazar *
Rolando Sanchez *
Rachelly Suriel
Arisleyda Veloz
Kristin Wallace
Arleen Zorrilla
*Welcome to new board/staff who have joined in
the last several months
Editor
Kristin A. McCauley
Designer
Matt Brown
Welcome Letter
W
elcome to our Spring 2015
Network News! This edition we are
highlighting just some of the many
partners we work with here at Lawrence
CommunityWorks. We have key partnerships
with the United Way of Massachusetts Bay
and Merrimack Valley, NeighborWorks
America, and National Council of La Raza –
their support is critical to all our work from
real estate to homeowner education to
youth development to community
organizing to the Lawrence Financial
Stability Center.
We want to say a great big THANK YOU to
all our partners – staff, board of directors,
members, participants, volunteers, city, state,
and federal agencies, family & corporate
foundations, individual & corporate donors
– you help us to truly be a Community
Network, Powered by the People.
A special thank you to our Champion
Community Investment Partners supporting
us in the first year of the Massachusetts
Community Investment Tax Credit program:
Walter and Alice Abrams
Arthur Barlas
Steven Cohen
Cynthia and David Cook
Austin Carroll
Dorfman Capital
Davis Square Architects
Durkee Brown Viveiros &
Werenfels Architects Inc.
Everett Mills
Enterprise Bank
First Realty Management
Laurie Gould
Kristen Harol
Photo courtesy of Emily O’Brien Photography
www.emilyobrienphoto.com
Union Crossing Creative Work Spaces –
50 Island Street, Lawrence, MA
Jackson Lumber
Klein Hornig LLP
Tamar Kotelchuck
Landmark Structures
Peter Munkenbeck
Paul MacKay
John Raser
Rich Novo
Bhaskar Ray
Nidhi and Ashwani Singhal
Chet Sidell
Lisa Torrisi
Anita Worden
WELCOME TO OUR INSTRUCTORS, FACILITATORS & OTHER STAFF
Residents: Fran Acosta, Nathan Baez, Yvette Garcia, Renee Hopkins, Bernard Long; Database
Manager Coraima Hernandez; Movement City Secretary, Claribel Cruz; Movement City
Instructors/Coordinators: Marlene Marmalejos, Allison Michaud, Joel Morrobel, Frandiego
Veloz; VITA Site: Eulalia Feliz, Ivette Ortega Facilitators: Acosta Santa, Evelyn Delgado,Tasha
Espendez, Audalina Martin, Veronica Morales, Mei Mei Thai, Dionisia Yens
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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Lawrence Working Families Initiative Kicks Off: LPS Parents Begin
Paths Towards Family Economic Stability
By Juan P. Bonilla
A
collaborative vision is coming to fruition in the Lawrence
Public Schools. The Lawrence Working Families Initiative (LWFI),
winner of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Working Cities
Challenge, celebrated the official opening of the Lawrence Family
Resource Center on January 13, 2015. Its mission: to make
employment and family engagement the cornerstones of a
comprehensive strategy to increase family economic success,
support the Lawrence Public Schools (LPS) turnaround goals, and
increase the quality of life for Lawrence families. With Lawrence
CommunityWorks serving as the backbone and glue, the Lawrence
Public Schools with its Family Resource Center as its anchor, and
numerous partners such as the city of Lawrence, Greater Lawrence
Community Action Council , Groundwork Lawrence, Compass for
Kids, Northern Essex Community College, ValleyWorks Career
“Unity is strength... when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful
Center, and the Workforce Investment Board, just to name a few,
things can be achieved” – Matthew Stepanek
providing the program structure and support, the LWFI embodies a
collaboration of public, private and non-profit partners joining forces
to leverage resources through an integrated approach to help public school parents move forward.
The anticipation of the Center opening was evidenced by the attendance of more than 250 of which more than 150 were parents. Parents who
were present were asked to engage in a survey identifying their goals and challenges. What was evident in the responses was that parents
were in fact seeking paths and direction to improve their status. Of 61 parents surveyed during the opening:
56% are seeking information and programs for their children (educational, recreational, child care)
56% are seeking English as a Second Language programs
57% desired to pursue higher education
54% would like job training/career development opportunities
53% are seeking financial management assistance
62% expressed a desire to get more involved in their child’s school
57% expressed a desire for community leadership training
The LWFI Family Resource Center has already launched a series of employer panels in select industries (banking, health and manufacturing), is
coordinating closely with our Lawrence Financial Stability Center offering financial and career coaching, will collaborate with The Community
Group to offer a home day care provider training, will offer a Spanish Pitch Contest with EforAll for small business, and is in the process of hiring
6 parent ambassadors who will engage and support LPS parents. Thus far, 42 parents have engaged in financial coaching, over 300 families
have participated in Community Education Circles (see article next page), and 7 parents have been placed in jobs. Several other strategic
efforts are in the works.
In describing the importance of the initiative, LCW Executive Director Jessica Andors states, “Every success is just a stepping stone for
further progress. We keep challenging ourselves to focus on strategically aligning our strengths and creating innovative solutions to build an
infrastructure within Lawrence that includes and supports families who want to succeed but are unable to do so because of systemic barriers
and extenuating circumstances. Simply by coming together, communicating, striving, and trusting in each other, we have already laid a solid
foundation that will help us tackle some of the more difficult economic challenges facing our community. We are so thankful to all of the
organizational partners who have joined forces in this effort as well as the many parents who have come forward to take action. We all share
the passion to help Lawrence become a thriving city for all of its residents and because of that, I know the Lawrence Working Families Initiative
will be successful.”
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Partnering with Parents through Community Education Circles
By Spencer Buchholz
W
hen the struggling Lawrence
Public Schools went into state
receivership in 2012 the Lawrence
CommunityWorks Membership expressed
a strong desire to see the organization get
involved, on a deeper level, with efforts
being implemented to improve it. Out of
those discussions and planning meetings
came what we now call Community
Education Circles (CECs).
Relationships have always been at the
center of everything that we do here
at LCW and nowhere is there a clearer
manifestation of that than in the
Community Education Circles. CECs are
all about relationships. We believe that
if parents, teachers, students and school
administrations are given the space to
get to know one another and are working
together on efforts aimed at improving the
school then the educational experience for
all involved will be greatly improved.
Individual schools and the entire Lawrence
Public School system has been under a lot
of pressure to see dramatic improvements
in student outcomes traditionally
measured by test scores. The state
appointed receiver, Jeff Riley, has been
bold in his approach allowing schools to
act autonomously and think creatively
about how to improve their school. Gone
are the days of heavy handed central office
focused leadership and now it is on the
individual administrations to invite in
partners to join them in the process of
improving their schools. It is into this
inviting environment we have brought
CECs and the theory that parent and
community involvement, not only
academics, will improve student
educational outcomes.
To date we have completed CECs in
32 classrooms with almost 300 families
participating in 4 different Lawrence Schools:
The Community Day Arlington School, The
Oliver Partnership School, The Guilmette
Elementary School and The Parthum
Elementary School. Network Organizing
staff has worked diligently and effectively,
though not without challenges, with the
teachers, principals and administrators of all
of these schools who, despite all of the daily
pressures, share the same belief that the
schools cannot improve dramatically if they
do not invite the families into the school to
help guide and lead the change.
The CECs have pushed us to practice what
we preach on an organizational level that
relationships and partnerships are the
core. Each school has different needs and
different challenges, each partnership
(parent-teacher, LCW-School) requires
different strategies, but at the center of all
of these partnerships is the same desire to
improve the educational experience for
the kids here in the city and in order to do
that we have to work together.
Families Embark Towards Greater Economic Mobility
By Arisleyda Veloz
E
very year, the Asset Building
Department engages over 1,000
individuals through one-on-one
coaching, group education, and tax
preparations. All of our family engagement
opportunities have the mission of increasing
family economic mobility through
knowledge impartment, individualized
action plans, access to resources, and the
fostering of a network of individuals with
similar circumstances.
Partnerships have allowed our Asset Building
department to provide an experience for
participants that is tailored to their goals
and needs and avoids a “one-solution-fits-all
model.” Two key partnerships that allow us
to work with families along the economic
spectrum are Compass for Kids and the
Boston Hills Advisors.
Compass for Kids serves homeless families
and those at risk of homelessness. They
provide education, workforce development
training, life and career coaching, mentoring
and support that improve the skills and
transform the perspectives of the adults
and institutions that matter most to children.
Through our partnership, LCW’s financial
education curriculum, Wallet Wise, is
embedded in their core programming.
Wallet Wise introduces basic concepts of
personal finance to allow participants to gain
the knowledge and tools to help them make
informed decisions regarding their financial
situation. The collaboration has expanded
our staff’s understanding of statewide and
local resources and programming aimed at
assisting families at risk of homelessness.
Also, Financial Coaches at the Financial
Stability Center are available to assist families
with setting short-term and long-term
financial goals and strengthening their
financial positions, including their financial
management skills and credit histories.
Our partnership with Boston Hills Advisors
brings to our participants pro-bono financial
planning consultations. The partnership has
allowed us to offer more advanced financial
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planning to families and individuals who
are financially stable and ready to begin
investing in their future and protecting their
current assets. The Financial Planners are
also guest speakers in our HomeSafe
Post-Purchase Homeowner seminar
targeting families who recently purchased
a home. For our stable families, beginning to
invest may mean understanding the value of
time on interest and taking full advantage of
retirement plans and college savings plans.
Our mission in action is to move families and
individuals to positions of greater financial
stability and wealth building. We want to
thank these partners for adding tremendous
value and expertise as we engage in a
long-term relationship with families striving
to achieve financial success. Our partners
have enabled us to engage a wider
spectrum of families and more effectively
champion them as they move from a
position of financial instability to that
of financial success.
LCW
gets candid
Frances
Community Education Circles
Cookie Exchange
Fridays Together
America Saves Week
Spencer Appreciation Day
Balloon Fun at Movement City
National Nightout
Iris & Maria
Our friend Mary Young
CEC Facilitators
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The Sweet Side of College: Celebrating “Cookies for College”
Partnership with Movement City and Merrimack College
By Anna Elzer
F
rom snicker doodles and SAT scores,
to macaroons and matriculation,
the conversations that have been
happening at Movement City around
college prep are igniting ideas about
the future… and our tastebuds. Over
the last year, Movement City has been
collaborating with Merrimack College to
explore college pathways, encompassing
many components of academic success
and various culinary delicacies.
This partnership started with two graduate
students in the Higher Education program
from Merrimack College who possessed
a vested passion for increasing college
access. Interested in transforming the
theory they were learning in class into
practice, Kevin Chastain and Lorena
Holguin launched Cookies for College,
a series of college prep workshops
designed to creatively explore elements
of higher education with a group of
Movement City teens in the spring of 2014.
At the end of each workshop, teens would
reflect on the discussion while indulging in
the cookie of the week.
Spanning throughout the fall of 2014, this
partnership evolved with the presence of
six new Higher Education graduate
students: Brooke Barbieri, Wendy Hyatt,
Emily Enters, Erika Cook, Kate Loughlin,
and Melody Smith. Our Merrimack College
team carried out the Cookies for College
tradition by facilitating academic focused
workshops every other week. Although
the cookies may be sugar coated, the
content has been quite the opposite.
Together, Movement City and Merrimack
College have delved into the potentially
overwhelming realm of financial aid, the
admissions process, and support offices
on campus. Each workshop is designed to
generate engagement and build upon
the vast amount of talents and creative
abilities our Movement City youth
demonstrate daily. Our teens have
composed spoken word poems about first
generation students, produced skits about
various college life scenarios, and created
vision boards to complement and support
academic goals and aspirations. We have
collectively learned about each of our own
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strengths and personal values that help us
make more informed decisions, especially
when it comes to making choices about
what comes after high school.
In December, a group of teens from
Movement City went to Merrimack College
to provide more direct context to our
learning and celebrate a successful
journey together. After visiting numerous
locations on campus, we each shared a
few words or images to capture the
experience. Celeste Cruz, one of
Movement City’s teen interns, summed up
her reflection, saying, “Much love for the
double MC, a new family, (it’s) going to
help me become college bound!”
We’re grateful for the opportunity to
partner with Merrimack College and look
forward to developing this relationship
further. Additionally, we hope to continue
fostering relationships with other local
institutions of higher education to
maximize our teens’ perceptions and
preparations for their future. And of
course, cookies are always welcome.
Movement City Reaches New Heights Through YOP Partnership
By Jared Ravreby
M
ovement City youth have
long been known to navigate
dance floors, canvases,
recording booths, and microphones
with impressive talent and confidence.
Steep rock face, muddy hiking trails, and
cross-country ski gear though? Not so
much… that is until this past year when
Movement City established what we
hope will be a long lasting partnership
with AMC’s Youth Opportunities Program
(YOP). Through the partnership, YOP has
made outdoor adventures a reality for our
youth, providing Movement City with
access to intensive trainings, high quality
equipment, and some of the most
beautiful lakes, peaks, and state parks in
New England. From cooking over an
open fire, to swimming under waterfalls,
to scaling 3,000 ft peaks, YOP has created
yet another avenue for Movement City
to expose its members to unique,
empowering experiences.
Under the umbrella of AMC (Appalachian
Mountain Club), YOP’s mission of making
the outdoors accessible and meaningful
to urban youth has reached over 175,000
children and teens in the Northeast since
1968. The program supports outdoor
activities such as nature walks, hiking,
camping, backpacking, canoeing,
snowshoeing and cross-country skiing
by providing youth and youth-serving
agencies with a multitude of resources
at little or no cost. YOP also forms
partnerships with target cities, such as
Boston, Lowell, and Lawrence, offering
additional support in the form of training
scholarships and free trips to the
youth-serving agencies in these cities.
Movement City has been fortunate
enough to reap the benefits of this
partnership, and though the experiences
our youth have enjoyed through YOP are
truly priceless, the annual value of the
services made available to our program
totals $10,000.
Since joining forces with YOP less
than a year ago, Movement City has
taken advantage of the plethora of
opportunities afforded to us through the
partnership. Between our summer and
after-school programs, 28 Movement City
members have participated in at least
one YOP-affiliated trip. Adventuring both
near and far, we’ve traveled to Leominster
State Park for a day hike and swimming,
Harold Parker State Forest for a campfire
outing, Great Brook Farm for crosscountry skiing, and Mount Cardigan in
Alexandria, New Hampshire for an
epic four-day hiking/camping/
canoeing expedition.
school and beyond. These trips have
also served as a means to deepen the
connections that Movement City seeks
to foster amongst its members. Our 8
summer interns, for example, were a
pretty tight-knit crew, but after four days
of torrential rain, grueling hikes, and no
showers deep in the White Mountains,
everyone grew a little closer. Just ask
15-year-old Movement City Intern Rania
Henriquez: “We were pushed out of our
comfort zones, and some moments had
people feeling like things would never
really get accomplished. But together as
a team, as a community, and as a family,
we got things done.”
What has garnered so much interest
and excitement around these trips from
the youth’s perspective, and has driven
Movement City staff to continue to
pursue these opportunities for our youth,
is that the experiences accrued on these
trips represent a lot of “firsts.” First time
sleeping in a tent, first time building a
fire, first time wearing long underwear,
first time paddling in a canoe, first time
tipping a canoe – all of these firsts, no
matter how uncomfortable and foreign
they seem at the onset, combine to
create a unique set of experiences that
our youth will always remember and will
contribute to their ability to carry open
minds and a strong sense of perseverance as they navigate through high
It’s reflections such as Rania’s that really
put into perspective just how valuable
YOP and the experiences they help create
for programs such as Movement City
really are. It has been a truly gratifying
experience working with YOP over the
past year. With an overnight camping
trip slated for April vacation, and a multinight retreat scheduled for early summer,
Movement City plans to continue to
integrate YOP outdoor adventures into
our program as often as possible. A huge
thanks goes out to YOP, and specifically,
Nate Schumacher, for all the support and
guidance in getting our youth into the
outdoors and out of their comfort zones!
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LAWRENCE, MA
PERMIT NO. 238
Our House Campus
168 Newbury Street
Lawrence, MA 01841
*
Summer Camp at Movement City
July 6 - July 31
*
Volunteers from Bank of America at the Lawrence Financial Stability Center
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