Posted on Mon, Dec 31, 2012
Thanks to all who have been a part of the Trinity Boston Foundation in 2012 - as volunteers, students, staff, friends, supporters, Board members, tutors, teammates, mentors, parents, and beyond, YOU helped to make it a year of education, growth, and fun.
Revisit the journey here:
Posted on Sun, Dec 30, 2012
TEEP has given me a lot of reasons to be grateful. One thing I'm really grateful for is the Road Map to College (RMC) offered at TEEP. They start this process as early as middle school. With the RMC, I was able to get into a really good private high school, Boston College High School, and they worked with me throughout my high school journey to help me have a greater chance to attend a four-year college. They offered tutoring, SAT Prep classes, peer mentors on college applications, and colleges trips to name a few. TEEP has a great hard-working staff who really do care about you and want to see you achieve excellence. I am currently attending Fairfield University thanks to the RMC program at TEEP, and for that I am very grateful this holiday season.
-Standy, TEEP alumni and freshman at Fairfield University
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Posted on Sat, Dec 29, 2012
From left to right: Ashley, University of Hartford; Arlette, Boston College; Alex, Suffolk University; Morgan, Skidmore College; Alandra, Tufts University; Everlyn, Regis College
Many young adults have not experienced the loving and trusting community that the young women of my class at TEEP have formed. In the past 7 years of our friendship, we have become successful and educated leaders of today in our own right. It has been extremely reassuring to know that I will have amazing friends that share the same need to strive for excellence and will help each other achieve our goals. I am thankful for the community that I have built through TEEP.
-Morgan, former TEEP student and freshman at Skidmore College
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Posted on Fri, Dec 28, 2012
I am grateful that I've moved closer to excellence academically, and that my report card has improved drastically from last year. I've been motivated by TEEP to push myself in school as it is my junior year.
Excellence has been harder for me to achieve in athletics, due in part to the fact that I was working so hard to make the honor roll this year. Still, I have remained a coach for my old football team and I am working hard to empower my young football players like I do with my students who I counsel in the summer time here at TEEP.
-Julian, TEEP Junior
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Posted on Thu, Dec 27, 2012
The funerals in Newtown have concluded, but we continue to pray for and stand with the families of Charlotte and Daniel and Rachel and Olivia and the 23 others killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
In Boston, we will also continue to pray for and stand with the families of Nicholas and Jaquan and Arthur and Jorge and those of 30 others who have been killed by guns in 2012.
We don't need to accept the status quo of gun violence in Boston. Instead we can redouble our commitment to be a community working together to unlock opportunity and change the odds for the youth of our city.
Did you read Reason #22 about how we are building a learning community among agencies serving the 250 individuals deemed most likely to be victims or perpetrators of a violent crime? Or #19 about our new partnership between the Counseling Center and St. Stephen's Youth Programs, where we are adding supportive mental health services to their excellent youth development work?
What we can do together is build up a dense and supportive community surrounding Boston youth and among the organizations that serve them.
A week before the shootings in Newtown, a middle school Sole Train runner told his mentor that he doesn't like being home because he hears gun shots a lot and is afraid he will be shot and killed. What we can do together is be a community that hears this boy's voice and takes action.
Thank you for making a gift.
Posted on Wed, Dec 26, 2012
David McCord (seen on the left above) is running the Boston marathon in support of Trinity Boston Foundation's mission to unlock opportunity and change the odds for Boston youth. His partner, Steve Hendrickson (shown right), is matching every dollar that David raises up to $15,000.
You don't need to know either David or Steve to get in on this match. But if you are lucky enough to know them, you understand that generosity is what both of them are all about.
Please consider making a gift that will have double the impact on young people across Boston. We need to raise $13,000 to earn the full match and meet the Foundation's revenue goals for 2012.
Thanks for your support!
Posted on Tue, Dec 25, 2012
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and happy holidays from all of us at the Trinity Boston Foundation.
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Posted on Mon, Dec 24, 2012
In the month of December, my family seems to be closer than ever for the holidays. School is eventually out, giving me plenty of time to catch up with loved ones. This month, I had the amazing opportunity to drive down to South Carolina with Paul Bowen to watch my brother Carlos graduate from the Army’s boot camp. Although Carlos is not my biological brother, we act like we are. We first met in our first summer of TEEP. Since then we stuck close as we grew together. It was a real honor to be a part of his graduation from basic training. I am truly grateful for the love and support I receive from my life mentor Paul, my TEEP family, and those I spend the holidays with.
~Luis Mora, TEEP Graduate and TEEP 9th Grade Coordinator
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Posted on Sun, Dec 23, 2012
I recently joined TEEP as a part-time consultant, but as the former Executive Director of the Roxbury Presbyterian Church Social Impact Center, I had the privilege of helping TEEP expand to Roxbury. At the time of the expansion I understood TEEP from an “intellectual perspective” only. It wasn’t until I had the opportunity to witness the program up close and personal during the 5 week summer program in 2012 that I learned how important it is and what a difference it makes in the lives of young people.
TEEP is so much more than a program – it’s a family, it’s a community. It’s many dedicated individuals giving of their time, their talent, their energy and their expertise. Together they work tirelessly to help change the odds of students who face overwhelmingly difficult challenges on the road to success. The staff & volunteers go above and beyond to help students develop as leaders and instill in them the core values of Respect, Responsibility, Restraint, Reciprocity and Redemption. These are values that students model during their time in the program and ones that will serve them for a lifetime. The lessons they learn from TEEP ultimately give them a chance to realize their potential and make their dreams come true.
I am a single parent of adult children and I know the importance of having a community of loving, caring and committed people to step in and mentor, tutor, encourage, advise and help students and families navigate the challenge of raising children, especially during the teenage years. As parents, we play an important role in our children’s lives. However, we can’t do it alone. It takes all of us. It takes organizations like the Trinity Boston Foundation and programs like TEEP. Why do we need your support? Because…it really does take a village to raise a child.
-Sheila Gunn, Consultant, Trinity Boston Foundation and TEEP Administrative Manager
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Posted on Sat, Dec 22, 2012
Boston’s Partners Advancing Communities Together (PACT) Initiative is a multidisciplinary, law enforcement, service delivery, and neighborhood strengthening violence reduction strategy. The initiative is a collaboration of city, state and community partners who work together to increase both access to opportunities and safety for youth who are the most at risk of being victims or perpetrators of gun violence. PACT is a data driven violence reduction initiative that increases coordination, communication, and prioritization of existing resources among all partner agencies to ensure seamless delivery of services for PACT clients and their families. Trinity Boston Counseling Center (TBCC) fills an important need in convening the key partner agencies to ensure a streamlined, collaborative approach to client service delivery.
The Counseling Center was asked to do this work based upon our ongoing commitment to changing the odds for youth and our demonstrated knowledge of mental health issues amongst incarcerated youth. What we have learned in this process is that finding common language, inspiration and vision for working with agencies requires the development of a strong and trusted community. As the conveners we work with our partners to look beyond the politics in order to intervene, collaborate and provide services to individuals and families who have experienced the worst of life.
Here is a reflection from Kimberly Pelletreau, Deputy Director, Youth Options Unlimited Boston one of the lead agencies for PACT.
Over the past year the TBCC staff from the Trinity Boston Foundation, Nate Harris and Judith Willison, have fulfilled a critical role for the primary PACT partners in the City of Boston. As the group strives to provide services and implement a sensible and progressive plan for each young person we are serving, the structure and follow-up provided at the session by TBCC staff has been extremely helpful. Presentations of individual cases, input from the group, and thoughtful next steps and follow-up points are provided via the TBCC staff. They are able to regulate a group of strong personalities that each bring a different perspective and specialty to the table to ensure that the conversation is efficient and focused on the next steps for serving each young person. The structure and guidance they have provided has allowed for the development of a more deliberate plan of action for PACT young people.
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