Welcome to the July-August issue of Provplan’s e-newsletter. This issue highlights three celebrations of community accomplishment. In the last week of June, New Roots celebrated its first two years of capacity building with community and faith-based organizations in the city; Ready to Learn graduated its second AmeriCorps class of almost 30 members; and YouthBuild graduated 24 young people, the largest graduating class in its 10-year history. More than 300 family members, friends and community residents attended the three celebrations and it was a powerful reminder of what we can accomplish when we work together. I hope your summer is going well and I look forward to your feedback and thoughts.

Thanks,
Pat McGuigan, Executive Director
pmcguigan@provplan.org

New Roots Providence recognizes participants and celebrates its success
With music, food, awards and presentations, New Roots Providence, a program of The Providence Plan, celebrated the success of the two-year-old program as well as that of its participants. More than 40 leaders of community and faith-based organizations attended the festive event on June 27 at the Community College of Rhode Island in Providence.

Also attending the event was Providence Mayor David Cicilline, who saluted the efforts of New Roots Providence and the individual accomplishments of the more than 200 organizations that have participated in the program through its training workshops, grant programs and think tanks.

"The strength of New Roots is in faith and community working together," noted Pat McGuigan, executive director of ProvPlan. [more on New Roots ...]

YouthBuild graduates celebrate their accomplishments  
“Don't give up on yourself", a YouthBuild graduate told those who filled the large auditorium at the Met School on June 29 to celebrate the conclusion of the 10-month program. "If you give up, you know what your future holds: Nothing."

"My life took so many turns over the past 10 months," another graduate noted. "My family saw me become a new person. I want to be the best person I can be. I've never been happier."

These speakers were two of the 24 men and women who received diplomas from YouthBuild Providence, a program designed to give inner-city residents the skills and academics needed to pursue careers in the construction industry. Over the past year, this class, YouthBuild's tenth, built a house in Olneyville and also attended classes in preparation for the GED exam. [more on YouthBuild ...]

RIDE awards grants to two ProvPlan initiatives
The Rhode Island Department of Education has awarded three-year grants of $90,000 a year to both YouthBuild Providence and Building Futures.

YouthBuild, which has received this award in the past, will use the money to fund its education coordinator. Building Futures, a new initiative designed to connect inner-city residents with jobs in the construction industry, will use its award to fund a program of GED preparation and testing that will revolve around skills needed in construction work.

R2LP salutes its AmeriCorps members - and a program that is called 'the ideal'
Amid laughs and tears, Ready to Learn Providence's 27 AmeriCorps members celebrated the end of their year in service at a June 29 graduation ceremony. 

R2LP's AmeriCorps members work in libraries, child-care centers and R2LP programs to enhance the literacy skills of the city's young children. "You are what gives Ready to Learn the breadth and depth needed to achieve its vision," noted Pat McGuigan, executive director of The Providence Plan, R2LP's parent organization.

Thirteen of this year's members were completing a second year with the R2LP program. Eleven of those who just completed their first year have signed on to return for the 2007/2008 session, which gets under way August 1 with a full month of training. Few programs see the retention rate that the R2LP program has enjoyed in its first two years. [more on R2LP AmeriCorps...]

Partner Profile
This month we take a look at Team Providence, a New Roots Providence grantee.

Shooting for something beyond the hoop
Young people in urban neighborhoods often pin all their hopes for a bright future on making it in professional athletics. Unfortunately, only one in 500,000 will rise into those ranks.

Team Providence, a seven-year-old organization, uses athletics to attract inner-city boys and girls into a program that offers after-school classroom support and exposes them to other professional opportunities.

Team Providence sponsors four different basketball teams (grouped by age) that compete in an elite league of teams around the country. But to play on these teams, the young athletes must also agree to participate in the academic enrichment programs. Some years more than 150 youths have sought one of the 48 coveted spots on the teams. An additional 30 or so youngsters participate in the enrichment program but not the athletics.

"We use athletics as the carrot that brings them in and then we introduce them to a wider variety of careers through higher educational study," explains Curtis Spence, the organization's director. [more on Team Providence...]





New Roots Celebration , cont.
New Roots Director Nzinga Misgana, who was given a standing ovation, recognized participants, advisory board members, consultants and funders with plants, posters and plant-themed gifts. "Providence is a better place because of you," she told those who filled the tables circling the large room.

Joe Benton and Robert Clark of The Fabulous Benton Brothers gave a rousing gospel performance and AS220 Broad Street Studio's Rhode Show offered a strong and inspiring conclusion to the ceremony.

Funding for New Roots Providence comes from The Compassion Capital Fund of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; The Annie E. Casey Foundation; The Rhode Island Foundation; The United Way of Rhode Island; and The Rhode Island State Council of Churches. [top]

YouthBuild Graduates, cont.
Some of the graduates have been accepted into highly coveted union apprenticeships, which pay strong wages and provide extensive training. Others will continue their education at area colleges.  Just 10 months earlier, many of these same young men and women were facing futures of minimum-wage jobs and a street life that too often involves drugs and crime.

YouthBuild is currently accepting applications for its 11th class, which starts this fall.  Those interested in applying should contact Robert Nyahkoon by phone at (401) 273-7528, ext. 106, or by email at myahkoon@provplan.org as soon as possible.

R2LP AmeriCorps , cont.
"Your program is the ideal that all AmeriCorps programs should aspire to," said Rick Benjamin, co-executive director of the R.I. Service Alliance, the nonprofit organization that serves as the state commission for national and community service. It is through the R.I. Service Alliance that R2LP's AmeriCorps program receives federal funding from the Corporation for National and Community Service.

This past spring, R2LP learned that it would receive funding for another three-year program beginning August 2008. That funding will cover 34 members each year - four more than the current figure - making it one of the largest AmeriCorps programs in the state. [top]

Team Providence , cont.
Many of the careers discussed in the program revolve around athletics, such as those in sports marketing, management, media relations, coaching and medicine. Visiting speakers, including former professional athletes who have moved into related careers, give youngsters a sense of the many options available to them if they stay in school.

To run its academic and athletic programs, Team Providence relies extensively on partnerships with other agencies and a host of volunteers. A partnership with LaSalle Academy, for example, has allowed the organization to expand its academic programs with peer-to-peer tutoring and greater access to computer equipment. Team Providence students, who are bused to LaSalle from South Providence, are paired up with students in the school's gifted and talented program.

As a New Roots grantee, Team Providence is learning how to build its board of directors. "Right now I play a central role in this organization," notes Spence, who founded Team Providence. "It's time to move to the next level and build something more sustainable."

For more information on Team Providence, go to www.teamprovidence.com

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