| Welcome
to the November issue of Provplan’s e-newsletter. A
theme running through much of this issue is community leadership
in the city. Whether it is Tania Quezada being honored by Quisqueya
in Action, or Sherrod Brown and Shirley Odufunade from Curse
Breakers, or a group of high school students from Feinstein
high school, these stories highlight the importance of leadership.
We consider it a privilege to play even a small role in building
community leadership capacity in Providence and we look forward
to continuing and strengthening this role in the future. Ready to Learn Providence
measures the success of its young AmeriCorps program
These remarks come from 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. Data gathered recently for an end-of-the year report certainly support Rick’s high estimation of the R2LP AmeriCorps program, an initiative that got under way in August 2005. In an effort to widen the use of the city’s libraries, for example, the 10 members assigned to the branches visited 99 different child-care sites, with most sites averaging six to seven visits. Of these sites, 48 were home child-care providers, many of them new friends of the library. Members brought literacy activity kits and books, spent time reading with the children, and encouraged providers to get library cards and take advantage of library programs. [more on AmeriCorps...]
URI’s Transportation Center, URI’s Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies and The Providence Plan have teamed up with Feinstein High School to answer these and other questions. Led by Talia McCray, assistant professor of transportation planning and management at URI, the project has evolved into a full curriculum on data collection, geographic information systems (GIS), computerized mapping, transportation planning, nonviolence and safety. About 80 Feinstein students each semester are directly involved
in the yearlong project. They are participating in focus groups,
completing surveys, conducting peer interviews, and filling
out grids aimed at identifying where, when and why teens feel
safe or threatened when traveling within Providence. ProvPlan
is helping with the data collection and the mapping, but the
students themselves also participate in these tasks. [more
on Feinstein...] Apply now for a
New Roots small grant Sherrod had seen firsthand how this “curse” was ruining – and in some cases ending – the lives of too many young people who knew few alternatives to life on the street, and the drugs, crime and violence that typically accompany that lifestyle. For years, Sherrod had lived that life himself, but by his late 20s he found himself tiring of it. And as a father, he wanted a very different life for his son. In 2001, Sherrod and Dennis launched a summer basketball league at Providence’s West End Recreation Center, hoping to offer neighborhood youth a positive way to pass time. When they received more than 300 applications for the 125 available slots, they knew they had targeted a critical need in the community. It was with that basketball league that Curse Breakers got under way, a nonprofit organization still based at the West End Recreation Center. Curse Breakers is one of seven organizations that is participating in New Roots Providence’s initiative aimed at reversing current trends in youth crime, drug abuse and gang activity. The other partners are AS220-Broad Street Studios, Iglesia Vision Evangelica, the Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence, The Providence Youth Student Movement, Youth in Action and YouthBuild Providence. The initiative is funded with a $750,000 Communities Empowering Youth grant won in October. In its infancy, Curse Breakers focused primarily on mentoring teens and adolescents in schools, homes, the truancy court and community centers. It has since branched out into developing formal after-school programs, such as the one offered for many years at Gilbert Stuart Middle School, a program that included a homework club, tutoring, cooking classes, music instruction and other activities. Still, mentoring young people and working with parents remain a critical piece of the organization’s work. [more on Curse Breakers...]
Sanchez, a highly regarded advocate in the Latino community, died in 1992 at the age of 39, but her legacy lives on through people like Tania, who on October 25 received the Juanita Sanchez Award from Quisqueya in Action. “Receiving this award, named after someone I admired so much, was just a tremendous honor,” Tania says. Since 2003, this prestigious award has been given annually to a person who embodies Sanchez’ spirit, drive and commitment. The recipient is a person who is viewed as a community leader, and as someone who stands up for his or her political beliefs. Tania is certainly a worthy recipient. For years she has worked tirelessly on political campaigns for candidates and issues supporting the interests of the Latino community. This past spring she was a graduate of the Latina Leadership Institute, which is sponsored by the R.I. Latino Civic Fund. And at Ready to Learn Providence, she has overseen the successful early literacy program for child-care providers, HeadsUp! Reading – a course that more than 350 Providence providers have now completed. “Watching her work with providers – and seeing the high esteem they have for her – is truly impressive,” says R2LP Director Joyce Butler. Joyce, along with Quisqueya President Janet Pichardo, presented the award to Tania at a dinner held at the Marriott. Quisqueya in Action is a community organization created by Dominican-Americans. Its major goals include youth empowerment, educational advancement, economic and community development, and cultural awareness.
The 12 members assigned to child-care settings played a critical role in strengthening their literacy programs, according to their site supervisors. Members at these sites developed parent centers, created classroom literacy centers, read one-on-one with children, set up literacy libraries for parents, children and teachers, and brought enthusiasm and ideas to each classroom. Members not assigned to libraries and child-care settings held positions at R2LP providing programmatic assistance – recruiting volunteers, enhancing the family engagement initiative, and assisting in R2LP’s HeadsUp! Reading and Early Reading First programs. All 29 members spent the first month of their service and every Friday throughout the rest of the year receiving training in early literacy, data evaluation and child development, many of them earning college credits for these courses. Thirteen of last year’s members elected to serve a second year in the program, a remarkable retention rate. “We felt throughout the year that things ‘felt good’ – that the members were learning, contributing and having fun – but the data we see in this report make it all so much more concrete,” notes Nancy Worthen, who with Nazly Guzman-Singletary co-directs the R2LP AmeriCorps program. “In fact, we really didn’t know just how much we had accomplished until we saw our achievements clearly outlined and measured in black and white.” [top]
Students have identified Olneyville, sections of the South Side, and some parts of downtown as locations where they sometimes feel unsafe. Roger Williams Park was universally viewed as very safe during the day, but unsafe at night. Very little data have been collected on the travel patterns of teens, who have free access to RIPTA buses for transport to and from school. The Providence mayor’s office, businesses, RIPTA officials and others are currently grappling with the high numbers of teenagers using public transportation during the day and the desire of the business community to encourage bus use among their employees. Lectures at the high school have addressed transportation policies and safety issues. Possible future topics include social equity/environmental justice, transportation and the environment, and urban planning and development. All of these sessions are tied into Excel/GIS training. The research team draws from three URI colleges. City and state experts complement the team, and instructors and administrators from Feinstein High School are heavily involved in the actual execution of the program, which is funded with federal dollars through URI’s Transportation Center. The R.I. Statewide Planning Office is assisting with lectures. [top]
“Many of us are doing the same thing but we don’t know they’re out there,” Shirley notes. The New Roots program will encourage and facilitate networks among the seven partner organizations – all of which are devoted in some way to improving the lives of Providence’s youth. In addition, the partners will decide as a group the training that would benefit them all, and will also receive funds for one-on-one technical assistance based on a comprehensive assessment of their individual needs. Sherrod, the organization’s CEO, would like to see Curse Breakers increase its ability to recruit and retain staff, enhance its fundraising capabilities, and increase its collaborative work. Meanwhile, Curse Breakers, with its four-member staff and many devoted volunteers, continues to offer a full range of programs designed to help the city’s youth develop into strong leaders and productive members of the community. Some of the after-school programs and workshops that Curse Breakers has offered in recent years focus on specific themes. “Rated R,” for example, has teenagers examine hip-hop to identify the positive and negative impact this music has on our culture, and on women in particular. Often Curse Breaker offers single-sex workshops for discussions on sex, abuse, hygiene, drugs and relationships. A new program – GIRLS (Growing, Improving and Renewing Lives for Success) – got under way this month and is part of the West End Recreation Center’s Female Fridays. “This is truly inspirational work,” says Nzinga Misgana, director of New Roots Providence, “Our partners in this new initiative are nurturing the city’s future, and doing it in new and creative ways. We feel very fortunate to be able to offer them support.” [top] |
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“When you walk into any gathering of the R2LP AmeriCorps
team, you are met with a palpable sense of shared vision, commitment
and mutual support. These corps members are highly devoted to
their work and to each other, and, in a very short period of
time they have developed one of the very best programs in the
state. From the exemplary training members receive, to the comprehensive
and compassionate support they receive from staff, to the way
in which AmeriCorps is fully integrated into the larger program—
in all of these ways, the R2LP AmeriCorps program is truly innovative
and transformative. This program has been launched with so much
thoughtfulness, purpose and passion; it cannot help but be successful
for many years to come.” 
How do Providence teenagers view their personal safety when
walking, driving or using public transportation in specific
locations? What are their travel patterns and needs, and what
are their reasons for traveling from one location to another?
Could your organization use help with fundraising, designing
programs, or developing a board of directors? If so, the New
Roots Small Grants Program could be just what you need. These
grants are designed to help faith-based or community-based organizations
in Providence that work in one of four key areas. For more information
and an application, go to www.newrootsprovidence.org, or contact
Chiv Heng (
“We need to break this curse that’s over our community,”
D. Sherrod Jones told his childhood friend Dennis Lassiter about
six years ago. That night, while sitting in Sherrod’s
living room, the name “Curse Breakers” took root.
As a student at Hope High School, Tania Quezada, coordinator
of community learning at Ready to Learn Providence, viewed Juanita
Sanchez as a vibrant role model. Back then, Tania volunteered
in a program Sanchez ran at the school – the Rainbow Center,
a teen pregnancy initiative.
