Welcome to the October issue of Provplan’s e-newsletter. Once again, we have good news to report with the recent award of federal funds from the Communities Empowering Youth program. We were privileged to work with a group of community partners with a long and deep commitment to youth in the city. The funding will allow us to work together to strengthen our organizations and to build a strong and powerful voice for youth development. Our success with this application is due to the strength of the partnership and to our shared commitment to Providence’s young people. The other stories highlight the good work going on at YouthBuild and Ready to Learn. As always, I hope you find the issue useful.

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

New Roots wins $750,000 grant to build the capacity of organizations doing youth work 
The statistics can be alarming: Forty percent of the city’s more than 80 homicides over the past four years have involved youth. Gang activity, which accounts for much of the violence, continues to grow, and nearly half of the city’s gang members are under 21. While these figures may seem daunting, some Providence organizations know that by reaching out to youth – and offering support and hope – the statistics can be changed.

With a $750,000 Communities Empowering Youth (CEY) grant won earlier this month, The Providence Plan is partnering with seven community and faith-based organizations that collectively have more than 50 years of experience working on preventing youth violence and gang activity. The Providence Empowering Youth Partnership, an initiative of ProvPlan’s New Roots Providence program, is designed to build the capacity of these organizations by providing training, arranging technical assistance, and developing a network to support youth-serving organizations.

Activities will focus on the critical areas of leadership development, organizational development, program development and community engagement. Group trainings will focus on issues of mutual interest, and one-on-one technical assistance will target the individual needs of the organizations.

Partners in this initiative include AS220–Broad Street Studios, Curse Breakers, Iglesia Vision Evangelica, the Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence, The Providence Youth Student Movement, Youth in Action and YouthBuild Providence. These organizations, currently at different phases of development, are now poised to learn from their own experiences as well as from each other. [more on Grant...]

Both staff and students show “mental toughness” at YouthBuild Providence
David Apicerno, YouthBuild Providence’s construction manager, has a challenging job but it’s one that seems to fit him like a glove. In the classroom and out on the construction site, he gently but constantly prods his students – most of whom are high school dropouts – to produce high-quality work and to take pride in their achievements. David and the rest of the YouthBuild staff have less than a year to prepare these students for productive careers in the construction field.

This group of some 30 students is YouthBuild Providence’s tenth class. Although their reading and math levels vary considerably, these students share one attribute that will serve them well: They are all highly motivated. They were selected from more than 130 applicants and they all survived YouthBuild’s “Mental Toughness” process – an orientation program that lasts several weeks and is designed to ensure that those who pursue the 10-month YouthBuild program are fully committed.

“The message is definitely out that this is a program for people who are very serious about getting into the trades,” says Andrew Cortes, director of YouthBuild Providence, a program of The Providence Plan.

Like every class before it, this group of students will build a house for a low-income family in Providence. This year’s house is in Olneyville, just blocks from the YouthBuild offices. The foundation was poured in September, the students received their safety training and equipment, and construction got under way early this month. Habitat for Humanity, Greater Providence Inc. – a partner in the YouthBuild program – provides the property and materials.

[more on Youthbuild...]

La Raza and R2LP offer institute on Latino family values
The importance of family, ancestral traditions, respect for others, faith, community and one’s native language. These were just some of the values that emerged over and over again in a Latino focus group that launched a three-day institute held last month at Ready to Learn Providence (R2LP).

The National Council of La Raza – the largest Latino advocacy organization in the country – teamed up with R2LP, a program of The Providence Plan, to sponsor the Sembrando Semillas (Planting Seeds) Institute. The purpose of the Institute, a national initiative that is now in its third year, is to identify Latino family values and to help those who serve large numbers of Latino children incorporate them into their curricula, settings and interactions with families.

The focus group, which was held in Spanish and translated for the 21 participants of the Institute, included parents from various Latin American countries. While it became apparent that Latinos from different regions do share many values, members of the focus group cautioned participants from assuming that all Latin countries have identical cultures. Just as Ireland and England have different histories and values, they noted, so too do countries and regions within Latin America.

The participants who attended the Institute were center-based providers, family-care providers, librarians, public-school educators and others who serve a large Latino population. All but the participants from Progreso Latino, which is in Central Falls, work in Providence. [more on La Raza...]

ProvPlan provides data and maps for Providence’s new Comprehensive Plan
By state law, every Rhode Island city and town must regularly update its comprehensive plan, documenting existing conditions and setting goals for the future. A comprehensive plan covers existing and projected trends in housing, population growth, economics, demographics, land use, educational needs and various other issues that affect the growth and well-being of the municipality. The City of Providence, which is currently updating its plan, hired The Providence Plan to conduct research and develop maps that will serve as the basis for its new blueprint.

Providence’s existing plan has remained virtually unchanged for more than a decade – a period that has seen some enormous changes in the city and its economy. In the ‘90s, for example, vacant property was seen as an issue; today it is affordable housing that is of far greater concern. And while the decade saw the continuing decline of our manufacturing industry, it also witnessed the rapid growth of an active creative class.

ProvPlan developed digitized maps for the city depicting everything from historic districts to child poverty to open space. To view an example, see the the Map of the Month. The voluminous data ProvPlan gathered for this project, much of it new, will allow Providence’s Planning Department to create an accurate picture of where the city is now and where it wants to be five or ten years from now. The plan amendment is expected to be adopted this spring.

The Planning Department is currently holding a series of citywide planning charrettes to gain public input and formulate the city’s vision for the future. Go to www.providencetomorrow.org to see a schedule of these meetings.



New Roots, cont.
“These organizations bring a great deal of experience in youth work,” explains Nzinga Misgana, director of New Roots Providence. “Throughout the project, they will make decisions together and will collaborate to determine their needs. This grant will allow us to bring in consultants with national expertise to help these organizations achieve their objectives and to raise the profile of their critically important work.”

ProvPlan will receive $300,000 of the three-year grant immediately. After undergoing a comprehensive needs assessment, each organization will receive $20,000 for technical assistance linked to its own needs. Meanwhile, group trainings and discussions will address issues that are of concern to all the partners.

“The partners are particularly excited about this opportunity to sit down and talk with one another about mutual concerns and possible solutions,” notes Nzinga.

The Providence Plan will serve as the lead organization, staffing the process and handling the administrative details. Since its inception just over a year ago, New Roots Providence has provided capacity-building training and technical assistance to nearly 100 community and faith-based organizations in the city.

The Communities Empowering Youth program is part of the Compassion Capital Fund – a series of capacity-building grants awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. [top]

YouthBuild , cont.
On alternating weeks, students attend academic classes in preparation for the five GED tests, which they can take once they have passed all of the practice tests. After graduation in June, some will move directly into the workforce, while others will enroll in post-secondary education. Eight members of last year’s class were accepted into highly coveted apprenticeships.

Every Friday students do service projects with community groups or nonprofits that demonstrate the social relevance of their work. Community building, leadership training, life skills and workforce preparation play a key role in YouthBuild’s curriculum.

YouthBuild Providence is open to young adults (ages 16 to 24) who are unemployed or who have been unsuccessful in a traditional educational environment. [top]

La Raza , cont.
At the first session, participants listened to members of the focus group relate a childhood memory and then identify the values embedded in that story. The following two days, participants discussed what they had heard and proposed ways of using this knowledge to inform their work with both parents and children.

Of particular interest was the high value Latinos place on respect for others in the community – or, in the case of children, in the classroom. When participants compared early learning standards from Peru and Mexico with those from Rhode Island, they were struck by the far greater emphasis that the Peruvian and Mexican standards placed on the ability to work cooperatively and respectfully.

“If a person behaves poorly and doesn’t treat others with respect, he or she is not considered an educated person,” notes R2LP’s Nazly Guzman-Singletary. Nazly and Tania Quezada, also from R2LP, are serving as coaches for Institute participants and will do follow-up work at participant settings.

Facilitating the Institute, which was held Sept. 21 to 23, were Antonia Lopez, La Raza’s director of early care and education, and Cecilia Alvarado, primary consultant for the Sembrando Semillas Institutes. The project is funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. [top]