Roca, Inc.: Young People and Families Striving for Change

Originally published August 2002

 In July 2000, twelve-year-old Desi was killed in a tragic hit-and-run accident. The death of the popular youth had the local community of Chelsea, Massachusetts, reeling. During the funeral, a group of Desi's friends - most of whom had been coming to Roca - took it upon themselves to support each other and provide comfort and reassurance to Desi's younger brother. Ten-year-old Azziza and 12-year-old Christina took the lead in gathering their friends and family into a peacemaking circle to remember Desi, deal with their anger, and grieve his loss.

Since its establishment in 1988, Roca, Inc. has dedicated itself to improving the lives of young people living in the communities of Chelsea, Lynn, and Revere - three diverse, impoverished urban areas in greater Boston. "Young people and families thriving and leading change," says executive director Molly Baldwin , "is Roca's vision."

The organization began when a small group of adults and young people gathered to develop a plan to address the skyrocketing rate of teen pregnancy in Boston. Baldwin, a member of the founding group, says, "Soon after we got together, we realized there were several looming issues in our community but no organization in place to address them. Roca was created to fill this need." Today, Roca occupies a two-story building in the heart of Chelsea that includes a recreation center, a basketball court, a dance studio, a day care center, computer labs, and classrooms. "Roca provides a safe haven for neighborhood youth, where they gain the skills and knowledge to lead healthier, more successful lives in a safe, caring environment," says Baldwin.

Roca's work centers on building transformational relationships - strong, lasting bonds between young people and a caring, trusted adult that instill a sense of "belonging" and "generosity" in youth who often come from broken homes and lack positive role models in their lives. Says Sayra Pinto, director of Roca's VIA Project, which helps build life, job, and educational skills for older-age youth, "So many young people in our communities talk about the lack of caring, supportive adults in their lives." Roca staff actively seek young people in the community and develop intimate, trusting relationships with them through frequent, yet highly intense contacts, continually pushing and challenging these kids to make smarter decisions in their lives.

Forging Community Bonds

In February of 1999, an eclectic group of community members (who often found themselves in adversarial relationships - neighborhood youth, Roca staff, police and probation officers, clergy, parents, and community leaders - came together. Over four days, this disparate group learned about peacemaking circles, which Baldwin describes as "a unique and highly effective method of problem solving that successfully builds lines of communication across diverse cultures, groups, ages, and gender, builds trust within communities, and instigates collective social change."

Derived from aboriginal and native traditions, the circles "provide an avenue for everyone to have a voice in their future and in their community," adds Saroeum Phoung, Roca's director of the Street Team & Peacemaking Circles. Many at Roca, including Baldwin and Phoung, say learning about peacemaking circles was a key milestone for the organization, and has influenced its work since that time.

In a peacemaking circle, all participants, regardless of age or occupation, are equals in the discussion. Participants feel comfortable speaking freely and often listen to one another for the very first time because the environment is free of pressures and interruptions. Says Baldwin,"Peacemaking circles have been so effective in bringing disparate individuals together that we have integrated these principles into all our programs."

While peacemaking circles are just one element of Roca's approach to building stronger bonds among people of all ages and a mix of cultural and racial backgrounds, they also exemplify the values that infuse all aspects of the organization. For instance, since its earliest days, the staff at Roca have committed themselves to working with youth and families to instill in young people:

a sense of belonging so they see the world as a place where they and all others fit and where they can chart a positive and personally fulfilling course for themselves, and a sense of purpose and an understanding of their own worth by building and acting on generosity.  Adds Baldwin, "We believe that from belonging and generosity that competence and independence also come forward." Taken together, she says "these four values are Roca's core values and form the foundation for our work."

ROCA'S PROGRAMS

Roca currently operates the following programs:

The Healthy Families Program is rooted in Roca's earliest work in teen pregnancy prevention and education. Though also striving to reduce the rate of teenage pregnancy, Roca believes young adults possess the ability to be wonderful parents while keeping their own educational and life goals on track. The program works with teen mothers through their pregnancy and the first three years of parenthood. It helps them develop the necessary skills to raise their children in a healthy, supportive environment through home visits, training, and referral services. Roca also provides day care service for these parents so they can take advantage of Roca's education programs, job training, and employment opportunities.

Youth STAR , funded through AmeriCorps, is a youth community service program that engages thirty 16- to 24-year-olds full-time in health promotion and environmental projects. Becoming a Youth STAR member is an enormous commitment; each youth selected must be willing to make a full-time commitment over an eleven-month period.Young people who want to address health issues help out at a food pantry in Revere, take part in an HIV/AIDS peer-to-peer prevention initiative, or work at an adolescent health clinic that is operated in partnership with the Massachusetts General Hospital/Revere. Environmental projects give youngsters the chance to help conserve Chelsea Creek and Rumney Marsh, and promote the creation of more urban "green spaces" throughout the community. "At an age when young people are facing daunting changes and growth in their lives, and when relationships with parents and other adults are often tenuous, these Youth STAR members are able to lean on each other for support as they make their own transition to adult independence," says Anisha Chablani, Youth STAR Program Director.

Project Victory works with 12- to 15-year-old Chelsea youth from a range of cultural backgrounds who are identified as "struggling with school and life." Roca's staff develop long-term, transformational relationships with these youth. Project Victory gives youth a safe place to go after school, and provides projects, trips, and other constructive opportunities while fostering personal and emotional growth during a difficult period in their lives. Project Victory also helps young people enhance their educational and leadership skills through trainings and classes in computers and other areas.

The Street Outreach Project focuses its efforts on some of the "most disenfranchised youth in our communities -those who are homeless or are involved in gangs in Chelsea, Revere, East Boston, and Lynn," says Saroeum Phoung, director of the Street Team & Peacemaking Circles. "Street Workers," as the program's staff are called, are often former gang members themselves.Team members spend time on the streets finding and following young people, and taking the time to establish positive relationships with them. Street teams also use gang intervention and prevention strategies, community organizing, and peacemaking circles to help these youth make different, more positive choices about their lives. Says Phoung: "Ultimately, these youth grow and learn about their lives and their community as they establish new 'comfort zones' and come to an understanding of a new 'way to be.'"

Similar to Street Outreach, the VIA Project focuses on older youth who are facing a myriad of obstacles and challenges. They may be involved in gang activities, and have either dropped out of or been expelled from school. Moreover, their families have fled war or persecution in their native countries, such as Cambodia, Kosovo, and Somalia, and many don't have sufficient literacy skills in either their native language or English. Many also lack the necessary educational and employment skills to live productive lives, opting instead to join gangs to survive. Roca helps these young people build and develop leadership and life skills, and enroll in literacy, high school equivalency, and job preparation programs. The VIA project also helps steer them away from risky behaviors and envision a different, brighter future for themselves.

Roca's Community Building Team (CBT) aims to unite through programs that focus on issues of key concern to residents, from teen pregnancy prevention to adolescent development to quality education. Roca leads a two-city Teen Pregnancy Coalition with the work planned and led by young people.

The program also offers adult education classes and provides child care for participating parents, while providing opportunities for community service.Working with a large Latino population, as well as immigrants, refugees, and other newcomers, the CBT Community Literacy and Leadership Project provides skills training that can lead to increased self-sufficiency for individuals and families.

Looking to the Future

Roca's accomplishments have not gone unrecognized, and its innovative grass-roots approach is seen as a model for other organizations. Roca was selected as one of 100 programs included in the first Catalogue for Philanthropy, and the Massachusetts Office of Refugees and Immigrants selected Roca for its New American Appreciation Award. Most recently, Roca received an award from the Massachusetts Ten Point Coalition for its work with youth. Based on its past accomplishments, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation selected Roca to organize, coordinate, and lead a national conference of diversity. More important, government officials and other local leaders seek out Roca's advice on tough issues facing the community - a fact Baldwin and her staff are especially proud of.

In 2000, Roca received support from the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation to develop a comprehensive business plan for the organization over the next five years. As part of this plan, Roca seeks to serve an additional 600 young people in its core programs, and to engage another 2,500 young people in outreach or one-time events in the coming years. It also seeks to strengthen its internal operations by restructuring the organization and building its leadership and management capabilities. In addition, the organization is developing and implementing a system to evaluate its programs and see how its work is affecting the lives of the youth it serves.

Baldwin says she is very proud of the business plan developed by the organization, but also emphasizes, "The plan doesn't drive the organization.We are here for our communities, and we're evolving where we need to. The organization is based around these core values, and it is up to the organization as a collective to determine what needs to be done and where."

For instance, in 2002, concluding that its Revere Leadership Project had accomplished all of its goals over the past decade, Roca decided to move the program in order to follow the migration of a number of Cambodians from the greater Boston area to Lynn, and rename it the Cambodian Project . The Cambodian community in Lynn is now the third-largest concentration in the United States. Unlike many other immigrants, Cambodian Americans have not fully engaged with the larger society because of their long history of trauma, conflict, and distrust.

In this new program, Roca is focusing on helping young Cambodian Americans develop trusting relationships with elder community members and to step up and play a leadership role within the community. Another goal is to promote self-sufficiency and democratic participation in the community. Peacemaking circles are increasingly becoming an integral part of this program, especially when meeting with other community members and civic officials, finally giving these immigrant youth an outlet to voice their concerns.

Today, Roca continues to be a place where neighborhood youth identify the issues facing their community and work collectively to resolve them. Concludes Baldwin: "Roca does not impose decisions on the community, but rather ideas and solutions come from the community. Roca is a true grass-roots organization in concept, principle, and actions. Community members - youth and adults, newcomers and residents of long standing - always find their way to Roca every day to learn, to celebrate, to share, to laugh, to work and serve the community."