Roxbury Youthworks's mission is to help youth caught in cycles of poverty, victimization, and violence to transition successfully to adulthood."

1.  SONGS AND NARRATION BY ROXBURY YOUTHWORKS (RYI) YOUTH
 MURALS ON SLIDES #3 AND #26 BY RYI YOUTH
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1Tuesday, May 14, 2013

2. OUR HISTORY
Roxbury Youthworks Inc. was
founded by the Hon (ret.) Julian T.
Houston in 1981.
We are one of the oldest people-
of-color-run, non-profit
organizations in the City of Boston.
Founder of RYI and current President of the Board Julian T. Houston
with Co-founder Hubie Jones
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3. Mural by RYI Youth
OUR HISTORY
RYI first began to help decrease re-incarceration among young men & women from Roxbury District
Court.
Today, we provide innovative, community-based support services to youth up to 22 years of age that are
involved with the child welfare and/or juvenile justice system.
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4. RYI’s mission is to help youth that are caught in cycles of poverty, victimization, and
violence, to transition successfully into adulthood.
OUR MISSION
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5. We struggle with substance use, physical and emotional neglect and abuse, hunger, poverty, and a
school system that is failing us.
We are youth between the ages of 13 to 22 who have had to grow up way too fast. We are all unique and
yet we have our own struggles in common.
OUR YOUTH
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Our neighborhoods & streets, the places we all call home, and cannot imagine living without, are rich
with culture, history, family, and friends.
But they are also filled with violence. A desperate kind of violence that stems from feeling trapped by
the cruel poverty that surrounds us.
OUR YOUTH
From infancy many of us witnessed & suffered tragedies that
no child should ever have to experience.
We could have been a statistic, part of the voiceless, the
dead, the forgotten, if we hadn’t found hope and the road to
a better life at Roxbury Youthworks.
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7. RACIAL & GENDER COMPOSITION
OF OUR YOUTH
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8. We also Provide Services to Youth
in Chelsea and East Boston, MA
WHERE OUR YOUTH LIVE
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9. THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF OUR YOUTH
Income:
Boston’s income inequality has a strong racial/ethnic component. More than one third of families of color had
annual incomes of less than $25,000—while almost half of Boston’s white families had annual incomes of $100,000
or more.
(Source: A measure of Poverty:
A Boston Indicators Project Special Report, 2011, pg. 4)
With 42% of its children in poverty,
the Roxbury /Dorchester/Mattapan area represents
Massachusetts’ largest concentration of child poverty.
(Source: A measure of Poverty:
A Boston Indicators Project Special Report, 2011, pg. 4)
In the Roxbury/Dorchester/Mattapan corridor,
85% of families are headed by a single parent,
mainly mothers, & at least 20% of the adults
have no high school diploma.
(Source: Poverty’s Grip Tightens in Boston, Study Says;
Boston Globe, November 9, 2011)
t
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10. Crime:
Though only about a quarter of Boston’s population is Black, Blacks accounted for over
half of all arrests made in 2008.
(Source: 2008 Crime Summary Report, Boston Police Department, pg. 64, & New
Bostonians Demographic Report, The Mayor’s Office of New Bostonians)
Over 50% of all arrests for violent crimes
in Boston in 2008 were in the
Roxbury/Mattapan/Dorchester neighborhoods.
(Source: 2008 Crime Summary Report; Boston Police Department, pg. 50)
In 2010, over 50% of aggravated assaults
& over 75% of homicides in Boston took place
in the Roxbury/Mattapan/Dorchester districts.
(Source: Part One Crime Reported by the Boston Police Department by Offense
& by District/Area, Boston Police Department, 2012)
THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF OUR YOUTH
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11. Education:
20.7% of the BPS class of ‘09 dropped out; that is one in five students.
In 2009-2010, Roxbury had the highest annual dropout rate among Boston neighborhoods.
(Source: Boston Public Schools 2009-2010: Student Dropout Rates)
On the 2007 Massachusetts comprehensive exam, 80 % of white BPS 8th grade students were proficient or
advanced in reading, compared with only 48% of African American or Hispanic students.
In math, 52% of white students were considered proficient or advanced, compared with 20% of Hispanic
students & only 14% of African Americans.
(Source: Council of the Great City Schools: "Beating the Odds: Analysis of Student Performance & Achievement Gaps" Boston results, 2007)
THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF OUR YOUTH
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12. Lead poisoning is concentrated in the Boston neighborhoods that are predominantly communities of color:
Dorchester, Mattapan, & Roxbury.
In Boston, asthma is more common among people of color. Boston’s Black & Latino children are
hospitalized for asthma at higher rates than White or Asian children.
(Source: Mayor's Task Force Blueprint: A plan to eliminate racial & ethnic disparities in health; Boston Public Health Commission, 2005)
THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF OUR YOUTH
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Health:
The death rate from all causes is 30% higher in the poor neighborhoods of Boston; residents are two &
a half times as likely to die from diabetes, four times as likely to die of HIV/AIDS, & twice as likely to die
from injuries.
Of the 22 waste sites in Boston, half are in the predominantly Black & Latino neighborhood of Roxbury.
(Source: Mayor's Task Force Blueprint: A plan to eliminate racial & ethnic disparities in health; Boston Public Health Commission, 2005)
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13. We operate 8 sites & a total of three programs across Metro Boston in
Roxbury, Dorchester, Hyde Park, & Chelsea.
Our 38 member staff is made up of multi-cultural & bi-lingual individuals
most of whom reside in the same communities we operate & where our
youth live.
RYI is led by Executive Director Mia Alvarado
RYI receives strategic, fiscal & executive oversight from its volunteer
multi-cultural 13 member Board of Directors.
Mia Alvarado – RYI ED
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE & GOVERNANCE
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14. OUR BUDGET
Our Current Annual Operating Budget is $2.6 Million.
The majority of our funding - 89% - comes from The
Department of Youth Services for our District Office Programs &
the Department of Children & Families for our GIFT & the
Dimock Street Lead Agency Programs.
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15. OUR PROGRAMS
Our staff members work within a positive youth
development framework & utilize their knowledge of, &
relationships with community resources, to access what is
needed for each youth & their family.
We run three distinct programs
that include:
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RYI works with youth to prevent further incarceration, abuse & exploitation. We engage the most
troubled youth and help them make healthier life choices.
RYI’s primary goal is to keep youth safe by strengthening their engagement with their families &
community.
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16. Our Staff in our seven District Offices (DOs) guide youth who transition from the Department of Youth
Service (DYS) secure treatment facilities & residential placements back to their homes & communities. The
DOs support youth with setting positive life goals, helping them to understand the consequences of poor
decision making & to recognize the rewards of positive actions.
Each year we serve up to 150 youth through our DO Programs.
DISTRICT OFFICES (DOS)
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17. BIG CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION
The Department of Youth Services’ most recent statewide report compared youth detention rates between
2003 & 2008 & found that in the Metro Boston region, the number of incarcerated youth decreased
dramatically from 387 in 2003 to 130 in 2008. DYS attributed this decrease in youth recidivism to the work
of community partner agencies such as RYI.
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18. Since 2008, GIFT has addressed one of the most disturbing issues facing young people today:
The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC).
RYI Life Coaches provide round the clock, intensive supports to our GIFT girls throughout their recovery from
commercial sexual exploitation, including the guidance and resources that the girls need to achieve their goals.
In the past 4 years, GIFT has served 150 youth that have been victims of CSEC. Most of these Youth have been
"pimped out" by numerous adults &/or arrested for their acts.
THE GIFT PROGRAM
(GAINING INDEPENDENCE FOR TOMORROW)
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19. FACTS ABOUT THE COMMERCIAL
SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN
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20. GOVERNOR PATRICK SIGNS ANTI-HUMAN
TRAFFICKING LEGISLATION
Drastically increasing punishment for offenders and
protection for victims
BIG CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION
RYI is a founding member of the Suffolk County DA’s Support to End Exploitation NOW (SEEN) Coalition.
On November 22, 2011, as a result of SEEN’s work, Governor Patrick signed Massachusetts’ new human
trafficking legislation which defines child sexual exploitation as trafficking of a person under 18 for sexual
servitude, punishable by five years to life imprisonment. The legislation also establishes a civil remedy for
victims to sue perpetrators — for rape, torture, & terror.
Our GIFT Program girls took part in this effort by
testifying at the MA State House about their
victimization through commercial sexual exploitation.
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21. WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE?
We have remained innovative & have implemented programming in
response to the changing needs of our youth.
The most recent of these include:
Thinking for A Change
Our DYS Youth who participate in, and complete the 25 module,
Thinking for A Change violence prevention curriculum receive a
stipend for every hour that they spend in class and on homework
and also full funding for driver education classes.
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WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE?
Parent Time Group
A weekly support group for parents of DYS Involved youth. The goals of Parent Time include:
! To support parents as they navigate the DYS system.
! To provide a save place for parents to express their feelings and relieve stress.
! To provide parents with the opportunity to meet other parents facing similar issues.
! To help parents gain a little more insight into their children’s behavior.
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WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE?
The Civic Action Corps Initiative
Through a grant from the
Department of Labor, RYI and
three Roxbury based non profit
organizations collaborate to
provide; educational assistance,
life coaching, health services,
skills training in the building
trades, and a stipend to young
people who have been involved
with the Juvenile justice system.
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WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE?
Many of our staff live in the same neighborhoods as our youth. This proximity allows them to have
first hand knowledge of the obstacles that our youth face on a daily basis.
Our staff know how to access quality community services for our youth & also know how to navigate
the complex social services system from a professional and a personal vantage point.
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WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE?
We construct & keep a safety-net of community supports around our youth.
We work with law enforcement, child-serving public agencies & other non-profits to end the commercial
sexual exploitation of children through public awareness campaigns & legislative action.
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26. WHY ROXBURY YOUTHWORKS INC., NEEDS
YOUR SUPPORT
Boston cannot afford to lose another generation of inner city youth to incarceration, drug use,
early death, child commercial sexual exploitation and violence. The economic, human and
creative losses are much too costly to ignore.
Mural By RYI Youth 26
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Our Boston Youth are fighting a daunting economic and racial battle that causes
them to live in conditions that mirror those of developing third world countries.
It will be difficult for them to win this battle without your help. The financial and
moral support of individuals like you, will provide our Boston Youth the opportunity
to break out of the cycles of violence, poverty and victimization and into happy
successful futures.
WHY ROXBURY YOUTHWORKS INC., NEEDS
YOUR SUPPORT
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