Civic and Community Engagement Commons^™

Beacon Voyages For Service: 2013 Alternative Spring Break Trip To The Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota, Sherrod Williams

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

This March, fourteen UMass Boston students traveled to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota to address the pressing issues of poverty faced by the Oglala Lakota people by assisting in construction efforts such as repairing stairwells, building children’s bunk beds, and installing protective skirting around mobile homes to help increase the overall quality of life on the reservation. In conjunction with the service work, special attention was placed on fostering relationships and participating in a cultural exchange with the Oglala Lakota community that has created awareness about the tribulations faced by the United States of America’s most disadvantaged …

Social Equality And Environmental Education In Brazil, Sherrod Williams

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Beacon Voyages for Service (BVS) is a program within the Office of Student Leadership and Community Engagement that coordinates Alternative Break programs. BVS Brazil traveled to Porto Alegre. This group of students partnered with “The Brazilian Association of Cultural Exchange (ABIC)” and the Center for Environmental Education to learn about the social problems that affect the citizens of Brazil and tackle issues of waste management. The students work alongside community members in a recycling unit and spend many hours working with local youth.

Mobilizing Undergraduates To Address The Social Determinants Of Health In The Community: Year 1 Of Health Leads At Umass Boston, Luciano Ramos, Sherrod Williams, Adrienne Wald, Mark Marino

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Health Leads, a national non-profit organization, currently operates in six cities. Following successful partnerships with Harvard University and Boston University, Health Leads Boston initiated a partnership with UMass Boston in the Fall of 2012 to mobilize undergraduate students in addressing the social determinants of health for patients at Codman Square Health Center (CSHC). 16 undergraduates at UMass Boston were selected into the Health Leads program at CSHC, joining 17 students from Harvard and 4 students from BU. In 6 months, Health Leads at CSHC served 337 families, with students reporting positive experiences. Further expansion of Health Leads at UMB is …

Batec Bridge To Community College, Deborah Boisvert, Paula Velluto, Dawn Zapata

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Bridge to Community College Program is a comprehensive college program that creates postsecondary education access for nontraditional learners with limited technology skills. It offers two credit-bearing technology courses combined with English and Mathematics tutoring to reinforce the basic math and literacy competencies required for entry into a community college. The Bridge Program transitions students into higher education by partnering with trusted community organizations to offer introductory college technology courses at a community site with a facilitated transition to the partner community college.

Commonwealth Compact Talent Network: A Resource For And About Talented Professionals Of Color In Massachusetts, Georgianna Melendez

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Commonwealth Compact seeks to increase the visibility of and access to professionals of color in Massachusetts. We seek to establish Massachusetts as a uniquely inclusive, honest, and supportive community of – and for – diverse people. We have created an online tool to establish this visible network. Our target audience for this tool includes employers and talent.

Success Boston: College Completion Initiative, Liliana Mickle

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

2008: Initiative launches in response to Northeastern University study finding – only 35.5% of Boston Public School (BPS) graduates enrolled in college earned an Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree within 7 years (despite BPS having one of the highest college enrollment rates in country).

2010: 38 colleges/universities in MA accepted UMass Boston Chancellor Keith Motley’s invitation to join the initiative (25 submitted specific plans). Chancellor Motley is co-chair of Mayor’s Success Boston Task Force.

July 2010: UMass Boston implements Success Boston Embedded Model: Collaboration with American Student Assistance (ASA), Freedom House Inc., Bottom Line and Hyde Square Task Force to provide …

Latino Leadership Initiative (Lli), Liliana Mickle

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The purpose of the Latino Leadership Initiative is to help develop a cadre of next generation leaders from and for the Latino(a) community. The LLI annually serves up to 50 of the nation’s most promising undergraduates with demonstrated interest in serving the Latino(a)community. The partner schools sending cohorts are Miami Dade College, UMass Boston, Texas A&M International University, University of California at Merced, University of Texas-Pan American, Loyola Marymount, City University of New York and the University of Houston. Objectives of the LLI are: to enhance the leadership capacity of students committed to serving the Latino community; to help participants …

Building Sustainability In Rural Puerto Rico, Sherrod Williams

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Beacon Voyages for Service (BVS) is a program within the Office of Student Leadership and Community Engagement that coordinates Alternative Break programs. BVS Puerto Rico traveled to Las Marias, Puerto Rico. This group of students partnered with Plenitud Eco-Educational Initiatives to learn about sustainability through organic farming and permaculture practices in rural areas of Puerto Rico.

The Forum For Cities In Transition: An Initiative Of The Moakley Chair Of Peace And Reconciliation, Padraig O'Malley

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

FCT is an international network of mayors, councilors, municipal officials, business people, and representatives of the voluntary and community sector. The Forum works on the principle that cities that are in conflict or have emerged from conflict (divided societies) are in the best position to help other cities in similar situations. The Forum for Cities in Transition was founded by Professor Padraig O’Malley as an initiative of the John Joseph Moakley Chair of Peace and Reconciliation at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Harbor Point Partnership, Office Of Athletics And Recreation, University Of Massachusetts Boston, Harbor Point Apartments Company

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Harbor Point Outreach Partnership (HPOP) is a community-university tutoring and afterschool youth enrichment program based on the work of students in service-learning classes and volunteers from UMass Boston. Currently, there are 50 UMass Boston students and 10 community residents working with 70 students at the Walther Denney Center.

University Of Massachusetts Boston Upward Bound, Lizette Rivera

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Upward Bound is an intensive, year-round college-prep program. Our mission is to assist low-income and / or first-generation college bound high school students in the successful completion of secondary education. We strive to prepare our students academically and socially towards the enrollment and completion of higher education. Upward Bound offers services to students through an after-school program at UMass-Boston during the school year and a six-week summer residential academic program.

Pension Action Center, Michele Tolson, Pension Action Center, University Of Massachusetts Boston, Gerontology Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Pension Action Center (PAC) strives to improve retirees’ and workers’ standard of living in retirement through individual case advocacy; referrals to appropriate programs and professionals; and issue analysis and reform of public policy. The center, which is part of the Gerontology Institute at UMass Boston, focuses on the experience of participants in retirement plans throughout its work. The PAC is a one-of-a-kind organization in New England that touches the lives of thousands of people.

Devolution: The Retreat Of Government, Judith Kurland

New England Journal of Public Policy

Devolution as practiced in much of the world is decentralization of program authority and responsibility to achieve greater administrative efficiency or program standards. Devolution as practiced by the Bush administration and the Republican Congress is not that, nor is it a diminution of federal power and the strengthening of states’ rights. Rather, it is a radical restructuring of government to prevent the expenditure of funds for traditional Democratic programs of the New Deal and the Great Society, and to prohibit states from being either more generous in social programs or more stringent in regulating industry than this administration desires.

This …

Supporting Healthy Lives And Vibrant Places: Learning About And Living The Collaborative Leadership Model, Lisa Deangelis, Maureen A. Scully, Andrea Wight

Emerging Leaders Program Team Projects

The 31 fellows in the 2012 UMass Boston Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) worked with community partners to investigate the theme, “Supporting Healthy Lives and Vibrant Places.” They worked in peer self-managed teams, in order to learn collaborative leadership skills first-hand, while engaging with stakeholders and issues where collaboration makes a difference. Their team projects addressed: best practices in corporate wellness initiatives, outreach to support health care access for homeless people, ways to grow awareness of the wide need for affordable housing, ideas for arts-based local economic development, broader funding sources to support innovative research on poverty, and ways to continue …

Asian American We: Civic Engagement Among Low-Income Young Adults, Michael Liu, Star Wang, Janice Wong, Loan Dao

Institute for Asian American Studies Publications

This report describes a study of the civic participation of low-income Asian American adults between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five in the Boston area. It is based upon a mail survey with 100 respondents, focus groups, and organization interviews.

The study found that over 60% of the study population engaged in some form of civic participation, most commonly through fundraising or volunteer activities. Other activities included arts and culture with a social message, issues work, and electoral involvement. The area of greatest involvement was education. From the survey, civic engagement is correlated with female gender, higher education, and a …

Mattapan United Community Questionnaire, Mattapan United, Center For Social Policy, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Center for Social Policy Publications

In the winter and spring of 2012, the Steering Committee of the Mattapan United Resilient Communities/Resilient Families project undertook an assessment of community members’ attitudes and opinions for use in planning and program development.

The Committee was assisted in this endeavor by the Center for Social Policy (CSP), McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston. The work of CSP is supported by a grant from The Boston Foundation to provide analytical and evaluation assistance for its Fairmount Initiative along the Fairmount/Indigo Corridor of Boston.

The questionnaire was widely disseminated throughout Mattapan in hard copy and …

Center For Rebuilding Sustainable Communities After Disasters, Adenrele Awotona, Center For Rebuilding Sustainable Communities After Disasters, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Center for Rebuilding Sustainable Communities after Disasters (CRSCAD) cultivates alliances with local, national, and international agencies, government and academic institutions, NGOs, and for-profit and not-for-profit bodies which share common interests in the area of post-disaster reconstruction globally.

Providing Staff And Program Development For Boston-Area Adult Basic Education Programs, Steve Reuys, Adult Literacy Resource Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Adult Literacy Resource Institute (part of UMass Boston since 1983, and 100% grant-funded) serves as the Greater Boston Regional Support Center for SABES, the state’s System for Adult Basic Education Support. We provide a variety of staff and program development services to adult basic education programs in the Boston area, especially the approximately 40 programs in the region (most located at community-based organizations) that are funded by the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and that offer ESOL, basic literacy and numeracy, GED preparation, and other classes (including family literacy, civics education, career pathways, and college transition).

Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Network: Boston Regional Office And Minority Business Center, Mark Allio, Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Network, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Hosted by the College of Management, we are part of a statewide business assistance program providing free one-on-one counsel to entrepreneurs and seeking help with business growth and strategy, financing and loan assistance, and strategic, marketing and operational analysis. Our services are available to the public and members of the UMB community, including student, faculty, and staff. We also offer workshops and training programs on a variety of topics targeted to the needs of small business.

Teaching And Service Partnerships At The Center For Community Democracy And Democratic Literacy, Judith Kurland, Center For Community Democracy And Democratic Literacy, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The initial work of this McCormack Graduate School center focuses on the seven major placed-based initiatives within Boston, creating a Community of Practice to extend and expand best practices throughout the city; and provides expert strategic, design, policy and program advice in the creation of the Boston Promise Initiative led by the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI), one of the initial twenty-one projects in the nation awarded by the Obama administration.

Identifying Success In Schools And Programs For English Language Learners In Boston Public Schools, Miren Uriarte, Michael Berardino, Jie Chen, Virginia Diez, Faye Karp, Sarah Rustan, Rosann Tung, Laurie Gagnon, Pamela Stazesky, Eileen De Los Reyes, Antonieta Bolomey, Gaston Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Gastón Institute collaborates with government agencies, community organizations and foundations in applied research aimed at evaluating the impact of policies, programs and practices. This poster describes a three-way collaboration among researchers and practitioners from Boston Public Schools (BPS), the Gastón Institute and the Center for Collaborative Education (CCE) which yielded two comprehensive studies: 1. The enrollment and outcomes of English language learners in BPS; 2. Best ELL practices in four schools that were consistently high performing or steadily improving with respect to ELL student outcomes.

Civility And American Democracy: A National Forum, Barbara L. Graceffa, Center For Civil Discourse, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

At a time when political discourse seems to be on the path to paralysis, this forum brought together prominent humanities scholars, political thinkers, and journalists to explore the meaning of civility and its role in American democracy. The forum holds the following sessions: Civility in American History; Civility and Morality; Civility and Culture; Civility, Politics, and the Media.

Evaluating Effectiveness Of A Public Mental Health Re-Entry Program: Strategic Statewide Partnerships, Stephanie Hartwell

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

This study is the first ever initiative to merge administrative data base in Massachusetts to evaluate an important public mental health program. It examines post-incarceration outcome of adults with serious mental illness (SMI) enrolled in the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) Forensic Transition Team (FTT) program. The Program began in 1998 with the goal of transitioning offenders with SMI released from state and local correctional facilities utilizing a core set of transition activities. In this study we evaluate the program's effectiveness using merged administrative data from various state agencies for the years 2007 - 2011, comparing FTT clients to …

Louis D. Brown Peace Institute Burial Guide Training, Funded By American Sociological Association, Stephanie Hartwell, Camila Mejia

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Community Action Research Initiative (CARI) involves the dissemination and implementation of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute’s (LDBPI) “Burial and Resource Guide” and a corresponding evaluation. The burial guide is a “step-by-step” manual with sections including: notification and correspondence with family, friends, funeral homes, officials, services and insurance companies; writing guidelines for obituaries and media statements; and tracking and contacts with police, medical examiners, and victim advocates after the murder of a loved one. The guide also includes exercises and resources for healing/coping. This is possibly the first specialized guide for survivors of homicide.

Umass Boston – Brazilian Immigrant Center Partnership, Tim Sieber, C. Eduardo Siqueira, Natalicia Tracy, Gaston Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Brazilian Immigrant Center (BIC) does organizing, advocacy and training to reduce marginalization of Brazilian immigrants, promoting their engagement as workers & civic participants. A worker’s center, BIC supports and defends workers’ rights under current state & US labor laws. BIC helps workers mediate complaints with employers, and refers others for class action suits, or intervention by the Mass. Attorney General or US Dept. of Labor. A special focus at present is organizing mostly women domestic workers, and BIC has a new Law and Policy Clinic, a Domestic Worker Mediation Program, and an Immigration Justice Project staffed by two full-time …

Geographic Information Systems Facilitate Youth, Youth Workers And Community Stakeholder Efforts, Helenmary Hotz

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

A large population of underserved students and residents in the City of Boston suffer from behavioral and/or discipline problems, as well as substance and/or alcohol abuse. A side effect of this behavior is the increasing instance of trash such as cigarette butts, condoms, syringes and packaging being discarded in public areas. The South Boston Youth Action Center (SBYAC) is tackling this problem by making the community aware of the locations and probable sources of this problem. The SBYAC is implementing an effort to rid South Boston parks, playgrounds and areas frequented by children of refuse associated with substance abuse. And, …

Honduras: Local, Regional And Global Partnerships To Improve Health In Olancho, Lisa Kennedy Sheldon, Hasan Bailey, Carlo Najera, Mary Roy

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Honduran Mission Team-New Hampshire (HMT-NH) in partnership with the Olancho Aid Foundation (OAF), works in the Olancho department to improve the health and education of the Honduran people. The HMT-NH 2012 Healthcare Team included UMass Boston faculty and a nursing student working with American and Honduran doctors and nurses to provide culturally-appropriate healthcare and collect data about the needs of the Honduran people in Olancho.

Nantucket Shellfish Management Plan, Kristin Uiterwyk, Steve Bliven, Dan Leavitt, Jack Wiggin, Urban Harbors Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Nantucket’s shellfish resources are an important part of the Island’s history, culture, and economy. Nantucket waters support one of the country’s last wild-caught bay scallop fisheries. Elsewhere along the Atlantic coast, fishing pressure, habitat loss, and disease have severely depleted bay scallop populations. Although Nantucketers continue to make a living harvesting shellfish from the Island’s waters, many do so with concern for the future of the resources and the habitats that support them. Urban Harbors Institute (UHI) provided technical assistance to the community to develop a Shellfish Management Plan (SMP) that addresses issues of water quality, habitat loss, climate change, …

The Urban Harbors Institute, Urban Harbors Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Urban Harbors Institute (UHI) is a public policy and applied-science research center focused on issues affecting urban waterfronts and coastal and ocean resources. Our mission is to increase understanding of the marine environment, improve management practices, and promote informed decision making at the local, state and national levels. UHI employs a multidisciplinary approach in all its research and education projects, blending science, policy, and management.

Coastsweep: The Massachusetts Coastal Cleanup Program, Dennis N. Leigh, Kristen Uiterwyk, Jack Wiggin, Schanna James, Allison Novelly, Robin Lacey, Anne Donovan, Arden Miller, Urban Harbors Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Through this project, volunteers in communities throughout Massachusetts turn out in large numbers each September and October for COASTSWEEP, the statewide coastal cleanup program sponsored by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) and coordinated by the Urban Harbors Institute (UHI) of the University of Massachusetts Boston. COASTSWEEP is part of the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) organized by Ocean Conservancy in Washington, DC. Through the efforts of the ICC, volunteers from all over the world collect marine debris and record information about the trash they collect. This information is then analyzed and used to identify sources of debris and …