Everyone

Job search training, educational testing, career counseling, skills training, English for Speakers of Other Languages, GED classes, Adult Basic Literacy and Adult Diploma Program instruction, support for entry-level workers, microenterprise training, and financial assistance.

Homeowner Services provides home improvement and deleading loans for unbankable homeowners. The focus is keeping low to moderate income homeowners in their home; by decreasing maintenance costs, avoiding foreclosure, rehabbing uninhabitable units, educating the homeowner in financial literacy and increasing energy conservation. In our eleven year program we have lent more than $1.5 million and rehabbed 239 units of housing.

Youth Force Program is a youth leadership initiative that trains local teens to be community leaders and community organizers, who in turn train other local teens to be leaders and organizers in their own neighborhoods. The program is designed in a community organizing framework, and it focuses on building youth leaders, building youth relationships and building youth power. Youth Force members learn leadership and community organizing skills such as meeting facilitation, engaging in campaign work, relational meetings, power analysis and research actions. The program goal is to build youth power in Dorchester and beyond and to strengthen the local community by tackling specific, winnable issues. We grow leaders through engaging them in the issues that affect them directly.

Learning Is a Fun Experience (L.I.F.E.) is a new drop-in after school program with homework help, Internet research, public speaking, visual arts, ceramics, digital arts production, literacy and math computer games, sports, fun and enrichment activities.

Seniors Program supports approximately 90 elders living in and nearby Dorchester Bay rental units. Meeting three times weekly, they enhance their quality of life by offering community-based case management services and enrichment, prevention, education, and intervention programming. Rock and Roll Seniors pays stipends to seniors to use their expertise and energy to design their own program. They remain safe, connected and active.

TechnoBay Computer Training is an inter-genrational computer training course geared for families. Both parent and chilld learn about computer hardware and software. All courses are free of charge. For more information about the course contact Karen Cookie Sheers at 617-825-4200 x225

In addition to Friday community prayers, Masjid Al-Qur'an has an extensive array of educational and social activities including Islamic education classes. In the spring of 2005 the masjid began a weekly program titled, "Most of All Get an Understanding," which aims to educate non-Muslim members of the community on Islam.

The masjid is a member of Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries an interfaith group comprised of 70 faith communities in the Boston area. As part of their urban-suburban partnership program, Masjid al-Qur'an has been paired with Temple Shalom, a reform synagogue in Newton. The partnership has brought rabbis to speak at the masjid and members of the masjid have attended prayer services at the synagogue. The two religious centers have coordinated volunteer activities together such as a food drive and delivering food to home-bound elders on Christmas day. Imam Taalib draws inspiration for the partnership from the fact that the building which houses the masjid was formerly home to a Jewish function hall.