Bus Route 25

Reflect & Strengthen

Mailing Address (if different than physical location): 

614 Columbia Rd. #R,
Dorchester, MA 02125

Phone: 

(617) 442-2355

Mission: 

Reflect and Strengthen (R&S) is a grassroots collective of young working class women from the urban neighborhoods of Boston who take a holistic approach to organizing to create personal and social transformation. Our programming focuses are political education, healing form trauma, creative expression, community building and campaign work to end racial disparities in the juvenile justice system.

Locations

Freedom House
14 Crawford St
Dorchester, MA 02121
United States
How to get involved/application guidelines and procedures: 

For more information regarding Reflect and Strengthen please download the One Sheet. You may also contact R&S for more info at: rands@reflectandstrengthen.org or 617-442-2355.

Checks can be mailed to:
614 Columbia Rd. #R
Dorchester, MA 02125

Key Programs Offered: 

Juvenile Justice Organizing: Our Sisters Behind the Wall meets the urgent needs of young women involved with the juvenile justice system through healing, workshops, and sisterhood building. The Massachusetts Juvenile Justice Task Force on

Racial Disparities aka Da FORCE is community people demanding fairness from the juvenile justice system. We are organizing against the system’s racism which causes too many youth of color to be locked up.

Girl's Rap: is our peer led support groups, guided by licensed social workers, healing circles and beef resolution mediations, where we explore what sisterhood means and how we can unlearn the ways in which sexism, racism, homophobia and classism have taught us to think, act and feel toward one another.

Street Theater: members draw on our personal experiences and political awareness to create, direct and perform over 300 productions in the last five years. We educate, inspire and celebrate the power of culture through dance, theater, song, step, poetry, visual art, drumming, photography, videography, hip-hop and other means of creative expression. We perform at protests, theaters, rallies, jails, schools, cultural centers, youth groups, subways, theaters and hip-hop shows.

What's The 411?: Our political education program addresses the ways that racism, classism, xenophobia, homophobia and sexism manifest in our communities. We explore the root causes of our struggles and make the connections between our personal experiences and the political context. By focusing on internal transformation, we are empowered to transform the context that shapes our lives.

Girl’s Night Out: Evenings spent together to deepen our bonds and enjoy our community. At R&S we believe if we don’t have anything to celebrate we don’t have anything to fight for, so we choose to honor celebration.

Sisters Rising: Our internal leadership development program. Members can step up and lead committees, plan events, and take on internships. Sisters Rising is also responsible for implementing organizational decisions made by the membership.

Created: 
12/13/2010

Caribbean Foundation of Boston, Inc

Phone: 

(617) 445-1228

Mission: 

The Caribbean Foundation of Boston is a nonprofit agency that was established in 1973. The organization was founded by a group of Caribbean women who wanted to expand home care for their culturally diverse and economically disadvantaged community.

Location

Caribbean Foundation of Boston, Inc
317 Blue Hill Avenue
Dorchester, MA 02121
United States
Key Programs Offered: 

Homemaking & Home Health Aides, Friendly Visitors Progam, Training Apartment Program

Urban Community Homemaking

Urban Community Homemaking was founded in 1973 by a group of women united in their desires to offer improved and expanded home services to members of their community. The program provides homemaking, home health aide, chore, and friendly visitor services to people who are disabled, frail or elderly in Boston's urban neighborhoods.

Our goal is to prevent unnecessary institutionalization and assist and support families with care giving. In addition, our staff who are local residents, receive training and stable employment which contributes to the economic health of our community. Over 250 people receive services monthly. Nearly all are low-income clients who require ongoing home care support to remain safely in their homes.

Homemaking & Home Health Aides

In its training and employment practices, the agency has developed and uses a unique concept, "Peer Homemakers and Home Health Aides." These are trained employees attuned to the language and culture of the people with whom they work. Familiar and reliable assistance is particularly important in serving a frail population that is constantly dealing with the multiple losses of functional ability, independence, and friends.

Our employees receive ESL training so that they are fully equipped to meet the needs of the people we serve. They are trained to teach efficient household management techniques and encourage family members to assume responsibility for the client whenever possible. Our staff are also encouraged to help ease the loneliness and isolation many of our clients experience by being empathetic.

Friendly Visitors Program

While many public and private agencies have formed over the last two decades to provide home care services to the elderly, state cutbacks have significantly decreased both the number of people served and the hours of services offered. To solve the problem, Urban Community collaborated with Senior Companions of Boston and the Massachusetts Association for the Blind to create the Friendly Visitors Program.

The program is designed to address the support and social needs of vulnerable, low-income elders and disabled citizens who are not eligible for adequate home care, particularly on weekends and holidays when isolated people feel most alone. We assist disabled and elderly people with shopping and errands, accompanying them outside for visits and light exercise, provide light homemaking, help to organize activities of daily living, and encourage hobbies, interests, and outside contacts.

Charles Street A.M.E. Church

Phone: 

617-442-7770

Location

Charles Street A.M.E. Church
551 Warren St.
Dorchester, MA 02121
United States

The church was built in 1888 by J. Williams Beal and added to the National Historic Register in 1983.

Children's World Educational Center

Phone: 

(617) 442-4166

Hours of operation (or meeting times & dates): 

Monday through Friday 7:30 - 5:30 PM

Mission: 

To provide day care services for pre-school age children as well as training for community residents to become early childhood teachers. We provide quality day care services for children of parents either working, in school, or training program. We have a warm, safe, relaxed environment. We promote the development needs of children: social, emotional, physical, and cognitive.

Location

Children's World Educational Center
63 Perrin St
Roxbury, MA 02119
United States
How to get involved/application guidelines and procedures: 

Contact Johnny Curri at (617) 436-7444 to know more about the program, as well as to apply.

Community Meeting Space Available: 

No

Created: 
04/23/2010

Franklin Park Zoo

Phone: 

(617) 541-LION

Hours of operation (or meeting times & dates): 

Summer Hours (April 1 - Sept. 30) Weekdays: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Weekends & Holidays: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Winter Hours (Oct. 1 - March 31) 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. daily (closed Thanksgiving and Christmas)

Mission: 

Zoo New England's mission is to inspire people to protect and sustain the natural world for future generations by creating fun and engaging experiences that integrate wildlife and conservation programs, research and education.

Location

Franklin Park Zoo
1 Franklin Park Rd
Dorchester, MA 02121
United States
How to get involved/application guidelines and procedures: 

To learn about education programs, special events, conservation initiatives or volunteer opportunities, please visit www.zoonewengland.org

Community Meeting Space Available: 

Yes

Freedom House

Phone: 

(617) 445-3700

Hours of operation (or meeting times & dates): 

Sunday-Friday: 9-6pm, Saturday 9 -1, evening events

Mission: 

Freedom House’s mission is to promote educational excellence, economic self-sufficiency community engagement and social justice in order to alleviate poverty in Boston’s most distressed urban neighborhoods. Freedom House has an extraordinarily rich history of addressing issues of poverty, educational achievement and social justice. The organization has a sixty year history of working on many issues impacting communities of color and historically underserved neighborhoods such as urban renewal, racial segregation and educational issues including disparities in academic achievement which have a long term negative impact on students of color. Understanding that solutions are complex, Freedom House has created innovative solutions. We achieve our mission through the provision of: targeted educational programs (REACH Institute), civic engagement programming (the Snowden Center for Civic Engagement and Action) and community resources for life long learning.

Location

Freedom House, Inc.
5 Crawford Street
Dorchester, MA 02121
United States
Key Partners: 

Northeastern University School of Education, Boston University School of Social Work, The Timothy Smith Fund, Citizen Schools, Boston Private Industry Council, Girls Get Connected, Operation Hope, Muriel S. Snowden International School at Copley

How to get involved/application guidelines and procedures: 

Just walk right in and speak with any of our staff and we will direct you to the person you need to speak with depending on your interest.

Community Meeting Space Available: 

Yes; See facility

Created: 
02/04/2011
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