| Spring 1999, v15-2 |
-ROCA Youth Leaders
and Staff
"I grew up in this organization. I was exposed to different things. I
got interested in things. The street work caught me. When I was a youth member, I
wanted to be a street worker, myself. Myself, I had a goal, a reflection of me, who
I could be.
"We had a lot of racial issues that I went through personally. The history of
myself, my family, racially, and ethnically--this is who I am today.
"I identify myself as Cambodian Chinese. The challenges I faced growing up,
were addressed to me as a Cambodian citizen. Now as I grow up and make noise, I want
them to address me as a Cambodian. Yes, this is the same Cambodian person that you
ridiculed, made fun of--so what.
"I am lost and found. I started as Cambodian. I was raised American. ROCA has
built an opportunity to revisit my cultures with my mentors. I didn't grow up in
Cambodia, I grew up here. They shared with me what my people went through, the wars,
the killing. Now I can share with other young people what it is like. Now they can
look up to me."
-Thai Taing
ROCA's mission is to promote justice
through creating opportunities with young people and families to lead healthy and
happy lives. ROCA, the Spanish translation for "rock" or "foundation"
is a multicultural, youth, family, and community development organization located
in Chelsea and Revere, Massachusetts. Reflective of its name, the ROCA environment
generates self-empowerment, while encouraging strength and stability among youth
and families who reside in communities riddled with a host of social, economic, and
public health challenges. Now, ten years old, ROCA is a nationally recognized model
for building young leaders through promoting social justice, opportunity, and community
change.
ROCA's goals are to:
- Encourage and promote individual
development
- Transform the peer context through
youth development and leadership
- Transform the community context
through organizing and family involvement
In order to realize our goals, and to ensure integrity, we have established a framework
for all work of the organization, based on Vision, Intent, and Action (VIA). We define
these terms as follows:
Vision is to have, and keep before you at all times, a purpose.
Intent is to be deliberate about everything you do and to be intentional and
promote the conscious understanding of vision and action.
Action is to do things that matter with youth, families, and the community.
"We
don't tell people, 'Don't bring your culture here.' We allow people to do whatever
they need to meet the needs of their community."
A Multicultural Democracy
"Multicultural democracy, it is the practice of self-governance by all people
who live together. It is the effort for a just world. It is the ability to see what
can be, strive for it, and learn from it.
"As I have had the privilege of being here since the beginning and of doing
the interviews for the discussion on multiculturalism, I found myself continually
astounded at the richness of ROCA. All that is different, all that is one. It is
powerful and engaging. It is challenging and daring. It is both our privilege and
responsibility to share what we have learned and carry on for the future. It is our
humanity that brings us together, it is our differences that bring us depth and brilliance."
-Molly
Baldwin
"We don't tell people, 'Don't bring your culture here.' We allow people to
do whatever they need to meet the needs of their community."
-Vathana
Soch
"ROCA has its own way of culture. It is very rich. It is about everything
that people bring with them--wisdom, inspiration, knowledge, dealing with the truth,
and what is right. How we can grow and be better, that is our culture. Unified all
cultures, no matter what, who you are, you can be at ROCA."
-Saroeum
Poung
At its very core, ROCA creates a
definition of multicultural democracy that recognizes the notion of "by the
people and for the people"--a democracy that is culturally dynamic, embraces
cultural differences, and utilizes those differences to inspire a collective and
optimal mechanism for positive change. ROCA serves youths and families of African-American,
Central and South American, Cambodian, Cape Verdean, Moroccan, Puerto Rican, Haitian,
and white-ethnic heritage, as well as recent newcomers from the war-torn countries
of Bosnia and Somalia.
"I came to ROCA because I know that they could help me get my friends off
of drugs and violence and back into school. I left Bosnia when I was I was 12, in
1993. I remember seeing people killed right in front of me--not just one person,
but many. I was lucky we didn't loose any family, but many of friends were killed.
When I got here and everything was normal, it took me a while to get used to it.
America was a new country for me, I never saw so many people who spoke a different
language than me. Never knew that there were so many people that didn't know that
Bosnia existed and didn't know people were dying."
-Mirsaid
Alihodzic
"Staff are diverse. They each bring different cultures. ROCA respects everyone's
culture. We have the freedom to celebrate our own cultures. We allow other people
to celebrate their cultures.
"The Cambodian women went to the Somali women's aerobics. Then one of the Cambodian
women spoke French and one of the Somali women spoke French and they started to talk
to each other."
-Malika
Bey
Our programs celebrate diversity
by including activities like the following :
- Offering culture-specific and
multicultural celebrations and classes
- Targeting both young people and
adults in our community outreach
- Reaching out and partnering with
many different groups of people, both within our staff and volunteer populations,
and in the larger community
- Learning about trauma from war,
religions, and acculturation
- Recognizing differences
- Hosting discussions
- Promoting and supporting leadership
Program Descriptions
"I see ROCA as a second home. I think about what it is to be a youth,
a parent, and a staff member in a safe place."
-Sandra
Ramirez
ROCA's highly successful decade of
community organizing has culminated in the creation and ongoing operation of four
unique, innovative programs and one coalition. Programming consists of a powerful
combination of interdisciplinary arts, recreational activities, health promotion
and disease prevention, educational and vocational programs, parenting education,
street outreach, leadership skills training, and community organizing. ROCA intensively
serves 700 youths and 300 parents each year, as well as providing outreach and education
to an additional 5,000 youths and 10,000 parents and adult community members.
ROCA Chelsea Leadership Program
"I arrived here two years ago to mingle with the diverse people of Chelsea.
In Ethiopia, we were not lucky enough to have a place like ROCA, where we can meet
other people and share their cultures and experiences."
-Bethlehem
Dejene
"It was the first time that I was asked, 'What do you think?' I was 15 years
old. I was not being asked, am I responsible enough, it was just assumed that you
were. You were told, here's the challenge, you can deal with it.
"ROCA deals with whole life, school, home, others, community.
"And now being on the Board is very different. You are looked at by the adult
staff as a leading group. Sometimes it is difficult to understand what is your role,
but you need to keep pursuing what is ahead for the organization. You have to crunch
numbers, institutionalize, to be around forever. For me as growing up at ROCA, it
is very important that those things are met."
-Christian
Calvo
The mission of the Chelsea Leadership
Program (CLP) is to build relationships with young people so they have the opportunity
to change themselves and their community. CLP operates after school and in the evenings
to provide a variety of programming including street outreach, arts and culture classes,
sports activities, education enrichment, and health and leadership development for
youth ages 12-24. Access, supportive relationships, and challenging opportunities
are the principles of youth development that form the foundation of CLP's programming.
CLP honors every young person's efforts to grow and lead, regardless of the level
of mastery demonstrated. Programs are designed to support and challenge both Chelsea's
highest risk youth and the school valedictorian. CLP's primary strategies include
raising the next generation of leaders, supporting youth leadership programming,
and involving youth in all aspects of community decisions.
ROCA Revere Leadership Program
"How do you find yourself belonging to something and belonging to the world?
It is a process, belonging. How you fit in with yourself.
"At ROCA Revere, we have to start somewhere. I am Cambodian, who am I? Somewhere
we have to identify ourselves, and then look at the multicultural world."
-Saroeum
Phoung
"We try to promote justice by having community meetings at ROCA. In one
of the meetings we discussed the economic development that is taking place Revere."
-Sotun
Krouch
The ROCA Revere Leadership Program
(RLP) is a smaller version of the ROCA Chelsea Leadership Program. Since the early
1990s, RLP has become increasingly characterized by its strong Asian (primarily Cambodian)
youth leadership and extensive community partnerships through its numerous hospital,
school, police, and city government affiliations. It also has a tradition of gang
intervention and community organizing.
The young leaders of ROCA Revere have been concerned about increasing rates of gang
violence, risky behaviors, and the lack of knowledge about political and civic issues
in their community. Ongoing efforts to address these problems brought another important
issue to light: the need, in this predominantly Cambodian community, to address historical
and cultural contexts. Challenged by cultural barriers, the generation gap, and resistance
within the community, young leaders broadened their outreach to include cultural
awareness, Asian-American leadership, immigration and deportation issues in relation
to criminal activity, voter registration, and other city governance issues. The young
leaders' training within the program was expanded to reflect these changing needs.
In addition, youth leaders participate in a variety of ROCA's community events, city-wide
advisory committees, and task-force activities.
The goal for ROCA's Revere Leadership Program is to build bridges: between young
people and the community; between the Cambodian community and the City of Revere;
and between the Cambodian community and the larger Asian-American community.
ROCA Youth STAR Program
"If you ask me how important it is to have liberty, justice, and freedom,
I would say it's really important because I strongly feel that without these I don't
see any sense of being a human. Because without it, it's like a body without a mind
and spirit."
-Sandy
Chan
ROCA's Youth STAR Program is an 11-month
AmeriCorps-funded program for 30 young people, aged 16 to 24. Serving on one of three
teams, these young people develop, plan, implement, and evaluate community service
projects in the cities of Chelsea and Revere in the areas of human needs and the
environment.
Youth STAR was founded on a model of gang and street intervention, and maintains
an ongoing commitment to work with at-risk groups of young people. Members are from
diverse backgrounds and have incredibly varied skills, talents, cultural backgrounds,
challenges, and life experience. Traditionally, more than 30 percent of the members
have been gang- or street-involved, and 25 percent are young parents. Members often
have a history of substance use and/or abuse, and come from systems where families
and friends are engaged in high-risk behavior.
While enrolled in Youth STAR, each member participates in an educational component
of the program, which is geared to meet the educational challenges of each individual.
Some members are enrolled in GED classes; others in College Prep or ESL classes.
All members participate in a weekly "transitioning" session, geared to
"life after Youth STAR."
ROCA United Families Program
"I've always been impressed by the diversity of people who come together
to work on common issues here at ROCA. We all come together to support families.
"It is a struggle sometimes, but it is a worthwhile struggle, and I think we
come to a higher understanding of what it means to work with families and to really
be a family ourselves. I would say it is a challenge and a gift."
-Ted LaCrone
The United Families Program involves
a multicultural group of parents and children in family support activities, leadership
development, and educational enrichment. The program offers educational workshops,
information home visiting, and group building for parents of young children. Parents
come to find support, meet new people, connect to resources, and just escape the
house. Family support workers conduct home visits with teen parents to promote parent-child
bonding, infant health, and family goal-setting. Adult basic education is offered
at convenient times for working parents and childcare is provided. Parents may choose
from GED, ESL, citizenship, or computer classes.
The United Families Program has become a safe place for newcomer families of Somalian,
Bosnian, and Central American descent to connect to community resources, and to develop
mutual support networks. All parents are encouraged to volunteer by helping run the
program and taking leadership roles in its development.
Coalition for Youth and Families
"ROCA is important for my kids. It is the closest thing that they are going
to get experience the world. Because of the rich diversity, the constant visitors
from all the different parts of the country and the world, they can't help but have
exposure."
- Danille
Calvo
The Coalition for Youth and Families
is a two-city coalition that unites the community into action around issues of teen
pregnancy prevention, school-linked services, and youth development. The Coalition
funds direct service programs, provides public education campaigns, hosts educational
events, and provides resources and materials. The Coalition also facilitates a two-city
process to bring diverse community coalitions together to provide quality services,
to leverage additional resources, and to promote systemic changes in support of children,
youth, and families.
Challenges
"The challenge for adults is not to take it all for granted. We have this
wonderful building; there is a danger not to know the humble beginnings of ROCA and
take it for granted.
"We are living in the time of Now and the time of Not Yet. This is a particular
kind of challenge, also a challenge for us, because there is such a beautiful way
in which people get along. On one hand, we do not see everyone as being different,
but on the other hand, it's not appropriate to develop only on all the ways in which
we are alike. One of the things to be concerned about, in the next generation, is
will the sense of cultural distinction be lost. I am always concerned about that,
being Native American."
-Cindy
Davenport
Our work is not without its challenges.
ROCA struggles with the word "multicultural" in that it may omit the concept
of age and sexual orientation. ROCA struggles with word "diverse" in that
it conjures images of a divided population, rather than a united one.
One a more concrete level, our program (like many non-profit organizations), faces
scheduling challenges: our ever-broadening agenda leaves little time to learn more
about each other. Our vision of multiculturalism is also impacted daily by racism
and other forms of oppression in our communities.
However difficult these challenges, they are an important part of our work. Like
all human beings, we at ROCA have a lot to learn about one another. We must to further
understand each other---where we come from, our experiences of time, and how we see
the world. We value the opportunity to look at our challenges, address them, and
take them on. It is this process that brings us closer to our vision--a vision that
is often described most effectively in the words of young people.
A Decade of Demonstrated Success
"It is our deep privilege to partner with young people and families to
work each day to make this world a better place."
- Molly
Baldwin
During the past decade, ROCA has
grown tremendously. Growth is evidenced by its sharp increase in types and quantity
of programs delivered, its budget, and new location. ROCA has been recognized by
community, national, and international leaders. In 1998, ROCA had the honor of hosting
a variety of leaders, ranging from United States Senator John Kerry [Democrat/MA]
to Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking. In the words of Senator
Kerry:
"It is truly inspirational to see young peoples' incredible commitment to
their communities, their families, and themselves. The Commonwealth is much richer
for having organizations like ROCA there to help nourish these young people and to
help them achieve their potential."
Recent distinctions include: completion of $2.93M capital campaign for a building
Chelsea with a move-in date of October, 1996; provided training to State Department
hosted Drug Demand Reduction seminar for groups from Mexico, El Salvador, and Honduras;
the 1998 Governor's New American Award; a community health grant form Massachusetts
General Hospital to establish an on site health clinic; recognition as a model by
the Massachusetts Promise; Gulf of Maine Coastal Zone Management Visionary Award;
Freedoms Foundation Award, Massachusetts Division; one of three projects represented
at Chelsea's Winning All American Cities Competition; host of Brandeis University's
international fellows from the center of Ethics, Justice and Public Life; and most
notably, ROCA now seven former youth members on our staff and two on the Board Directors.
Author bios
This article was written
by a team of youth leaders and staff at ROCA.
Tany Ban is a youth leader from ROCA Revere Leadership. He is the Youth Coordinator
of the HIV/AIDS Peace Project, which provides outreach and education to Cambodian
youth. Juan C. Rodriguez is a Youth STAR member. He is on the Health Crew,
which provides outreach to multicultural youth ages 15 - 24 for health education.
Bethlehem Dejene is a youth staff member of the Chelsea Leadership Program
and a member of "Youth Ed For Real," an HIV/AIDS theater and discussion
project. Mirsaid Alihodzic is a Bosnian youth leader. He works with the Chelsea
Leadership Program. Sandy Chan is a youth staff member for the ROCA Revere
Leadership Program. She assists in organizing a running a group for Cambodian young
women.
Sandra Ramirez is a Family Home Visitor for the United Families Program and
a community parent. Vathana Soch is a Family Home Visitor focused on the Cambodian
community and community parent. Malika Bey is the Newcomer Outreach Worker
for the Chelsea Leadership Program and a community parent. Chris Lara is the
Assistant Director of the United Families Program and a community parent. Thai
Taing is the Youth and Community Worker of the Revere Leadership Program and
a former youth leader. Shirley Tang is the Special Projects Coordinator of
the Revere Leadership Program. Saroeum Phoung is the Assistant Director of
the Revere Leadership Program, a former youth leader, and a community parent. Danille
Calvo is the Coalition Coordinator, a former youth leader, and a community parent.
Christian Calvo is a ROCA Board Member, a former youth leader, and a community
parent. Cindy Davenport is the Youth STAR Program Director. Ted LaCrone
is the United Families Program Director. Jennifer Clammer is the Chelsea Leadership
Program Director. MaryAnne Cuoco is the Development Director at ROCA. Molly
Baldwin is the Founder and Executive Director of ROCA.
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