MA Girls In Trades Conference and Career Fair at IBEW Hall in Dorchester, Re-Opening of Titus Sparrow park in the South End, Mayor Wu's Space Grants, Hailey House servicing the homeless community during the holidays, Interview with Jill Vorndran & Kris Johnson about Covenant House's mission to end youth homelessness & its Sleep Out event.
WBCA Podcasts
Boston Neighborhood Network News
(upbeat music) - Good evening, Boston. Welcome to Vienna News. I'm Natalie Candler. Thanks for tuning in. In Boston, young women are breaking barriers and stereotypes by exploring careers in the skilled union trades. - Last week, hundreds of young women gathered at the IBEW Hall in Dorchester. For the Massachusetts Girls in Trades Conference and Career Fair, where students met role models, explored apprenticeship opportunities, and heard inspiring stories from women already thriving in the trades. - Today's conference should be about broadening horizons and challenging stereotypes. The stigma around women entering these career fields is real, and I know that many of you have faced it head on. But their strength in numbers and events like today's conference are proof that you're not alone in your ambitions. The construction trades are a great opportunity for females to be able to get out into the field. There's great job security, there's great benefits. And I think it's good for women to be able to see that they can do jobs that are requiring physical labor and manual work, 'cause for some people, that's exactly what they're looking for. - A young woman entering the trades deserves the same roles, responsibility, and job security as a man, 'cause we're all doing the same job out there, whether you're wiring a house, putting the pipes in for the plumbing, running an HVAC system. It's all the same job, so you should deserve the same security and pay and treatment on a job site. - The event emphasized the growing opportunities for women in the field, with union construction offering competitive starting wages and benefits. - It's not traditional for the females to go into a trade, but it needs to be enforced more, due to the fact that everything is basically man territory, and we need more females out there in the workforce for construction or electricians, and not just to do simple do-overs of a house, not just to be a housewife in a home, just cooking and cleaning all day and taking care of the children. We need to do more of building houses, showing that not everything is owned by men. - For many, the trades offer more than just financial stability. They provide a sense of empowerment, and for others, the hands on nature of the work is a key draw. - I would like to be supported and be able to support my family, and I love to have the role as a woman in the trade, 'cause it's usually looked past as something that a woman can't do as well or in general, and just saying that I am a woman in the trade is very empowering, and I feel very confident when I say it, and I just love to be a woman that's studying something that's non-traditional. - Being 35 working as an Amazon driver, I felt like just a number, none of my work ethic or anything I did was really noticed, so I started to look around and I found out that being in the union and being part of the carpenters, Brotherhood and Sisterhood was a really good opportunity for me. I took a pre-apprenticeship, I followed through, I went on the interviews, I passed all the tests, and I'm six months in, and I'm really happy I did that because it's just the start to a beginning of a great life for me. - Being in this trade means so much to me because of how important it is to show the younger generation that this is not just a trade limited for males, this is a trade for all of us, women especially, we matter and we can do anything guys can do, and probably maybe even a little better. - With programs like Massachusetts Girls in Trade, the future of the trades look brighter and more inclusive than ever. - A park in the south end was revitalized and residents flocked to the scene to reconnect with their community. - After more than a year of waiting, South End residents rejoiced at the reopening of Titus Sparrow Park and celebrated the revitalization of their community space. - It's a place where folks gather, families gather, dog parents gather, where we can enjoy the arts, we can enjoy nature, we can enjoy sunshine, all within steps of our stoops. We're very happy to have Titus Sparrow Park and the playground back. As you can see, there's tons of neighborhood kids are nearby and so it felt, it was a very long year, it felt like this was gone, but the renovations are beautiful and it's fantastic to be able to bring everybody here. - The renovation included a brand new playground, repaved park walkways, an improved tennis court and basketball court, and a redesign of the landscaping, which transformed this neighborhood park into a community oasis in the middle of the frenetic hustle bustle pace of the city. - It's amazing to be able to step off of a city street and walk into Grassland trees park, smell the fresh air and to get away from the sound of the cars and all the busy life down there. I think in a park life is a little bit slower and it's a little bit more pleasant and gives you time to enjoy things, like spending time with people you love. - It's really our own pocket of peace and it's a fantastic way to bring the community together. When you walk through, you see everyone working together to tend the garden, care for the dogs, play with their kids, so it really re-centralizes that aspect away from the city where everyone's hustling around and focuses on people spending time together. - Amid growing digital distractions, parks and playgrounds are more important today than ever. In this investment in Titus Sparrow Park, further proves that the city of Boston prioritizes its communities. - These kids live in an urban area and play is vital to a kid's development. And so having a playground is essential to them growing up. This is the place where they can run, they can shout, they can screen, they can test, they can be challenged by the equipment that's here. So yes, it's very essential and while this playground was being constructed, it was dearly missed. - By turning this urban jewel into a state-of-the-art park and playground, the residents of this part of the city can sit, relax, play and appreciate their neighborhood. - It's a very calm place, kind of in the middle of a busy area, it seems like everybody's taking a moment to breathe and relax and have a moment of peace. - Mayor Wu's space grants have uplifted nearly 100 new and struggling businesses for the past three years. And the impact of these funds have already started to reap the rewards. On Monday, Mayor Wu's Office of Economic Equity and Inclusion awarded the third round of space grant recipients over $2 million in American Rescue Act funding to a wide range of diverse entrepreneurs. - Boston has been able to prove for the last three years that we are the shining example of how to get things done in government and how to make sure that community is coming together to be the proof of what's possible. The fact that 75% of entrepreneurs that got this grant are identified as people of color, 65% women. And this was in response to something that I know the mayor has heard and that certainly drives the work of the economic opportunity and inclusion cabinet, something that Baird Rustin said so many years ago that two accepted injustices to perpetuate it. - The first two rounds included over 90 businesses ranging from restaurants, events spaces, and most notably, the first lesbian queer bar to open in Boston for over 20 years. owner Thais Rocha told BNN about the long journey of opening the bar and why it was all worth the wait. - It was a lot of work, a lot of tire some days, nights, very long nights, very long days. You know, we walked in here and it was just, I think we knew that it was this place. Danny's queer bar is a space for the LGBTQIA community of Boston to share a safe space, create a community of queer people, and express themselves to the fullest extent. - It's a place they can call home. It's a place where people can come together, meet new friends, meet new loves, meet anybody they wish to meet. And just a safe space for people to be. There's so many times where people have come in here after having a bad day and just have been able to find friends, find solace in community. And that's, I think, what makes it worth it at the end of the day. - Starting from a small event business that hosted events for queer women in Boston to opening their own space and even getting a shout out on Saturday Night Live, Thais has been grateful for the incredible support for her business. - In most days, I still don't believe it. You know, this grew out of a need for our city. We find, obviously, there's a need all over the place, now more than ever. - The Space Grants Program has given away over $10 million in total, and the impact of these funds will uplift economic growth in every neighborhood of Boston. - The city of Boston says that the number of people experiencing homelessness grew by almost 11% from 2023 to 2024. BNN reporter Sophia Falbow visited one place that's feeling the impact of the city's growing shelter crisis. (clanking) - Food, service, community. This is Haley House, a six-day-a-week soup kitchen. - Yeah, we build a sense of community by ensuring everyone has access to the services that we provide. - Oh yeah, it's like family, you know? - From a first-time visitor. - Yeah, no, this is a great resource. This is really good, like, and the birds early. - To someone who's been coming for more than a decade. - This is a great place to compete. It's like a fresh food, right? It's like a restaurant. - Guests say the social factor that Haley House offers is what makes it. Aside from the soup kitchen, Haley House also helps with housing, jobs, and clothes. - Everybody here knows each other. Like, the people come here, they typically come every day. It's like, they get to know each other really well. (laughing) - Not only do guests love coming, but so do the volunteers. College students Peter Swindle and Erica Jackson say, "Becoming friends with the guests "and making meals for them "are their favorite parts of the service." - It's a very humbly experience. It, like, I don't know. It really puts a lot of things in our perspective. - Like, being able to understand, like, what this means to them, I think, is like, very valuable, and actually to hear about. - Haley House says they will serve between 80 and 100 meals on Thanksgiving. Executive Director Reggie Jean says they'll have multiple turkeys, sides, and pies for guests to choose from. - The holiday season is time where, you know, families come together and people come together. And oftentimes, some folks are disconnected from their families based on their journey, whatever they had going. But we definitely see the kitchen bustling because for many folks, Haley House is their family. Haley House is their community. Jean says that Haley House has also seen an increase in guests as the rate of homelessness increases in Massachusetts, but they stick to their mission of not asking visitors for identification or why they need food. Reporting for BNN, I'm Sophia Felbo. - And as the winter season approaches, organizations like Covenant House are already standing in solidarity with young people experiencing homelessness. Covenant House is the largest charity organization in North and Central America that provides immediate and long-term support for young people facing homelessness. Their widely known event aptly named Sleep Out is a night where volunteers have a small glimpse of what the experience of being houses is like. Jill Vonderin, Chief Development Officer, and Chris Johnson, Director of Brand and Communications, joined in studio to discuss the mission of Covenant House and how they're changing the lives of young people all over North America. Enjoy the interview. - Jill and Chris, thank you so much for joining us today to talk about Sleep Out and Covenant House. So Jill, I'll ask you first, you're the Chief Development Officer. What is Covenant House and how are you impacting these communities of youth who are houseless? - Well, thank you so much for having us first. We really appreciate the opportunity to be able to speak with you today. So Covenant House is really, we are the leaders of the movement to end youth homelessness in the Americas. And so we work with, in the United States and Canada, we work with young people who are primarily 18 and up, like in their early 20s, that pivotal time when you're moving into adulthood. And then in Latin America, we work with younger people because they don't have a child welfare system there to really help address homelessness. And we help young people to find that path within them to, you know, live their dreams. And so it begins with us developing a relationship with them and helping to meet their immediate needs and then grows into them discovering like what they need to change in their life so that they can have their own place to live and be independent. And then, you know, much more probably importantly than all of that, it's building that relationship that helps them to discover what they want to do moving forward so that we can help them find that path towards not just independence, but a happy, healthy adulthood. - Absolutely. And, you know, a lot of younger kids, they don't realize that they have these opportunities and these resources. So that's amazing. And, you know, youth homelessness crisis is on the rise, you know, like people, young people don't know what to do. How can we find solutions? And why is it so imperative that we address this? - Well, I mean, I can start and then I'd love to hear what you have to say. Well, you know, we have this opportunity of working with young people when they are at this like crossroads in their life. Their adolescents, I always have felt is their superpower because they are not so far down the path of homelessness that leads to often addiction and mental illness where it's so much harder for them to find their way back. But then also they're not kids who don't have agency and autonomy over their decisions and their lives. And so we consider ourselves to be like an intervention organization. Like when young people begin to experience homelessness or right before they're unhoused is when we often come into their lives. But in so many ways, we are a prevention movement because we are helping to prevent adult homelessness. And that's, I think, one of the ways we would consider our movement to be a success is if there are few adults who have to live on the streets because they receive the care and relationships and service and love that they needed at that pivotal time in their lives. - Absolutely, and Chris, do you want to add? - Yeah, absolutely. To add on to what Jill said about intervention and prevention, I think part of what my role is is that we have this robust alumni community that is really geared toward restoration and toward making sure, as Jill mentioned, we don't have young people repeating the cycle of homelessness or experiencing homelessness as adults. And so the alumni community grants them this network of peers with shared lived experience but also keeps them connected to us to come in our house so that they're able to reach out to us for additional support later in life. And sometimes that means we have alumni who come back and get jobs with Covenant House. We have a really great success story in California of a young person who now manages one of the living communities for homeless youth out there. So we're just trying to, as Jill mentioned, get them at these pivotal moments of young adulthood. - Absolutely, and that's so important. It kind of brings to mind what they actually experience. So when you have a young person who's experiencing homelessness, they come into your program, what are some of the first steps that you take with them to put them on the right track? - Do you want to start with that one? - Sure. I will start with unconditional love and absolute respect. We will hear it, when engaging with Covenant House, you'll hear it all the time because it's something that we truly live by. We call it cove love. We just, we wrap our young people in love and respect and autonomy, as Jill mentioned. We like to say that homelessness is not monolithic. It doesn't look the same. All of our young people aren't homeless for the same reasons. And so we just are careful to address all of the possibilities for a young person having this experience right now. - Right, absolutely. And, you know, we talked a little bit about how you guys have had an impact. What are some of the actual solutions, you know, like I just addressed a young person coming in? What are some of the solutions that you guys line up for them, you know, this, this, that? - Well, I think the very first thing they're introduced to and then is the really, is the through line of our, you know, entire journey with them, you know, goes back to what Chris said, it's all based on that, like that relationship of love and respect like that. That's, I think what makes us special in the work that we do. And so through those relationships, we are first helping to, you know, meet their most basic needs. And so if they need to sleep, they can sleep. If they want to shower, they can shower. If they want to brush their teeth, they can brush their teeth. If they are hungry, we will feed them. And then once those kind of basic needs are met and they begin to develop a level of trust, we work with many, many come to us without any personal identification. And so we work to make sure that they have that because then that's going to be the foundation of them getting a job and going to school and moving into their own place. And then, and then we work with them to figure out what it is that they want to do to become independent. So for many of them, because they're young adults, they, they begin to work. And we have a really robust workforce development program where we offer through some partnerships with Cisco and Accenture and Google opportunities for them to learn a career. And, you know, for some, they just want to go right out and get a job while they're learning more about building a career. And so we help them to do that as well. So they could begin to make and save money to be able to move out. Many want to continue their education at the same time. So we'll help them to do that, especially if they haven't graduated from high school yet. So many have come to us suffering from mental illness. And so we have onsite counselors and therapists and professionals who help them to begin to process some of the challenges that come to them through abuse or neglect or, you know, living in, you know, impoverished communities that, you know, kind of conspire to create some of the mental health challenges that they face. Most of our programs also have either onsite medical care or if not direct access to medical care for young people who often haven't seen a doctor in a long period of time. And so helping them to, you know, to kind of put all those tools in their toolbox so that as we prepare them to be able to move out, they have money saved, they have stabilized, they've learned some life skills and can then move out onto their own. - Awesome, that's great to know. And I'm so happy that they have these resources. I know you guys are kind of dressed up in your pajamas right now. Do you want to tell us about the event sleepout tonight that's happening in Foxbury about Gillette? - Absolutely, do you want to start? - You can start. - Okay, okay, okay. So first, I sometimes I like to finding things by what they're not, right? So sleepout is not mimicking or pretending that you are experiencing homelessness. Like every single one of the, at this point, thousands of people who have slept out with Covenant House over the past 13 years have know that at their core that they are sleeping out in solidarity with young people, but they are not, and they're getting a teeny tiny glimpse into what it might feel like to experience homelessness for one night. So today, here in Boston, it's cold and it's rainy. And like, I know personally, like I'm not even feeling all that great today. And when I sleep outside today, like I'll have that glimpse into what it feels like to sleep outside in the chili rain when I'm not feeling great. So, and that happens with young people every day. The difference is that they then have to get up and live their life and then do the same thing again and again and again until they could find a place to be. And so, aim number one is the awareness of the solidarity with young people experiencing homelessness. And then coupled directly with that is fundraising. And so tonight here, you know, in Massachusetts, but then also throughout the country, we have people sleeping out who are raising, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars in each respective community to fund the movement to end youth homelessness. - And Chris, do you want to speak a little bit more to that and what it symbolizes for you? - Absolutely. So, a part of when I say write the program, I want to point out what Jill mentioned about not mimicking homelessness, right? We're sleeping out in solidarity. And I think something that really, really speaks to that is the fact that we have former residents who are a part of alumni community, as I mentioned, come back to participate. We have two of our alumni here in Massachusetts tonight who will be on stage telling their story and talking about how much covenant house means to them and how it got them to where they are today. So, we have alumni speaking. We have partners and supporters who will be there tonight to talk about why they're all in with Covenant House, which is kind of our slogan for this year, just to be all in and all the different ways you can support Covenant House. And then we celebrate, as Jill said, our top fundraisers and all the work they've done to really galvanize their communities in support of Covenant House. - Amazing. And thank you guys so much for all amazing work you're doing for not even just Boston internationally. It's really incredible. Thank you for watching Boston. That's our broadcast for tonight. As a reminder, you can stream or watch the news on demand@bnnmedia.org. Each episode will be re-broadcast at 9.30pm and 11pm on XBLD channel 9, the Stown channel 15, and Fios channel 2161. And make sure to check out our BNN HD XBLD channel 1072. You can also hear us on the radio Fridays at 7.30pm and 9pm and Monday through Thursday at 9pm. And now you can watch BNN news on the go with the cablecast app. For BNN news, I'm Natalie Candler. I'll see you in a couple of weeks.