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       never go to college.’
“That became one of the points in
our mission, and that is to help youth to be sustainable and find a job,” he went on. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be college, but to have a better life, be sustainable, stay in the city — which
is a great city — and to ultimately give back, like we want to do.”
Sustainability is the identified goal, or mission. Attaining it is, of course, a challenge, and it has been for decades, he continued, referencing JFK’s famous quote and the need to plant the tree and get started.
“When sustainability becomes the goal, we then need to look at what we have to do to make this happen,” Bold- uc told BusinessWest. “And we found that we just have to roll up our sleeves and get to work — in all the ways.”
Addressing Needs
This ‘getting to work’ has taken many forms thus far, but much of it has involved meeting with the many agencies working on issues involving sustainability, listening to what they have to say, and thinking about ways to partner with them.
“Over the past few months, we’ve
“We’re focused on helping to create pathways to graduation and then on
to careers or college. We’re starting young and getting students involved in their education, wanting to go to school, and wanting to further their education or career goals.”
been meeting with every agency and nonprofit that fits into this plan — and we have a few more to go,” Bolduc said. “And we’re finding great people and great programs already in place; unfor- tunately, we’re finding some silos, and lots of problems. But those problems
... we’re calling those opportunities to improve.”
And while listening and learning, those at the foundation have already launched several new initiatives aimed at addressing the needs conveyed to them.
One of these steps is creation of
the Trauma Institute, which has its own mission statement — “to provide trauma-informed and responsive sup- port services to youth and families and those who work with them in under- resourced communities.”
And it carries out that mission in many ways, including training and
consultation focused on serving youth and families and those who work with them in under-resourced communi- ties, partnerships, and policy and advocacy.
“There is a lot of work being done in mental health, specifically in trauma, but there are gaps because the need
is so great and there aren’t enough resources to meet the need in the com- munity,” said Mumblo, noting that she became well aware of these needs and gaps while leading Christina’s House and convinced Bolduc that work to address trauma needed to be a primary focal point of the Hope for Youth & Families Foundation.
“In my previous work with mothers and their children, I came to under- stand that their trauma is great, and
it has many levels and many layers,” she explained. “You can teach life skills and provide a lot of education to help move someone from a point of home- lessness or near-homelessness into independent living and stability and success. But until you really reach the root of the issue — which, for me, I saw time and time again, was the trauma that they had experienced and the sev- ering of trust on so many levels and inability to feel loved — until that work really began to happen, the process to change had started, but there was only
so much change that was going to hap- pen until you peeled away the layers of that trauma, built that trust, and pro- vided a loving and safe environment.”
Elaborating, she said the need for trauma-informed support and services extends to individuals in the commu- nity, obviously, but also to those work- ing in the agencies that provide such services.
“There are many organizations who are serving youth and families in this area and doing a tremendous amount of work,” she said. “But the vicarious trauma that comes from that as provid-
Hope
Continued on page 69
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