Humans of SSYP (Week 3)

Welcome to the third iteration of the Humans of SSYP blog! Hope you are all continuing to enjoy these insights into the people who make up St Stephen’s Youth Programs! Don’t forget to catch up on our Facebook and Instagram posts if you haven’t already!

Emily

What made you interested in SSYP? What made you want to be involved?

When I first came to Boston, about 12 years ago, I started as an AmeriCorps fellow at St. Stephen’s. I did development and communications. I did that for two years. I came back because I stayed in touch with Tim, Liz, Kasey at St. Stephen's and loved working here for two years.

I always felt very close to the organization and saw firsthand, even in the development role, how much of an impact that the organization has on the community it serves. I continued doing a career in development. I did that for almost 10 years, and then I wanted to have a change. What I liked about nonprofit work was building capacity. That's when an opening came up at St. Stephens and I applied and started doing HR and operations. 

Can you summarize SSYP in one word or phrase?

Community. 

How has SSYP changed compared to when you started? 

It’s much bigger. It has grown dramatically. We've always had good talent, but we're getting a lot more specialized and skilled folks involved with us. It went from a small, scrappy nonprofit that did a lot of work to this really developed youth program. The building has a lot more capacity, and serves a lot more people in different capacities. I think it's grown to really be what it wants to be, which is to provide long term relationships.

What has been your biggest challenge at SSYP?

I think COVID. COVID has been really tough. Having kids coming in, trying to navigate these new challenges. We want a lot of air circulation, but we also want it to be warm during the winter. That's a challenge, but it's also sad for morale. It was a rough period for a lot of stuff such as wanting to have kids in the building and serve as many folks as we can. We weren't able to do that. Plus there was a lot of fear. It was exhausting. It was frustrating. Now that things are more normal, we're having more and more in-person programming. It feels a lot more like, okay, this is why I'm doing this. 

What are you most proud of during your time at SSYP?

We were able to have a youth program during a time when not a lot of people could. As a team, we really pulled together to make sure that we were able to offer in-person programming during the pandemic. Not a lot of organizations were able to do that during COVID and we did it and we did it safely. 

Is there anything you would like to do more of at SSYP?

Something that I would personally like to do more of is teach more classes with the young people and teens. That would be something fun to do. Unfortunately, as much as I see them all the time, I feel like I'm not engaging in these kinds of relationships that a lot of our leads are able to because they spend so much more time with them. 

What's your favorite memory at SSYP?

A recent one that I really loved was during the summer there was a huge inflatable water castle in the courtyard. There was water going into the windows and kids were having fun with water pumps and water balloons. It was so much fun. 

What do you think the future holds for SSYP in 10 years? What do you think that's going to look like?

I would hope some kind of resource center that addresses or has referrals to any problem any of our community members might have. My goal would be to engage parents and enact other kinds of community organizing efforts revolving around them. These efforts would relate back to their own students' education. and what each person can bring to St. Stephens. I think we're continually growing in that direction, but I would like to see more year round sites throughout the state and a stronger alum program. 

Is there anything else you'd want to say or talk about in regards to SSYP and your time here?

I think that St Stephen's holds a very special place in my heart. St Stephen's Youth Programs holds a niche that I don’t think a lot of other organizations do where we are so involved in individual families. Having these individual biographies of each individual person, and then pulling it together to create an overall history and trajectory at SSYP. You're able to see the big picture of this isn't just one family's success. This shows a huge trend. This success is real and something that's happening. We are able to address issues in real time and also over the course of many years. I think slowly it's been happening because we have Tim at the church and Liz preaching at different places and having our organizations and Kasey holding down the fort of the youth programs. All of these people are coming together to find out what the overall trends are in the community that we need to address. I've never seen an organization be as strategic in their efforts through the amount of money that we spend. It’s a very cost effective program to do a lot of good stuff for the community. 

Jazmyn

What do you like the most about SSYP?

The fun things that we get to do when it's choice time. 

When did you start coming to SSYP?

I started coming this year in September, but I’ve been in the program for two years. 

Who is your best friend at SSYP? 

Jasmine. The other Jasmine. 

What are you most proud of at SSYP? 

The things that we get to do, such as cooking and we get to have a snack which is fun. 

What do you think SSYP is going to look like in 10 years?

Probably a good job for kids. 

Do you think you'll still want to help in 10 years? Do you think you'll be a CIT in 10 years? Yeah.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I want to work at SSYP when I grow up because I've been here for almost two years and it's really fun to be here. 

Marioska

When did you get started at the parent mentor program? 

This is my story with the parent-mentors. It started with my younger daughter who is now nine years old. She was stressed out with the COVID-19 pandemic. I started the parent mentor program shortly after that. The program changed my life. This is my second year being involved. Now I can tell if she’s feeling tired, I can ask if she needs more help with an assignment, I can tell if she’s stressed out, how she’s feeling about class and her feelings about playing with other children. I can anticipate these situations before they become problems. I understand more of my daughter now. 

How do you feel about the parent mentor program now compared to when you started?

It's much better than it was last year. Everything was remote. This year is much more interesting being back in person. This is because I can communicate with the children. I see now with my practice from last year I can talk with them in person because previously it was all virtual. It's much better. 

What are you most proud of during your time at the parent mentor program?

For me, it’s education. I have more education for my babies. I’m in the class with her more now. I'm proud that most things I do in the parent-mentor program are for the children. It's more like that. 

How has the parent-mentor program changed your life? 

My life is really different. Before, my work never ended. Before I came here from my country a couple years ago, whenever I was in the classroom with the teacher, I used to not understand what was going on. I used to think ‘what can I do to communicate with the teacher?’ I didn’t know what to do. I had no practice with that. Then, with the parent-mentor program, I realized oh, I love being in the classroom now. My plan for this year is to go to school to be a teacher or to be an assistant to teachers. I'm more comfortable now. I like it because you have more solutions in the schools. You see what has happened? Everything with the children. Everything in my life has changed. Everything. 

What's your favorite part about being a parent mentor?

My favorite part about being in the parent-mentor program is every week on Fridays. We have a two hour training session. I love this training because every week it’s a different training. Every week is something different and there is a lot of variety. 

What's your favorite memory as a parent mentor? 

My favorite memory at the program was last year during parent-mentor graduation. Last year during the graduation everything was virtual. I didn’t see my group and the teacher that much. The graduation was in person. The teacher gave a present to me. It wasn’t the present itself that was important for me. It was the moment and acknowledgement that I was doing a good job. It was really nice of the teacher to acknowledge my perseverance to come to class twice a week. That's my favorite memory. 

What do you think the future holds for the parent mentor program? 

I hope it’s still really good. In ten years, I see more parent-mentors in more classes and more schools. Right now it's only Hurley, Blackstone and Ochard Garden. Thinking of the big picture, I would like to see the parent-mentor program in every school in Boston. The parent-mentor program is already really good. You come in and you communicate with all the teachers and all the groups. The future includes more communication. The future includes more interviews where the program recruits more parents.

Is there anything else you want to say about the parent mentor program or your participation in it or.

I say it all the time. I love the parent mentor program. It changed my life. Before, I was working 45-65 hours during the week. Now, I’m working at the parent mentor program for only ten hours during the week. I have more time to spend with my loved ones. I love my life.