PIONEER VALLEY PROJECT ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Youth Centers: With a child poverty rate of nearly 45%, Springfield is now the sixth poorest city in the United States. Many young people are being drawn into gang activity and other risky behavior, and youth violence is on the rise. In response, PVP member congregations are creating youth centers and activities to provide alternatives for young people in underserved neighborhoods. PVP worked with Blessed Sacrament to get a $20,000 grant from Baystate Medical Center that will enable them to create a year round basketball program for children ages 7 - 12 in the North End and is combined with a violence prevention educational program for participating youth and their parents. PVP has worked with Greater New Life Christian Center to create an after school youth center in Indian Orchard that includes recreation, a computer center, art, homework help, and youth entrepreneurship.

Immigrant Organizing: Hundreds of immigrant farmworkers from Mexico and Guatemala are settling in Springfield and working on the farms in Northern Connecticut and the Pioneer Valley. These are the poorest residents of the city, often living in substandard housing with only seasonal work and limited access to services. About 300 members of this community participate in a winter food distribution program that PVP organizes with the immigrant community. PVP also helped to access free health care through a bimonthly program with the Brightwood Health Clinic. To improve safety, PVP negotiated with the Springfield police department to establish a liaison to the immigrant community. We are working with the police department to protect the immigrant community from being targets of crime, and also to ensure fair treatment by police.

Teacher Home Visit Program: PVP worked with the Springfield Education Association (SEA) to create the first teacher home visit program in the city at Duggan Middle School as a way to build relationships and cooperation between parents and teachers to improve student success. National and local data show that when parents and teachers work together, students succeed in school. Two years ago, the Springfield school department joined with PVP and SEA to create the Parents Stepping Up As Powerful Partners Program, to expand teacher home visits citywide. Last year, forty teachers in six schools visited 200 families as part of a pilot program. At the end of last school year, 80% of teachers in thirty-five schools voted to support home visits in their schools, and 60% of teachers said the would like to participate in the program using federal magnet money. Springfield is a finalist for a National Education Association grant that could expand the home visit program throughout the city.

Stimulus Construction Jobs: Millions of dollars in federal stimulus dollars are coming to Western Massachusetts to build highways and other infrastructure. This, in combination with other major construction projects on schools and a new hospital by Baystate Medical Center, will create hundreds of new jobs over the next few years. The state, city and Baystate have established mandates for hiring local residents, women and people of color. PVP is working to create a pipeline for these jobs through job fairs and other targeted recruitment, and to create agreements for hiring through these programs with local employers. Our goal is to create a sustained preapprenticeship program in Springfield that will provide ongoing access and training for construction jobs.