LINK: http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2012/12/10/mbta-fill-a-bus-program-south-station/

This is a program where people in the community fill a 40FT bus with gifts for children and teens. The gifts will go to children at the Action for Boston Community Development, Mass Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the Yawkey Boys & Girls Club of Boston and The Freedom House. The Bus travels though several communities and this just shows that communities can work together to achieve a common goal and in this case it benefits children in several communities who have different circumstances during the holiday season.

LINK: http://paneracares.org/what-we-do/

I thought this link was a good one because you do not find too many restaurants that do this, actually I only know of this one! Panera Bread is a company that is known for giving back to those in the community, fighting against the hunger epidemic. The Panera cares restaurants do not have prices on their food, instead they give the customer a suggested donation price that allows these "PaneraCares" to continue to run. For the people that do not have the money to pay for these meals that is perfectly fine, they do not expect them to pay which is why those that have it donate the suggested price. Panera gives back and you can too by helping out at these restaurants.
This is also good to know especially during the holiday season.

LINK:

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/dorchester/2013/11/hold_grand_opening_of_teen_empowerments_b4_studios_set_for_t.html

http://www.teenempowerment.org/programs.html



Teen Empowerment is an organization that has created a studio where the youth can go and make music and learn how the real artists put their music together. Not only does this get these youth off the streets and out of trouble but it gives them a place where they can learn, express their creativity, and work with professionals in the business. The program also works with youth to talk about the violence in their communities and every year they have a peace conference! This is such an amazing organization that really gets the youth aware of the issues that occurring around them!

LINK: http://www.boston.com/yourtown/boston/dorchester/gallery/inside_kroc_center/

http://www.use.salvationarmy.org/use/www_use_BostonKrocCenter.nsf/vw-dynamic-index/F51F686F3C902AED8525797D00661B75?openDocument&charset=utf-8

This article is about the Kroc Center located in Dorchester on Dudley Street. This building was built last march and it just has so many amazing things inside for the community. They have a peace room that recognizes youth that have passed away due to violence, swimming pool, basketball court, and nutritional kitchen that has courses to teach kids about the fine dining career, and many more activities. This is really something great for the community creating a place for everyone to go and stay active. Creating peace in the community one place at a time...

LINK: http://www.boston.com/yourtown/boston/dorchester/2013/09/27/getting-out-the-vote-with-boston-youth/WeJOLzD65wqhgLifU6DzEL/pictures.html?pg=5
I found this article to be very interesting! It talks about a group called Youth Jobs Coalition and it is made up of teens getting their voice heard and trying to make changes within their community. This is really great to really push the youth to get involved in their communities and voice their opinions and create changes on their own instead of waiting for thing to just happen one day. If you scroll through the pictures they talk about some of the things these youth do such as, calling people to see if they have voted and letting them know where they can go to vote , as well as having people sign a petition to raise minimum wage etc.

LINK: http://www.cradlestocrayons.org/about
Cradles to Crayons is a foundation that began in 2002, it's mission is to provide low-income and homeless children with their basic essentials (food, toys, clothes, etc.). This program is really important I believe because it shows how the community needs to get involved to make things happen. This program basically works through fund raisers, volunteer help, and social service agency help which in turn allows them to provide these basic essentials to thousand of children!

LINK: http://youtu.be/bB8CKxi9Uvc

LINK: http://youtu.be/6UPjoXNph9I

Since this week we read about churches and how they create ways to get people involved i.e. creating small groups with similar interests and services to reach out to people. This week I want to share my church The Tabernacle of Praise in Randolph, MA! I have two links which show some things that my church has done to engage with the community. The first link is called Diamond in Rough, geared towards empowering woman and the second link is for a youth(Club Invasion) back to school service which allows youth to get involved and actually come to the service form all over and feel comfortable because we are trying to reach all kinds of youth. My church is also working towards creating a shelter for battered woman and a community center in Randolph. I just wanted to show how my church is does a lot of civic engagement through giving back to people and the community in many ways.
Enjoy and stop by anytime!

LINK: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2013/01/lunch-with-a-story-on-the-side.html
Creating changes starts with the people in the community! This article talks about a bakery in Roxbury called the Haley House and the bakery hires people who come out of prison shortly after their release. This bakery gives these people a chance to have a better and positive experience in their community. By allowing these people to obtain GED's and gain work experience allows them to be positive contributors to the community.

LINK" http://dorchesteryouthcollaborative.org/
DYC is a local community organization in Dorchester. This organization is multi-racial and multi-lingual. The purpose of this program is to create a place where teens between the ages of 11 to 20 years old can go and receive mentoring, tutoring, be involved in performing arts, and job opportunities. DYC is meant to be a safe place for these kids and they operate between the hours of 2-10pm because these are the times when kids are vulnerable to getting involved in bad activities, taking part of crimes, and being victimized. DYC is taking kids off the streets and getting them involved one teen at a time!

LINK: http://www.gokids-boston.org/
Umass Boston College of Nursing and Health Sciences has taken the initiative to help fight obesity and improve the health of children. This program is designed for pre-teens and teens and its goal is to not only improve the health of these children but to increase self-confidence while also fighting health disparities against underserved families.

LINK: http://www.metro.us/newyork/news/national/2013/09/26/a-grieving-mother-fights-for-peace-in-boston/

This source is about a woman who's son was killed in 1993 and since then she has been creating ways to end youth violence and promote peace. Her program involves peace education for elementary to high school. It also created a Walk for Peace on Mother's Day through Dorchester. The purpose of this program is to teach the youth to choose peace over violence.

LINK: http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/dorchester/2013/08/hold_in_dorchester_a_slaying_youth_is_remembered_through_art.html

This week I chose an article that reminded me of this weeks readings because of the way the community comes together. In the article, DSNI, a youth organization in Dorchester creates a art display for a park where a young girl was murdered when walking to the park in 2002. The article is similar to the "Better Together" reading because it talks about at the ceremony there was people in the community talking about their similar experiences. It is noticeable that through speaking about personal experiences allows community bonds to be built.

LINK: http://youtu.be/XpaOjMXyJGk This youtube video shows a Dove Campaign. The video shows how people view themselves (specifically woman) and how other people view them. The woman in the video are very harsh on themselves and how they look but when everyone else looks at them they see something different. I think that this video is a perfect example of civic engagement because DOVE is trying to spread a message to woman everywhere a problem that a lot of young and older woman deal with, and that is self esteem issues. This video is very uplifting and is the start to trying to inspire and uplift the spirits of woman all around the world.