Changing the Odds for
Boston's Youth


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 JUNE 2015 UPDATE

It's Summertime...and the Living is Not Always Easy
Michael Smith (left) recently took part in a consciousness-raising street survey that asked people to volunteer one word to describe how Boston's youth would feel without racism.
For too many of Boston's youth, opportunity and support are at a minimum year-round. But summer brings its own unique challenges, especially for young men being released from juvenile justice facilities back into the community.
According to Michael Smith, Trinity Boston Foundation's full-time clinician embedded at the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS), the chances of falling back into risky or criminal behavior are magnified during the summer, when disengaged or unemployed youth and gangs are more openly active in the home communities of many of these young men. It's Michael's job to help prepare his clients for the challenges of re-integrating into the community. Many young people involved in DYS are uncomfortable with traditional mental health services and struggle to attend sessions at stand-alone clinics. Through his unique role, Michael turns his car, a local pizza place, or a trip to the mall into clinical opportunities that meet these young people where they are. 
Involved in youth development work for the past 13 years, Michael responds to the various traumas his clients experience, from the "big 'T' trauma" of being shot to the daily dis-empowerment of poverty to the unfolding of generational trauma on multiple levels. That the young people he works with are able to operate at all under such challenges speaks to their amazing strength and resilience.
"I can't possibly know all that these young men have been through," Michael says. "But I bear witness to their suffering, and guide and support them as they try to use all their natural strength, intelligence and charisma to construct meaningful, hopeful lives."
According to Michael, his work is challenging, changes are incremental and success is not always immediate. "These young men understand how poverty, racism and oppression stack the odds against them, so I try to give them tools for good decision-making and to successfully negotiate the harsh realities they face daily," he says.
Michael is uniquely positioned to support the youth as well as his fellow DYS staff members. Because of the embedded nature of his position, Michael has gained a wide perspective of the issues at hand and is able to suggest improvements in system policies and procedures as well as greater effectiveness in working with clients.
Sole Train:All for Runs & Runs for All!
Sole Train Community Runs are coming back!

Become part of the Sole Train family. This summer, both youth and adults will train for the Jim Kane Sugar Bowl 5K
to take place on 
Thurs., July 16, 2015.
Training runs will begin at 6:00p.m. from the Trinity Church Clarendon Street porch on July 7th, 9th and 14th.

For more information, visit our
Visit TEEP!
July 14th or 21st
There's laughter.  
There's learning.  
There's leadership. 

Spend the morning with our vibrant middle schoolers and their high school counselors on Tuesday, July 14th, or Tuesday, July 21st, from 8:30-10am in the Trinity Church Parish House (206 Clarendon Street).

 You will hear remarkable stories of transformation and success and develop greater insight into the work of Trinity Boston Foundation.

 

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Trinity Boston Foundation's mission is to unlock opportunity and change the odds for the youth of Boston. In partnership, we build communities that affirm, inspire and empower youth and their families│offer holistic support for physical, emotional and spiritual well-being│strengthen community health and cohesion across Boston.