SCI Stories

Alex DeGenova's (AmeriCorps Member) Speech from the 2008 SCI Social Capitalist Luncheon April 9, 2008

"Good afternoon. My name is Alexandra DeGenova. I am a 23-year-old SCI AmeriCorps member serving in Lynn. Last October, I found myself standing in the middle of a banquet hall dance floor as the emcee of birthday party for a Puerto-Rican girl and her fifty closest family and friends. I entertained the crowd and did my best to remember all of the parts of this formal Latino ceremony. I had never been to a quinceañera before, and I wanted to show this family that they could trust such an important moment in their daughter’s life to me, an outsider to their culture, their community. I grew up in Marblehead, just five miles away from Lynn, but a world apart.

You may be wondering -- How did I end up as an emcee of this birthday party?

Before Marblehead, I lived in the suburbs of Washington, DC, and my friends were from everywhere: Bolivia, the UK, Korea, South Africa, and Greece. My mom was an immigrant herself, from a French, Russian and German family living in Morocco. When we moved to Marblehead when I was 11, it took awhile to get used to a community where so many of the families had lived in the same town for generations. What helped was my church , Our Lady, Star of the Sea. As a teen, I got involved in a series of Catholic youth service trips called Gospel Road. On one trip to the rural outskirts of Jackson, Mississippi, I worked on a team to help build a house and teach young children in a summer school program.

I feel fortunate to have been able to travel so far from home to help people in need. But I recognize now that volunteers from far away, who return home after a week or two, can only have a limited impact on the lives of people and communities.

What attracted me to SCI was its approach: neighbors helping one another. We improve communities from within. In Lynn, I build connections among youth and adults across diverse neighborhoods. As advisor to the Part of the Solution Youth Council at Girls Inc. of Lynn, I work with teenage members as they develop their leadership skills and realize opportunities to shape their city.

Jessica is one of two teen interns whom I have supervised at Girls Inc. of Lynn. As the oldest child in her family, Jessica is a seventeen year old, girl who is expected to take on much of the responsibility for the well-being of her three younger siblings. Her parents, originally from Puerto Rico, struggle to provide for their family. Her father has been unemployed for several months, and her mother is now pregnant with their fifth child. Within her extended family in Lynn, several male cousins are in gangs and have served jail time. Another teen cousin just had a baby, which is all too common. Last year, fifty-two girls were pregnant at Lynn English High School alone. Jessica frequently worries about her family’s struggles.

Yet, despite the challenges she faces at home, among her peers at Girls Inc., Jessica is a popular girl who loves to laugh, dance, sing and crack jokes. As I have worked with her to build her job and leadership skills, I have even seen Jessica develop into a more successful adult. She runs some of the meetings now. And she recruits new teens to the group. Jessica has been able to teach me a few things as well, including lessons on resilience, her Latino culture, and embracing foreigners. It was Jessica, who asked me if I would be the MC at her little sister’s Sweet 16 party, after all."

Dain Perry's (2008 SCI Idealist Award Winner) Speech from the 2008 SCI Social Capitalist Luncheon

April 9, 2008

"Thank you, Warren. And thank you for not making this a roast. You are a good friend.

Normally one would spend a few minutes at a time like this recognizing officials, and thanking those special people who have helped us along the way. Well, we have a short leash today. You all know who you are…thank you for coming, and thank you for your support!

The work of this remarkable organization, when we began six years ago, was counter-cultural. Building bridges, encouraging collaboration among community organizations, encouraging teens to become involved in and committed to their communities, all counter-cultural. While we are still very much on the cutting edge, there seems to be a ground swell building in this nation for exactly what we have been doing. It is indeed an exciting time.

Our communities, as Robert Putman detailed in his book, Bowling Alone, have lost much of the sense of community, the sense that we are all in this together, that important social fabric which is so vital for the health of a society. For years, as this loss has deepened, people have lamented it, have talked about it, but few have made an effort to really imaginatively do something about it. That is where SCI comes in.

The SCI program which most catches my imagination is the mini-grant program conducted by our Youth Councils. I have attended two dinners, hosted by the Boston Globe Foundation, where the Youth Council in Dorchester distributes grants, which are supported by funds from Sovereign Bank, to local youth groups, funding proposals which those groups developed. Imagine, a group of teens sending out RFP’s, evaluating the proposals, and deciding which proposals to fund and by how much. They are a mini charitable foundation. The energy and enthusiasm in the room at those dinners is wonderful to experience, the pride among the members of the Youth Council for the work they have done, and the pride of the grant recipients for the work they have been selected to do.

Building bridges, reconciliation and repair have been a major focus of my volunteer life for many years. It all seems to have prepared me for, and culminated in, the work which Constance and I are devoting ourselves to these days.

The documentary film, Traces of the Trade, mentioned in our biographies, deals with my family’s history of being descended from America’s foremost slave traders, what that history means for our family and what it means for the country today. It has been described as being a “real scab-ripper” of a film. I should mention, as a bit of self promotion, that Traces was selected to premier at the Sundance Film Festival this past January, and will be broadcast on PBS on June 24th.

As Constance and I go around the country showing Traces, and facilitating discussions afterward on race and racial reconciliation, we find people yearning to participate in the conversation. We strongly believe that it is through telling our stories, and listening to the stories of others, truly, sacredly listening to those stories, and honoring what we hear, that we are able to build bridges, that we are able to build trust, that we are able to build community, that we are able to heal.

Finally, I must say that doing this work together, with this remarkable life partner, has been a gift of grace. I recently read a piece which said, “They clearly set each other on fire to do really wonderful things in the world.” I immediately thought, wow, that’s us.

Thank you all for this singular and humbling honor, to be the first recipients of the SCI Idealist Award."

Constance Perry's (2008 SCI Idealist Award Winner) Speech from the 2008 SCI Social Capitalist Luncheon - April 9, 2008

"Thank you, Warren for the wonderful introduction. Thank you, family, friends and colleagues for taking the time to join us today. Thank you for the support you have given to us. And finally, thank you for supporting the important work of SCI. Dain and I are very grateful for the encouragement you have given to us over the years.

We are honored to have been chosen to be the recipients of the first annual SCI Idealist Award. We are both very humbled by the experience. Looking out across the room at all of you—quite frankly--- takes my breath away.

There is a common and consistent theme in the work Dain and I have been involved in, both individually and together. That work has, one way or the other, been about “building bridges”.

Bringing together stakeholders to work on how they might improve the quality of services and life in their community, or working with youth across diverse racial, economic and social backgrounds to learn about each other, and to recognize and further develop their leadership skills. Building bridges, that has been the work of SCI.

For the past six years, SCI has been a catalyst bringing diverse and broad base community members together, first in Wobun, then Dorchester and more recently Lynn --to talk, to listen, to learn, to plan and work together to achieve common goals, and recapture the sense of community that has been absent for so many years.

Dain and I, two people from diverse racial backgrounds---one a descendant of slave traders and the other a descendant of slaves, for the past four years, have traveled around the country using the documentary film Traces of the Trade to engage various communities---schools, places of worship, in the long overdue discussion of race and racial reconciliation."

I am grateful for the opportunities I have been given to do this most important work---work that is at the core of SCI, work that Dain and I consider to be the most important use of our time.

Before I close, I want to thank one other person. Thank you, Dain for your vision, energy and commitment. Thank you for being my partner.

Thank you, SCI for the honor. Now, it’s time to roll up our sleeves. There is still much to be done and many more bridges to build."

Carlotta Richardson on her experience with AmeriCorps:

"I have been in the cosmetology business for over 24 years. I have been the owner of three hair salons. After many years of the chemicals having physical effects on my hands, giving me dementias eczema and breathing problems, I had also had my last one bad business partner after another. I knew my season was over in the hair industry. I needed to track myself in a new job market. It had to be something I enjoyed doing as much as I had enjoyed doing hair for twenty years.

I was at a community social function and met a lady by the name of Kathy. After many conversations it was evident that we had some of the same social views about our community. We could remember how people were more connected within the community we remembered; we remembered the community organizations which helped us stay focused on our journey in life. We remembered the positive influence all of these things produced in our lives. Kathy was also at a place in her life for a career change. We decided to do something about it. Kathy saw an opportunity for employment and volunteering on the AmeriCorps website and we applied.

The challenge for me was the computer skills. The Technology and Outreach Coordinator’s description required advanced computer skills. The fear of not feeling that my computer skills were updated enough for the job to be well done was overwhelming. I had even considered maybe leaving AmeriCorps. Kathy encouraged me to stay and work the computer skills dilemma fear out.

Joao, one of the AmeriCorps members who had gone to Wenthworth Institute for Technology, shared his knowledge of computer skills. Joao helped to equip me with updated computer skills. He gave me an extensive computer course on a daily basis, while we completed the E-Blast each week and kept the website updated. My Site Supervisor Marisa Luse gave me lots of support as I walked through some of my computer fears.

Now that it is two months into the AmeriCorps experience, I can say that I approach the computer with somewhat of a confidence. I actually enjoy working on the computer on a daily basis. I enjoy the doors of access to information that it has opened for me. I know that these new computer skills that I have acquired through working with AmeriCorps will definitely be a great asset towards my future plans. Thanks to the civic engagement within the AmeriCorps office in Dorchester, I shout out thanks to all who helped me along this journey; you know who you are. This is another day in the inner city and the beat goes on and on. To overcome your fears is to continue your journey and fulfill your destiny."
By Carlotta Richardson, November 6 2007

Terrill Johnson on the SCI Dorchester Youth Council:

“The SCI Dorchester Youth Council is a group of teens making a difference in Dorchester. We as a council engage in the community in any way that we feel will be most effective. When an opportunity becomes available, we are there to lend a helping hand. When there is an issue we would like to address, but there are no opportunities available, we create our own. We have already done this in many ways. This past February we hosted a “Safe Love” event. The event targeted teens and it was created to educate teens more about safe sex, abstinence, and general healthy practices when dealing with relationships. The event was a huge success, drawing more than 225 teens to the Dorchester YMCA. We also have $10,000 that we are in charge of distributing to other youth organizations. This is just one of the ways we help support the other youth who are getting involved throughout Dorchester.

It is so important for youth to give back to the community because we live in it, participate in it, and benefit from it. Every member of the SCI Dorchester youth council wants to see the Dorchester neighborhood thrive in as many ways as possible. Our passion for where we live and the teamwork that we have developed over the course of the year is what has made the youth council so successful thus far. If you ever want to get something done teamwork is the main key. All of the youth council members are dedicated to the community and want to see a change. We meet every Monday to make sure that the change we create today will surely last tomorrow, and the day after. Knowing that there is a dedicated group of youth willing to come together and spend a part of their busy lives once a week to improve the neighborhood we all are a part of is great. The teamwork we have all developed, and the amount of responsibility we are all willing to accept on a regular basis has been my favorite part of the council. I can’t stress this point enough. There is nothing a group of passionate teens cannot accomplish, and this council is just one example of just how successful we can be.”

From "SCI Dorchester Youth Council" by Terrill Johnson, Boston Teens in Print. Spring 2005.

Katie Whittie on the Woburn Civil Rights Forum:

“In the beginning, I wondered what I had gotten myself into. I was not exactly sure what the Civil Rights Forum was. After a few meetings with Ron Walker, David Crowley, and Ed Cooney, I realized that I was in a unique and educational program that was designed to teach students different aspects of the Civil Rights Movement.

The first speaker was Reverend Larry Edmunds. It was interesting to hear his perspective on the Civil Rights Movement, and how the church played such an important role in the Movement.

Another part of the program that I enjoyed was reading the Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr. This was the first time that I had ever really read the letter. At one of our meetings, we were able to talk about what we liked about the letter and the different arguments that were stated in the letter…

It has been an honor to be in the forum, I have learned a lot of useful information, and I look forward to teaching other students about the Civil Rights Movement. Thank You!”

From a speech given at Martin Luther King Day Luncheon in Woburn in 2005.