Winter 2012-13 Newsletter - Boston

WINTER
2012-13
Have a future
scholar in mind?
Application
deadline is
6/15/13
Alray: A Year in Review
Determine
eligibility and
apply online at
www.alray.org
Donate or get
involved today at
www.alray.org/
donate
INSIDE THIS
ISSUE:
2012
2-3
Scholars
uAspire
3
Partnership
Scholar
4
Spotlight
Donor
5
Spotlight
Zakim Fund
6
Partnership
How to Get
6
Involved
Alray Scholars Program/
Alray Taylor Second
Chance Scholarship
Please note our
new address:
P.O. Box 960400
Boston, MA 02196
The most obvious change
that the Alray Taylor Second
Chance Scholarship saw in
2012 was its rebranding with
a new logo and a shorter
name, the Alray Scholars
Program. More important,
we made essential strides
in strengthening this nearly
five-year-old organization for
the future.
Our core mission remains
unchanged, however: providing scholarships and mentoring to promising Boston students as they work to resume
their post-secondary educational careers. Supporting our
Alray Scholars is, and always
will be, this organization’s
reason for being.
We watched with pride as one
of those scholars, Elizabeth
Cabrera, marched up to the
stage to collect her bachelor’s
degree from Northeastern
University in the fall. A native
of the Dominican Republic
and a graduate of Boston
Public Schools, Liz had been
forced to step off the college
path more than once when
the circumstances of life intervened. But she never wavered in her commitment to
earn her degree. By the time
she collected her parchment
in September, with some help
from the Alray Scholars Program, she had already begun
a master’s degree program in
education at Northeastern.
Liz is the fourth Alray Scholar
to earn a degree or certificate.
Five new Alray Scholars were
welcomed into the program
Alray Scholar and Northeastern grad
Elizabeth Cabrera, with family
(Photo by Olivia Siegel)
during 2012, and will follow
along their path. (See profiles
on pages 2-3.) The organization has now worked with
more than 20 students since
its inception in 2008.
While these students celebrated their news at being
selected for the program,
the Alray Scholars Program
received its own good news
about making the grade in
2012. The Lenny Zakim Fund
awarded the Alray Scholars
Program a grant to support
our efforts and welcomed the
organization into its family
of grassroots nonprofit organizations all working to
make Massachusetts a better
place. (More on page 6.)
Also this year, we welcomed
a highly talented new board
member. Ann Scales serves
as the director of communications for the statewide
University of Massachusetts
President's Office. She is
spearheading an effort to
help spread awareness
about the Alray cause.
We’ve also strengthened
our strategic partnership
with the non-profit uAspire
(formerly ACCESS), whose
experienced counselors
have begun assisting Alray
Scholars in navigating the
often confusing corridors
of college financial aid.
As proud as we are of the
progress that this organization and especially our
scholars have made, we
recognize how far we still
have to go. We are extremely grateful to our
supporters, whose generous supply of talent, time
and treasure help make
this all possible. We look
forward to working with
you all in 2013, and wish
you a fulfilling and happy
year ahead.
PAGE
2
Meet the 2012 Alray Scholars
We’re proud and excited to welcome five new students to our family
this year – students who are beating the odds and recommitting
themselves to their education. We’re proud to play a part in their
journeys, and we plan to be with them every step of the way, all the
way to the finish line.
Shalea Berryhill is
working to return to
college after several
years of dealing with
challenging health problems. The 25-year-old
Boston student, who
graduated from Health
Careers Academy in
2004, was well on her
way to earning an English degree from Northeastern University. But
health issues, perhaps
related to an exhausting
schedule of work, school,
activities and commuting,
led to a collapse in her third
year. Unable to continue her
required internship, Shalea
took time off to get healthy.
She now feels strong and
ready to refocus on her future. Her goal is to become
an English teacher. “I have
always wanted to be a teacher,” she says. “I recall putting
all of my teddy bears in a
row, as a child, and getting in front of them to
teach.” Inspired by teachers who taught her to love
subjects she didn’t inherently enjoy, she says, “the
right teacher can make a
great difference.”
(Mentor: Jack O'Brien)
Shalea Berryhill
Givaughn Jones is
Our Alray
Scholars are
beating the
odds and
recommitting
themselves to
their education
excited to be back in
school at MassBay
Community College,
pursuing his associate’s
degree. The 19-year-old
Dorchester student graduated from Boston’s
Media Communications
Technology High School
in 2011 and planned to
attend Roxbury Community College. But, unable
to make his first tuition
payment, he was forced
to abandon that plan.
During a year away from
school, he spent time
volunteering at his local
Boys & Girls Club. That
made him aspire to run his
own nonprofit organization
someday, “to give back to
the community and be a
positive role model for the
youth.” Givaughn, who
received a Determination
Award from the Boston
Scholar Athlete program
and served as his high
school’s varsity basketball
team captain, also loves
basketball and hopes to
continue playing in college
and beyond.
Givaughn Jones
Charita Parham is a
Charita Parham
32-year-old mother of
three (son, daughter
and stepson) living in
Dorchester. Charita originally enrolled in Johnson
& Wales University after
graduating from public
high school in Boston,
but was forced to leave
because the costs exceeded her ability to pay.
She left school with a
3.78 GPA, a Dean’s List
award and a determination to return someday.
(Mentor: Nick Souffrant)
Then, life happened. She
needed to work. She got
married and had a baby.
And complications
around her student loan
repayment plan prevented
her from receiving financial aid. But inspired to
set a positive example for
her children, she’s nonetheless worked towards
her associate’s degree at
Bunker Hill Community
College since 2007. A
legal assistant for a tech
company for the past six
years, she dreams of
completing a history or
political science degree
and attending law
school. Eventually, she
wants to be a judge.
She has, in her words,
“a love for the law and
its application.”
(Mentor: Alexa Rentas)
WINTER
PAGE
2012-13
Yamirah Lacy is a 22-year-old
to put her heart back into school
this fall, returning to Mount Ida to
complete her degree. Yamirah
loves to volunteer and work out,
and served as vice president of
her college dance team. She is
a graduate of City on a Hill and
hopes to someday work in an
environment she loves, helping
people.
student from Dorchester who’s
been striving to get back to college
since losing her financial aid last
school year. A psychology major at
Mount Ida College, Yamirah was on
track to graduate, but received an
unexpected and unmanageable bill
after participating in a study abroad
program in London. Despite that,
she says, “studying abroad was a
wonderful experience that has
helped me grow as a person…(it)
helped me believe that anything is
possible if you focus and put your
heart into it.” She’s had the chance
(Mentor: Janet Altman)
Our
Yamirah Lacy
Markia Moore’s college
journey has been long and
challenging. The ambitious
28-year-old Charlestown
student enrolled in the Urban
College of Boston after graduating from Madison Park High
School (via University High
School) in 2002. But after two
years of more than full-time
work and full-time study, her
body gave out. Exhausted,
she was hospitalized, and she
rethought her path. The next
few years took her through
beauty school, salon work
and radiology study at Bunker
3
Hill, and into human service
classes at UMass Boston. But
lack of focus and the death
of her grandmother knocked
her off track. Finally, Markia
refined her goals and reenrolled in Bunker Hill as a
human service major, completing her associate’s degree last spring. This fall,
she enrolled at Northeastern
University, where she plans
to complete a degree in
leadership management.
Eventually, she hopes to
earn her master’s degree in
social work and start her
community
own nonprofit dedicated to
empowering girls and women to develop self-esteem
and life skills. “I sometimes
ponder what my life would
have unfolded into had I
experienced the opportunity as a traditional college
student,” she says. But, she
adds, her experiences have
made her more resilient and
determined.
(Mentor: Veronica Chao)
leader in college access and affordability issues. It helps students overcome the financial hurdles standing
between them and their degrees by
partnering with schools and community non-profits like ours to provide students with free financial aid
advance and advocacy services.
In an effort to offer Alray Scholars
first-rate guidance in making the
most of the financial resources
available to them, we’ve teamed up
with the nonprofit uAspire
(www.uaspireusa.org). This Bostonbased organization, formerly known
as ACCESS, has become a national
Alray Outreach co-chair Ed Walker
took the lead in forging this community partnership, working with
Adam Reinke, the director of
uAspire’s Greater Boston operation.
The arrangement will provide all
Alray Scholars with free financial aid
education throughout the academic
with uAspire
offers our
scholars
guidance in
making the
most of the
resources
Scholars get financial aid help through
partnership with uAspire
Few parts of the college process are
more confusing than financial aid,
with its mountain of forms that
appear to the untrained eye to be
written in a mysterious ancient
language. Yet students need to
navigate this confounding world if
they want to find success in college.
partnership
available to
them.
year, coming in the form of both oneon-one and group advising sessions.
Experienced uAspire counselors will
help Alray Scholars complete their allimportant annual Free Application for
Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, forms
as well as providing other vital services.
By forming strategic partnerships like
this one with uAspire, we at the Alray
Scholars Program feel we can focus on
what we do best while also getting our
students the financial resources they
need to excel.
PAGE
4
WINTER
2012-13
Embodying the Spirit of Alray
cates who helped her get out of
the abusive relationship and pursue permanent resident status,
which she achieved in 2011. After
four months in the shelter, housing advocates also helped Liz secure subsidized housing. She
moved out when she got her
green card.
Liz Cabrera is a genuine
lifelong learner.
Since graduating from Dorchester High School in 1996,
the native of the Dominican
Republic has worked tirelessly to pursue her education,
even under the most challenging of circumstances.
And her hard work has paid
off: she recently graduated
from Northeastern University.
Liz, 32, embodies the spirit of
the Alray Scholars Program,
and demonstrates why determined and talented students
truly deserve the second
chance the program offers.
“I’m really
grateful
life gave me
the right
people at
the right
time”
Elizabeth Cabrera
(Photo by Olivia Siegel)
cash with the help of her
father, who had returned to
the Dominican Republic.
She attended the New England
School of Photography, the
New England Institute of Art,
and got her associate’s degree
“Liz is very serious about her
from Bay State College – all
work. She’s very motivated,”
said her Alray program mentor, while working full-time in various restaurants and bakeries.
Carine Tarazi. “She’d been
working on this for a long, long In 2006, she enrolled at Northeastern University, and was
time. She really inspired me.”
making slow and steady progress, before falling behind on
Now a permanent resident,
her tuition payments after her
Liz’s immigration status was,
father’s death in 2007. The
for many years, the major
barrier to her education. She’d university blocked her account
and put her on a payment plan,
lived in Boston since she was
which she was able to eventual11 years old – it was home.
ly clear with the help of the
But she didn’t have a green
Women’s Independence
card. This prevented her from
Scholarship Program.
applying for financial aid,
which she needed. “I couldn’t
Still grieving the loss of her
really go to college, because
father, Liz then endured signifiI didn’t have the means to
cant trauma and upheaval in
afford it,” she says.
her life – events that would
have sunk a lesser soul. An
So she moved back to the Doabusive relationship forced her
minican Republic after high
school, and began to study law. to quit her job at a counseling
center and retreat to a women’s
But homesickness for Boston
shelter after months of bouncdrove her back.
ing between friends’ homes.
Her phone was cut off and Liz
Returning without permanent
remembers it as an isolating
resident status led to years of
interrupted, random study at a time. “I was just completely
disconnected,” she says. “I had
number of local colleges. Liz
started at UMass Boston, study- to erase my traces.”
ing Spanish with the aim of
And yet, she forged ahead. She
becoming a teacher. But once
visited the Community Legal
again her immigration status
blocked her path. So, she took Services and Counseling Center
classes here and there, paying in Cambridge and met advo-
To cope, Liz drew on her deep
love of Kundalini yoga, which she
discovered through a co-worker.
“I was hooked,” she says. “I love
the chants. They just really make
you feel like everything’s OK.”
The practice remains integral in
her life.
Becoming a permanent resident
opened the door for her to complete college, and Liz immediately
applied for financial aid in 2011.
She was also accepted as an Alray
Scholar, after learning about the
program through the Boston Public Library’s TERI Center.
Attending full-time at Northeastern’s College of Professional Studies, Liz finished her degree in psychology in just one year. After
earning her bachelor’s degree,
she quickly enrolled in graduate
school to pursue her master’s
degree in education. She currently
works full-time with clients at the
North Suffolk Mental Health Association, but she has even bigger
dreams.
Someday, Liz hopes to open her
own school in the Dominican
Republic, fusing yoga and education in a curriculum that nurtures
the entire body. “It sounds ambitious,” she says, laughing. “But I
can already see the flag. I see
everything.”
Considering all that she’s been
through, Liz believes anything is
possible. “I’m really grateful life
gave me the right people at the
right time,” she says. “When you
are ready to do something, the
universe just aligns.”
WINTER
PAGE
2012-13
5
Donor Spotlight: Meet the Wolks
Dick and Linda Wolk are what
you’d call givers. It’s how they
were raised. It’s what brings joy
to their already fulfilled lives.
So it is not by accident that
they’ve reached into their pockets year after year to help fund
the Alray Scholars Program,
since its inception nearly five
years ago.
contributing now for several years,
his attitude has changed. “The Alray
program is beginning to show concrete, measureable results. It’s
gotten well beyond the point of
‘Hey, Neil, have a go of it,’ he said,
referring to Neil Swidey, whose book
The Assist was the inspiration for
the Alray Scholars Program. “We
think it’s an incredible commitment
Dick, a retired radiologist, and
Linda, a retired elementary
school teacher, are among a
small but growing band of Alray
Scholars donors and volunteers.
They contribute to support the
program’s mission of providing
second chances to promising
students working to resume
their post-secondary education.
“Who among us has not made
several mistakes in life?” Dick
Wolk asked. “For many of us,
for a variety of reasons, we
have been able to – shall we
say? – avoid the consequences
of those mistakes. The kids
that this program serves are
particularly vulnerable, and
they are in a situation where it’s
not easy to withstand the repercussions of their mistakes. And
through this program, through
careful screening and selection,
some young people get that
chance, and hopefully, make
something of it.”
free of charge. He also serves on his
town’s Conservation Committee.
Even before retiring after 36 years
at Natick’s Leonard Morse Hospital/
MetroWest Medical Center, Dick and
two friends spent 14 years bringing
mobile mammography screening to
medically underserved
populations throughout
Massachusetts, from the
“The Alray
tip of the Cape to the
Berkshires. “We had two
program is
large vans and both vans
went around the state
beginning
doing mammograms,”
to show
Dick explains. “I interpreted the results and people
concrete,
were referred, as needed,
to their neighborhood
physician or health institu- measureable
tion.”
results.”
Dick & Linda Wolk
(Photo by Sara Drower)
that he has made to this whole
program for so many years. This
was not some two-year deal.”
Charitable work is central to the way
the Lexington couple approaches
life. For the last 15 years, Linda has
been a volunteer gallery instructor
at the Museum of Fine Arts, arranging and leading tours of school
At the outset, however, he said children through the ornate halls of
the Boston gallery. Dick volunteers
the couple donated money to
the program, thinking “you sup- his expertise at a walk-in medical
port it for a little while, because program at Congregation Beth El in
Sudbury, where he sees patients
you hope it works out.” After
Dick said he and Linda
derive great satisfaction
from their volunteer work and
charitable giving, and they like
the example it sets for their two
children and six grandchildren.
They also like how it keeps them
in contact with lots of interesting
people doing important work.
“This kind of service keeps you
alive,” he said, “particularly when
you get to be an old turkey.”
PAGE
Alray Joins the Lenny Zakim Fund Community
One of the most rewarding developments of 2012 was the selection
by the Lenny Zakim Fund (LZF) for
the Alray Scholars Program to join
its community of grassroots nonprofit organizations. Named after
the late civil rights leader Lenny
Zakim, who ran the New England
operation of the Anti-Defamation
League, the Lenny Zakim Fund
(www.thelennyzakimfund.org)
supports small but effective
Massachusetts organizations that
are working to make their communities better. As one of the 50 or
so organizations selected in 2012,
the Alray program received both a
grant and access to the LZF’s
network of training and resources.
The goal is to nurture small nonprofits that are committed to the
kind of sustained bridge-building
that Lenny Zakim dedicated his life
to doing, so these groups can grow
and increase their effectiveness.
training, all member organizations
receive pro bono legal advice from
DLA Piper, the respected Boston law
firm that supports the LZF.
In the past year, Alray board members have attended training sessions
on everything from board development and nonprofit insurance to
fundraising and social media
strategies. The LZF runs targeted
seminars for its member organizations throughout the year as well as
semi-annual daylong intensive training institutes. In addition to this
Most appealing to the Alray board is
that the LZF has developed into the
kind of organization we hope ours
will become: one with a wide reach
and deep impact but also one that
has managed to remain true to its
grassroots spirit.
Learn more about the LZF at:
www.alray.org/announcement
Newsletter Staff
Editor: Ann Scales
Designer: Sue Cuyler
Writer: Paysha Rhone
How to Get Involved
Become a Mentor
The Alray Scholars Program is looking for dedicated people to commit to mentoring one of our future
scholarship recipients. We’ve found the guidance that scholars receive from their mentors is at least as
critical to their success as the financial assistance they receive through this program. If you’d like to hear
more about what’s involved in being a mentor, please contact Mentoring Committee Chair Jack O’Brien at
(617) 291-1870 or info@alray.org.
Make a Financial Donation
Your financial support will help this program assist deserving students. Please consider making a taxdeductible donation. Checks should be made out to the Alray Taylor Second Chance Scholarship and mailed
to P.O. Box 960400, Boston, MA 02196. Or you can donate online through PayPal at www.alray.org/donate.
Any questions? Please contact Development Chair Marybeth Savicki at msavicki@alray.org.
Make an In-Kind Donation
There are many other ways you can help advance the Alray cause. In-kind donations, such as printing,
publicity, equipment and time, would be greatly appreciated. If you're interested, please contact one of
our Outreach Committee co-chairs, Janet Altman (jaltman@alray.org) or Ed Walker (ewalker@alray.org).
Spread the Word
If you know promising students from Boston looking to return to college, please encourage them to apply
at www.alray.org.
P.O. Box 960400 * Boston, MA * 02196 * www.alray.org
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