"Whether it's freedom to express, freedom to live, freedom to earn, freedom to thrive, freedom to learn, whatever it is, I want to make sure that I'm a part of these spaces and opening doors."
— Angela Rye
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Network members' voices bring good news and share highlights from around our community |
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Unsung Hero Award Article: |
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Edwige Jean article for Excellence in Mentorship Award December 2022: |
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In December 2022, Edwige M. Jean earned the Vital Village Excellence in Mentorship Award for her outstanding dedication to the community and passion for lactation mentorship.
Edwige is the daughter of Haitian immigrants, born and raised in Dorchester, where she still lives with her 13-year-old son. She has worked in the medical field for many years, mainly in OB-GYN clinical and administrative roles. She has degrees in Natural Science, Sociology, and Maternal Child Health with Human Lactation and aspires to become an IBCLC. Her very own experience led her on this Lactation career path; at a young age, Edwige had her son and decided to breastfeed. The recent generation of women in her family rarely breastfed their children and could not offer her much guidance. Edwige sought professional support but left feeling treated unfairly, however, this did not deter her from breastfeeding. Though she superseded her own breastfeeding goals and expectations, she knew that other people must also have the same experience of struggling with breastfeeding and not getting adequate support and guidance. She did not want others to experience the same marginalization that she felt.
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Connect with Vital Village Networks at these upcoming events |
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June Network Connection Meeting: Celebrating Innovations & Inspirations |
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Monday, June 12th, 2023 5:30-7:30pm EST |
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New innovations for social impact are taking place every day. Join us to be inspired by emerging leaders in our village and their service, data, stories, and connections. This event is co-hosted by the Community Leadership and Advocacy Certificate Fellows at Urban College Boston. |
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Data Storytelling Workshop
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Tuesday, June 13, 2023: 5:30 - 7:00pm |
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Join us for a peer learning workshop on using data and storytelling to advance social change in your community. Workshops are free and open to community champions, youth leaders, and community organizations. Themes include community-driven data, data storage and collection, mapping, data visualization, and sharing your story. |
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June Community Data Workgroup |
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Wednesday, June 14: 5:30-6:30pm ET |
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Join a dynamic group of Boston residents champions and community organizations and promote housing and environmental justice by sharing data, wisdom and knowledge. All voices and perspectives are welcome. |
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Children’s Mental Health Storytimes
June in-person storytimes
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“My ‘Self’ in the World in-person storytime campaign continues!
Bring your children for book readings, songs, activities, and free book giveaways!
Target age 3-8, book giveaway has limited supply- first come first serve! No registration required.
Children’s Mental Health Storytimes group, a collaboration between Vital Village and the Boston Public Library, is hosting mental health storytimes for June to educate young children about mental wellness. ”
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In addition to our June in-person storytimes, we are continuing with virtual storytimes every Thursday, 3:30-4:00 PM over zoom. Join us on zoom for songs, stories, resources, and family friendly fun! |
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Check out available resources relevant to children and families |
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We need your perspective to design our NEW Strategic Plan |
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For June, DommiesBlessed is Celebrating Grads and Dads |
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New England Public Health Training Center |
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We deliver a wide range of training programs and services that strengthen the public health workforce. |
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Learn more about events and resources by our partners and community organizations |
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Free Boston Harbor Family Friendly Cruises
In Person
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Share the Harbor with us! Check out some of the 34 Boston Harbor Islands for a free day of swimming, hiking, enjoying the sun, and more! |
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Join Embrace Boston for the Embrace Ideas Festival 2023
A Celebration of Black Art, Culture, Joy, & Excellence
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The Embrace Ideas Festival is a yearly celebration grounded in arts, ideas, culture and public scholarship and leading up to the Juneteenth Holiday. This multi-day gathering brings together local, state and national leaders to amplify anti-racism and a vision for a transformed Boston by 2030. Rooted in racial equity, healing, wellbeing, and joy, the theme of Embrace Ideas 2023, June 14 - June 16, is "Here and Present, The Art of Reclaiming Space and Time". |
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Admission to the Museum of Fine Arts Boston is free on Monday, June 19 for all Massachusetts residents in celebration of Juneteenth. Tickets, provided in partnership with Citizens, will be available on a first come, first served basis. |
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2023 Juneteenth Joy Celebration |
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This event will feature a 65-minute ceremonial celebration launched with a Color Guard by the 54 Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment Company A and the Black National Anthem. The Ceremony will continue with honoring the “Living History makers of Hyde Park” and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Builders, with an exhibit and brief ceremonial salute. Following this, there will be performances, awards, group arts, dance activities, a local Black vendor fair, educational exhibits, activities for children and tastings from local eateries. We have invited State and City officials and national speakers. Games and prizes will be a part of the 4.5-hour celebration. It will truly be JOY-filled! |
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Episode 5: Raising Bold Black Children II – Manifesting the Dreams
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Monday, June 26, 2023, 3–4:30 PM ET / 12–1:30 PM PT / FREE |
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Join us as we come full circle from fostering to manifesting (that is, making real) our children’s dreams as we “Parent While Black”. Learn about parent, family, and community tools to strengthen our awareness of awe and the bold in our children. Hear from families about the concrete steps they are taking to uplift their children’s dreams and brilliance. Share in the conversation. |
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Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth |
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The Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ youth advises others in state government on effective policies, programs, and resources for LGBTQ youth. The Commission also produces the Safe Schools Program with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. This provides training and technical assistance, organizes statewide network alliances, and works hard to make schools safer for students. |
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Explore data from across the United States |
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Boston Medical Center Careers
Featured Career Areas
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We're hiring for all positions, including nurses, radiology technologists, medical assistants, pharmacy techs, and more. |
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We will notify you about relevant positions, and keep you in mind whenever we have interesting opportunities. Come get them!
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Hopewell is Looking for an Education Support Specialist, RISE |
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Get Free Tuition for Community College! |
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Beginning Fall 2023, the City of Boston is expanding eligibility for the Tuition Free Community College (TFCC) Plan to include all Boston residents regardless of age, income, or immigration status. The deadline to apply is Saturday, July 1, 2023. Funding is distributed on a first-come first-served basis. |
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Boston Saves gives each new K2 kindergartner in Boston Public Schools (BPS) an account with $50 for college or career training. Why? The key to helping your child reach their dreams is to start saving and planning now. Boston Saves is here to help you do that – every step of the way.
Send your child’s name, grade, and school to bostonsaves@boston.gov. Boston Saves staff will help you register.
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ReadBoston Mobile Story Summer Schedule 2023 |
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A Summer program giving Boston children storytelling events and free books. Appropriate for children ages 3-8. Check out boston.gov/read-boston for the Summer schedule and more information. |
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Boston Public Health Commission |
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The mission of the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) is to protect, preserve, and promote the health and well-being of all Boston residents, particularly the most vulnerable. The BPHC envisions a thriving Boston where all residents live healthy, fulfilling lives free of racism, poverty, violence, and other systems of oppression. The BPHC sets an expectation that all staff and leadership commit, individually and as part of the BPHC team, to hold ourselves accountable to establishing a culture of antiracism and advance racial equity and justice through each of our bureaus, programs, and offices. Become part of our Team and make a difference for the residents of the City of Boston. |
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Mattapan Square Farmers Market |
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The Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition is seeking volunteers for our 17th season of the Mattapan Square Farmers' Market. The market will run every Saturday from July 8th until October 28th from 8:30 a.m - 2:00 p.m. As a volunteer you can choose which days to attend - any contribution of your time is greatly appreciated!
Rest assured that you will be provided training for anything you are interested in and feel called to support us with.
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Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition (MFFC) is Hiring Vigorous Youth Leaders (14-17 Years Old) |
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MFFC is looking for young people to join our organization this summer. MFFC exposes youth to various careers that include biking, transportation, farming, food, nutrition, gardening, project/event planning, environment, public health, activism, community organizing, civic engagement, and politics. Youth also learn transferable skills that prove useful throughout their journey to adulthood.
Know any youth that are interested? Share with them the google form! We are accepting interest and conducting interviews until June 15th.
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Explore data from across the United States |
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Early Education and Care Access |
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Since 2017, the number of licensed child care programs in Boston has decreased by 15%, including almost 20% of family child care providers. These closures coincide with a crisis of affordability for child care in our city: last year, the average cost of enrolling an infant in a Boston childcare center ($21,269) was higher than in-state tuition costs at University of Massachusetts Boston ($14,542).
We’d like to celebrate Vital Village partners Dr. Fernanda Campbell, Pratima Patil, and Paula Gaviria Villareal for authoring this monumental effort.
The report explores gaps in supply and demand across fifteen Boston neighborhoods - highlighting whether there are a sufficient number of high-quality early education and care (EEC) seats provided by family child care providers, centers, and schools to accommodate all 0-5 year olds.
Findings show that in 2022, there was a 76% access gap for children ages 0 - 2 in Boston, meaning that there were only enough seats at licensed child care providers for 24% of children in this age group. The expansion of universal pre-K in Boston has helped create more seats than resident children ages 3-5, but these seats are not distributed evenly across the city, with 8 out of 15 neighborhoods still having fewer openings than children. The chart below highlights variations in these trends by neighborhood.
Since 2020, Massachusetts has offered Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) grants to eligible licensed EEC providers to cover basic operation and workforce costs. These grants were critical to maintaining the EEC workforce: 99% of center-based programs and 98% of licensed family child care providers that remained open in 2022 were supported by C3 grants, while 84% of providers that closed were not.
The report recommends that 1) expanding financial and structural supports to over 450 licensed family child care providers in Boston, 2) investing in professional training opportunities for new and existing early childhood educators, and 3) expanding universal pre-K for 3-4 year olds, and investing in similar programs for infants and toddlers younger than 3, are critical investments for ensuring that all children in Boston have access to affordable, high quality education at the earliest stages of their development.
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Looking to join the early childhood education workforce, or are you an existing educator looking to expand your certifications? The City of Boston will pay for academic and professional training programs in early childhood education at several local non-profits, universities, and community colleges. Click here for more information.
Looking to share your experiences with Boston child care? The 2023 Childcare Survey is available now, and we invite you to complete it if you are a parent or guardian of children ages 0-5, or to share the survey with those who are eligible. The survey is available in seven languages. No personally identifying information about the respondents or their children is collected, including names, addresses, immigration status, or employer.
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Have an event, job opportunity, or resource to share with the network?
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Vital Village Networks is a network of residents and agencies committed to maximizing child, family, and community well-being. |
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