The Charlestown Coalition News:

Issue 86

October 2023

Welcome to the Charlestown Coalition's Monthly Newsletter!

We are a community based organization here to support the neighborhood of Charlestown by connecting our neighbors to services, building relationships and providing fun and safe spaces for community members to connect.

In our newsletters you'll find event flyers, recaps on what we do on the day to day, resources, information on our youth programming, and more. Thanks for following along!

Faith and Blue Walk

Turn It Around members attended the National Faith & Blue event at the Peace Park earlier this month. This national event builds bridges between law enforcement officers, faith-based organizations, and residents throughout the community. Our partnership(s) with Christ Church Charlestown's Pastor JD Mangum (pictured below) and St. John's Episcopal Church's Reverend Greg Johnston, are two of the most valued connections that Turn It Around/TIA Jr. have in Charlestown! And some of the newest members of Turn It Around got a SPECIAL treat when they met Boston Police Commissioner, Michael Cox, who has been a supporter of our program ever since taking his post. We were honored to take part in this event this year!

TIA and TIA Jr. -Building Connections

This month TIA and TIA Jr focused on team bonding and building connection among group members. Our youth participated in a number of fun activities. Here are a few highlights from the month:

Selfie Scavenger Hunt

Selfie Scavenger Hunt is a game we like to play anytime we have a new group at Turn It Around. Not only does it foster teamwork and communication with the youth, but it also introduces Turn It Around to the community at large allowing our young people and Charlestown residents to have a little fun together!

TIA Halloween Party

Halloween is a festive event at TIA and this year's party did not disappoint. From costumes, to music chairs, and our annual mummy wrap game, our TIA youth enjoyed a little friendly competitions while having a lot of fun.

Happy Anniversary TIA Jr.

We are so happy to have started our 2nd year of TIA jr., which is catered to Charlestown middle-schoolers. We had our FIRST ever meeting one year ago, last Halloween!! And its been such an amazing ride connecting with this younger population of the community. This year we have another dynamic group, including quite a few newcomers. We've spent the last month getting to know each other better, learning about team-work and cooperation.

The "Living Room Couch Fort Obstacle Course" encouraged everyone to work together, within their group, and communicate with people you may have just met. This was just one of the fun group activities we did this month to help us build bonds with one another.

Peace Play Training

The Charlestown Coalition Team including Phenice Zawatsky, Mswati Hanks, Mel Soto, Zaire Richardson, Emma Cook, and Julia Parker, participated in the Peace Play in Urban Settings training with the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute. The training increases access to mental health services and is a healing technique for individuals, families, and communities. "This modality invites participants to create a concrete world to express the feelings and emotions they may not have language for by creating scenes using miniature figures in a tray of sand" (Peace Institute). If you would like to learn more about the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute or get trained in the Peace Play in Urban Settings, please click the button below.

Louis D. Brown Peace Institute – Center of Healing, Teaching, and Learning

02129 is back at Charlestown High School

Alternative to Suspension Program at CHS

For the last seven years, the Alternatives to Suspension program has been a part of the Charlestown High School community as a Harm Reduction Model and resource for students in replacement of formal punishment strategies like suspension from school, which have a direct correlation to the school-to-prison pipeline. In recognition of the Road to Success schedule, the Coalition’s AtS Facilitators Mswati Hanks and Mel Soto began to provide a second group time specifically for the RTS community. We are excited to introduce one of the Coalition’s interns, Rachel Harris, who will be co-facilitating this group with us for the year! We plan to bring a variety of topics from the history of the war on drugs to the future of cannabis in business.

We look forward to starting this year’s Alternatives to Suspension program with the general CHS community when we have received enough referrals to have a full cohort. If you see us in Charlestown High, make sure to stop us and say hello!

If you would like to submit a referral, please contact Mswati Hanks at Mhanks1@mgh.harvard.edu.

Race Dialogues: October

The Turn It Around and members of the community participated in the last OUTDOOR Race Dialogue of the season, as we celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month. We reflected on our positive experiences with Hispanic and Latino culture and examined stereotypes. As always, the youth voice was present, and powerful, as our members shared their experiences, and what life is like through their unique lens. A special thank you to all those who joined us! We appreciated seeing familiar faces and connecting with new members of the community.

Community Partner Spotlight:

This month we want to highlight our partner, colleague, and friend, Maureen McGlame from Children of Alcoholism & Substance Abuse (COASA) at the Robert F. Kennedy Children's Action Corps.

Maureen is a fierce advocate for children and people who have a loved one with a substance use disorder. She continues to create space for COASA participants, especially children, to express themselves, and understand addiction, and its impact on families.

Maureen supports children by helping them recognize that they did not create the addiction and that it's not their job to fix it. She works to provide children with the tools they need to cope, reduce stigma, and create a shared community, which decreases secrecy and isolation.

Maureen is an amazing partner and member of the community who often attends events and provides consultations to Charlestown residents and providers as needed. She has a wealth of knowledge and experience including running COASA groups at the former Edwards Middle in Charlestown, COASA summer camps at the Laboure Center in South Boston, and an ongoing family support group at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she was a Clinical Social Worker for many years.

The community is lucky to have Maureen! At the Coalition we appreciate her commitment to supporting children who have a loved one with a substance use disorder and her advocacy to create spaces that allow children to share their experiences. Currently, Maureen is working with a few partners to try to bring new COASA groups to Charlestown. We will keep you posted on any new developments.

Thank you, Maureen, for all that you do for children and families in Charlestown!

FSC Resource E-blast

The FSC eblast will go out on the 15^th and 30^th of each month. If you would like to add your program's flyers to the next e-blast, please send a PDF version of the flyer by the 12^th and the 27^th of each month to MSOTO0@mgh.harvard.edu