Inn Dwelling's Comprehensive Youth Program

1. Inn Dwelling's Comprehensive Youth Program

2. Br. Alfred J. Smith, a member of the Congregation of the Mission looked at the poverty that surrounded him and concluded that the Vincentian Congregation working together with the poor could offer hope to families and individuals lacking the resources to effectively change the situation that held them captive. In 1981, Br. Al, in possession of one house, put into motion a program that has resulted in fifty-eight families owning their own homes and hundreds of youth empowered to live lives independent of the financial challenges that deprived them of a decent and productive life. A VINCENTIAN PROJECT

3. Grounds for Systemic Change • Br. Al, Director of Inn Dwelling, together with experts in the field of youth development and with local consultants (advisory council) considered the driving forces in the environments of Germantown and Northeast Philadelphia and found that youth experienced: • A Lack of a sense of security and safety • A Lack of structure and discipline • A Lack of a sense of belonging • A Lack of a positive sense of healthy self-esteem • A Lack of a sense of control over their environment • A lack of impulse control • A lack of exposure • A lack of academic stimulation

4. Step II • Br. Al, with his advisory council looked at the various strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats regarding the youth in these neighborhoods: • Strengths of the youth affected • Academic potential • Capacity to overcome adverse circumstances • Desire to have some control over their environments • Desire to participate in change • Capacity to problem-solve

5. STEP II (continued) • Finally, they considered the opportunities available for the youth involved, and observed: • Schools in the Northwest section of the city (i.e. Germantown) were considered the worst in the city • The children in the Northeast section of the city are immigrants. This is a new population in this section of the city. • No known organizations were designed to provide academic opportunity, opportunity to enable the youth to gain control of their environment, opportunity to change the adverse circumstances the children faced.

6. STEP II (continued) • They considered the threats to the youth involved: • Drugs • Crime • Lack of adult availability to support and mentor • Unwanted pregnancies • Lack of Financial Resources necessary for change • Lack of youth involvement regarding change

7. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES SET Br. Al met with Sr. Rosemarie, neighborhood teachers, parents and youth and set goals and objectives in accordance with Inn Dwelling’s mission, namely, to be the agency of change through which area residents (adults and youth) can reach their goals of self-sufficiency, social responsibility and upward mobility.

8. To provide structure and discipline for the youth affected. To create a safe and secure environment To help the students gain a healthy sense of self-esteem To help the students gain impulse control To help the students gain some control over their environment To expose the students to healthy relationships with adults and other cultures and to expose the children to the arts To help the students acquire a sense of belonging To provide academic stimulation To teach the students the importance of serving others through experience To involve the youth in the resolution of peer and neighborhood needs and concerns GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

9. MEANS TO ACCOMPLISH THE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES • After-school tutoring and mentoring of youth, ages eleven to eighteen. • SSAT preparation (students have been accepted to Germantown Friends, Abington Friends, The Shipley School, Merion-Mercy Academy, LaSalle College High School, Mount St. Joseph Academy, Norwood-Fontbonne Academy, St. Basil's Academy, Holy Ghost Preparatory School , and Nazareth Academy). • SAT preparation (all students have improved at least 100 to 200 points. Among colleges attended are: DePaul University, Villanova University, University of Pittsburgh, LaSalle University, Chestnut Hill Colleg, Mt. Holyoke and St. John's University.) Some of our local college students return to teach in the after school program. • Academic summer enrichment program. • Partial scholarships awarded by individuals, small businesses and corporations • Attendance at plays and visits to museums • Student-Driven Retreats • The Establishment of a Youth Advisory Council • Student-Driven Service Programs • Advocacy

10. Outcomes • 100% of our students have been accepted to reputable colleges with at least 50% of their tuition has been covered through grants and scholarships • 100% of our children have been retained in these academic institutions of higher learning • Several of these students have gone on to obtain Master’s Degrees • Most of them return to Inn Dwelling to report the sense of belonging, capacity, control over their environments, and desire to serve others because of the structure and discipline, exposure, mentoring, and insight and experience brought to bear in their lives through the spirit of Vincent and Louise deMarillac. • All of the students are able to articulate their goals and seek solutions to the problems that militate against injustice and cause destitution • As a community of leaders, these youth feel empowered to bring about change in their own communities. • The agencies with which we deal have had to take a second look at their own stereotypes and change their minds.

11. Reflections of an Inn Dwelling Student Excerpts from Jerome’s reflections shared with Inn Dwelling’s donors: • A transfer from an urban school where rote recitals of obsolete facts, low expectations, and underachievement was the norm to a school where the world of ideas flourished was the first sign of hope for me as a student. I somehow escaped a lamentable academic inconvenience which unfortunately impacts many poor children in negative ways. I consider both Norwood Fontbonne Academy and my current college preparatory school, Holy Ghost, to be beacons of hope, for through these schools I have been offered the opportunity for academic emancipation. Without Inn Dwelling, however, attendance at these schools would have been inaccessible and unthinkable. • A second sign of hope was the fact that Inn Dwelling is concerned about issues that impact the world negatively. It invites young men and women to see the relationship between the education of the mind and the application of principles to a broken humanity. It fosters understanding of global realities and insists on reflection and responsibility with regard to the unfolding of the universe. One example can be found in Inn Dwelling’s insistence on service. Inn Dwelling is inviting me and my classmates to run a camp for children of migrant workers and asking us to reflect seriously on the need to create an environment that promotes harmony and justice. • And, one may say that this blend of academics and service is the third sign of hope and a genuine call to integration. Becoming whole is a challenge; understanding the call to bridge the gaps between understanding and inequities that surround us and to become part of the solution is the call of every Christian. • None of these signs of hope would be within my grasp if Inn Dwelling had not insisted that we reflect on the inequities that separate those who have achieved status and those who lack the resources to achieve status as well as our moral obligations to address these gaps. Inn Dwelling has offered me the possibility of a quality education. This opportunity fosters real human growth and development of mind and spirit. It is now my challenge to garnish the academic capital and the human development I need to continue the work Inn Dwelling began. Please know that I will. I will find a way to continue the works of mercy. I will promote human dignity and social justice in whatever sphere I meet inequities, applying the breadth of knowledge I gained in a school that offered me the opportunity to learn. Br. Al would say, this is the spirit of Vincent. I can say, this is the spirit that will make me whole and renew the face of the earth!

12. OUTCOMES (continued) • All of the students show respect and love for one another; they aid one another rather that compete with one another • All of the students are confident, able to converse with and accompany people across cultural lines • All of the students share Vincentian/Trinitarian values and traditions, making service of the less fortunate a primary aim. • All of the students engage in direct service of those more financially challenged than they on a regular basis.

13. Reflections of an Inn Dwelling Student Excerpts from a talk given by an Inn Dwelling student at our recent fundraiser • …A transfer from an urban school where rote recitals of obsolete facts, low expectations, and underachievement was the norm to a school where the world of ideas flourished was the first sign of hope for me as a student. I somehow escaped a lamentable academic inconvenience which unfortunately impacts many poor children in negative ways. I consider both Norwood Fontbonne Academy and my current college preparatory school, Holy Ghost Prep, to be beacons of hope, for through these schools I have been offered the opportunity for academic emancipation. Without Inn Dwelling, however, attendance at these schools would have been inaccessible and unthinkable. • A second sign of hope was the fact that Inn Dwelling is concerned about issues that impact the world negatively. It invites young men and women to see the relationship between the education of the mind and the application of principles to a broken humanity. It fosters understanding of global realities and insists on reflection and responsibility with regard to the unfolding of the universe. One example can be found in Inn Dwelling’s insistence on service. Inn Dwelling is inviting me and my classmates to run a camp for children of migrant workers and asking us to reflect seriously on the need to create an environment that promotes harmony and justice. • And, one may say that this blend of academics and service is the third sign of hope and a genuine call to integration. Becoming whole is a challenge; understanding the call to bridge the gaps between understanding and inequities that surround us and to become part of the solution is the call of every Christian. • None of these signs of hope would be within my grasp if Inn Dwelling had not made it possible. I am especially grateful that Inn Dwelling insisted that we reflect on the inequities that separate those who have achieved status and those who lack the resources to achieve status by providing me with an opportunity not otherwise available to a poor child. Inn Dwelling has offered me the possibility of obtaining a quality education. This opportunity is fostering real human growth and development of my mind and spirit. It is now my challenge to garnish the academic capital and the human development I need to continue the work Inn Dwelling began. Please know that I will. I will find a way to continue the work of leading by example. I will promote human dignity and social justice in whatever sphere I meet inequities, applying the breadth of knowledge I gained in a school that offered me the opportunity to learn what a poor child can rarely access. Br. Al would say, this is the spirit of Vincent. I say, this is the spirit that will make me whole and will enable me to participate in renewing the face of the earth!

14. Reflections of a Member of the Vincentian Family As a Missionary Servant of the Most Blessed Trinity, a congregation founded by Fr. Thomas Augustine Judge, a Vincentian Priest, I am proud to belong to a family that is called to give expression to the vocation of serving the poor. As a Missionary Servant of the Most Blessed Trinity, I have been formed in the love of the Triune God and in the spirit of our Vincentian Founder, a spirit that pours itself out in the white heat of charity For the last sixteen years, it has been my privilege to learn from a Vincentian the depths of such a calling. Br. Alfred J Smith embodies the soul of a Vincentian vocation. His gentleness, humility, simplicity, mortification, and zeal for the poor has taught me a lot about the meaning of mission. Thank you for the opportunity of serving the Church with you. It has made my life as a Missionary Servant of the Most Blessed Trinity replete with the grace of an apostle sent to those who depend on God’s Providence, but who seek to become agents of change for their own and their community’s development. The Vincentians and the Missionary Servants, together with those who have the desire and the will, offer students ‘reasons for living and hoping’ that they, too, may share in the resolution of the pressing local and global problems of the 21st century and thereby make a difference. The source of energy for all of this, of course, comes from God and depends on the changing of our minds and hearts. Change happens one person at a time until it becomes the force that drives a man like Vincent, a woman like Louse, and/or a man like Thomas Augustine Judge to effectively empower men and women to change systems.