Sociedad Latina
Sociedad Latina Collaborates Through The Boston Youth Services Network
For 38 years, thousands of young people in and around Mission Hill have looked to Sociedad Latina to learn, start a career, or just have fun. The oldest Latino organization working with youth in Boston, Sociedad Latina provides after-school programs ranging from academic support to music technology production (the center has an on-site music studio and computer lab), and above all, helps to prepare at-risk young people (up to age 21) for future careers through a variety of training and internships.
It isn't an easy mission - especially when funding is shrinking every year - but the organization draws support from a committed circle of friends. Eight years ago, Sociedad Latina alongside 13 other career-exploration and alternative-education programs developed a formal memorandum of understanding that outlined their commitment to work together to improve services to a population of youth who are not effectively served in traditional education and youth development systems. This collaboration created the Boston Youth Services Network (BYSN).
The overarching goal of the network is to improve the quality and diversity of services for at-risk youth that allow them to develop the academic, work-readiness, life skills and support structures necessary to become productive adults. Among other benefits, the network has facilitated referrals among its members, and, through joint grant proposals, has helped bring in additional funding.
With no dedicated staff, the BYSN faces challenges of any organization made up of volunteers, such as creating visibility and sharing data (which should be helped by a new Web-based referral database). However, the benefits of the collaboration have far outweighed any logistical challenges. Although some of the organizations have worked together before the network was formed, it has resulted in a "whole different level of participation and buy-in," says Alexandra Oliver-Dávila, Sociedad Latina's executive director and co-chair of BYSN. "It's all for the students and participants," she adds. "They get a full range of options and choices - it's a portfolio of services." Overall, the greatest strength of the network is that diverse member programs are working together to improve the quality and access to services for a common population of disadvantaged youth. Young people benefit from broader access to a full range of quality programming and professional expertise.