BELONGING, COMMUNITY AND EMPOWERMENT THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY (Winter 2024). In-Sight Photography Project's vision is to be a place where youth (ages 11 to 18) are welcomed to create through the photographic arts, digitally or in the darkroom. To achieve their vision, In-Sight’s mission is to create opportunities where youth can learn photography as an expressive medium and technical skill in a classroom setting that respects the diversity of each student. In all programs at their facility or in partnership with others, In-Sight values using photography to generate belonging, community and empowerment.

EMPOWERMENT THROUGH CULTURAL CONTEXT (Winter 2023). Founded by immigrants in 2009, ProsperityME is dedicated to providing financial empowerment resources and assistance to the New Mainer community. Its mission is to empower, through education and counseling, members of refugee and immigrant communities to invest in themselves to build financial stability, careers, businesses and wealth. ProsperityME provides direct support to the community and offers no-cost educational classroom programs that teach essential financial skills, build confidence and prepare new immigrants to successfully enter the workforce.

CREATING CONDITIONS FOR STRONG COMMUNITIES (Fall 2022). Founded in 1991, Hyde Square Task Force (HSTF) began as a coalition of neighbors and community leaders that felt an urgent need to address the growing violence, economic inequality and social unrest facing the residents of the Hyde/Jackson Square neighborhood in Jamaica Plain. Although the livability of what is now recognized as Boston’s Latin Quarter has improved since that time, HSTF’s community continues to be adversely impacted by high poverty levels, community violence and lower educational attainment. HSTF believes communities are strongest when they create the conditions youth need to succeed and thrive. HSTF’s mission is to amplify the power, creativity and voices of youth, connecting them to Afro-Latin culture and heritage so they can create a diverse, vibrant Latin Quarter and build a just, equitable Boston.

A WELCOMING AND AFFIRMING MAINE (Winter 2022). OUT Maine builds welcoming and affirming communities that support LGBTQ+ youth in all of their intersectional identities. As the only Maine organization that has focused exclusively on queer youth since 1996, it has built a strong expertise in supporting, educating and empowering queer youth. It also is committed to changing the very systems that are failing these youth: schools, health/mental health care, foster care, law enforcement and faith communities.

IN PURSUIT OF FULL RIGHTS AND PROTECTION (Fall 2021). The Vermont Immigrant Assistance project (VIA) at Vermont Law School represents immigrants and refugees from around the globe (88 countries to date) and helps people seeking legal status and safety—people fleeing persecution, torture, abuse, war, natural disasters and other unstable or life-threatening situations.

JUSTICE, HOPE AND SAFETY (Winter 2021). The immigrant community in Massachusetts is vibrant, full of courageous individuals who have fled torture and abuse with the hope of a fresh start. However, navigating the complex immigration system often requires support and assistance, especially as immigration laws and policy changes have made it more difficult for asylum seekers to win their cases. For asylum seekers who face the risk of deportation, legal representation in their immigration case can mean the difference between a safe new home and a return to persecution. Study after study shows that asylum seekers are five times more likely to win their asylum case if they have an attorney. This is where the Political Asylum Immigration Representation (PAIR) Project makes a difference.

COMMUNITY TRUST IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER (Summer 2020). In the early 1980s, several hundred refugees from Cambodia settled in Lowell, Massachusetts, after escaping from war and genocide in Cambodia. Today, the city is home to the country’s second largest Cambodian population, making up more than a quarter of Lowell’s population. As the Cambodian population put down roots in Lowell, so did the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association (CMAA).

NET PROGRESS TO THE AMERICAN DREAM (Winter 2020). A college degree is a classic element of the American Dream, but for young people in poor communities, the path to a college degree is fraught with risk. Far too many first-generation college students are eager to enroll in a two- or four-year college but find themselves unprepared for credit-bearing coursework.