A Cause for Celebration
Please join us for a special graduation ceremony with The Honorable Deval Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts. On April 16, 2010, 40 formerly homeless individuals will graduate from the Compass Community College Collaborative Program, marking a major milestone toward self-sufficiency in The Heading Home Partnership to End Family Homelessness. The ceremony will take place at Roxbury Community College’s Reggie Lewis Center in Boston.
Event Details:
Friday, April 16
4:30pm Welcome
4:45pm Graduation Ceremony
The Honorable Deval Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts, will be providing the keynote address.
5:30 pm Buffet dinner
Roxbury Community College
Reggie Lewis Arena
1350 Tremont Street, Boston
Parking is available in the college parking lot: http://www.rcc.mass.edu/about/rccmap.asp
Please RSVP to Tasha Williams
The Heading Home Partnership to End Family Homelessness offers a promising approach to ending homelessness. Leveraging significant public and private resources, and partnering with the area’s most effective community service providers; this innovative collaboration provides local homeless families with opportunities to achieve self-sufficiency and long-term success.
The certification attained through this special graduation ceremony marks successful completion of the second of three stages in the 2-year Heading Home Partnership. In this stage, parents in participant families are enrolled into supported job training in the community college system and prepared for jobs that pay significantly higher and offer competitive benefit packages, including certified nursing assistants, phlebotomy, and customer service. A mentoring program is also integrated into the curriculum so parents may receive personalized attention. This program component goes beyond the technical training provided by the community college staff and addresses a range of life skills including financial literacy, professional behavior, and time management. At the same time, participants will receive some college credit (not all tracks) and exposure to higher education. Our hope is that this exposure to continued education and integration into a college setting will facilitate participants’ path toward continued education and success.
MAJOR PRIVATE FUNDERS
The Boston Foundation
Phill and Liz Gross
Highland Street Foundation
MAJOR PUBLIC FUNDERS
City of Boston Department of Neighborhood Development
Boston Housing Authority
Cambridge Housing Authority
Massachusetts Dept. of Housing and Community Development (DHCD)
PROJECT PARTNERS
COMPASS for kids
MIDAS Collaborative
Massachusetts Community Colleges Executive Office
University of Pennsylvania