partnerships
Resident Services works with variety of organizations to support as much of our residents’ needs as possible and be able to provide a continuum of services from prenatal to elderly services.
Essential partnerships are those that directly benefit our two youth programs: This Way Ahead and Work Force Youth Program. Adult Programs are partnerships with select programs in Cambridge that provide specific services for adults living in CHA public housing or holding a Section 8 Voucher, such as job placement, etc. and Family Programs are partnerships with select programs in Cambridge designed to help families with children living in CHA public housing or holding a CHA Section 8 Voucher.
Essential Partnerships
Cambridge Public Schools is a major partner with CHA to help us support our youth and families in our Work Force program. Our partnership with CPS includes access to our students’ grades and attendance, formal meetings with Guidance Counselors and Deans at CRLS high school, as well as 9th grade Academic Success Panels at Work Force sites and collaborative parent-teacher nights at CRLS. CPS houses one of our four Work Force sites and underwrites our Summer Learning and Literacy and Summer College Immersion programs.
Tutoring Plus advances educational equity by supporting youth in their academic, personal and social growth through free, individualized tutoring, mentoring and enrichment programs. Work Force is Tutoring Plus’ only high school site. Tutoring Plus works closely with us to match Work Force youth to local professionals for one-on-one tutoring once a week on specific subjects. Every year have on average 45 matches of tutors and students during the school year, resulting in thousands of hours of volunteer work by local professionals.
The Office of College Success oversees the College Success Initiative. CSI is a partnership of non-profits, Cambridge Public Schools, higher education institutions, and Cambridge Housing Authority. Our vision: low-income graduates of CRLS, YouthBuild and CLC Bridge to College Program will complete a credential within six years at the same rate as their higher income peers. Our goals: students' academic preparation, parental engagement, and providing college success coaching at Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) and University of Massachusetts Boston. As a founding member of College Success Initiative, Resident Services Department provides financial support for the BHCC college success coach as well as leads quarterly community of practice meetings for all the college success coaches.
PULSE Program for Service Learning
The mission of the PULSE Program is to educate our students about social injustice by putting them into direct contact with marginalized populations and social change organizations and by encouraging discussion on classic and contemporary works of philosophy and theology. Our goal is to foster critical consciousness and enable students to question conventional wisdom and learn how to work for a just society. We accomplish this by helping our students make relevant connections between course material and experience with community service.
The Boston Private Industry Council (PIC) is a nonprofit organization that strengthens Boston’s communities and its workforce by connecting youth and adults with education and employment opportunities that align with the needs of area employers. Our work is grounded in the belief that meaningful employment changes lives, lifts people out of poverty, and strengthens the local economy. The PIC support This Way Ahead’s recruitment within the Boston Public Schools.