Bostons Higher Ground

TO CONNECT CHILDREN, YOUTH, AND FAMILIES IN BOSTON'S UNDESERVED COMMUNITIES TO EXISTING SOLUTIONS AND SERVICES THAT CONTINUE TO IMPROVE, AVOID DUPLICATION, AND EMPOWER AND TRANSFORM LIVES FROM CRADLE TO CAREER BY ENGAGING COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS AND KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN AN EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT SERVICE DELIVERY MODEL.

ADDRESSING STUDENT HOMELESSNESS: IN FISCAL YEAR 2022, HIGHER GROUND CONTINUED TO PLAY A LEAD ROLE IN THE FAMILY-LED STABILITY INITIATIVE (FLSI), FOLLOWING CONCLUSION OF ITS PILOT PHASE IN JULY 2021 AND EXPANDING FROM SEVEN SCHOOLS PARTICIPATING IN THE PILOT PHASE TO 20 SCHOOLS IN THE NEXT PHASE OF THE INITIATIVE. FLSI IS A COLLABORATION INCLUDING REPRESENTATIVES OF THE BPS, BOSTON'S MAYOR'S OFFICE OF HOUSING, FORMERLY THE DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT (DND), BOSTON HOUSING AUTHORITY (BHA) AND THREE OTHER NONPROFIT PARTNERS - DUDLEY STREET NEIGHBORHOOD INITIATIVE (DSNI), PROJECT HOPE AND NEW LEASE FOR HOMELESS FAMILIES - TO ADDRESS THE GROWING CHALLENGE OF HOMELESS CHILDREN IN BOSTON SCHOOLS. THE INITIATIVE'S PILOT PHASE WAS OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED IN JANUARY 2018 WITH AN INITIAL FOCUS ON SEVEN BOSTON SCHOOLS INCLUDING HIGGINSON K-2 FULL INCLUSION, DAVID A. ELLIS K-5, HIGGINSON LEWIS K-8, WILLIAM MONROE TROTTER K-8, DUDLEY STREET NEIGHBORHOOD CHARTER SCHOOL, ORCHARD GARDENS K-8 AND DEARBORN STEM ACADEMY. DURING THE 42 MONTHS FOLLOWING THE LAUNCH, FLSP HOUSED 202 FAMILIES WITH 295 CHILDREN ATTENDING THE SEVEN SCHOOLS AND 35 SIBLINGS ATTENDING OTHER SCHOOLS. ALTHOUGH WE EXCEEDED OUR ORIGINAL GOAL OF HOUSING FAMILIES OF 243 HOMELESS STUDENTS AT THE LAUNCH OF THE PILOT, THE NUMBER OF HOMELESS STUDENTS IN THE INITIAL SEVEN SCHOOLS INCREASED BY MORE THAN 100 AND AT THE END OF FISCAL YEAR 2021 70 HOMELESS CHILDREN ATTENDING THE SEVEN SCHOOLS REMAINED IN SHELTERS OR DOUBLED-UP.DURING FISCAL 2022, WE COMPLETED PLANS TO SCALE UP THE PILOT PROGRAM TO A FULL INITIATIVE AND INVITED 13 ADDITIONAL SCHOOLS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE NEXT PHASE WITH THE GOAL OF HOUSING THE HOMELESS FAMILIES OF THE ESTIMATED 500 STUDENTS ATTENDING 20 SCHOOLS. BY JUNE 30, 2022, 11 OF THE 20 SCHOOLS WERE ACTIVELY PARTICIPATING IN THE INITIATIVE BY REFERRING HOMELESS STUDENTS TO FLSI PARTNERS. DURING FY 2022, BPS DECIDED TO CLOSE TWO OF THE 20 SCHOOLS. EARLY IN FY 2022, BPS AND HIGHER GROUND ON BEHALF OF FLSI EXECUTED A NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT (NDA) AND IN RESPONSE TO A DATA REQUEST BY HIGHER GROUND, BPS PROVIDED STUDENT LEVEL DATA FOR 150 STUDENTS WHOSE FAMILIES HAD BEEN HOUSED DURING THE PILOT PHASE OF THE INITIATIVE. BPS AND HIGHER GROUND WERE CONTINUING TO REVIEW THE INITIAL DRAFT IMPACT REPORT BASED ON THE INITIAL DATA AND BPS WILL NOT PROVIDE ANY FURTHER DATA UNTIL THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN COMPLETED. SUBSEQUENT TO FY 2022 YEAR END, BPS AND HIGHER GROUND UPDATED THEIR AGREEMENT INCLUDING A DIFFERENT PROCESS FOR ACCESSING STUDENT LEVEL DATA.DURING FY 2022, HIGHER GROUND CONTINUED DISCUSSIONS WITH THE CITY OF LAWRENCE ABOUT SUPPORT EFFORTS TO LAUNCH A SIMILAR INITIATIVE IN THAT CITY AND ENGAGED IN DISCUSSIONS WITH A NETWORK OF ORGANIZATIONS IN EAST BOSTON, CHELSEA, MALDEN, CAMBRIDGE, FALL RIVER AND NEW BEDFORD TO EXPLORE THEIR INTEREST IN SUCH AN INITIATIVE.

EDUCATION - SUPPORT FOR LOCAL SCHOOLS: IN FISCAL YEAR 2022, HIGHER GROUND SUPPORTED THREE LOCAL SCHOOLS: HIGGINSON K-2 FULL INCLUSION, DAVID A. ELLIS K-5, AND HIGGINSON LEWIS K-8, BY OFFERING PLACEMENT OF SOCIAL WORK GRADUATE STUDENTS FROM LOCAL UNIVERSITIES TO SUPPORT STUDENTS AND FAMILIES. WE COMPLETED THE FIRST YEAR OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SURROUND CARE COALITION AND BEGAN THE SECOND YEAR OF IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORTED BY A 3-YEAR $1 MILLION GRANT FROM BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL SERVING THE THREE SCHOOLS AND CRISPUS ATTUCKS CHILDREN'S CENTER (CACC) AS THE BACKBONE OF A COALITION OF 14 NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND SERVICE PROVIDERS INCLUDING BOSTON CHILDREN'S CHORUS, CENTER FOR TEEN EMPOWERMENT, DOCWAYNE, ELIZABETH STONE HOUSE, FAMILIES FIRST PARENTING PROGRAMS, JFYNETWORKS, KEYSTEPS, MASS. ADVOCATES FOR CHILDREN (MAC), ONEBEAD, PROGRAM FOR EDUCATION & RESILIENCE (PEAR), ROOM TO GROW, THOMPSON ISLAND OUTWARD BOUND EDUCATION CENTER, UNION CAPITAL BOSTON, AS WELL AS THE THREE SCHOOLS AND CACC AND BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS (BPS).HIGHER GROUND, WITH SUPPORT OF LOCAL SCHOOL LEADERS AND SURROUND CARE COALITION PARTNERS, SECURED FUNDS FROM BPS AND BOSTON AFTER SCHOOL AND BEYOND (BASB) AND IMPLEMENTED ITS THIRD SUMMER LEARNING ACADEMY (SLA) AGAIN IN-PERSON AND HOSTED AT THE MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. SCHOOL. WE AGAIN PRIORITIZED STUDENTS WHO ARE HOMELESS OR WERE RECENTLY HOUSED. THE BIODIVERSITY PROGRAM OFFERED BY O2 FOR LIFE IN COSTA RICA CONTINUED THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL YEAR AND SERVED STUDENTS IN GRADES K-8.

EDUCATION - EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT: HIGHER GROUND AND THE CRISPUS ATTUCKS CHILDREN'S CENTER (CACC) CONCLUDED THEIR AGREEMENT FOR HIGHER GROUND SUPPORT OF CACC IN FUNDRAISING FOR PROGRAMS, OPERATIONS AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS WITH CACC HIRING ITS OWN DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR. HIGHER GROUND CONTINUED CONNECTING THE CENTER TO RESOURCES OFFERED BY THE SURROUND CARE COALITION AND CACC CONTINUED WITH ITS CONTRACT WITH BPS AS A COMMUNITY SITE FOR UNIVERSAL PRE-K (UPK) WITH FUNDING FOR UP TO THREE CLASSROOMS TO PROVIDE HIGH QUALITY PRE-K EDUCATION FOR ALL BOSTON 4-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN.

OPEN OPPORTUNITY MASSACHUSETTS: HIGHER GROUND CONTINUED ITS ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH OPEN OPPORTUNITY MASSACHUSETTS (OOMA), A STATEWIDE SYSTEM CHANGE INITIATIVE DRIVEN BY A CROSS-SECTOR NETWORK OF 40+LIKE-MINDED ORGANIZATIONS WHOSE COLLECTIVE GOAL IS TO ADVANCE RACIAL AND ECONOMIC EQUITY AND PREPARE UNDERSERVED YOUTH TO THRIVE IN WORK AND LIFE. OOMA IS LED BY A LEADERSHIP TEAM INCLUDING HIGHER GROUND WITH THE RENNIE CENTER AS ITS BACKBONE ORGANIZATION. OOMA HAS SELECTED HIGHER GROUND'S GEOGRAPHY AND LAWRENCE COMMUNITY WORKS AS THE TWO INITIAL TARGET AREAS FOR ITS WORK. HIGHER GROUND WILL SERVE AS BACKBONE OF OOMA'S THRIVING FAMILIES LEVERAGE TEAM IN BOSTON.