Our Programs
College Readiness
College Readiness
Provides college support services including one-on-one academic counseling, financial aid information and assistance with all forms and applications related to the college application process. Also provides access to SAT tutoring and college and career exploration via college visits and field trips.
Contact:
Boston: Coatrisquie Rodriguez, crodriguez@hopemass.org
HOPE for Youth (HFY) Mentoring
Provides one-on-one and group activities, emotional support, academic assistance, educational and enrichment experiences for Latino children ages 11 to 14 in Boston and Lawrence. The youth come in after school for homework help, art activities, science exploration, educational field trips (such as colleges and museums), cultural awareness activities, college and career awareness, goal setting, and access to the Timothy Smith Community Technology Center.
Contact:
Boston: Zaskya Perez, zperez@hopemass.org
Lawrence: Vivian Irrgang, virrgang@hopemass.org
Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP)
GEAR UP is a federal initiative that has been offered in the South Lawrence East and Lawrence High School since 1999. It currently serves entire cohorts of 7th grade at South Lawrence East Middle School. Each year it picks up a new cohort of students and follows the students through the 12th grade. Fundamental components of GEAR UP are: more challenging courses, tutoring, professional development for teachers, parent involvement, recreational and enriching summer activities. HOPE's GEAR UP program increases community involvement; produces measurable outcomes such as MCAS results; utilizes Brainfuse, an online tutorial service program; and conducts workshops centered on college awareness, study skills and academic success. GEAR UP at HOPE's Lawrence office currently serves 700 students.
Contact:
Lawrence: Vivian Irrgang, virrgang@hopemass.org
HOPE's Annual College Fair
Provides over 1000 students an opportunity to meet and obtain information from over 50 colleges and universitites. Initiated by HOPE in 1989, the College Fair occurs every October, in alignment with Hispanic Heritage Month. During the fair, the college application process is demystified as students talk with college representatives and obtain college admission applications and financial aid information. The annual HOPE College Fair has become an important vehicle for connecting students with colleges and connecting colleges with "college ready" Latino students.
Contact:
Coatrisquie Rodriguez, crodriguez@hopemass.org
Health Promotion
HOPE Health Promotion
Utilizes a “Promotores de Salud” (Health Promoters) model of lay community health educators who provide community awareness, community mobilization and community education on a range of health concerns (including enrollment assistance with the Medicare Part D Prescription Coverage plans; increasing utilization of primary health care services in order to reduce health disparities; and raising awareness of the prevention and treatment of topics such as diabetes, obesity, cancer screening, smoking cessation and heart health).
Pedro Zamora Center
A peer support drop-in resource center providing HIV/AIDS support services, networking and programming for Latino/a individuals, significant others, friends and families living with HIV/AIDS. The center provides a range of support and referral services. Peer-led discussions about treatment and other relevant topics and a warm meal are provided to those present. This peer support group meets every Wednesday at 6:00 p.m.
Contact:
Boston: Israel Flores iflores@hopemass.org
Prevention Education
HOPE Disease Prevention and Education
Provides a range of peer education and peer leadership prevention education interventions for youth and adults. HOPE designs curricula for interventions that focus on topics such as the prevention of HIV, substance abuse, chronic disease, injury and violence. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) fund HOPE to replicate science-based models that have been demonstrated as effective interventions. HOPE is also engaged in a program design processes to re-invent and re-name these interventions.
PODER LATINO (Latino Youth Power)
A 12-week HIV/AIDS prevention and education peer leadership youth development program. HOPE staff train over 60 Latino youth to serve as HIV/AIDS prevention peer educators. The youth participate in service-learning activities that include street-based education outreach, home-based sessions, community presentations and community service learning projects. Community members help to provide prevention education to their peers on a range of health issues.
Contact:
Jeffrey Munoz, jmunoz@hopemass.org
or Mayra Ortolaza, mortolaza@hopemass.org
Padres Latino Educando a Nuestros Amigos/as (PLENA)
Trains a minimum of 60 Latino adults each year in the area of HIV/AIDS education and prevention. The trained adult peer educators conduct peer led community-based education sessions and community-level interventions reaching at least 1,500 Latino/a parents each year.
Contact:
Elizabeth Sanchez esanchez@hopemass.org
Technology
HOPE Community Technology Centers
In Boston, HOPE is one of 40 “Timothy Smith Community Technology Centers” funded through the year 2020 by the Timothy Smith Trust Fund, which provides continued funding for state-of-the-art hardware, software and furnishings. In Lawrence, HOPE operates a computer-learning center for HOPE’s college readiness program participants and family members.
Timothy Smith Technology Center
A state-of-the-art computer learning center funded through the year 2020 by a grant from the Timothy Smith Trust Fund administered by the City of Boston. This Center is part of a network of 40 community technology centers located throughout Boston helping to bridge the "digital divide" by assisting hundreds of learners to use computers and technology for personal and community benefit. The HOPE center has twenty workstations and offers a range of computer skills training at basic, intermediate and advanced levels. It also houses all of HOPE's youth development programs with serve students during after-school hours and out-of-school time.
Contact:
Edgar Salazar, esalazar@hopemass.org
HOPE EITC Tax Clinics
HOPE’s EITC Tax Clinics provide free tax filing assistance for those eligible
for the federal and state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Staff also provide
assistance with the preparation and filing of state and federal returns.
Contact:
Boston: Rhina Betances, rbetances@hopemass.org
Workforce Development
HOPE CASA Statewide Latino/a Addictions Counselor Training and Technical Assistance Program
Provides training to Latino and Latina professional and paraprofessionals who are becoming certified and/or licensed as substance abuse counselors across Massachusetts. The training component of the program offers 270 hours of Continuing Education Unites (CEU) approved by MDPH-BSAS, the Massachusetts Board for Voluntary Certification and the American Academy of Health Care Providers. In addition, the program delivers ten hours of training in case preparation and presentation techniques. HOPE has organized, and encourages participants to take part in, study circles for graduates eligible to take the written portion of the exam. The training is delivered primarily in Spanish with some English-language translation as needed.
Leadership Development
HOPE “Proyecto PLAN” Community Leadership Development
Delivers HOPE’s innovative model to promote community-oriented leadership development of emerging grassroots community and grass tops organizational leaders. This program exposes, trains and supports individuals to participate in local, state and national civic engagement activities. Current program/resource development plans are to reprise the program in FY08.
HOPE YouthPLAN and CommUNITYPlAN
HOPE is developing civic engagement components as part of the formal re-invention process that occurs in the replication, adaptation and tailoring of three CDC-certified replication models: Street Smart, Healthy Relationships and RAPP. These civic engagement components focus on health promotion, disease prevention, community level prevention education, access to and utilization of health care. Leadership development components will be added to these models in FY08. Young adult cohorts and older adult cohorts will convene in peer group supported initiatives to contribute to public policymaking. Project participants will participate in a series of activities (described in the Proyecto PLAN Replication Manual) including study groups, policy analysis, issue debating, public speaking, skills building, data presentations, media strategies, social marketing techniques, community education, mobilization, organization and sustention of a peer network support system.
- College Readiness
- College Readiness
- HOPE for Youth (HFY) Mentoring
- Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP)
- HOPE's Annual College Fair
- Health Promotion
- HOPE Health Promotion
- Pedro Zamora Center
- Prevention Education
- HOPE Disease Prevention and Education
- PODER LATINO (Latino Youth Power)
- Padres Latino Educando a Nuestros Amigos/as (PLENA
- Technology
- HOPE Community Technology Centers
- Timothy Smith Technology Center
- EITC Tax Clinics
- Workforce Development
- HOPE CASA Statewide Latino/a Addictions Counselor Training and Technical Assistance Program
- Leadership Development
- HOPE “Proyecto PLAN” Community Leadership Developmen
- HOPE YouthPLAN and CommUNITYPlAN
