We Are the Future

08/24/2004

Framingham, Massachusetts––At Pelham Apartments Neighborhood Networks Center, students––some as young as 7––help write, produce, and deliver “We Are the Future,” a monthly community newsletter by, for, and about the 540 families living there. “For the past 5 years students have been coming to the Neighborhood Networks computer lab to do research for the newsletter on the Internet and to write their articles using Microsoft Word,” says Corcoran Management’s Frank Lynch, who directs the center. “The older kids, mostly high school students, create the finished product using desktop publishing programs. Then we send the computer files to a local printer who produces more than 540 copies. Corcoran pays students $10 each to deliver the newsletter to every Pelham family.” “Approximately 65 students create and distribute the newsletter. Each month’s newsletter has a unifying theme and includes articles from students and older residents, advertisements from local companies, and announcements about Girl Scout meetings and other community events,” Lynch adds. Successful Youth Programs The newsletter is one of many youth activities at Pelham’s Neighborhood Networks computer and recreation centers. “Corcoran Management feels that the housing community should be a resource shared with the residents and the families, organizations, and businesses in the area,” says Lynch. “There are estimated to be more than 1,000 children in the immediate neighborhood. In addition to Pelham’s 540 units, there are other apartment developments within 4 or 5 city blocks. Area youth are all invited to visit the center and participate in recreation, computer learning, homework help sessions, and general fun activities. There are Girl Scouts, mentoring programs, outreach field trips, swimming, boating, bike rides, and camping trips that many students would not normally be able to attend.” “The school buses let Pelham residents out at the front door of the center, which is located in the middle of the apartment development. Students can walk home when they have finished their activities,” explains Lynch. During the school year the computer center draws 20 to 40 students a week. In summer the youth program can accommodate as many as 70 students each week by rotating them between activities in the three computer rooms and the recreation center. According to Lynch, the center staff can handle these large numbers of children because of help from several volunteers and outside agencies that provide Girl Scout programs, college interns, mothers from the community, and summer lunch and snack programs. Corcoran employees like Lynch also assist with many center responsibilities. Tracking Positive Impacts “We may see many students for 5 to 10 years, meet their parents and relatives, and know the school principals and teachers,” says Lynch. The Internet has helped link the Neighborhood Networks center with nearby elementary, middle, and high schools. Because each school posts events, homework assignments, awards, and honors on its Web site, Pelham center staff also has access to this information and can display it at the computer lab. “We have tracked students over 1, 3, 5, and 10 years and found that those who come to the computer center do better in school and have less trouble with parents, school, and police. We post student awards, list them in the newsletter, and encourage students and parents to bring in report cards during the school year,” Lynch adds. “Many of the youngest students are learning to read. The police, the public library system, and Corcoran started an onsite library, now stocked with about 1,000 books for young students. This project has increased reading levels in the very young,” explains Lynch. The youth programs have also benefited high school students. “Some youth have been paid for fixing computers in our center or for residents of the area,” Lynch says. “We have also tracked students for 5 years after they leave the youth program. Some of the high school boys are working with computers at Best Buy or Office MAX, going to community colleges, or joining the military.” The youth program has increased parent participation in center programs, according to Lynch. Some of the parents have come in for computer classes because their children come here during the week. Other adults assist with the newsletter, lead Girl Scout troops, donate books for the center library, or conduct reading sessions during the summer. Many area parents now come into the computer center before the students arrive to help clean the center, arrange the library bookshelves, distribute summer lunch and snacks to the children, and help with activities. Pelham’s NAHMA Best Practices Awards As a 2003 recipient of one of The National Affordable Housing Management Association’s (NAHMA’s) Community of Quality Awards, Pelham’s Neighborhood Networks Center and recreation programs are featured in NAHMA's new review of best practices in affordable multifamily housing management. For more information about Neighborhood Networks centers in Massachusetts, contact: Mari E. Adams U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development–Boston Office Thomas O'Neil Federal Building 10 Causeway Street, Room 301 Boston, MA 02222-1092 Phone: (617) 994-8521 For more information about Pelham Apartments Neighborhood Networks Center, contact: Frank Lynch Pelham Apartments Neighborhood Networks Center 95C Taralli Terrace Framingham, MA 01702 Phone: (508) 879-5484 E-mail: franko76@juno.com

Center(s) Highlighted or Profiled:	Pelham Apartments Network Computer Center
Scope:	National

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