Reach The Beach event begins, continues through Saturday
First Congregational Church of Revere’s “Reach The Beach” event opened Monday and will continue through Saturday on Revere Beach.
Programs and activities begin each day at noon and proceed through 9 p.m. Musical performances commence each day at 7 p.m. at the pavilion located adjacently to the William G. Reinstein Bandstand.
“We have tables set up where we distribute free water bottles and snacks,” said Joe DeSantis, the church’s audio visual director.
“We have bibles in eight languages and bible informational booklets in 64 languages.”
DeSantis is one of the chairpersons of Reach The Beach, along with co-chairs Brianna Jimenez and Angela Amico.
DeSantis said six other churches in the area are participating in the event with First Congregational, who is the main sponsor.
DeSantis is a 1973 Revere High School graduate and a classmate of Joe DeSantis, the beloved president of the Revere-Everett-Malden Youth Hockey organization who passed away in June, 2023.
“We went to high school together and they always used to confuse our names because we had the same name,” recalled DeSantis. “We were members of the last graduating class at the old Revere High School.”
First Priority Backpack Giveaway
First Priority Credit Union is give away free backpacks filled with school supplies on Saturday, August 17th, 2024 between 10:00am-12:00pm at our 100 Swift Street, East Boston, MA 02128 branch parking lot (no strings attached, do not have to be a member)!
ABCD receives $700,000 grant from the Healey-Driscoll Administration
ABCD is excited to announce that it has been awarded nearly $700,000 from the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s Emergenging Adult Reentry Initiative to expand and support its BRIDGES Returning Citizens Center (BRCC) — a specialized career center which offers employment and training services to individuals ages 18-25 who are returning from incarceration. As a grant recipient, ABCD will deliver promising and evidence-based programming to help young adults avoid future contact with the criminal justice system by placing clients who need jobs in industries that are greatly in need of qualified workers. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, there were approximately 8.8 million vacancies in the United States during July 2023. While this number decreased, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that more than 200,000 positions were unfilled in Massachusetts. Launched in 2023, the BRCC is located within the ABCD-operated MassHire Metro North Career Centers.
“We are thankful to the Healey-Driscoll Administration for their generous support of our BRIDGES Returning Citizens Center located within the ABCD-operated MassHire Metro North Career Centers,” said ABCD President and CEO Sharon Scott-Chandler. “Workforce development is a key aspect of ABCD’s low-income programming and services, and is beneficial to both workers and employers in Greater Boston, specifically in the 18-25 demographic.” Scott-Chandler noted that while young people are more at risk for recidivism because of limited skill sets, studies by the National Institute of Justice show that steady employment is a key ingredient for reducing recidivism. “ABCD’s BRCC offers a multistep process to meet the goal of sustainable employment– assessing and supporting human services needs– housing, food, transportation, and childcare while focusing on job skills training, resume creation, job search, interview and soft skills training, and then making connections with employers who are willing to offer formerly incarcerated people, who are traditionally seen as less marketable, a second chance.”
Most returning citizens come to the BRCC from halfway houses, sober houses and at the direction of their parole officer to find employment and have little to no financial resources. ABCD staff reach out to returning citizens days after their release to assess needs and priorities, and connect them to supportive services. In addition to stable employment, some of those needs include housing costs, fines and fees from the Registry of Motor Vehicles and child support, social disconnection and resume gaps. Increased staffing covered by the grant enables ABCD to expand its current BRCC caseload by 80 individuals; expand its capacity for outreach to correctional facilities; and train staff to incorporate the Level of Service/Case Management Inventory risk assessment tool that measure the risk and need factors of late adolescent and adult offenders.
