Sisters Unchained
Vanessa Ly met Ayana Aubourg in the summer of 2015 during a pilot project created by incarcerated mothers for girls impacted by familial incarceration. Both held experiences with the justice system themselves, with Ayana having grown up with an incarcerated father, and Vanessa being involved with the justice system herself. The project brought together a group of young, justice-involved women. They saw potential in the program, and by the end of the summer, they had taken leadership, created their own curriculum, and built a six-week summer intensive for young women and girls in Boston, naming themselves Sisters Unchained. Their first summer cohort consisted of three young women, two with incarcerated parents, and one who had been involved in the justice system herself. Their cohort doubled in size in year two from three girls to six. Now, ten years later, a typical cohort consists of twenty-five youth. Known as the Transformative Leadership Program, Sisters Unchained brings together youth with incarcerated parents to improve mental health, develop political and self-awareness, and foster artistic expression through visual arts, poetry, digital media, and other mediums for creative outlets. The team leads workshops on processing the challenges, grief, trauma and compassion that may come with having an incarcerated parent, as well as informational sessions that help youth gain a deeper understanding of the history of the prison system, and how current policies shape them and their families’ experiences. At the beginning, Vanessa thought it wouldn’t become anything more than a summer passion project. The team loved the relationships they were building with the participating girls, but they all had other jobs, and had no idea what it would take to establish a nonprofit. As the years passed, the girls who had been with them since the start were approaching high school graduation and in need of more support to navigate this transitionary period. “We were their only support system at this time, so we were faced with the task of helping them fill out college applications and navigating financial aid. We ended up driving them to school and trying to raise some money to take them dorm shopping and help them get settled,” remembered Vanessa. Around this time, Sisters Unchained had begun receiving funding from The Lenny Zakim Fund in 2018. It was in joining the LZF community and forming a relationship with former LZF Executive Director Jude Goldman, that the idea of establishing Sisters Unchained as a nonprofit formed. Jude pushed them to file for 501c3 status and stabilize their programming, allowing them to be better able to advocate for and support their growing community of youth. LZF’s support proved to be invaluable. “The girls kept coming back and we kept growing and they needed more,” Vanessa shared, “I went to every single Zakim class that was offered. I met with Jude and she taught me how to do a budget and gave me pointers on what to say to donors and how to make asks.” Since gaining 501c3 status in 2020, the organization has continued to evolve. Alongside their summer intensive program for young women aged 14-18, Sisters Unchained has now launched Sister Legacy – a two-year program for high school juniors and seniors who are members of Sisters Unchained. They provide mentoring, weekly after school drop in spaces, and support with higher education or creating a plan for after graduating high school; as well as a stipend. The newest development is the Sister Legacy mentorship program – students are paired with accomplished women in Boston who mentor them through their last two years of high school and provide another resource and place of support. Graduates of the Sister Legacy program can also return as peer facilitators and remain an active part of the community. Speaking about one of her graduated students, Vanessa said, “She can still come and be with us. She has security and a constant place she can come to, since everything else moves and shifts in her life.” This student continues to work as a peer facilitator with Sisters Unchained, supporting younger girls just as Vanessa and Ayana have supported her. Ten years in, it has not always been easy for Sisters Unchained. Like many other grassroots organizations, this past year has brought funding challenges. With widespread funding cuts, there often is just not enough financial support to go around. Through this, the team is grateful for the support of their volunteers, who are hosting a fundraiser series and getting the word out about Sisters Unchained. The organization has changed so much from Vanessa and Ayana’s initial summer program. A small four-week workshop series has become so much more – girls have access to year-round programming, opportunities to engage in workshops covering everything from political education to mindfulness to entrepreneurship, as well as art-making, writing, and field trips that foster creative expression and collective healing. Despite all that has changed and evolved, the love and care that Vanessa and the rest of the Sisters Unchained team bring to their work remains the same as it was that first summer. “We keep them in our community. We love them, and they want to stay and they keep showing up… I don’t have any siblings, but we would take [the girls] with us when we went somewhere, like little sisters.” ——————————————————————————————- Current need at Sisters Unchained include funding and donations and collaborations with other organizations working in similar spaces. To learn more about their work, visit their website here.
Vòng Tay Cha Mẹ Việt (The Circle of Vietnamese Parents)
When Oanh Bui immigrated to the United States in 2006 from Vietnam as a single mom of a daughter with multiple disabilities, she struggled to navigate the American special education system. She searched out parental support groups, finding none for Vietnamese parents, or with any resources in Vietnamese. Oanh needed not only technical support in getting her daughter adjusted to life in a new country, but also social support, both for her daughter and for herself. “It can be really lonely having a child with disability within the Vietnamese community because of the social stigma,” Oanh reflected. Working alongside a few other parents she met in her community, Oanh began to develop bilingual resources for other families just like her own, foster relationships with fellow Vietnamese parents, and create spaces for youth and family socialization allowing children with autism and disabilities to feel a part of a community. In 2017, she took these lived experiences with special education laws, public school systems, and parental rights and founded Vòng Tay Cha Mẹ Việt (The Circle of Vietnamese Parents or VTCMV). Not only does the organization serve as a support group and social outlet for parents and families, the VTCMV team works directly with families and schools to mitigate issues they are facing. This includes supporting Individualized Education Program meetings, providing resources ranging from guardianship laws to disability accommodations, and helping parents communicate with schools across language and cultural barriers. One single dad lacked information on how to help his son with autism. His family denied his son’s diagnosis, fearing the stigma that comes alongside having a child with a disability. Fortunately, he found the Circle of Vietnamese Parents in their early days and was able to access information in a language he understood, enabling him to advocate effectively for his son’s appropriate services, and to develop skills needed to share his family’s journey. Now, ten years later, he is still involved with VTCMV, working with other parents who are struggling with the same issues he once faced. “He first came in as the person learning new things… and now he is a leader, coming back to help other parents,” shared Chau Nguyen, who serves as VTCMV’s Executive Director. Much of their advisory team consists of original members of Oanh’s support group who have gone through training, grown into leaders and advocates, and continue to welcome new parents into their VTCMV community. VTCMV has grown from a support group of a few families, now reaching over four hundred families in Massachusetts. Since 2020, VTCMV has begun providing weekly online gatherings, allowing the organization to reach a larger audience nationwide and provide accessible, much-needed support to Vietnamese families. To better equip families, the organization started inviting experts from various fields to provide relevant bilingual workshops related to special education, healthcare access, mental health, self-care, and parental rights that center cultural values. Chau is particularly proud of VTCMV’s youth inclusion programming, which provides space for Vietnamese youth both with and without disabilities to engage together. “Our kids have abilities, just like other ones. They can have fun; they can go to school; they can go to the movies. We’re fostering an environment where all of them can feel like they belong,” reflected Chau. Similarly, their annual community events (including family picnics, holiday gatherings, and cultural celebrations) allow all types of families to gather together and feel connected to their own culture, and to each other. Since becoming a Lenny Zakim Fund grantee partner in early 2025, the VTCMV team has been taking advantage of LZF’s capacity-building offerings. Alongside financial trainings and seminars on organizational sustainability, they are incredibly grateful for their experience working with a legal consultant through LZF’s Catalytic Consulting program. Chau shared, “usually we have to navigate it as an executive team, we have to read the laws and interpret it ourselves. Now we feel like we have someone [who has] our back, and we can always turn back and say that we don’t understand it, can you explain it to us?” The other bonus of receiving LZF funding have been the relationships they have formed with their peer grantee partners and the collaborations that have followed. In October, VTCMV was invited by RICEMA, a Worcester-based cultural arts organization, to participate in RICEMA’s Mid-Autumn Festival and host a table to share resources and welcome attendees into the VTCMV community. VTCMV has also begun working closely with Circus Up, a Boston-area circus-arts organization, to incorporate accessible circus arts into VTCMV’s youth programming. VTCMV is planning their inclusive autism-friendly annual Lunar New Year event which will take place on Sunday, February 22 in Dorchester. This is the biggest annual event that VTCMV hope to bring community members regardless of abilities to celebrate the Vietnamese cultures. Chau and Oanh have significant plans for how the organization will continue to grow this year, but above all, they are happy to be able to continue making a difference in the lives of families in their communities. Years after founding the organization, Oanh still treasures being able to share her own personal experiences with other parents and help them navigate the system. She shared, “our team is dedicated and works diligently each day so that other parents don’t feel that they walk this journey alone.” ——————————————————————————————- Current needs at Vong Tay Cha Me Viet include funding/donations, collaborations with other organizations working with Asian communities, youth, and disability accessibility, as well as support building out an online resource platform. To learn more about their work, visit their website here.
Neighborhood Counseling and Community Services
In 2015, it was as if a tsunami had hit the mental health communities of Greater Boston. All across the city, neighborhoods were struggling to find support due to the rising number of mental health practitioners who no longer accepted private health insurance and the closing of numerous community mental health centers, such as Somerville’s The Family Center. “My fellow Family Center colleagues and I saw the need to fill the gap in mental health service providers,” explains Julie Catalano, cofounder of Neighborhood Counseling and Community Services (NCCS), “and although we certainly didn’t know how to address the need, we wanted to try.” Julie has served as a part-time NCCS counselor since the organization was founded in 2015. With a staff of five clinicians, NCCS provides low- and no-cost community-based mental health counseling in multiple languages for ages 16 and up, both in-person and virtually, in group settings or one-on-one. NCCS also relies on three student intern clinicians from Cambridge College and other schools. This September, NCCS hired Ajit Baid as its first paid, part-time executive director. “What is so enticing and attractive to me about NCCS, is the opportunity to be able to help those who struggle with a mental health disorder such as anxiety or depression,” Baid says. “Having worked in healthcare all my life, I’ve seen the human impact these mental health issues have had on people’s lives.”’ Both Julie and Ajit recognize the challenges most individuals face in finding mental health counseling services, but for people who are immigrants, under-insured, or uninsured, organizations like NCCS are truly a lifeline. One student from an immigrant family was depressed and not attending high school. His NCCS counselor “was able to get him back into school, interested in classes, and making connections with other students. He became part of the community and is now pursuing a trade,” Julie reported. Another student who’d shown no interest in school, gained the confidence to pursue higher education after working with a NCCS counselor. NCCS earns revenue for their mental health counsel through a combination of fees for service and health insurance reimbursements, as well as contracts with various local schools and agencies. For the past several years, NCCS has operated out of a small, one-room space behind a local coffee shop outside of Davis Square. In addition to their regular mental health counseling, NCCS clinicians recently started offering case management services (e.g., SNAP support, housing applications) to their clients, which have been well-received. NCCS clinicians, however, are rarely paid for providing these services, despite being viewed as an essential component to their clients’ mental health treatment plans. Now with Baid leading the organization, NCCS has a new three-year strategic plan in place to solidify its niche as a local mental health provider. “It’s our vision to transform NCCS into a multi-service, mental health counseling, clinic and community wellness center,” explains Ajit. “It is important that we don’t limit our work to just providing mental health counseling, but add critical wraparound services, if we want to have a positive, long-time impact with the clients we see.” But in order for NCCS to realize its vision, it first must raise additional monies to bring Ajit on full-time, to hire an administrative assistant, and to be able to expand their clinical staff. Currently, NCCS serves approximately 100 clients through in-person and virtual counseling. Their reach is limited due to their smaller staff and inability to secure more seasoned, licensed clinicians, especially those with varied language capacity. Ajit aims to double the organization’s impact by next year, serving over 200 people, and is currently exploring new partnerships and funding opportunities. Recently, NCCS entered into a partnership with Y2Y Harvard Square, a student-run shelter for LGBTQ-identifying young adults (18-24 years old) experiencing homelessness. Next year, Neighborhood Counseling and Community Services will host a party to celebrate its 10th anniversary. “When we started NCCS, we really didn’t know what running a nonprofit would involve,” Julie admits. “Our focus was to create a place for everyone, but we were naïve about how that was going to happen and what that really involved. Maybe that was a good thing.” 2026 also marks NCCS’ fifth and final year as a grantee partner of The Lenny Zakim Fund, “LZF has really helped us understand what it means to build an organization,” Julie explains. “At the beginning I would attend the seminars about strategic planning, board development, budgeting, and finance. I would understand somewhat, but conversations with LZF board members and volunteers Deborah Seidel and Mark Irvings really helped to reinforce the learning and enabled me to implement it at NCCS. Being an LZF grantee partner really helped instill in me the importance of persistence, not giving up.” With the expansion of venture capital mental health providers into Somerville and Cambridge, and the growth of telehealth providers like BetterHelp, NCCS is working to solidify their niche. Julie shared that she believes NCCS has a significant advantage over other larger providers: “We know and care about the members of Somerville and the neighboring communities, because we live in those communities and know how to connect people to the resources they need.” ————————- Neighborhood Counseling and Community Services is currently looking for free or inexpensive office space in Somerville or Cambridge, preferably in Porter Square or Davis Square, that is large enough for 2 offices/rooms for NCCS staff to serve more clients. If you would like to learn more or get involved, please contact Ajit Baid at ajit.baid@nccsinc.org or visit the NCCS website contact page.
JOYweavers
When JOYweavers’ summer day camp opened for its third season last July, Executive Director and Founder Mia Klinger and her team wanted to take a deeper dive into creating a truly inclusive community. They aimed to be quicker in responding to signs that children were feeling agitated while also focusing on children whose struggles are less obvious. “Sometimes kids impacted by trauma are unbelievably compliant,” Mia explains. “Teachers love them because they’re doing everything they’re expected to. But these youngsters are holding great stress within their bodies, and we want as much concern and attention on them as their peers.” JOYweavers also needed to find a more comfortable way for children and adults to make repairs after a hard moment. Like the “shout-outs” at all-camp breakfast that allow campers to voice their appreciation, “We introduced a new piece called ‘My Bad,’ Mia says. “and it became contagious, with campers saying things like ‘Hey, I’m sorry I was so slow to come off the playground and everybody had to wait.’ Their ‘My Bad’ apologies were heartfelt and spontaneous, as opposed to something a parent or teacher might make them do.” Along with traditional camp programming like swimming, crafts, field trips, and playground/gym time, twice a week JOYweavers offers STEAM programming called “Find Your Flow”(FYF), a camp favorite. During FYF, campers explore themed hands-on learning activities at their own pace and according to their interest. “The passion and the power of what the camp setting offers to kids has always been very important and powerful in my world,” she continues. Mia herself is a lifelong “camp kid” who attended her first day camp at age four. When Mia founded JOYweavers in 2022, she was determined to make it strength-based. “The campers are not broken, and we’re not fixing them. They’re just little people who come to play and have some shaky skills around how to be successful in groups.” She also wanted campers’ families to be an integral part of the experience. “Within the first couple days, we try to reach out to all families and then keep connecting with them so that when they see our phone number, they don’t think their child’s in trouble.” As campers’ families get to know JOYweavers, they feel more comfortable sharing their concerns and reaching out for help. This past summer, JOYweavers had 34 campers, ages 5 to 13, with histories of trauma or other invisible disabilities, such as autism, anxiety or learning difficulties. Within the safety of camp, with trusted counselors around them, campers learned self-regulation and problem-solving skills. They were supported by a staff of counselors and teens (counselors-in-training) with a 2:1 camper-to-counselor ratio. Fully half of the staff knew camp from both an adult and child perspective. They had been campers at JOYweavers or in another program Mia and her team had directed in the past. Eleven-year-old Lena is one of many campers who has shown remarkable growth. “When we first met Lena, she was really disengaged and spent a lot of the school day rolling on the floor, climbing under desks, or just sitting in various administrators’ offices,” Mia recalls. “Camp was different. Lena got intensive one-to-one adult support that first summer, and when I walked into the school building in late spring to drop off her application to return, she saw me in the hallway, yelled ‘camp!’ and started dancing.” In 2025, Lena had an extremely difficult year. “The lives of JOYweavers campers and families can be very complicated,” Mia says. “We thought that Lena might come back to camp overwhelmed and dysregulated. And there were a few days of her needing near constant adult attention. But the next thing I knew, she was playing basketball and riding on scooters with friends, which I had never seen her do. When she was sad, other campers came and sat with her, unprompted, bringing beads and games to make her feel better. Her trajectory has been unbelievably lovely to witness.” Designing programs and supporting children with social-emotional needs is second nature to Mia after nearly 40 years working with youth. Managing a nonprofit, however is something she’s had to learn. “I have been very honest about the role,” she comments. “I was a really good Special Ed teacher and reading specialist, but I’d never been an executive director and had only a little knowledge of grant writing, fiscal sponsorship and other administrative concerns.” This coming year, Mia is looking forward to learning more as part of The Lenny Zakim Fund 2026 Transformational Leadership Cohort (TLC). “I feel like JOYweavers is at this moment of great potential,” she says, “and I don’t think that would have existed without The Lenny Zakim Fund.” —————————————————————- Current needs at JOYweavers include finding additional sources of funding and donations. They are also interested in building relationships with partner organizations in and around Cambridge who would like to collaborate on school-year programming. If you’d like to connect, please contact Mia Klinger at mia@joyweavers.org.
CodeSquad
Tech workers, and particularly coders, tend to fall into a certain stereotype. But the young, male, nerdish college dropouts often seen in movies and other media are not necessarily the norm. “Our coders come from all walks of life,” says Andrew Ott, the founder and executive director of CodeSquad. “They might be an Uber driver, barista, social worker, prison guard—you name it. To succeed in our program, you have to be comfortable with a computer, but you don’t need a coding background or a college degree. Most of our students are in their 20s or 30s, but we’ve had career changers in their 40s or even 50s. We work really hard to pick the applicants that can do the work, regardless of age or background.” Each year, more than 300 people begin the CodeSquad application process, but only 20 are admitted. “It’s a competitive process,” Andrew explains. “You have to fill out an application, submit a résumé, and complete a coding assignment after watching some self-paced training videos. The third round is the interview, and we select a 20-person cohort.” In just six months, CodeSquad trains participants to become “full-stack” software developers, meaning they learn to build both sides of a software application. Participants learn front-end technologies like HTML, CSS, and React, and back-end technologies like NodeJS, APIs and cloud deployment. Communication and teamwork are also part of the training, and CodeSquad is introducing new Artificial Intelligence units this year. “It’s an intensive program with 275 hours of live classes over six months,” Andrew says. “That’s more than 12 hours per week of live classes and probably 10 hours of homework every week. We also build in vacation time corresponding to the Boston Public Schools calendar, as a way to help the parents in our program.” With 98 graduates since the organization’s founding in 2017, the CodeSquad team is excited to pass 100 next year—and share nearly a decade of graduate success stories. “One of our first few students was doing temporary administrative work around Boston, but she didn’t have a steady paycheck,” Andrew recalls. “She was the first person in her family to finish high school, and the uncertainty of those temp jobs made it hard for her to put food on the table. But about a year after she graduated, she got a job as an application developer at a major university and started making $55,000 a year, plus really good benefits. She used the money to help support family members across the country.” Another applicant had her own housecleaning business with other members of her family. “She handled the business side, and they cleaned,” Andrew says. “Since graduating from CodeSquad, she has earned master’s degrees in both cybersecurity and IT. Her goal is to transition her family business to software development instead of house cleaning.” CodeSquad graduates who find a technology job earn over $90,000 per year on average, and work for Fortune 500 companies like Capital One, UnitedHealth, and Liberty Mutual. “Grads sometimes struggle with finding that first paid coding job,” Andrew says. “It’s a big step for any new graduate no matter who you are, but especially since this is an accelerated program. Software developers often take four or five years to get to this level of proficiency, but our grads go straight on the market after six months. There has also been a slowdown in the software job market lately, partly because of Artificial Intelligence.” In response, CodeSquad has created the new Pathways Project. “We approach small businesses with a proposal to build a website or application for them,” Andrew explains. “We charge a very reasonable price, and one of our graduates does the work.” CodeSquad connects the recent grad with the client, and helps with project management and any unexpected technical challenges. The inspiration to incorporate coding into a nonprofit mission came from Andrew’s particular background. After working in tech market research and Internet startups, he switched to the nonprofit sector. “It took almost 10 years before I realized I could combine the things that I love: nonprofits and technology,” he comments. “I was a volunteer mentor for a couple of years at Year Up in Boston. They provide youth job training, and I always admired their model and thought I could do something similar with software. Several Year Up alumni became my first test audience for CodeSquad.” Andrew has also taken advantage of opportunities from The Lenny Zakim Fund to learn more about nonprofit management. “I’ve been to every summer Institute since we became a grantee, and I’ve attended at least a dozen workshops. We’ve also benefitted from pro bono legal and managerial advice. We received more money from other funders, but with The Lenny Zakim Fund, it’s clear they really want us to succeed.” ——————————————————————————————-Current needs at CodeSquad include individual donations, software and recruiting professionals to speak on career panels, and small-scale web projects as part of the Pathways Program. If you’d like to get involved, please contact Andrew Ott at info@codesquad.org.
Urban PowerHouse
Watching Rachelle Alexandre compete at the USA Powerlifting Ladies of Iron competition, Coach Laurie Maranian was overjoyed: Rachelle was squatting over 400 pounds and deadlifting nearly 400 pounds, far exceeding the goals she’d set upon first joining Urban PowerHouse — which was all the more astounding since Rachelle had given birth to her second child only eight months prior. “Rachelle originally came to Urban PowerHouse with general health goals,” Laurie explains. “But soon after, she became pregnant and wanted to focus on having a healthier pregnancy than her first. Well, we smashed that out of the park! Her energy and confidence were way up, and she kept working out well into her third trimester. When Rachelle sets her mind to things, she does them. She had decided to enter her first powerlifting competition shortly after giving birth, and even postpartum recovery wouldn’t stop her.” “Urban Powerhouse became my anchor during one of the most transformative chapters of my life — motherhood,” says Rachelle. “It’s where I found pieces of myself I thought I’d lost (or didn’t even know I had), pushed past limits, reclaimed my strength, and redefined what it means to show up for myself. In the chaos of motherhood, this space became my sanctuary.” Laurie cofounded Urban PowerHouse (UPH) with partner Joseph Stephen in 2019, but their vision began in 2015. The two had known each other for many years, reconnecting after college to become friends and eventually life partners as well. As a former competitive dancer, Laurie faced a lifetime of body image challenges. “I was running for a while in an effort to lose weight,” Laurie recalls, “but then Joseph showed me strength training, and I realized, oh wow, you can actually enjoy exercise. Later, I went to his sister’s powerlifting competition and was amazed by how inclusive it was: not everyone looked the same.” “At that time, there were no powerlifting facilities in Boston,” she continues. “Sometimes a group of us would go out to a gym in Western Mass, but it took a whole day and was expensive. And I’ll never forget the first time we went, and Joseph and the other men with me stopped at the door of the gym and said, ‘you go in first,’ because they were concerned about entering together as men of color into an environment that was predominantly white.” “There have been so many times in my life when I’ve felt I just didn’t belong,” Joseph says. “So I wanted to create an inclusive space where we could support people on their health and wellness journeys. Laurie and I were thinking of opening a personal training studio and almost bought one. But it didn’t work out, and that was probably fate, because then we decided to narrow our focus to strength sports, including powerlifting and weightlifting, as the modalities to help others.” In December 2019, Urban PowerHouse got their 501(c)(3) nonprofit certification, but three months later, Covid shut down the commercial gym where they trained. “There was a silver lining, however,” Joseph adds. “Everyone was working out with their free time, and companies were being charitable. We rented a 250-square-foot storage space where we could train with the seven athletes we were coaching at the time. Training gear company A7 created and sold a custom shirt collab, donating all the proceeds to us, and other companies were supportive as well.” Joseph and Laurie both had prior nonprofit experience, and Laurie still works full-time at another nonprofit while serving as a coach and VP of Development at UPH after-hours. Joe serves as part-time Executive Director and Head Coach. Both continue to add strength-sports skills to their résumés. Laurie became a Precision Nutrition Level One Coach, and Joe got a second bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Health Science and is now working towards a Physician Assistant degree with a doctorate. And since receiving their first grant from The Lenny Zakim Fund (LZF) this year, Joseph and Laurie have been quick to take advantage of all the grantee webinars and other learning opportunities they can. “We’re working with consultant Rana Kannan right now, through the LZF Catalytic Consulting program,” Laurie says, “And she’s helping us construct a logic model and also define the data we want to collect, both qualitative and quantitative.” So far, that data is quite impressive. Since inception, UPH has logged more than 250 unique visitors and 1,000 community event attendees. UPH athletes have participated in at least 60 sanctioned competitions, with 19 first-place wins. Just over half of the athletes receive financial assistance for individualized coaching. In 2021, UPH created a 3,000-square-foot gym out of an unused basement space in a local Hyde Park business with an app that allows access to the facility when it’s unstaffed. Gym membership is $50 per month for adults and $20 per month for students. “We started out as an adult program, but the youth came knocking at our door,” Laurie says. “Everyone needs a place to go and a community to belong to. With all ages working out together, we have an organic, intergenerational mentorship happening at the gym.” Urban PowerHouse now offers free summer memberships for up to 25 high school students. What’s more, this past summer, a City of Boston youth workforce program allowed them to employ a team of five youth workers, ages 14 to 18, with two supervisors, aged 19 to 24. The teens helped with upkeep and ensured that everyone felt welcome and knew how to navigate the gym environment safely. Working with Laurie and Coach Marcus Brown, they also ran a new six-week program called “High School Summer Slam” and helped to provide free breakfast and lunch six days a week. “We knew we had some food-insecure individuals in the space,” Laurie explains. “So Joseph found a federally funded program through the Greater Boston YMCA that delivers meals to us, three days a week, from a Black-owned vendor called City Fresh Foods.” Avery Covitz was part of the 2025 summer workforce
2Gether We Eat
“Holy Basil” was the name of the product that 11-year-old Ethan was pitching to his fifth-grade classmates with the slogan, “After every bite, you feel like you’re in heaven.” Following his pitch, Ethan handed out business cards, complete with a handmade logo, then watched as classmate Abdul presented his business, D7, and an array of fresh vegetables with the catchphrase, “Eat right, live right.” After each presentation, the students congratulated each other and talked about ways they could sell the greens and vegetables they were growing at their hydroponics farm at the Vernon Hill School in Worcester. “The kids are always eager to show their stuff and compete,” says Charles Luster, who runs the after-school program as executive director of 2Gether We Eat, teaching the clean, organic hydroponic method of growing plants in nutrient-rich water solutions rather than soil. “I’ll put pictures or videos of what they’re doing on social media and say, ‘Look, my Worcester class just got 1500 views, and then all the other classes want to beat that number,” he says. As a former college basketball coach and Marine recruiter, Charles has countless ways to keep kids inspired. “I use no pencils or paper,” he explains, “and if someone doesn’t know the answer to a question in class, everybody else chimes in with the answer because there’s never a reason to hide answers.” Recently, two new ESL students joined the class, and Charles challenged his students to take turns leading class in Arabic or Portuguese so the new members would feel welcome. “They were actually fighting over who got to go learn enough of these languages to lead the class,” Charles says with a smile. “I always tell them teamwork makes the dream work, you know.” Charles challenges himself plenty, too. “When something’s uncomfortable, you know you’re learning,” he says. The start of 2gether We Eat came in 2020 after he decided not to pursue a cannabis business with two friends. “But thinking about how we were planning to grow cannabis made me realize we could grow food in the same way and use it to help kids and the community,” he says, crediting his “little brother from another mother,” Soloe, and longtime “big brother, mentor, friend, uncle, and family member” Carl Paisley, who died in 2023, with helping bring his vision to life. “Carl and my good friend Linda Cavalli, who had just retired from the YWCA, joined me for our first board meeting—on an iPhone in my backyard during Covid,” he says. “Now, this month, we’re celebrating our fifth anniversary!” When you’re trying to get a nonprofit up and running, there are almost no better words to hear than, “I believe in your mission and I’d like to write a grant for you.” That magical phrase was uttered by Debbi Lane of Magic Lamp Consulting after 2Gether We Eat won the first cohort of the Greater Worcester EforAll entrepreneurs’ pitch contest in 2020. “I call Debbie my Agent of Change,” Charles says. “She was in the second cohort, and when she heard about us, she wrote a grant proposal pro bono for me that led to us having two Freight Farms and an electric cargo van. We’ve put 13,370 miles on that van so far without a single gas purchase!” The climate-controlled Freight Farms are metal cargo containers from a Boston company and Worcester-based founder whose business was shutting down. “They allow us to grow up to 10,000 plants at one time,” Charles says. “It’s just amazing to see the kids learn how to plant and germinate the seeds, then watch them grow under LED lights in the freight farm. You never know who could be the next George Washington Carver right here!” Charles signed an MOU with Worcester Public Schools to run the first Freight Farm at Vernon Hill Elementary School, where Principal Craig Dalton was an old basketball friend. “I pitched Craig my idea about hydroponics and said, ‘You give us electrical power, and we’ll give you food and educational programs.’” Now, 2Gether We Eat is running programs in eight locations, including after-school sessions at Vernon Hill, Elm Park, and Seven Hills School, as well as programs at the Leominster and Worcester Senior Centers, Webster Square Day Care Center, African Community Education (ACE), and BAMSI’s Brain Injury Community Center. With approximately 125 participants, the youngest farmers are four years old, and the oldest are in their 90s. Charles has recently been able to purchase hydroponic systems for all the participants to take home so that they can grow green, leafy vegetables right on their countertop. “One out of seven kids go to bed hungry,” he comments. “But if they can grow their own vegetables and find a little protein, they can take care of themselves. At Vernon Hill, we’re adding a pantry, so a kid can grab some canned tuna and some plants and make a meal.” Another recent development is a partnership to grow food for the community with UMass Chan Medical School, which purchased a Freight Farm and hired a young hydroponic farmer named Josh Lighten. “Josh is so excited now that he’s got his UMass ID badge,” Charles says. “He was at the Creamer Center alternative school and none of his teachers knew what would happen with him. I was able to intercept with the help of his teacher, Ms. Brennan, who happens to be my next-door neighbor and a fellow plant lover. Now he’s a full-time college student and I’ve trained him in hydroponics. And though he started out interested in biology, he’s decided to major in broadcasting and communications because he’s found his voice teaching others about hydroponics and food justice.” “Seeing his growth is so rewarding,” Charles continues. “He leads intergenerational exchanges with the kids and seniors, letting the older participants ask him fun trivia questions and encouraging the little ones to talk about their dreams and choices in life. In the end, plants and people are the same— we always need to keep growing.” ——————————————
P&O Behavioral Health Initiative (POBHI)
Octavia Nankunda and Priscilla Rwandarugali met at a party in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 2017 and became instant friends. “I recognized Priscilla’s last name,” Octavia recalls. “It was the same as my ‘Auntie Fiona,’ who worked with my family for many years in Uganda.” As it turned out, Fiona was Priscilla’s older sister, and she was just one of several connections the two had between their families back in Uganda. Their friendship deepened in 2020 during the pandemic, as they talked for hours about family and friends, the lives they had left behind when they each emigrated to the U.S., and current events in their new lives in America. “As much as our hearts were hurting for friends back in Uganda, there were so many people hurting here too,” Octavia says. “The need for mental health support in the immigrant community is immense, but there’s still a lot of stigma, and so many barriers.” “So we decided we could help,” Priscilla chimes in. “I had practiced law in Uganda, and Octavia is a psychotherapist with a masters and a concentration in marriage and family therapy and mental health counseling — and we felt like we could make a difference.” They started with mental health group meetings online, and then met in person in Octavia’s backyard. During this time, they got the word out through beauty salons and churches. “We were very intentional about providing services in the immigrant community and for people of color,” Octavia explains, “because they need more guidance and reassurance — to understand how to access resources, how insurance coverage can help, and that counseling sessions are safe and HIPAA-protected. Despite Priscilla’s background as a lawyer, we don’t give legal advice, but we have answers to most people’s immediate questions and can steer them in the right direction. We always say that if we can’t help you, we’ll find someone who can.” That same year, 2020, Priscilla and Octavia officially combined their efforts (and their names) to launch P&O Behavioral Health Initiative, with a mission of elevating marginalized and underprivileged communities by empowering them to achieve success — using evidence-based and culturally competent treatments. “We knew all too well the stresses immigrants face,” explains Priscilla. “For starters, most immigrants to the U.S. have college degrees, but when they arrive, they usually learn that the years of professional experience and academic degrees they bring from their home country are of little use in seeking employment in the States, leaving many to work two to three service jobs, such as geriatric care, to make ends meet.” They also understood how immigrant families needed help bridging the gap between generations. “We see a lot of parents who assume just being in the U.S. will automatically give their kids a better life,” Priscilla says, “because of resources like good schools, books, and computers. But the parents are working so hard they have to leave the children at home with older siblings or cousins, and they don’t get to nurture them and guide their activities and behavior. So what does success mean for each family? The parents might think that just being in America is a success, but meanwhile, the kids are struggling. Seeing a therapist from their own country makes it easier for them to accept help and to feel understood.” On any given day, POBHI is working with clients on a wide variety of issues, from school or work stress to domestic violence. They run counseling groups for kids, teens, and adults, as well as specific groups for mothers, fathers, and seniors, plus a creative group. Meeting virtually, each group can have up to 12 people, but teenagers and seniors also have an in-person meeting at least once a month. Often clients need more individual assistance — sometimes with urgent crises, as when a client discovered her husband was planning to leave the country with their children and POBHI referred her to the police and an attorney. Another time, a client told them she dreamed of opening her own business. “We told her: Of course you can do it,” says Priscilla, “then we helped her figure out the process. She opened her own bodega just a year later. And now she has more time for her kids and can pick them up at school.” POBHI group services are free of charge for those that can’t afford them, thanks to support from The Lenny Zakim Fund (LZF) and The Boston Foundation. “The Lenny Zakim Fund believed in us from the start,” Octavia says. This past year, both women participated in LZF’s Transformational Leadership Cohort (TLC). “My TLC coach, Marianne, was a godsend,” Octavia says. “She has a background in social work and understood the intricacies of what we do for a living as well as the administrative work behind it. I love being a therapist, but the administration makes it so difficult. Marianne helped me get my thoughts organized along with our business, which needed some restructuring. She was good at both sides of it — social services and nonprofit administration.” Now POBHI can see their growth trajectory more clearly, and with two clinical mental health counseling interns joining them this fall, they’ll be able to implement some of their plans. They’re already partnering with several insurance companies, including Blue Cross Blue Shield, Carelon Behavioral Health, and Harvard Pilgrim, among others and now they want to consider how to address demand for more one-on-one counseling, find office space for at least one day a week, and bring more mental health counseling to colleges. “College students are still just kids, even though we consider them to be adults,” Octavia says. “They’re miles from home and stressed out and stranded and don’t know what to do, and sometimes that means they drink their way through school or flunk out. And international students have all the difficulties of being far from home on top of the normal struggles. So we want to offer sessions that teach them coping skills. And as with all of our services,
