MissionSAFE: A New Beginning, Inc.

CONTACT:

P.O. Box 201060
Roxbury, MA 02120
617-592-7608
www.missionsafe.org

Nikki Flionis, Executive Director

DESCRIPTION:

Ten years ago, Sister Anne Carrabino and social activist Nikki Flionis met while working on the Mission Main Housing Project in Mission Hill, one of the poorest communities in Boston. They saw parents overwhelmed by unemployment, mental illness, incarceration, and drug addiction, whose children were basically raising themselves. Even the most capable parents were so stressed by efforts to feed, clothe and shelter their families, that their personal resources were too depleted for their children’s emotional or educational needs. When the federal project ended after six months, Sister Anne and Nikki took out a small loan and started fundraising to continue their work with youth (ages 11-24) and their families, to give them the skills and confidence to thrive, handle anger, solve problems without violence, and identify and strengthen their inner resources. From one small program in Roxbury, MissionSAFE has grown to offer many programs, serving over 300 highly at-risk and economically poor youth in housing projects and neighborhoods in Charlestown, Roxbury, lower Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan. Of their middle school youth, 100% have graduated from 8th grade and started high school; of the high-schoolers, over 80% are on paths to graduate—many the first in their families to do so; 60% are researching, applying or have been accepted, to college. This is heavy lifting, with deeply gratifying success. You can help.

(2008: HUMAN SERVICES: Well-Being: Children & Youth)