VillagesWithoutWalls
Co-Founder and Executive Director, Talia Rivera
Pulpit Editorial, Background: Villages
Without Walls is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization founded in 2001. The mission of Villages Without
Walls is to improve urban community conditions and confront family challenges
by creating constructive economic, educational and social services. 
The Drane Family Fund and the Arlington Street Church provided financial support to Villages Without Walls to implement a summer pilot program in 2007. Villages Without
Walls summer pilot program employed six high-risk youthful offenders to
organize and facilitate study circles (“Study
circles are a process for public dialogue and community change”). Villages Without
Walls worked in partnership with the Department of Youth Services. The Department of Youth Services is the
juvenile justice agency in Massachusetts, divided into four regions: Metro, Central, Southeastern, and Western. The Department of Youth Services has daily reporting centers in nearly all neighborhoods called Community Reentry Centers. The Community Reentry Centers provide services to youth who are transitioning from the Department of Youth Services
secure treatment facilities and residential placements back
to their home in the community. Thisstructured reintegration process provides youth with intensive supervision and
support to make a positive transition. The Dorchester Community Reentry Center referred six committed youth (when a child is “committed”to the
Department of Youth Services, it implies that the child is accountable to the
Department of Youth Services until they reach 18 years of age or if they are
charged as a delinquent, or 21 if they are charged as a youthful offender)
to participate in Villages Without Wall summer pilot program. More……
Proposal: Villages Without Walls proposes to continue its work through a full year funded program, an
innovative effort created from the belief that the faith community can step
into the void by providing youth with a combination of advocacy, programming
and employment, becoming a positive force in stemming the rising tide of violence
among young people in the city of Boston.
Study
Circle Evaluation Results………… Dept. of Youth Services
Funding Advocacy Letter……… Villages Without Walls: Unlimited
Potential Program – Program Evaluation Report - prepared by Melissa Pearrow, Ph.D. Senior Research Associate, Center for Social
Development and Educaton, University of
Massachusetts, Boston, MA.