a promise in the heart of boston: portraits of the dudley village campus:

8/12/2019 A Promise in the Heart of Boston: Portraits of the Dudley Village Campus:

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A Promise in the Heart of Boston

Portraits of the Dudley Village Campus

June 2014


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Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative would like to thank the families at the 466 households whoparticipated in this survey. Your willingness to share information about yourself and your children willguide us in collaborating with you schools program providers businesses policymakers funders andothers to implement strategies that address the priorities that you helped us identify.

!e would also like to thank the "oston #romise Initiative $rgani%ers who embody our vision of trueresident leadership. &hey stayed committed throughout the winter in the evenings and on weekendsand after many closed doors. &hey did so because they understood the importance of using data toinform community change. &hey persevered with smiles in their voices and brought back not only

completed surveys but countless stories that provided rich insights into the neighborhood.

'astly a very heartfelt thanks to (oodman )esearch (roup for ensuring a survey process that metresearch standards while also staying true to the principles of DSNI. You have helped to build thecapacity of our residents as researchers and move forward our goal of becoming a data*informedcommunity.

It is our hope that this report will do all of your efforts and openness +ustice.

Boston Promise Initiative OrganizersSayra Alemany

Alicia BarrosJames BengucheIsabella BrandaoJasmine BrandaoJoceline Brandao

Lou Ethel CarringtonJessica DaSilva

Celso DePinaKeith Fran lin

!illiam "riceDaniel #ealy

Dianne Kno$lesAaron LandrumKrystle LatimerAdriano Lima

Sonia PereiraEmanuel %ei&eira

Jose %ei&eiraA'i'a %em(le

BPI Survey Coordinator' ah ' ntini !int rs


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2 Boston Promise Initiative | Portraits of the Dudley Village Campus

Portraits of the Dudley Village CampusFor the past thirty years, residents of the Dudley area have been rebuilding their neighborhood literallyfrom the ground up. Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative's (DSNI) major a omplishment has been,and ontinues to be, organi!ing and empo"ering residents to reate and implement a shared vision. If

ommunity sta#eholders, under the leadership of residents, are fully engaged and e$uipped to a tolle tively, then systems, poli ies, institutions, and the neighborhood "ill ontinue to be transformed.

%s "e begin to leverage ne" and ongoing partnerships through the &oston romise Initiative (& I), it isimportant for us to have a deeper understanding of "hat those hanges have meant for all of theresidents of the Dudley illage ampus (D ) and ho" they are moving us loser to that olle tivevision of the neighborhood that "e established *+ years ago.

han#s to the dedi ation and hard "or# of our & I -rgani!ers many of them residents themselves

and resear hers from /oodman 0esear h /roup, "e no" all have a han e to "itness the emergen eof a living portrait of our entire ommunity. he data presented to you in the follo"ing pages apturesour residents' perspe tives in a number of areas, in luding edu ation, e onomi realities, ommunityresour es, and general $uality of life. It refle ts the most persistent hallenges and po"erful strengthsof our neighborhood.

-ur hope is that residents an use this information to empo"er their families and neighbors to organi!earound issues that matter to them. DSNI "ill provide over 12++,+++ to organi!ations that an addressthe #ey needs identified "ithin this report. No", "ith the release of our first neighborhood survey

results, "e an engage around the identified issues "ith more a ountability and foresight.

his neighborhood survey helps all of us residents, agen ies, businesses, s hools, partners, funders,supporters organi!e our ommunity and plan based on the vision, the dire tion, the needs, and thestories of the hildren and families in our 0o3bury and North Dor hester neighborhoods.

4e "el ome ea h of you and hope you "ill join us on this journey.

ea e and rogress,

hristopher 5. 6ones

73e utive Dire tor

Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative

Sheena ollier

&oston romise Initiative Dire tor

Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative

6une 8+9:


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Boston Promise Initiative | Portraits of the Dudley Village Campus 3

Dudley Street Neighborhood InitiativeDudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI) is a thirty year-old resident-led, nonprofitplanning and organizing group in the Roxbury and North Dorchester area of oston!DSNI"s #ission is to e#po$er Dudley residents to organize, plan for, create, and controla vibrant, diverse and high %uality neighborhood in collaboration $ith co##unitypartners! In order to realize the neighborhood"s vision of a vibrant urban village, DSNIhas organized to #a&e significant strides in the areas of land control, affordablehousing, local facilities, urban agriculture, youth develop#ent, and co##unity building!

Birth to Age 5 K - 8th High School to

College & CareerFamily & Commun

Healthy Births & Young Children Parents as First Teachers Access to Quality Early Learning

Experiences Children Enter School eady to Learn

! rd "rade eading Pro#iciency Caring & Consistent Adults Aligning School & $ut%o#%School Ti e Co unity 'oice & Parent Choice

College & Career Path(ays Youth Leadership )o*s & Co unity Ser+ice Engaging ,isconnected Youth

Housing Sta*ility Access to Healthy Foods Econo ic -o*ility ./ st Century Technology

The Boston Promise Initiative'he oston ro#ise Initiative ( I) is a strategy designed to create a co##unity ofopportunity - centered around strong schools, fa#ilies, and resident leadership - thatallo$s every child to learn, gro$, and succeed! I see&s to transfor# our Roxbury andNorth Dorchester neighborhoods into the Dudley illage *a#pus (D *), a learningenviron#ent $here children are $rapped in high-%uality and coordinated health, social,educational, and co##unity supports fro# cradle-to-college-to-career.

'hrough I, DSNI and our co##unity partners are connecting fa#ilies, children,schools, and local institutions in ne$ and #eaningful $ays! +ur goal is to create alifelong infrastructure, built by parent leaders and local partners, providing access tohigh-%uality early childhood and educational opportunities, positive youth develop#ent,and college career path$ays in the D *!


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Where is the Dudley Village Campus?

D u d l e y S t r e e t

W a r r e n

S t r e e t

C o l u

m b i

a R o

a d

Q u i n c y S t r e e t

Eas t Co t tage S tree t

M a s s a c h u s e t t s A v e n u e

Me lne a Ca s s B l vd

D u d l e y S t r e e t

M L K r ! B l v d !

B l u e

" i l l

A v e n u e

Dudley Square/Orchard Gardens

Upham's Corner

Grove Hall

The Dudley Triangle

Fairmount ndigo Commuter !ail "#$T%&

Key Neighborhoods of the DVC

Three City Centers, Two Corridors, One TriangleThe Dudley Village Campus (DVC) encompasses the DSNI neighborhoods (seemap above) surrounding the Blue Hill venue and !airmount Corridors" The

Dudley Triangle" and three other ma#or commercial and residential centers $ithinthe %o&bury and North Dorchester neighborhoods o' Boston The DVC is bound to the east by Columbia %oad 'rom rove Hall to *d$ard*verett S+uare, to the north via -assachusetts venue and -elnea CassBoulevard" reaching Harrison venue in Dudley S+uare, and to the $est by.arren Street" intersecting $ith .ashington Street in rove Hall

!eography of "o#ial ChangeBoston is one o' merica/s 'oundingcities and hosts perhaps its mostcomple& street plans eography hasal$ays been a 0ey component in thebuilding o' cohesive communities,particularly in the neighborhoods o'%o&bury and North Dorchester" $hich

are rich in a cultural history that hase&perienced dramatic shi'ts over time


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A Dudley Village Campus Profile*Total Population = 24,359 Total Children (Ages 0-17 = !,903

"a#ilies $ith Children in the %&C'' here%&C Children Attend )*hool

Note: Data below refers to adult respondents

Demographics70% are female

53% are African American

47% speak a language other than English at home

23% are Latino20% are Cape Verdean (ethnicity)

Use of DVC Institutions66% ate at a restaurant in the last month

57% visited a health center

40% used a fitness center or gym

Technology & Internet ccess

!o"s & Income54% earn less than $25 !!! a year

46% are employed full"time

27% are unemployed temporarily laid off orpermanently sick disa#led una#le to ork

8% earn $%5 !!! or more a year

77% of children have access to the internetthrough a &' ' mo#ile device

68% have access to a home computerith fast internet access (*+L ,road#and ca#le)

23% have access to a home computerith slo internet access (dial up)

#igh $chool & College Completion 81% graduated from high school

16% attained a 2 or year college degree

#ousing77% of residents rent their homes

62% spend &!- of their monthly income on rent

42% have lived at their current address for &years or less

72% of childrenattend schoolslocated outsideof the *VC#oundaries

62% ofhouseholds haveat least one childage !".%

*All data represented in this report comes courtesy of Goodman Research Group's 'Boston Promise Initiative Neighborhood Survey Report' !un

**& ( and Sub)Neighborhoods of &udley S uare &udley +riangle and Grove ,all- Select Social &emographic and .conomic (omparisons!ames !ennings Ph0&0 +ufts 1niversity


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Neighborhood Survey Methodology

Who did we survey?We surveyed DVC residents who consented to participate in the survey and were eitherparents/guardians of children ages birth to 18 or adults who lived in adult-only households Weobtained valid responses fro! a grand total of "## households $he results that follow are theiraggregated anony!ous responses

How did we ondu t the survey?D%&' hired (oston )ro!ise *rgani+ers, !ost of the! DVC residents, to conduct the survey between

ebruary 1., .1" and 0pril 11, .1" ood!an 2esearch roup trained the organi+ers, particularly onhow to collect 3uality data and ensure every respondent4s confidentiality $he ()' *rgani+ers weregiven nearly 1,... rando!ly selected addresses, with no resident na!es attached *rgani+ers visitedhouseholds in pairs or groups $he survey featured #5 3uestions and too6 appro7i!ately . !inutes toco!plete 2esidents who participated received a 9 gift card $he hiring of residents as surveyors, aswell as the gift cards given to households, invested nearly #.,... bac6 into the fa!ilies of the DudleyVillage Ca!pus

Why did we ondu t this survey?$he (oston )ro!ise 'nitiative is being designed to leverage the strengths and assets already e7isting inthe co!!unity, na!ely our residents We want a village where children are surrounded by caringadults in a ca!pus environ!ent of continuous learning $he foundation of this vision will be built onfive goals for whole co!!unity change:

!" #trong and healthy families$" Children entering s hool ready to su eed%" #u essful students and s hools&" Post'se ondary ompletion and areer readiness(" Vi)rant and thriving ommunities of onne ted residents

D%&' and 2 designed and conducted the ()' neighborhood survey to better understand ourprogress towards our co!!unity vision We need to 6now where residents are thriving and where thereare barriers to positive outco!es

What did the survey measure?$he survey !easured various indicators related to our five goals for whole co!!unity change Weas6ed 3uestions about develop!ental and educational outco!es for children ;birth to age 18< andabout adult4s e7periences in the co!!unity ;involve!ent, use of resources, social e7perience,econo!ic stability, and fa!ily functioning< %o!e of these indicators are being !easured across allfederally-funded )ro!ise &eighborhoods


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On the Validity of Self-Reported Survey DataThe BPI Neighborhood Survey is a tool that uses self-reported answers to a questionnaire in order tomeasure neighborhood outcomes. nswers to the questionnaire were obtained through in-personinterviews with !udley "illage #ampus residents at their home addresses. It is important to note thatself- reported answers do have some validity limitations.

nswers to questions that as$ respondents to indicate their opinion on a scale may be e%aggerated.&espondents may be too embarrassed to reveal private details. "arious biases may affect the results'li$e social desirability. (or e%ample' many of the respondents to this survey were parents' and' asparents' were as$ed to respond to questions about their child)s medical care' education' and homecare. *ven while attempting to answer honestly' and even with the $nowledge that the survey wasconducted anonymously' it is fair to say that many parents would not want to +underperform,compared to other parents. This subconscious desire to provide socially acceptable answers coulds$ew some data.

Self-report studies are also inherently biased by the person)s feelings at the time they filled out thequestionnaire. If a person feels bad at the time they fill out the questionnaire' for e%ample' their answerswill be more negative. If the person feels good at the time' then the answers will be more positive.

owever' BPI rgani/ers were trained to alert residents to such biases in advance of answering thequestionnaire. *ach did their utmost to e%plain the importance of collecting honest answers from alarge and random sample of !"# residents' assuring each resident of their motivation to collect validdata while remaining neutral toward any individual answers.

Our dedicated and effective team of BPI Organizers who helped to develop and conduct our first-ever BPI Neighborhood Survey.


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The DVC: Through a Child's Eyes

0-5 Yr Olds w/ Physician Who Provides Continuous Care 0-5 Yr Olds in Child Care

54% 55%63% 60%

55% of the children in the DVC fro! "irth to their first day of

#indergarten ha$e consistent child care access co!&ared to 60%of (5 year olds nationally)* Boston Promise Initiative Survey Re ort! "oodman

Research "rou ! #une $0%&

NationalNational

DVCDVC


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Children Entering School Ready to SucceedHigh-quality early childhood care programs haveconsistently demonstrated positive societal outcomesover the course of decades, from reduced need for

remedial and special education, to reduced incarcerationrates, and lower rates of teen pregnancy.

!out half "##$% of children in the DVC , from birth to theirfirst day of kindergarten, were in some form of child carefor at least 10 hours per week. Of those children, 69%attended center based care, while !6% are in a formal,home based program "with two or more children#, and1!% attend both throughout the week.

Differences in race&ethnicity are some of the leadingfactors in a num!er of early childhood and family literacyindicators'

$ape erdean children birth to kindergarten entry weremore likely to have a regular physician or healthcareprovider "&'%#, while (lack "''%# and )atino "*!%#children were less likely.

9#$ of parents (ith higher income report reading to theirbirth + indergarten age child three or more times a week,compared to 69% of parents with the lowest income.

Community of Caregivers

)amily *iteracy

57% of children birth to age * who arein child care for at least 10 hours week,are receiving that care in informalsettings from a relative or nonrelativeother than their parent-guardian.

Days per week child is read to0%

10%

20%

30%40%

50%

7%

17%

30%

46%

46% of parents-guardians, or another person in the home, arereading to children birth to age *, every day

+one,nce or

(ice

.-/imes

0very day


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What Makes a Community Livable?

Residents felt more positive than not about

the neighborhood, with a majority whoagreed or strongly agreed that it was!lose"knit and that people were willing to helptheir neighbors# $n !ontrast, a slight majoritydisagreed that people in the neighborhood!ould be trusted# Boston Promise Initiative Survey Report, Goodman

Research Group, June 2014 This neigh orhood is a sa!e p"ace to raise a chi"d#

%&

'(& 39%

14%

StronglyDisagree

Disagree Agree

StronglyAgree


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Vibrant and Thriving Communities ofConnected ResidentsFeeling safe, trusting your neighbors, and having access toessential resources are all important factors that help to createlivabl communiti s .

In th DVC, r sid nts form r lationships with th ir n ighborsaround shar d accountability for childr n , but have concernsabout safety. Cape Verdean and White residents are more likelythan lack and !atino residents to e"perience theneighborhood as family#friendly$ for e"ample, agreeing thatadults watch out for neighborhood children.

%h ma&ority of r sid nts f l positiv about th n ighborhood ,responding that they 'agree( or 'strongly agree( that they live ina close#knit neighborhood where people are willing to help theirneighbors. )owever, there was also a slight ma&ority thatdisagreed that people in the neighborhood can be trusted.

Wh n r sid nts ar using mor r sourc s within thcommunity *like a gym, health center, grocery store, or religiousinstitution+, they are more likely to identify themselves as'community#involved.(

Parents Know Children's Friends

Adults Watch Out for Children

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Cape Verdean White Black Latino

People are Willing to Help

Close Knit Neighborhood

People Can be Trusted

0% 50% 100%

6 !

6"!

#6!

"$!

"%!

!

Agree Disagree

1 to 4 5 to 8 to 11

% 1!%32%12%

26%

30%

27%

21%

20%52%37%

18%

"#$ ot "n&ol&ed"#$ 'o$e(hat "n&ol&ed"#$ )oderatel* "n&ol&ed"#$ Ver* "n&ol&ed

+ o, Co$$ -nit* .eso-rces /s ed in ast )onth


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The Need for an Opportunity Economy

Difficulty Covering Monthly Expenses No Rainy Day Fund

77%

62%57%

48%

60%56%

A majority of !" re#ident#ha$e a hard time ma in& end#meet and ha$e no 'uffera&ain#t financia( #hoc #)* Boston Promise Initiative Survey Report,

Goodman Research Group, June 2014

DVC

MA

US DVC

MA

US


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Family Finances & Neighborhood Stability62% of residents do not have a rainy day fund money setaside that would cover expenses for 3 months, in case ofsickness, job loss, economic downturn, or other

emergencies.

!long "ith that# DVC homeo"nership is lo" and thehousing $ost urden is high& More than half ofhouseholds are burdened by housing costs, compared to37% nationally. f those families, close to two!thirds arerenters "#$% , nearly twice the percentage of homeowners"3&% .

63% of DVC household $an e des$ri ed as '(inan$ially

(ragile) or '(inan$ially Vulnera le&) 'inancially fragile andvulnerable households are defined as households which( find it somewhat to very difficult covering monthlyexpenses, $ have no rainy day funds, 3 are renters.

*ouseholds "ith longer+term residents are lessfinan$ially fragile# "hile households "ith $hildren aremore fragile ,31%-&

Spending more than 30% of income on rent20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Boston National DVC R e n

t e r

O c c u p

i e d H

o u s

i n g

B u r d e n

* GRG performed a cluster analysis to identify any natural groupings that emerged from standard of living data. They identified five standard of living segments.In ascending order of financial stability, these were !inancially !ragile "#$%&, !inancially 'ulnerable "()%&, oping !inancially "+ %&, -anaging ell !inancially"+/%&, and !inancially 0trong "1%&

! "ear ! to 3 4 to 6 7 to # !0$

3.%

2.%

3/% 0.%

13%

0% 2%%

3%

26%

ragile &trong

House'old (inancial sta)ilit" )" "earsli*ed in +it'in t'e sa, e DVC address-


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Family Health & Well-Being

84%

41%

5%

25%

Strongly Agree Disagree

92% of DVC parent agree !an" 84%trongly agree# $ith the tatement '

ha(e )onfi"en)e in my a*ility to parentan" ta+e )are of my )hil"ren, Boston Promise Initiative Survey Report,

Goodman Research Group, June 2014

I know who to contact in my community when I need help.

I have confidence in my ability to parent and take care of my children.


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Strong & Healthy Families95% of parents and caregivers in the DVC areencouraging reading outside of the school day Theyreported they had read to their child (in kindergarten

through 8th grade) at least three times in the previousweek or their child had read to themselves or others in atleast three times in the previous week.

!ost DVC parents are tal"ing #ith their high$schoolaged children a out the importance of college andcareer 79% reported talking with their child about theimportance of college 79% reported talking with their childabout the importance of careers and 7!% reported talkingabout the importance of both. "emale heads of household

are #!% more likely than male heads of household to havethese conversations.

1&% of children are consuming at least five servings offruits and vegeta les a day $bout half of &' childrenare eating fruit ( %) and vegetables ( 8%) at least once aday.

Parents who encouraged reading

Parents who talk about careers

Parents who talk about college

Children exercising for 1 hour daily

Children eating 5x fruits/vegetables daily

0% 50% 100%

Female Male0%

20%

40%

60%80%

100% 84%

64%

DVC parents who spoke with children abo t colle!e"careers


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The Way ForwardNext Steps for DVC Residents

Identify the survey results that you find most exciting and share with your family and

neighbors.

Identify the survey results that you are most concerned about and decide how you willtake action to address it - as an individual, with other residents, or by partnering with alocal organization.

Send an email to boston_promise dsni.org with your ideas on places where theseresults should be shared and ideas on action steps to be taken.

Next Steps for Schools, Community Or ani!ations, "olicyma#ers,and $ocal %usinesses

Share this report with your staff, board, and constituents to inform discussions aboutwhere you should allocate your time and resources !full survey report can be re"uestedfrom #S$I%.

Identify the survey data that are most connected to the work that you do and set targets

for how you will help to make improvements.

&ind out more about the 'oston (romise Initiative and how you can become a partner increating a community of opportunity.

Next Steps for DSN& )long with partner organizations, determine what we want to change over the next * - +

years and what it will take to get there.

se the data to inform our Investments in Neighborhood Change priorities and * ,grants that we award to organizations to serve #/0 families and schools.

0onduct this survey again in 1 23 to determine if the strategies implemented throughthe 'oston (romise Initiative have had a positive impact.


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Learn more about the BPI & DSNI, today!www.dsni.org/boston-promise-initiative

@dsni_org

www.facebook.com/dsni.org

[email protected]

617-442-9670 126

a promise in the heart of boston: portraits of the dudley village campus:

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