Disabilities 19…. (mmmm?)

Hello all!

Hope summer is a blast. We are well on our way to planning a solid FYSOP week for everyone, especially our wonderful issue area: DISABILITIES. If you think that people with disabilities can’t kick butt, guess again.

Just because you have a disability doesn’t mean you don’t have the ABILITY to do anything! During our wonderful week of service and education, we hope to bring to light some issues and misconceptions about people with disabilities. 

For example, did you know that there is a renowned African Dancer named Sidiki Conde, who lost the ability to use his legs at age 14 but is the founder of an African dance company, Tokounou?

He travels all across the country performing and holding workshops and classes for all, those with or without disABILITIES. 

And so, as you can see, this is just a taste of what FYSOP 19-Disabilities Issue Area is all about. We look forward to meeting everyone on August 20(for staff) and August 25 (new students!)

If you guys have any questions, comments, concerns, or just want to chat with some cool people, please, give us a call or email!

disabilities2008@gmail.com   or call 617-353-4710

 

Hope to see you all in a month!

 

FYSOP love,

Gabby and Becky

Mmmmm….House-less?

Hey everyone,

This is Sam and Catherine here. We hope that you are having a great summer and getting ready for an amazing week of service together. Boston is a great city for young student to spend their 4 years in, but also a city that has a lot of work to be done!

We are excited to be working with some great organizations this year such as The Boston Rescue Mission, Nuestra Comunidad, Casa Nueva Vida Shelter for Women and Children, Sojourner House- A Family Shelter, and many other places. The work we will be doing will make a great impact on a lot of peoples’ lives.

Homelessness and Affordable Housing is something that has greatly affected the Boston area in the past decade.

• 52% of people who are homeless in Massachusetts during a year are actually parents and children –much higher than the national average.
• In October 2006, more than 1,400 families were staying in the state’s emergency shelter system each night. This included nearly 3,000 children — half of whom were school age and half pre-school!
• The amount of homeless families in Massachusetts has almost doubled in a decade!
• 

mmmm… positive?

Hey!!!

First off… if you are searching this blog it means you are either interested in FYSOP or already participating — so congratulations because you are about to embark on an absolutely incredible experience!!!

As for HIV and AIDS Awareness, we are your coordinators Matt and Sam!! So far this summer we have secured our sites related either directly or indirectly to the HIV and AIDS population throughout the greater Boston Area… Community Servings, Boomerangs, Boston Living Center, Project Hope, Project Shine, Spark Center, Cope Center, and the Nazareth House.

Condom donations (2000!! yes i said 2000) are on there way and the AIDS quilt will soon be confirmed! Education day speakers and packet are coming along well… refer back soon for more details!

Hope are all enjoying your summer… we definitely are!!

Much love with a glove,

Matt and Sam

Kids these days…

Heyyyy Guys!!

David and Colleen here. We are the Children coordinators and we couldn’t be more excited for this year’s FYSOP! We are hard at work writing our Education Day packet, booking sites, visiting sites and learning about the wonderful world of children!

Being a kid is all fun and games, right? Well, that’s the way it should be, but unfortunately children today are scarred by abuse, neglect and violence. Some children struggle through our education systems, while others experience health issues and family problems. But, here’s the good news! You can help!!

We have already booked some amazing sites for the week including Headstart Jamaica Plain, Welcome Baby, Waltham Day Camp and Salvation Army-Cambridge…just to name a few! With FYSOP 19 Children, you will be playing with kids, tutoring, preparing classrooms for kids, organizing baskets for new mothers and stuffed animals for abused children!!

Check back for more info throughout the summer! If you have any questions, comments or just a good joke, feel free to contact us at fysopchildren08@gmail.com!!

While we try to teach our children all about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about.
~Angela Schwindt

Mmmm…..Sexual Identity has some spice

Hey everyone, Gender Focus Coordinators here: Ashley Brown and Becca Task. We just love gender and sexual identity, and can’t wait to inform everyone on the progress and happenings of the GLBT community. We want to break stereotypes and boundaries regarding Gender Focus, and all that falls under its umbrella of love.

So far we have found several sites relevant to GLBT issues, body image, and domestic abuse, and are working on finding many more. Each organization has made it their mission to helping those in need of a home, a support system, and a community, and Ashley and I are so honored to be able to create a relationship with these places.

We will try our best to update everyone on GF news, but just have faith that it will be amazing.

Sincerely,

Ashley and Becca

Mmm….Environment… We Durrtayy

Hey All!

Let us first start out by saying— ENVIRONMENT 19… WE DURRTAYYY!! Our names are Ariana and Kyle and we are the FYSOP 19 Environment Coordinators for this summer! We have already started counting down the days to FYSOP 19…52 days!

We are so excited to be working with the Environmental Organizations around Boston this summer! We have some excellent sites already lined up ( Wellfleet on the Cape, Kettle Pond Farm, Esplanade association.. the list goes on!)

We are actually both pretty new to environmental community service, but let us tell you- we are learning so much! For example, did you know that the average person uses 80-100 gallons of water a day, furthermore, if we do not control our water usage there is going to be roughly 36 states with severe water droughts by 2050. Eek! We have also been talking with some wonderful people in the greater Boston community who are excited to come talk to incoming students to teach them what they know. We have people coming in to potentially talk about the ever controversial subject… climate change… or even the Boston Harbour clean-up project!     

We will be keeping you updated throughout the summer- to let you know what we are doing and what we have planned!

Much Environment Love,

Ariana and Kyle

Hmmm…old?

Hey everyone,

We are the Elders coordinators for the summer and we are excited to be the third issue area making an introductory blog rather than the ninth because its going to be harder and harder to be original. Speaking of original, that’s exactly what we are hard at work planning this FYSOP to be. We promise those that are blessed enough to be a part of Elders this summer that they will see, experience, feel, and taste (well maybe not taste) things that expand beyond your wildest dreams. We are knee-deep in Ed-Day packets, speakers, sites, and activities and are wading through what starts with chaos and ends with FYSOP (controlled chaos some may say.) So continue to check in for the Elders blog (witty title is on the way) as we chronicle our journey through the summer.

Diana Gravallese and Grant Kassel