SCI Monthly eNews - August 2007

Who Are We? We are six young adults (18-21) working in the community of Dorchester promoting Dorchester's first community website, MyDorchester.org, dedicated to building social capital and increasing civic engagement by keeping the community informed of the opportunity available for them to be involved in the community and and also by keeping them informed of the resources and organizations that are available in the community.

SCI Dorchester's "Connecting the Dot" initiative is funded by the Boston Globe Foundation as part of a summer violence-prevention collaborative that includes SCI and three other organizations in Boston.

SCI has been awarded grants from the Community Health Network Alliance (CHNA 15)/Lahey Clinic totaling $31,000, including $6,000 for youth programming and a $25,000 Healthy Communities implementation grant to fund a brand new arts and culture initiative.

Over the past year, SCI Woburn conducted an extensive planning process, titled Impact Woburn, to assess needs and assets in Woburn based on community input. Also funded by CHNA, the Impact Woburn initiative revealed a broad consensus on the need for more arts programs and cultural opportunities in Woburn. The new yet unnamed program will include regular coffee houses, the creation of an arts calendar and directory of artists and performers in Woburn, and resources for cultural events.

A meeting will be held on September 6th at 3:30 pm, location to be determined, for residents to get involved with the new arts and culture initiative. Those interested can e-mail arts@sciwoburn.org or call 781-935-2244 to get involved or for more information.

After launching the Dorchester Community Guide in December, SCI has now implemented this successful model in Lynn. With 187 entries, the Lynn Guide is a comprehensive, searchable and mappable database of services and not-for-profit organizations in Lynn. Click here to start exploring the Lynn Guide!

In response to user feedback, we've added a new version of the profile on MassYouth and MyDorchester. The new profile is prettier and better organized, but the most exciting part is that users can now add themes to customize fonts, colors, and background images. Click below to see some wonderful examples from some of our creative users. And check back soon for instructions on how to customize your own profile theme on your local SCI website.

If you've sent something to an @socialcapitalinc.org e-mail address between Monday at 4pm and Wednesday morning, and you haven't yet received a response, please send us your message again to make sure we've received it. We're sorry for any inconvenience.

Concerned parent Cary Bickley writes in an opinion piece in the Christian Science Monitor (July 16) what many of us are probably already thinking, if not saying out loud. Lamenting the rise of "mandated volunteerism," Bickley writes that "the demands of community service have changed dramatically" in the past decade. Service hours, she writes, have become simply another line on a college--of even high school--application, a "rat race" devoid of the worth and community spirit associated with "voluntary" volunteering.