Track 2: Elevating High-Risk Youth & Vulnerable Communities

About the Track

Within this track, we have particular interest in funding implementation, expansion or piloting of innovative and evidence-based or informed approaches to

violence and exploitation prevention
programming that seeks to address health and social disparities that perpetuate historical, communal, or inter-generational cycles of poverty, discrimination or other forms of social oppression
advocacy and advancement-based services and programming for vulnerable or marginalized groups, including LGBQ and TGNC individuals and communities
bullying, suicide and violence prevention initiatives, and
shelters, drop-in centers, or housing programs for homeless, runaway or throwaway youth.

Resources and Foundation Trust Initiatives

Spinazzola Family Counseling Room at Medford Public Library

Thanks to a grant from the Foundation Trust, the Medford Public Library has a specially furnished counseling room that can be reserved for use by community providers.

“The counseling room at the Medford Library provides a unique opportunity for community providers to meet their clients ‘where they are’ in a private, accessible space," explained Foundation Trust Executive Director Dr. Joseph Spinazzola. "Our hope is that this dedicated room will provide a welcoming and healing respite, and we are grateful to the Medford Public Library for integrating the idea into their beautiful new space.”

Those interested in reserving the Spinazzola Family Counseling Room can do so by calling (781) 395-7950 or visiting the Information Desk at the Medford Public Library, located at 111 High Street in Medford.

Resources on Complex Trauma-Informed Residential Services for Children, Youth and Young Adults

Newly-added resources on complex trauma-informed residential services focusing on the importance of “frontline” direct care staff in forging unified trauma-informed intervention teams for youth in residential programs, and the need to challenge implicit discrimination and advance inclusivity in the staffing of residential programs in order to better reflect client’s racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds and more effectively meet their diverse cultural and clinical needs.

The Complexity of Racial Trauma (May 2022)