Community Updates and Resources |
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Welcome! This community resource email is provided by the Charlestown Family Support Circle and meant to highlight all of the wonderful resources in the Charlestown community and the city of Boston, in an effort to increase access to supports and services for residents, children, youth and their families.
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Charlestown Resources and Events |
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Charlestown Christmas Stroll |
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Charlestown YMCA Thanksgiving Giveaway |
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New Health Charlestown Community Fridge |
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Jr. Celtics Basketball Program
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Jr. Celtics will be held for ages 10-13 on:
Wednesdays from 4:45-5:45 pm
This program will start on November 10 and run until February 16.
Registration is open now by emailing charlestowny@ymcaboston.org or stopping by anytime we are open!!!
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Bring your little ones to explore with us! Finger painting, clay squishing, and more - a different material will be introduced weekly. Classes will be held on Wednesdays at 4:15 pm. For more information or to register click here.
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Bring your little ones to explore with us! Finger painting, clay squishing, and more - a different material will be introduced weekly. Classes will be held on Wednesdays at 4:15 pm. For more information or to register click here.
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Help Support JFK Senior Grocery Program |
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Tech Goes Home for Early Childhood |
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Tech Goes Home for Senior |
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Charlestown Lacrosse and Learning Center |
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Learn How to Play Chess
The Charlestown Working Theater (CWT) and the CLLC are partnering to offer Instructional Chess.
Classes take place on Saturday mornings. Each session runs for eight weeks, and the cost for each session is $175, and financial aid is always available.
Join for this 8-week Fall session beginning on Saturday, October 23rd.
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Chess I - http://assn.la/Reg/?r=2:216895
- 10:30am-11:30am
- All new players regardless of experience
- My child has played before, should they begin in Chess II?
- We start every new student in Chess I, even if they have experience. In addition to opening techniques, Vadim reviews all aspects of beginning chess, including strategies and tactics, and if time allows, notation. Vadim is a very experienced instructor and he recognizes when a player is ready to move to Chess II and will move anyone accordingly.
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Chess II - http://assn.la/Reg/?r=2:216896
- 11:30am-12:30pm
- Returning students only
This is not a chess club, it's instructional, focused on strategies and tactics. We meet virtually on Saturday mornings. Each session runs for eight weeks, and the cost for each session is $175, and financial aid is always available. Join us for this 8-week Fall session beginning on Saturday, Nov. 13th
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Harvest on vine Food Distribution Dates: |
Saturday, November 13th at 8:00 A.M.
Thanksgiving Distribution
Tuesday, November 23rd at 2:00 P.M.
Please arrive with proof of residence.
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Charlestown Coalition's Community Meetings |
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Join us along with Turn It Around Charlestown and Boston City Councilor Lydia Edwards for our next Race Conversation |
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Charlestown Coalition Meeting Updates: |
Upcoming Steering Committee Meeting Reminder:
Tuesday, December 28th
12:00 P.M.-1:30 P.M.
*Due to COVID-19, the Charlestown Coalition
Steering Committee Meeting will be held virtually via Zoom
until further notice.
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Charlestown Family Support Circle Meeting Updates: |
Upcoming Family Support Circle Task Force Meeting:
Tuesday, November 2nd
12:00 P.M.-1:00 P.M.
*Due to COVID-19, the Charlestown Coalition
Steering Committee Meeting will be held virtually via Zoom
until further notice.
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Information for Parents and Caregivers: |
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Tap Into Self Compassion
Self-compassion, by definition, is acting kind while forgiving and nurturing yourself—but that’s just scraping the surface of its impact. It can improve your relationships, your well-being, and your mental health, including reducing feelings of anxiety and depression.
While some people are more compassionate to themselves than others, it can be learned and applied to your own life.
Join us as David H. Rosmarin, PhD, ABPP, explains the impacts of self-compassion on our mental health, shares simple ways that we can become kinder to ourselves, and answers audience questions about how we can foster more compassion for ourselves and for one another.
Join us: Thursday, December 2 @ 11am ET
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Talking about Race and Racism with Your Children |
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Talking about Race with your Children |
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Racism and Your Health: Resources for Teens |
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Grateful for Greatness
By Yvonne Castañeda
Thanksgiving Day is my favorite holiday and for many reasons, most of which have to do with food. As a child, my Cuban father and Mexican mother would bypass the turkey tradition and instead roast an entire pig seasoned with Mojo Sauce. They would pair said pig roast with white rice, black beans, fried sweet plantains and boiled cassava. On the one occasion that my brother and I begged our mom to make a turkey (we wanted to be just like other American families), Mami complied but she seasoned the turkey with Mojo Sauce and stuffed it with white rice and black beans. Go figure. It tasted just like roast pig but at least we felt a little more American.
Whether we had turkey or roast pig made no difference to parents; they had lived in extreme poverty as children and they fully embraced the spirit of Thanksgiving in their new home country. My father would always remind us that we were blessed to have each other, to have good health and a solid roof over our heads. Never did he mention how grateful he was for our new sofa or used car or my brother’s bicycle. In short, we learned to always be grateful for the things we could not buy. For that reason, I will always love Thanksgiving.
Each year, many of us come together to celebrate everything for which we are grateful: the love of families, partners, friends; the safety of our community, the dedication of teachers; a thousand marvelous intangibles that fill in the cracks created by our stressful jobs and never ending responsibilities. We give thanks for all the things that make our lives meaningful and worth all the headaches.
But have you ever given thanks for who you are in the grand scheme of things? Does it feel too weird, too self-serving to explore the idea that you have something to offer, something for which you should be grateful? If so, maybe it’s because it seems more natural to beat ourselves up instead. I am not pretty enough. I am not smart enough. I am not interesting. I am a bad parent, a terrible partner, an embarrassing resident of Planet Earth. Yet no matter how much you criticize yourself, there’s something within you that deserves a place on Thanksgiving Day. Something that has gotten you this far in life but is currently buried beneath layers of self-doubt, insecurity and harsh self-judgment.
So before you pile your plate with whatever food your family or friends like to eat on Thanksgiving Day, before you give thanks to everyone and everything in your life, pause for a moment. Give thanks for whatever it is about you that gets you out of bed, whatever you do that lifts and encourages others: your strength, your patience, your energy, your sense of humor, your dedication to honesty or your commitment to your partner. Say it aloud in the presence of others or write it down. Start a new tradition with your friends and family. Post in on Facebook, send out a tweet. You know yourself better than I do, so run wild and be grateful for your greatness.
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Citywide Resources and Events |
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Babysitter Training Course |
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Eliot Resource Center Monthly Calendar |
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Deseas Tu Diploma De High School |
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Fuel Assistance for Home Owners |
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Fuels Assistance for Renters |
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What to Bring When you Apply for Fuel Assistance |
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Legal and Immigration Services |
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Immigration and other Resources |
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Immigration resources for Providers |
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Employment and Job Training |
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Nursing Aide Training Program: |
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After school Youth Employment Program
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Break Time Job Opportunity
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To learn more about youth job opportunities go to:
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Advocacy, Awareness and Training |
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November is Native American Heritage Month |
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"Native American and Alaska Native Heritage Month has evolved from its beginnings as a week-long celebration in 1986, when President Reagan proclaimed the week of November 23-30, 1986 as "American Indian Week." Every President since 1995 has issued annual proclamations designating the month of November as the time to celebrate the cultures, accomplishments, and contributions of Native Americans and Alaska Natives.
Through dance, family traditions, art, and music, these stories show both the contemporary diversity and long history of Indigenous people across the land we now call the United States. Celebrate the history, culture, and traditions of American Indians and Alaska Natives in a special collection of films and programs" (PBS.Org)
To Learn more about Native American Heritage Month go to:
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What is Children's Grief Awareness Day?
"Created in 2008 by the Highmark Caring Place, A Center for Grieving Children, Adolescents and Their Families, and since recognized by organizations around the world, Children's Grief Awareness Day is observed every year on the third Thursday in November (the Thursday before the U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving). This time of year is a particularly appropriate time to support grieving children because the holiday season is often an especially difficult time after a death.
Children's Grief Awareness Day seeks to bring attention to the fact that often support can make all the difference in the life of a grieving child. It provides an opportunity for all of us to raise awareness of the painful impact that the death of a loved one has in the life of a child, an opportunity to make sure that these children receive the support they need.
To learn more how to support children with grief go to:
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Did you know? Children and Grief Statistics |
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