Who We Are

History

Roca means “rock” in Spanish. Roca’s hopefulness and belief that we can “be the change” is the foundation of our commitment to young people and the communities in which we live. Launched from a single grant from the Teen Challenge Fund of Massachusetts, a passionate group of young people and adults started Roca in 1988 to address teen pregnancy prevention and violence in Chelsea.

Throughout the years, young leaders have taught us about their lives, the on-going changes of young people and their needs, the importance of youth leadership, and the power of hope. In the early years, young street involved drug dealers, immigrant youth, and young parents showed us the way to begin. Over time, gang members taught us about creating answers to community violence, and peer leaders created programming and raised funds for our building. Migrations of young people from different countries taught us about the world. Young people have launched one of the country’s first Cambodian American HIV/AIDS Project, the Azi AIDS Project, started the work in Revere, hosted area peace summits with gang involved young people, started our first social enterprise, Tacos Unidos (now Circle Catering), run an award-winning dance group, Essencia Latina, and informed local and public policy through peacemaking circles.

In addition to young people, Roca’s development has been impacted by mentors and teachers. The teachers are too many to mention, but we would like to share a few with you: Kip Tiernan, Founder of Rosie’s Place, who taught us about having hard conversations and making things happen in spite of how hard it can be; Luis Garden-Acosta, CEO & Founder, and Frances Lucerna, Executive Director, from El Puente, who taught us about youth development; and the people of the Tagish Tlingit Nation in the Yukon Territories and from Minnesota, who taught us about the peacemaking circles and a positive way to be in the world; and Father Peter Young from Peter Young Industries, Housing and Treatment from New York, who shows us about relentless hope and everything that is possible.

The most important lesson is about the power and hope of young people. We are founded on the belief that as long as you are alive, all is possible. The second most important lesson is about teachings of the Medicine Wheel as we learned it from our friend and mentor, Mark Wedge, Chief of the Tagish Tlingit Nation. This world view of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual development is about balance, sacrifice and making oneself whole.

We have built a community center, we have piloted nationally recognized models, we are running businesses, we have learned to be better partners, we challenge everyone to have hard conversations about the things we don’t want to talk about and do something about it, and we are not afraid to talk about what we do wrong so that we can become better at what we do.

“One of Roca’s most inspiring characteristics is the willingness to adapt. It means keeping your eyes and ears open to what young people need. It means changing when you have to, and it means constantly and humbly striving to be better.” – Danielle Cruz, former youth member

Now locally, nationally, and internationally recognized, Roca is fortunate to bring together young people, adults, community members and partners to help young people become self-sufficient and live out of harm’s way. It is our privilege and desire to share something of value so that all of us can live Gandhi’s dream that we must “be the change we hope see in the world.”