Federal Vision: All children growing up in Promise Neighborhoods have access to effective schools and strong systems of family and community support that will prepare them to attain an excellent education and successfully transition to college and career.
The Boyle Heights Promise Neighborhood (BHPN)
Through a highly competitive process, Boyle Heights was selected as one of only 21 communities in the nation to receive a Promise Neighborhoods Planning Grant.
Over the coming months, the Boyle Heights Promise Neighborhood (BHPN) Collaborative will work with families, individuals, schools, government agencies and community organizations to develop a plan for a thirty block area of Boyle Heights (near Hollenbeck Middle School, Mendez Learning Center, and the Pico Aliso public housing community) to ensure children receive the quality education they need to thrive all the way from cradle thru college. This target area is home to 19,500 residents and 6,000 children ages zero to 18. The plan will include a scaling-up strategy for eventually serving all children in Boyle Heights.
Why Boyle Heights?
Boyle Heights has a rich history of organizing and an infrastructure of organizations with deep relationships in the community. Unfortunately, there also a lot conditions in the community that make it difficult for students to achieve academic success:
- 1 in 3 families live below the poverty line and nearly 70% of adults ages 25 and up have less than a high school education;
-Overcrowding, aging buildings and lack of maintenance by landlords have led to sub-standard housing conditions;
-1 in 3 HS students are classified as English Learners although many of them are native born students;
-A disproportional number of students dropout and only 3% are eligible for college.
-These problems are exacerbated by two unique challenges facing Boyle Heights: Physical borders that cut through the community (freeways, bridges, industries) make it difficult for residents to access resources and contribute to gang formation. Boyle Heights has among the highest concentration of gangs in the nation (more than 34 gangs in the area).
-History of immigration presents unique challenges and opportunities. More than half of residents were born outside the US and 94% of the community is of Latino descent. 85% of families speak Spanish at home.
How Can I Get Involved?
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For more information, contact Deycy Avitia at davitia@proyectopastoral.org
