TURN IT AROUND
Family & Friends Newsletter:
January 2023

The purpose of this newsletter is to highlight our amazing youth leaders and all of the activities taking place in the community that they are involved in.

We hope to further engage the mentors and adults in these young people's lives and are available to parents and guardians to answer any questions about our programming. If you need assistance regarding your youth, please feel free to reach out to our Youth Program Coordinators Mswati Hanks and Zaire Richardson.
2022 In Review!
We compiled a ton of our favorite TIA memories from 2022 into one video...enjoy! Don't forget to subscribe to our Youtube page for more!
TIA Give Back
This January we headed downtown to pass out toiletries and warm clothing items to those in need. Thank you to the Collier family for their partnership on such a meaningful tradition.
Race Dialogues
Join us on Tuesday, February 21st at 5:30pm for our monthly Race & Equity Discussion. This series explores important topics about the impact of race, policing in urban settings, and equity. It is open to all members of the Charlestown community and the general public. Please note meetings are indoors once again, at 10 Green Street.
 
This forum is being co-sponsored by the Charlestown Coalition, Turn It Around Youth Program, Councilor Gigi Coletta and her team.
TIA JR Highlights
TIA JR met for the first time in a few weeks, and really focused on building back that community feel after time off. We also announced our two eighth grade ambassadors, Donovan and Malaiyah! This is a huge honor, as they stand out as mature leaders of the group, and will set an example for JRs to come.
New Years Intentions
TURN IT AROUND worked on goals for this new year together, in addition to some group commitments. We wrote down our goals and dreams, and drew them on big magnets to stick on our fridges to look at every day - everyone worked really hard to think about specific and attainable goals for themselves for 2023!
Visit to the ICA
The Institute of Contemporary Art is one of our faves, and for good reason. This time around, we saw an exhibit focused on childhood. We took inspiration from the collage and mixed media art, and will be using that to inform our next unit!
Art Unit: Collage
Alumni Visit
There's no better pick me up than some alumni energy! These three drop in often and we're so grateful for it. We're so proud of the young men Ryan, Max and Rey are.
January Birthdays
Happy January Birthdays to Aliyah, Serennity, Maraquile, Donovan and Hidalee!
Where Are They Now?
TURN IT AROUND Alumni

Guess Who? It's Martavia!
Find out what she has been up to and how Turn It Around has impacted her life!
TURN IT AROUND:
Youth of the Month

Turn It Around would like to congratulate our January Youth of the Month Cristhy Andujar! Cristhy has been a rock star since joining the program. She attends every single meeting and also all of the events we do, including the monthly Race Dialogue. She’s never too shy to share her opinion, and always has something thoughtful and insightful to say when she does. 

-Mswati Hanks,
Youth Program Coordinator
TURN IT AROUND JUNIOR:
Youth of the Month
We’d like to congratulate Donovan Harris for being named January’s TIA JR Youth of the Month!! Although he is a behind-the-scenes kind of guy, he has been a consistent highlight in our program. He’s always on time to every group, the VERY FIRST to lend a hand and his everlasting positive energy is so infectious.

-Zaire Richardson,
Youth Program Coordinator
Thank you for helping raise the next generation
of community leaders!