Citizens, a longtime friend to The Home, has partnered with our organization since 2005. Their support has shifted over the years to serve the needs of our agency and to reflect the financial institution’s priorities. Citizens’ leaders have served on our board of directors, they have toured our facilities to learn more about the work we do and how we do it, and they are a contributor and constant presence at Voices & Visions, The Home’s annual fundraising gala. Volunteerism and serving the community is a cornerstone of their culture. The Citizens team is there for The Home in all seasons, whether donating and distributing gifts for our kids and families in The Home’s Toy Room at the holidays or tackling springtime maintenance and beautification projects at our sites to ensure our youth feel cared for and good about their surroundings.
Their most recent act of philanthropy—a transformative two-year grant—has been a game changer for the vocational programs at The COVE School and Clifford Academy, two of The Home’s three special education schools. Preparing future leaders for the workforce is one of Citizens’ chief areas of focus, so collaborating with The Home to help ignite the students’ passions, explore career possibilities and build skills that will serve them for life aligns with their corporate credo, as well as The Home’s vision.
“The Home is designing programming that fits the interests of the youth, so they can really be interested, invested and thrive.” – Lisa Murray, President, Citizens Massachusetts
Students at The COVE School and Clifford Academy are given the opportunity to enhance their middle school and high school experience with hands-on activities where they’re learning trade-specific skills, and they’re finding success.
“Our vocational programs are invaluable,” says Beth Christensen, Vice Principal and Vocational Director of THE COVE School. “We’re finding that students who struggle to access the curriculum in the classroom are able to flourish in the vocational shops.”
In Culinary Arts, students learn how to make different types of cuisine, experience flavor profiles, utilize leftovers, professionally plate food and gain kitchen-related experience. In Horticulture, they grow produce, herbs and flowers in gardens indoors and out, and learn about hydroponics, raised bed care and groundskeeping. In Shop, they design woodworking projects on a CAD program before producing the finished product, and use small machinery, weld materials and more. Citizens has, in large part, made these activities possible. “They are the essential reason we’ve been able to expand our programs, buy materials we need, and be creative and inventive with our programs for the kids,” says Erin L.B. Virzi, CRC, HTR, Vocational Coordinator of our Walpole campus.
Citizens’ grant has not only allowed The Home to acquire necessities that have taken the programs to new heights (like a double convection oven with a dehydrator and bread proofer, refrigerator, grow light systems, garden tools, a miter saw, etc.), it has a sustaining structure, so programs can replenish supplies like wood, seeds and ingredients as needed. This means our youth aren’t limited in what they can explore; with resources in place, they are learning that if they have an idea, a dream or a passion, they are able to achieve it.
Students are finding a sense of ownership, of self-management, and they’re learning the beauty of collaboration. They are building their resumes and going off to trade school or heading to college to pursue the culinary field because of the different career paths they have been exposed to. “It’s rewarding to show students, who might not necessarily see their path forward, all that’s possible,” says Lisa. “There are so many fulfilling careers out there that can benefit from the students’ skills and passions.”
GRANTING BIG IDEAS
Students at our schools are making good use of Citizens’ support. Here is just a sampling of what they’ve accomplished so far…
- Students at The COVE School have designed raised garden beds in woodshop and filled them with plantings. They monitor the progress of their flowers and foliage, and care for them around the clock.
- At Clifford Academy, students dehydrate peppers and use garlic and spices they’ve grown to create hot sauces, dried herb mixes and flavored salts.
- Across both campuses, students in woodshop build everything from a garden gazebo to birdhouses, charcuterie boards, decorative shields and custom dog bowls.
- Youth bake hand pies for PI Day in The COVE School kitchen and sugar cookies in the Walpole ovens for the decorate-your-own cookie kits they sell at Valentine’s Day.
- In Clifford Academy’s small machines shop, students make their own clocks, designing all of the mechanisms on the CNC machine.
- Youth harvest tomatoes, lettuce, zucchini and cucumbers at The COVE School and grow a wide variety of flowers, some of which they cut, bundle and sell at the market.
- Students roast, blend and grind their own coffee beans and craft flavored syrups to serve at Clifford’s Coffee Connection. They also hone their barista and customer service skills and do the ordering and budgeting.
