Working Together for Boyle Heights
Proyecto Pastoral is fortunate to have support from committed funders like AT&T. As the backbone organization for Promesa Boyle Heights, we were recently selected as one of 18 award recipients in the AT&T Aspire Connect to Success Competition. This is the third time Proyecto Pastoral has received support from AT&T, which has now contributed more than $1.3 Million in the Promesa Boyle Heights initiative.
Continued investments such as this are powering the remarkable transformation of our community. Once defined by struggling schools, gang violence, and dilapidated infrastructure, Boyle Heights is building a reputation for its community stability and college-going culture. From opening new schools, to improving infrastructure, to increasing graduation rates, we are building success together through Promesa Boyle Heights.
At the heart of our community’s remarkable transformation, is our shared vision – a community in which all children have access to effective schools and supports to succeed and become engaged citizens of the 21st Century. This vision is straightforward, but complex, involving numerous deep-seeded social and economic challenges. That is why no single agency or organization has been able to overcome these obstacles alone, and the collaborative approach of Promesa Boyle Heights is having an impact.
Over the past four years, we have developed a community-led plan. We have activated our residents and community organization. And we have implemented education projects to address the high school dropout crisis. During this time, graduation rates at Mendez High School have risen from 34% to a remarkable 96% for the class of 2016. Graduation rates are also on the rise at Roosevelt High School, and we are now expanding our programs to reach 2,300 youth.
Promesa Boyle Heights shows us that when community, government and committed corporate partners work together, we can have collective impact and deliver on our shared promise for a brighter future.
