South Boston Outreach Summer

With 3 out of every 5 residents having lived in South Boston for fewer than five years, it is not surprising that South Boston is experiencing racial and socioeconomic friction. Despite its rapidly shifting demographics, the key indicators for the health of the community have remained relatively constant. South Boston’s substance abuse mortality rate has slightly increased between the years 2001 (50 deaths per 100,000 population) and 2006 (52.6 deaths per 100,000 population). Moreover, in 2006, the hospitalization rate for substance abuse in South Boston was 5.8 hospitalizations per 1,000 population, nearly double the rate of Boston (3.3 hospitalizations per 1,000 population). As the city neighborhood with the highest mortality rate, South Boston struggles with two of the leading causes of mortality, substance abuse and injury (including suicide). As a result, the South Boston community has made a concerted effort to focus on youth and community assets. More specifically, the South Boston Action Council has implemented a youth assets research campaign, highlighting assets present within South Boston’s youth. The results from the South Boston Youth Assets Survey reveal the importance of programming that contributes to a strong sense of personal power and opportunities for youth to feel valued by the community. Although more than 1 in 4 teens will have used alcohol and more than 1 in 10 teens will have smoked cigarettes or marijuana by the end of middle school, the survey also indicates that youth “with a strong sense of personal power are 34% less likely to use substances.” Similarly, the results point to how South Boston youth are an untapped resource; even though 73% of teens do some form of community service, only 45% say someone has asked them to help on service or volunteer projects in the past year.