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Lowell Youth Mentor Receives $120,000 Health Leadership Award
BOSTON – When Gregg Croteau arrived in Lowell, Massachusetts more than six years ago he found a city struggling with issues similar to many other urban communities, that of youth and gang violence. Lowell has large Latino and Asian-American immigrant populations, including the second largest Cambodian community in the country.
Equipped with an MSW from the University of Michigan and a strong track record working with youth, including a stint in Vietnam, Croteau engaged a group of adult volunteers and young people and set out to create a youth center where teens would be the decision makers. One of the many ways Croteau has been successful in developing a community-based approach to youth development is by continually emphasizing Lowell teens as problem solvers… not problems.
The United Teen Equality Center (UTEC) is run by and for young people between the ages of 13 and 23, providing a safe haven for youth development programming and grassroots organizing. It includes intensive street outreach, civic engagement, academic preparation, work skills training, and cultural programming. Fifty percent of UTEC’s staff and board is young people. Decided by these same young people, UTEC’s core values focus on peace, positivity, and empowerment.
It is for his work with UTEC that Croteau is being honored as one of 10 outstanding individuals from across America chosen to receive the 2006 Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Program award.
One of the most daring and successful of UTEC’s programs is the Streetworker Program, which facilitates mediations with gangs on a daily basis and coordinates peace summits. Through what Croteau and his co-workers call “peace circles,” based on Native American traditions, UTEC staff work to build relationships and bridges between youth in different gangs. Last year alone UTEC conducted more than 50 successful mediations and a highly successful peace summit between two leading rival youth gangs.
“Gregg’s passion for empowering young people is contagious. His magnetic personality puts individuals at ease and his transparency earns young people’s respect,” says JuanCarlos Rivera, UTEC Director of Operations.
“The number of teens that shout out his name while walking on Merrimack Street is but one sign of his impact… At the community level, Lowell is fortunate to have many city agencies and community partners dedicated to serving young people. Gregg’s other strengths lie in understanding the importance behind maintaining these relationships in the same way he does with our teens…with respect and passion.”
The program awards $1.2 million each year to health leaders who have surmounted personal and other obstacles to help Americans gain access to heath care and social services. Croteau and this year’s other winners were honored at a June 21 event at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey. He will receive $105,000 to further the work of his program and a $15,000 personal award.
“Last summer’s devastating hurricanes brought into focus for all Americans the gaping holes in this country’s safety net,” said Catherine Dunham, Ed.D., Program Director, Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Program. “It reinforced what we know to be true; that local leaders taking the initiative are really the first and best responders whether the issue is access to care or youth development in underserved areas.”
Croteau was chosen from more than 300 people nominated this year. Since 1992, the program has distributed 140 awards in 47 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. Those chosen are nominated by civic leaders, health professionals, government representatives and others inspired by their efforts to provide essential health services to their communities. This year’s award winners represent urban and rural areas of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, and the District of Columbia.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more than 30 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org.
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