Dorchester program staying connected with at-risk kids

BOSTON — A Dorchester non-profit is going the extra mile to stay connected with kids in at-risk neighborhoods during the stay-at-home order.

Emmett Folgert, who founded the Dorchester Youth Collaborative nearly 40 years ago, is determined to make it clear to those in his program that they haven’t been forgotten.

The pandemic forced the program’s center in Fields Corner to close about a month ago.

Since then, Folgert and his mentors have been venturing out of their homes to visit the kids in-person.

They’ve been rewarding youth with video game gift cards for staying on the right path and getting school work done.

“This incentive is working quite well,” said executive director Emmett Folgert. “I put the cards on the hood of my car, and I stand on the other side of it. I spray it with Lysol. I’m extremely careful, and I have a mask on at all times.”

At 70-years-old old, Folgert realizes he is vulnerable to COVID-19, but he believes the kids need him during these difficult times.

“I’m being very, very careful. I keep a whole car length between me and anybody,” he said. “We’re telling them we are all stressed out. We’re doing this together.”

Folgert said most of the youth in his program live in tightly packed multi-family homes. The majority live in low-income communities where trouble isn’t difficult to find.

“The gangs are not abiding by the rules. Our kids still have to be careful. If they didn’t used to go by a certain corner, they still can’t go by there,” explained Folgert.

The loss of sports and other extracurriculars has left a major void in the kids’ lives. Folgert told Boston 25 News he and his mentors are determined to make sure that all of them stay out of trouble.

“If they have any athletic interest, we’re giving them instructions about wearing a mask and going outside and running for ten minutes in a safe direction… then coming home,” said Folgert. “This will come back. It will be okay in the end.”

Folgert said the parents of many of these kids still have to go to work and don’t have the option of staying at home.

Some of the parents used to attend his program when they were growing up.

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