The project has been very different this year than last. We have had to steel ourselves for the trip to Central Falls High School. The foreclosure rate in Central Falls is the highest in the state (57/1000) with Rhode Island being the highest in Southern New England. On each trip there are more boarded up houses on the streets leading to the school. These are not detached single family homes either - these are triple deckers, some with units fore and aft, so as many as six families might be affected by a single abandoned house.
The nativism promoted by the current governor in his policies towards immigrants has added to the tension among the students. We see this particularly this year because we know some of the students from last year whom we are encouraging to apply to college. We promote college without being able to address the elephant in the room of immigration status - and hope they will have the courage to see themselves as college students.
This year it is all the more apparent when the downturn arrives, those least prepared are the ones most directly and deeply affected.
