LifeLine Youth and Family Service is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization, providing an array of support services to improve the health and quality of life among people in our community…African Immigrants, men, women, youths, and refugees in Massachusetts.

Making a positive impact. That’s what LifeLine is all about. We help youth overcome emotional, behavioral, and educational issues through a variety of services – each one using our effective treatment philosophy. We nurture. We encourage. We challenge. We empower not only the child, but the whole family. And we provide the skills needed to live more productive and fulfilling lives. Welcome to LifeLine, where change is for good.

Why Community Based Organizations are Important

For over 5 years LifeLine has been providing advocacy, health awareness, job training, citizenship classes, after school programs and educational services to our community of African immigrants and refugees using a holistic approach. This approach lends itself to a deeper understanding and tolerance in our communities, bringing positivity and self- reliance to the forefront of people’s lives. We implement programs that allow people who have been through tremendous hardships to regain control of their lives. We instill the concept that people must be their own advocates because their issues are specific to their lives and people may not understand. The community we serve has many obstacles to overcome, including HIV/AIDS other health disparities, poverty, English as a second language, cultural differences, finding jobs in an unstable job market, and emotional trauma, as well as preserving the values and customs they deeply value. Our programs offer support and advocacy to ensure families will not have to endure all of these obstacles alone. Our multi-lingual strives for a high level of communication in order to understand and provide support.

In Times of Hardship

During such difficult times, with an economy that is extremely volatile and unstable, people turn to community and family for support. Many of the people we serve do not have the luxury of family support because their family is fragmented across nations. Instead, these people rely on their community and organizations like LifeLine. Jobs are scarce and social service programs have seen significant budget cuts; this makes what we do more relevant today than ever before. The stress of everyday life in these economic times only magnifies the problems. Add to this, re-adjusting to a new culture, language, and educational system, and we find ourselves in a position where the demand for our services is greater than our capacity to serve.

Our focus now is to provide to our clients that are skills relevant to the current economy and job market as well as keeping kids involved in programs that have a positive effect on their future. As such, we have increased programs that focus on family stability, domestic violence, substance abuse counseling, and continuing education through our computer job training classes and youth mentoring/empowerment programs.  LifeLine makes it a priority to continually revise programs in order to maintain their relevance to the current markets and social issues particular to our community. 

The Value of Investing in Youth

An issue of particular importance to LifeLine is youth violence. We know that after school programs prevent kids from partaking in reckless behavior, violence, pregnancy, or illegal activities that will negatively affect their lives. We have been on board for many years with the philosophy of prevention through investment in youth early in their lives. We have taken a proactive approach rather than a reactive approach and ask for everyone to take interest in the youth in Massachusetts whether in your particular neighborhood or across the state.

The youth in our programs are all considered “at risk” simply due to their socioeconomic status. They are English Language Learners, come from low income families, and are dealing with peer issues that become extremely complex in the context of their lives. Their parents endured extreme hardships and many of our kids are becoming lost in gang violence, substance abuse, early pregnancy and STDs. They need valuable resources and outlets to discuss these issues that become a part of their daily lives. Please take interest in the lives of youth, volunteer in our youth programs, and make a huge difference in a child’s life.

Our Commitment to the Community 

LifeLine is committed to helping people better their lives, regardless of their background. LifeLine is distinguished by its impact it has is made across many social service sectors which have evolved greatly over the past 5 years. Our physical location makes it convenient for our staff members to be a constant positive force and resource to the community we serve. Our staff members have become the extended family of many of these individuals and families in the areas we serve. This provides for a high level of trust, communication, and the creation of positive outcomes in these people’s lives. We are committed to helping our community and our success comes from every child, family or individual that achieves their goal of doing better in school, getting a job for which they worked hard, or finding a new activity they never knew they loved. 

Our Success is Your Success 

We ask everyone to think, and find a level of empathy for individuals and families so that our success can be a shared throughout our community and yours for a long time to come. 
I would like to personally thank every organization and individual who supports LifeLine. On behalf of all of our staff and board members we thank you deeply for making a commitment to our mission and making a difference in our community.