WORCESTER — As a young teenager, Hennessy Puello admits she did not make good decisions. Puello said that she found herself in bad situations, which ultimately led to her long-term suspension from Worcester Public Schools and attending an alternative school. "I used to make choices where I thought it would be the right choice for me but it was really a bad choice and it was leading me the wrong way," Puello said. "I was getting into a lot of trouble at home and at school, I wasn't involved in my community, I can say that I was a bad kid." Puello said she began to change when she became connected with 508 C.H.E.E.R.S. (Community Health Equity Empowerment Resources and Service), a nonprofit group aimed at helping youth in the city discover the benefits of community service while providing a safe social circle for students after school. Puello, now a ninth-grade student at Doherty Memorial High School, said that her experience working with 508 C.H.E.E.R.S. has had a huge impact on how she views herself. "I learned to advocate for myself and use my voice. Close mouths don't get fed and I have also learned to make things better for myself," Puello said. "I learned that if I want respect, I have to give respect. I want to be represented differently in this world. I don't want to be thought of as a kid who went the wrong way, who got suspended, got in fights, arrested...I want to change and be able to change the world."
Echo Louissaint Founder of 508 C.H.E.E.R.S. said, "I think we are selling our youth short. I have youth who have dealt with DCFS (Department of Children and Family Services) who are now standing up in City Hall meetings and saying they are going to change the world. Youth that people who have counted out. Youth that have dealt with gangs. Youth who people typically wouldn't look at as community changes and world leaders," Louissaint said. "Says who? Give them the knowledge, give them the resources and inspire them, lead them, show them how and they can and they will."
"I feel like I'm really making a change in my community. I understand that one individual might not make that big of difference, but the group right here that we have collected, it's going to make a big impact for people, people who are unsheltered, people who need food. And that is something that touches me," Givins-Osafo said. Madison Shaw, the youth employment coordinator for the Worcester Community Action Council, said that the group is different than a lot of the other organizations the Worcester Community Action Council works with. "Echo does a great job creating a welcoming space for everybody. There are people we have placed in other places and they haven't been comfortable, but they have had immense success at 508 C.H.E.E.R.S.," Shaw said.
