On September 16, 2022, YouthBuild Just A Start students visited the traveling EVICTED Exhibition, currently on display at The Armory in Somerville. Weeks prior, in collaboration with the Community Action Agency of Somerville (CAAS), an organization dedicated to addressing poverty in the Somerville community and the root causes of economic injustice, four students from YouthBuild Just A Start worked to build and install interactive pieces of the exhibit in the form of mini houses. 

YouthBuild Just A Start, based in Cambridge, MA, is a high school education, job skills, and leadership development program for young people ages 16-24. The exhibit is a traveling version of the original which debuted in April 2018 at the National Building Museum in Washington DC. The “eye-opening” exhibition exploring the causes and impacts of eviction is based on Matthew Desmond’s award-winning book Evicted and aligned deeply with the mission of Just A Start, the organization under which YouthBuild Just A Start is affiliated – to promote equity by creating access to stable housing and building pathways to economic opportunity. Just A Start currently assists over 600 people with rental assistance, housing stabilization, homeless prevention and home improvement and preserves and maintains affordable apartments that are home to 1,500 residents.

Over the course of a week and a half, four students constructed the exhibit with two students, Kendall Joslin and Jaiden Williams taking on construction site leadership roles. The overall project work was conducted with the supervision of  YouthBuild Construction Site Supervisor, Charlie Parker and Vocational Instructor, Dan Madri. The mini houses required the application of various skills, including plan reading, dealing with irregularities presented by work sites, troubleshooting audio visual components, and working together as a team to meet a deadline.  

“Everyday, we work with our students to impart to them the skills and experience to enter the workforce and the importance of community service and leadership. When CAAS approached us about having our students build an exhibit to shed light on the lives of families and individuals impacted by eviction, it was such a great mission match for us. We couldn’t be more proud of our student work crew for the learning, planning, and execution of this important exhibit, ” said Nate Bae Kupel, YouthBuild Just A Start’s Director.

The traveling version of Evicted offers an opportunity to bring the exhibition away from the center of Washington politics and advocacy to address new audiences. Both children and adults who did not know about the issue will have the opportunity to learn about housing instability and how it is affecting their own communities. At each venue, new people can join in a national conversation about the eviction epidemic. The exhibition presents sobering statistics and personal stories, challenging adults and youth to face the enormity of a difficult subject, while providing context and a call to action.

“We were absolutely thrilled that YouthBuild Just A Start was willing to help us in bringing this important exhibit to life” said Sinead O’Hara, CAAS’ Project Manager for the Evicted Exhibit. “As a significant portion of the exhibit focuses on the impact of evictions on Somerville and Greater Boston, it was important for us to treat every aspect of the exhibit as a community project. YouthBuild’s mission was a perfect alignment, and the student work crew did an outstanding job planning and executing the build.”

Somerville is thrilled to have the opportunity to host the exhibit at The Armory in Somerville, MA.The exhibit will be free to the public and will run from September 10th, 2022 until November 4th, 2022.

About YouthBuild Just A Start
YouthBuild Just A Start is a full-time comprehensive youth development program that helps young people reclaim their education, gain job skills, and become leaders in their communities. The program serves students aged 16 to 24, offering youth the opportunity to earn their high school credential and build employment skills in their choice of Construction or Retail. YouthBuild students are also eligible to earn stipends of up to $300 bi-weekly as they pursue their education and work experience. YouthBuild Just A Start is a proud affiliate member of the global YouthBuild movement. For more information, please visit https://justastart.org/youth-programs/. 

About Community Action Agency of Somerville (CAAS)
Community Action Agency of Somerville (CAAS) has been the federally designated anti-poverty agency serving Somerville, Massachusetts since 1981. CAAS’ mission is to help local families and individuals achieve financial security while working to eliminate the root causes of economic injustice. Each year we leverage the work of some 100 employees, 150 volunteers and roughly $11 million in federal, state, local and private funding to: Expand and promote opportunities for all Somerville residents in the fields of education, employment, housing, health, and improved neighborhood life; and serve as a structure for empowering both low-income constituencies and those whose full involvement in the community has been obstructed or discouraged by oppression and discrimination. For more information, please visit https://www.caasomerville.org/.