Getting To Know You: Meet Irvin Parra, Community Engagement Specialist
 |
| Irvin Parra, Community Engagement Specialist |
Thank you so much for coming out to do this interview. I think you are
one of, if not the last person to come to Bronx Community Solutions as a staff
member. I wanted to give you a chance to tell the rest of your staff a little
bit about your role and what you hope to contribute to the culture that exists
here.
I am a community engagement
specialist/mentor. So, what I will be working on is creating/implementing a
mentorship program within the Supervised Release Program (“SRP”) modeled after
the mentorship program that exists in [the] clinical [department]. I’ll also be
taking some inspiration from what is being done here with restorative justice.
We’d like to implement mentoring because it is a very underutilized aspect of our
programming. Many other agencies that are engaged in similar work are also
beginning to see that it isn’t just about getting our clients through the
criminal system. It’s also about providing them guidance not only while their
cases are being settled through court, but also afterwards by someone who they
can relate to and who doesn’t approach them in a clinical manner. So, I hope to use my professional and academic
skills and working with Natalie and Samantha to build a program that will fulfill
the dreams that our clients have.
Sounds awesome. Here
at our community office, it’s very rare for us to have conversations with court
staff about your past experiences. So, can you give us a brief description of
your past experiences and how they led you to Bronx Community Solutions?
Well my professional experience
starts with the Summer Youth Employment Program. I worked at a local nonprofit community
center on Dykman [Avenue] and it was my first experience working with youth on
a micro, street based level. I was an outreach worker and my primary role was
to engage with the youth, connect them with services. Moving forward I worked
with the CUNY BMI [Black Mail Initiative]. This was my first direct experience
with mentorship, first as a mentee and then as a mentor. Coming into Borough of
Manhattan Community College ("BMCC"), I didn’t really have a strong male role model that
could guide me through the “college lifestyle”. So, I came across this flyer from
BMI and decided to join. The Institute gave me access to a host of financial
incentives to ensure that I could get to classes but it was the relationship
with my mentor that really helped me. This
relationship not only helped me navigate through the rigors of being a student
with BMCC and opened different opportunities for me in education, employment
and very deep resource of life experiences.
I want to stop you
right here and ask if you can give the rest of the staff a brief description of
what BMI is because it may be a potential resource for BCS clients.
So, CUNY BMI is the Black Male
Initiative. It’s not only for black males but that is that population that was
originally targeted for the program. It came from the realization that males of
color were underrepresented in the CUNY student body. It seeks to make an
active effort to center male students of color and provide a sense of
fraternity in the CUNY system. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been that sense of
fraternity among CUNY schools for several reasons. It’s a city college, most of
the students are working people who usually go to class before/after their
shift on the job. Not many people realize that to be successful in college, you
need a network of support and a sense of camaraderie among students. CUNY BMI
provides those things to our male students of color. It provides that strong
support group and provides them with that sense of fraternity and it also
provides them with that strong foundation to take them to the next level.
Wow that’s amazing. I wish I had a resource like that when I was in
college! You’ve been with Bronx Community Solutions for roughly a month now.
What is your impression of the staff here and the work that we do on a daily
basis?
The work is honestly very
phenomenal. Its innovative for the criminal justice system, especially as we
leave the era in New York City that we are trying to leave behind that
criminalizes basic quality of life offences. A prime example of the innovation
that exists here at BCS is the Overdose Avoidance and Recovery Program (OAR)
which works to provide services to individuals that society would consider “high
risk”. It is a very creative reaction to the opioid epidemic in our community.
Is there a department
that you haven’t been able to work with here at BCS that you would like to gain
more exposure to?
Well I work very closely with
Justin [Briggs] and Erica [Murphy]. They’ve been sort of mentoring the mentor
so to speak, as we work to create a mentoring program that fits their culture
and has a steady line of communication. I would like to connect more with the
departments at the community space here at 95. I think you guys have phenomenal
ideas but it’s just the barrier of being in two different buildings. But I
would love to work with you guys here and just pick your brains. I have great
access to everyone else at BCS, just not the staff here.
What is your long-term
vision for your role?
My long-term vision for my role
at BCS is to compliment the culture that has already been fostered by Maria
[Almonte-Weston] and Carmen [Alcantara] and support their vision as best as I
can. I also want us to begin looking at our work on a broader project based
level, instead of just on a department level. I want to try and find new ways
for us to collaborate and form a sense of partnerships across departments so
that our work isn’t so isolated.
If you had the
opportunity to tell the BCS Family something about you that they do not know,
what would it be?
Ha, can it be formal or informal?
It can be either or
both. Whatever you feel more comfortable with sharing.
So, I’ll share a formal and an informal fact. First,
not too many people know this, because I don’t talk much, but I’m a Patriots
fan. So, I sometimes eavesdrop on conversations that others have in the office
and I’m like “hmm, you know you’re gonna get your butt whooped this season
right,”? But I don’t want to be a jerk
just yet, ha-ha. Professionally, I have large aspirations. It is just a matter
of being patient and trusting the system that my supervisors have created for
me. Sometimes things may be slow, but I’m being patient and I want people to
understand that I am being patient, I am looking forward to meeting the goals
that I’ve been entrusted with and I do take my work very seriously.
Comments
Post a Comment