It started as a part-time job during high school. Then it became a community. And Shavel鈥檒e Olivier 鈥�14 has never left the Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition (MFFC) since. Even while she was studying for her bachelor鈥檚 degree from the Boston College Carroll School of Management, Olivier returned to MFFC every weekend, wielding her newfound leadership and marketing skills as she organized farmers鈥� markets, cooking classes, and bicycle outings.
This past fall, Olivier earned a Cox Conserves Heroes Award. Presented by听听in partnership with听听and the听, the award recognizes a local environmental volunteer for work improving outdoor spaces. Along with the honor, she received $10,000 to donate to MFFC.
Olivier鈥檚 goal, she says, is to make her Boston neighborhood one of the healthiest communities in Massachusetts.
Like many marginalized urban neighborhoods, Mattapan has high rates of hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes, owing to a dearth of options for nutritious meals and exercise. People juggling multiple jobs are hard pressed to join gyms or shop at natural food stores, and those businesses tend not to locate in struggling commercial districts anyway.
But Mattapan does have active community groups dedicated to realizing the neighborhood鈥檚 potential. Olivier found her way to one such group as a teenager.听The MFFC is a grassroots, volunteer-based organization focused on bringing healthful food and exercise programming to its community in order to combat those chronic diseases associated with obesity and hypertension.
鈥淚nitially, I just wanted a job,鈥� Olivier recalls. 鈥淚 wanted to pay for my own things.鈥� The coalition employs a unique model in which young people perform some paid work and some volunteer work. As a member of MFFC鈥檚 Vigorous Youth wing, Olivier鈥檚 duties took her far outside her comfort zone.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 talk much in high school,鈥� says Olivier, who graduated from Boston Latin Academy. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 socialize. Honestly, this organization gave me my first group of friends.鈥� And as she met with business owners, government officials, and other local nonprofit groups; recruited other teens to the cause; sold fresh vegetables on crowded sidewalks; and signed up neighbors for Zumba classes, Olivier broke out of her shell altogether.
鈥淚 gained a lot of confidence as the years went by,鈥� she says.
Moreover, she gained mentors, such as Vivien Morris, the founder and co-chair of MFFC and also community engagement manager for the Carroll School鈥檚听Joseph E. Corcoran Center for Real Estate and Urban Action, as well as Linda Dorcena Forry 鈥�96, a former state rep who has supported MFFC鈥檚 efforts.
鈥淭hese women in different leadership positions were inspirational to me,鈥� Olivier says. 鈥淭hey encouraged me and made me more comfortable taking on more leadership roles.鈥�
Olivier is now co-chair of MFFC鈥檚 Vigorous Youth program. She coordinates volunteers, researches and writes grants, plans events, and is generally in the thick of MFFC鈥檚 programming and administration. (All this while working a full-time job at the Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center and studying for a master鈥檚 degree in nonprofit management at Northeastern University.)
One of Olivier's signal achievements (and what garnered her the Cox award) is Mattapan on Wheels, a bike ride that she spearheaded in 2011 and continues to coordinate annually. The ride now showcases the local link in the Neponset River Greenway Trail and other neighborhood improvements. The 1.3-mile stretch of the greenway opened to the public in the spring of 2017, connecting cyclists and walkers from Mattapan Square to Dorchester and Milton. (The MFFC was instrumental in completing the trail.)
鈥淲hen I see people [riding] the trail, it makes me happy, because I鈥檝e been involved in the background pieces of trying to make that green asset come to life,鈥� Olivier told听. 鈥淎nd now seeing them use it, it warms my heart.鈥�
Olivier credits her Boston College experience, in part, with boosting her leadership skills in unexpected ways. She points especially to the impact of Carroll School classes such as Leadership, Managing Diversity, and Leading High Performance Teams.
鈥淭hose classes gave me a foundation that helped me explore how I am a leader鈥攁nd that leaders are not [shaped by] cookie cutters, with shared characteristics, like being outgoing or able to talk a lot,鈥� says Olivier, whose co-curricular involvements included the Haitian Association of Boston College. 鈥淵ou can be a leader by focusing on your strengths.鈥�
Morris says that among Olivier鈥檚 strengths is her ability 鈥渢o connect with young people, because she fully understands their lives.鈥�
And just as Olivier once gained confidence and ambition under the tutelage of leaders like Morris and Forry, she is now inspiring the teens in her hometown.
鈥淲e want young people in this community to go on to colleges and universities,鈥� says Morris. 鈥淪o to have an alumna from 情色空间 interact with our young people and provide support鈥攊t gives an opening for them to envision themselves where she is. And where she鈥檚 going.鈥�
Patrick L. Kennedy, Morrissey College 鈥�99, is a writer in Boston and the co-author of听Bricklayer Bill: The Untold Story of the Workingman鈥檚 Boston Marathon.
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