Every Young Person Deserves the Opportunity to Dream Without Fear. For Yoselin Martinez, that dream had always been college.
As a participant in La Colaborativa’s Youth Development & Career Exploration Program, Yoselin embraced every opportunity that came her way. She explored different fields and professional pathways, participated in union convenings, learned about green infrastructure and sustainability, and worked alongside Northeastern University students to imagine what a greener Chelsea could look like. Along the way, she discovered that her interest in carpentry, sustainable construction, and energy-efficiency projects could become more than a classroom experience; it could become a career.
Through our college readiness program, Yoselin worked tirelessly on applications, essays, and plans for her future. Her dedication paid off: she was accepted into both of her dream schools, Benjamin Franklin Cummings Tech and Wentworth Institute of Technology.
It should have been one of the happiest moments of her life. Instead, it became one of the hardest.
As immigration enforcement intensified and fear spread throughout immigrant communities in Chelsea, Yoselin worried that completing the federal financial aid process could expose her family’s information. Coming from an immigrant family that had sacrificed so much to create opportunities for their children, she made the heartbreaking decision to put college on hold rather than risk the safety and privacy of those she loved.
Not because she lacked talent or determination, but because her family faced an impossible choice.
For many young people, this is where the story ends. At La Colaborativa, we refuse to let that happen.
When one door temporarily closed, our team helped Yoselin find another. She transitioned from our Youth Department into our Economic Mobility Department and enrolled in the Carpentry Pre-Apprenticeship Program developed in partnership with the North Atlantic States Carpenters Training Fund.
The experience transformed her understanding of the trade.
“The program gave me a completely new experience,” Yoselin says. “It wasn’t just about building small projects; it was real carpentry training. I had the opportunity to work with heavy machinery, learn how the union operates, and develop skills I had never practiced before.”
Over the following months, Yoselin gained more than technical and professional skills. She built confidence, discovered her own potential, and prepared for a future she had not imagined possible.
At the end of the program, Yoselin, the only woman in her cohort, interviewed with the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters and was accepted into the next step of the apprenticeship pathway, and she was already hired by a construction company during the week of her program Graduation Ceremony.
“I feel happy and proud because this is another step toward becoming a union apprentice,” she says. “My family is also very proud of what I’ve accomplished, and that motivates me even more to keep moving forward.”
Yoselin’s story represents what can happen when a setback is not allowed to define a young person’s future.
At La Colaborativa, we don’t just help our youth find jobs. We build pathways and opportunities. Through career exploration, mentorship, education, workforce training, and wraparound support for their families, we help create the stability young adults, now young professionals, need to break the generational condemnation to poverty and to keep moving forward.
Today, Yoselin is not only learning to build homes. She is building a new future for herself and her family, one with the potential to break cycles of generational poverty and open doors for the generations that follow.
Every student carries a story of challenges overcome, sacrifices made, determination shown, and dreams pursued. As an organization and as a community, we are committed to walking alongside each young person, helping them discover their strengths, unlock their potential, and transform their aspirations into a better future.
And that is our purpose at the heart of La Colaborativa.
