Communities for People (CFP) opened our doors in 1976 in Massachusetts after our founder, Joseph Leavy, recognized that youth who could not live at home with their families would benefit from living in home-like settings in their community rather than in institutions. Three years later, our current CEO, Craig Gordon, joined Joe’s team and in 1980, Craig crossed state lines to become our first Rhode Island Regional Director, overseeing the expansion of the agency’s services.
As the decades passed, our work in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island grew significantly. We will always have residential programs for youth in both states, and are proud to work with foster families, provide a wide spectrum of family therapy services, and additional support for older youth who are aging out of the foster care system. In the early 2000s, we took on a new kind of partnership with the Department of Children and Families (DCF) in Massachusetts, serving over 1,000 families a year as a lead agency and educational coordinators to help ensure families receiving support through any DCF can access the services they need from other contracted providers. Having firsthand experience with growing a nonprofit, we also began providing management support to smaller, grassroots nonprofits around the same time.
Nan 2022, Joe retired from his long-held position as CEO and passed the reins on to Craig, who by this time had served as our COO for eight years. Craig now oversees 180+ staff members across both Massachusetts and Rhode Island, ensuring we remain firmly grounded in our roots and culture of providing individualized, high-quality support to youth and families facing extraordinary challenges.
FOUNDER’S STORY
Jozèf M. Leavey
Fondatè
Jozèf M. Leavey, te fonde Communities for People (CFP) nan 1976. Li te okipe plizyè pozisyon distenge nan domèn sèvis byennèt timoun ak jèn nan Massachusetts, enkli Direktè Divizyon Plasman pou Timoun Gadyen, Komisyonè Depatman Sèvis Jèn, Prezidan Konsèy Founisè Sèvis Imen Massachusetts, Prezidan Lig Timoun yo, Prezidan Komisyon Espesyal sou swen adoptif, ak Prezidan Konsèy Konsiltatif Eta a pou Depatman Timoun ak Fanmi (DCF). Nan 1980 CFP te elaji nan Rhode Island kote Joe te pran yon wòl lidèchip nan devlopman pwogram rezidansyèl adolesan ak pwogram kontak.. Jodi a Communities for People ap ofri yon kontinyèl swen atravè sèvis swen adoptif, pwogram rezidansyèl ak lavi endepandan, ak sèvis lakay yo nan Massachusetts ak nan Rhode Island.
Lè Joe te Komisyonè Sèvis Jèn li te kòmanse dezenstitisyonalize jèn yo epi kreye pwogram ki baze sou kominote a. Vizyon li se te ke jèn yo te pi byen sèvi nan ti gwoup anviwònman ki sanble ak kay yo. Joe kwè tou nan enpòtans kolaborasyon Founisè a e li te yon bagay enpòtan nan devlopman anpil rezo founisè nan Massachusetts ak Rhode Island..
Sou lidèchip Joe a, CFP te kòmanse bay sèvis jesyon ajans sèvis imen ki te bezwen èd finansye ak jesyon. Angajman Joe pou tretman ki baze sou prèv te mennen nan kreyasyon de pwogram itilizasyon MIS. Solisyon Plasman nan Rhode Island ak Rezo Reunifikasyon Fanmi nan Massachusetts.