A young Hanna Boys Center volunteer reflects on her experiences

Gabrielle Peterson has spent half her life helping out at the center|

As part of my valedictorian application to Saint Mary’s College, I was asked to reflect upon my involvement at Saint Mary’s and my community at home in Sonoma. 

In addition to my work with the Lasallian communities in Moraga and my month of service in Sri Lanka, I have been a strong ally to hundreds of at-risk teenage boys at Hanna Boys Center for over half of my life.

After our house caught fire when I was 12, my mom lost her job. She searched for and found a temporary position at Hanna. This center does amazing things. It takes boys between the ages of 13 and 18 out of their current living situations, usually surrounded by gang activity, disability, homelessness, lack of resources, and addiction (or any combination of these) and puts them in a place where they can reach success.

Hanna is one of my many homes. Whenever I am not at Saint Mary’s, at work, or at home, I am at Hanna.

I have met so many amazing people there, volunteered thousands of hours, and become a part of the Hanna community.

I originally volunteered at age 13, by being a member of the dance program. I got to bond with the boys and really understand what their position and social locations were. After a couple of years, the dance program ended, but I still wanted to participate in any capacity possible at the center.  

I worked in the development department whenever I could, helping my mom filing and mailing and setting up events. I also have always been a supporter of athletics at Hanna, even spending some time volunteering with the volleyball team.

Since being away at college, I have had less opportunity to work directly at the center. However, I chose to write my thesis based on my Hanna experiences.

After taking classes at Saint Mary’s and learning about the Lasallian mission, however, I was able to look at Hanna differently. Hanna’s boys are handed every possible obstacle and every reason not to succeed. Everything in our world works against them.

There is nothing I love more than being able to understand their social location, understand the plight of their minority status in this world, and see them beat all odds to achieve their goals.

The social justice that the Lasallian star preaches is being served up every day at Hanna – and the boys, with the help of the staff, are able to defy the statistics and end up success stories. But they are so much more than their stories and their numbers and their successes. They are human and the humanization of boys like this is really the only way we can enable them to be more than a statistic.

I will do everything in my power, anytime, anywhere to stand in solidarity with these boys and I am proud to have been their ally for the last 10 years and plan to continue forever. 

The article was adapted from a blog post by Gabrielle Peterson, SVHS ‘12.

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