The Ten Cs of TTC: When you support TTC, you support ...

On Day 1 of our 10-day campaign: “The Ten Cs of TTC,” we begin with our most encompassing concept: community. TTC supports our sense of community, not only as neighbors living in the Tri-Town, but as people connected within a network of care for each other, our youth, and our shared causes and interests.

Throughout the next nine days, each “C” concept we highlight contributes to our overall goal of supporting a positive community culture—because healthy community = healthy kids!

Children—Tri-Town youth of all ages—are the center of our cause, and why we do everything we do. We aim to support the well-being of our youth by fostering healthy foundations and a caring network; sharing information and resources about development, healthy decision-making and risk behaviors; and creating experiences and opportunities for positive social-emotional development and skill-building.

When you support TTC, you support the children and youth of our community—and by extension, the wellness of the future they will create.

TTC cares deeply about our youth and community. Our vision is to support a community where ALL kids have the supports, relationships, skills and examples needed to thrive and grow into caring, responsible adults.

We offer care in many ways, from our direct engagement with youth in activities, mentoring, dialogues, scholarships, and community service, to our free educational programs for caregivers such as Youth Mental Health First Aid, Lunch and Learn Virtual Programs, Hidden in Plain Sight, community conversations, guest speakers, film screenings, awareness campaigns, and informational resources.

Our community assistance program (CAP) supports local Tri-Town families during the holidays and beyond with holiday gifts and giftcards, collected from the community and partner organizations, to provide food, supplies, and help. Our 24/7 Project Safety Net Helpline is always ready for anyone in need of mental health support.

Care involves compassion. Supporting TTC is an expression of care and compassion for the humanity and dignity that everyone deserves.

TTC is committed to fostering connectedness for our youth and community. We connect younger youth through our Horizons enrichment classes, Ski Bradford, and Girls On The Run; we connect different ages through our mentoring, tutoring, and teen assistants programs. We connect youth from our three towns through our Welcome to Masco 7th-grade Fun Night, and we support playful connections at our middle- and high-school Open Gym, as well as our Family Open Gym nights. We connect teens in our YAAB (Youth Action Advisory Board) club; we connect youth with all kinds of community service opportunities; and —with your support— we aim to deepen the opportunities we provide for intergenerational connections.

Supporting TTC supports a sense of connectedness—something we all need to thrive.

TTC supports our youth and community by encouraging curiosity—asking all kinds of questions, and being open to unknown possibilities.

TTC’s #WhyWePlay campaign about the importance of free-play (featuring Dr. Peter Gray and the film Chasing Childhood), our middle-school Global School Play Day, our high-school Data-Dive, our summer Camp Invention, and classes such as Slime Adventures and Outside Explorers—among others— focus on strengthening one’s sense of open-minded curiosity.

As an organization, we ask big questions about youth mental health and wellness, and how we might better understand and support the needs of our youth, families, schools, and partners.

Curiosity helps us connect and deepen our relationships with others and the world around us. Supporting TTC supports the curiosity, wonder, and inquiry that drive meaningful learning.

We wonder if you would like to support our work. Will you consider contributing?

TTC values and encourages creative expression and problem-solving in our programs, partnerships, and events. We foster creativity in our Path to Rhythm drumming class, Horizons Art Explorations, Art & Dance, our youth PhotoVoice projects, the Community Wish Tree collaboration with theArtRoom, and more!

We believe creative problem-solving applies to every field, and we aim to approach every challenge as an opportunity to create positive change. Supporting TTC supports a future of creative expression, imagination, innovation, and simple solutions.

TTC is committed to encouraging conversations at all levels, from community discussions to interpersonal dialogues, and everything in-between.

We offer community events such as our Community Conversation, and Chasing Childhood discussions. The Community Conversation is led by our YAAB (Youth Action Advisory Board) members, and invites community members to learn about and discuss results from the YRBS (Youth Risk Behavior Survey). Chasing Childhood is a thought-provoking documentary film that prompts conversation about the value of free-play and independence for healthy youth development.

At the more interpersonal level, TTC offers a youth mentoring program for high-school mentors to work with elementary-school mentees. TTC also engages middle-school and high-school youth in conversations about aspects of health and wellness at our “Tag-It Tuesdays” during Masco lunch-time.

Cultivating the courage to reach out, connect, listen, and have important conversations—no matter how difficult they are—builds trust and confidence in ourselves, each other, and our ability to learn together and resolve conflicts.

When you support TTC, you support the power of good conversations.

TTC collaborates with valued partners like schools, COAs (Councils on Aging), public health and safety, community leaders, faith communities, volunteers, businesses, professionals, youth, families, and more.

TTC’s Coalition, a network of community representatives who meet regularly, along with the Coalition’s YAAB (Youth Action Advisory Board) representing youth voice, are focused on the work of preventing and reducing youth substance use and growing healthy, positive norms. Hidden in Plain Sight is one of the Coalition’s collaborative efforts to educate caring adults about signs of substance use and risk behaviors, and support the health and wellness of our teens.

The strength of our programs is found in our collaborations, such as: with school and community partners for our Community Assistance Program, with parents and community volunteers for the All-Night Grad Party, with other vested community partners for intergenerational Open Mic night, with high school leaders running “Welcome to Masco” 7th-grade fun night, with Masco partners for winter Open Gym nights, and with elementary teacher partners for Girls4Girls mentoring, and many more!

Our collaborations extend beyond the Tri-Town too, like through our state youth substance use prevention grant that we share with Peabody, Lynnfield and North Reading communities.

Supporting TTC supports a network of collaborations, and the spirit of working together. We are grateful for everyone who makes this work possible.

TTC supports youth and families by communicating about news, programs, topics and resources in our bi-weekly e-news, weekly school newsletters, social media posts, blog articles, flyers, displays, and in our information campaigns.

Recent campaigns have focused on Positive Community Norms and #WhyWePlay, which aim to increase awareness of how positive norms and free-play support healthy youth development and well-being. Both campaigns have involved youth not only as leaders and participants, but also as visual communication designers. A high-school youth designed our Positive Community Norms posters, and a middle-school youth is designing a flyer series as part of our #WhyWePlay campaign.

“The Ten Cs of TTC” campaign aims to build awareness about the role that TTC plays in our community, while also raising funds for the work we do.

Supporting TTC supports communication that educates, informs, involves, and uplifts. Thank you for any amount you can contribute.

TTC’s All-Night Grad Party (ANGP) has been a tradition for Masco graduates for over 50 years! Our organization coordinates venues, transportation, activities and chaperones to help seniors enjoy a fun, action-packed celebration with friends and classmates. Graduation night can be a risky time for youth, and this event also helps keep them safe and substance-free on their special night.

Celebrating the large and small wins that make life joyful plays an important role in the well-being of individuals, groups and communities. TTC honors caring adults with our Asset-Builder Awards; we celebrate togetherness with our involvement in local festivals and events; and we applaud the unique qualities and achievements of young people throughout our programs.

At TTC we believe in the power of the positive, where spirit and inspiration lead to great plans and actions. When you support TTC, you support countless reasons to celebrate.