Local Students Help Install Somerville’s “Evicted" Exhibit

SOMERVILLE, MA — YouthBuild Just A Start, a Cambridge-based high school education, job skills, and leadership development program for ages 16-24, recently partnered with the Community Action Agency of Somerville (CCAS) to build and install interactive pieces of the “Evicted” exhibit.

The exhibit, now on display at The Armory in Somerville, highlights the link between cannabis and eviction. The exhibit is a traveling version of the original which debuted in April 2018 at the National Building Museum in Washington DC.

The “eye-opening” exhibition is based on Matthew Desmond’s award-winning book Evicted and aligns with the mission of Just A Start, the organization under which YouthBuild Just A Start is affiliated, by promoting equity through creating access to stable housing and building pathways to economic opportunity.

Just A Start currently assists over 600 people with rental assistance, housing stabilization, homeless prevention, and home improvement and preserves and maintains affordable apartments that are home to 1,500 residents.

Over the course of a week and a half, four students constructed the exhibit and two students, Kendall Joslin and Jaiden Williams, took on construction site leadership roles. The overall project work was supervised by YouthBuild Construction Site Supervisor Charlie Parker and Vocational Instructor Dan Madri.

The mini houses required the application of various skills, including plan reading, dealing with irregularities presented by work sites, troubleshooting audio visual components, and working together as a team to meet a deadline.

“Everyday, we work with our students to impart to them the skills and experience to enter the workforce and the importance of community service and leadership,” Nate Bae Kupel, YouthBuild Just A Start’s Director, said in a statement. "When CAAS approached us about having our students build an exhibit to shed light on the lives of families and individuals impacted by eviction, it was such a great mission match for us. We couldn’t be more proud of our student work crew for the learning, planning, and execution of this important exhibit."

The Evicted exhibit is at the Center for the Arts at the Armory, located at 191 Highland Ave #1c. Hours are Monday through Wednesday from 4-8 p.m. and weekends from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. For more information, visit https://www.caasomerville.org/evicted-exhibit.