PROVIDING A WORLD OF HELP: Daughter of former Brockton mayor is helping women and young girls develop leadership ability

By LINDA THOMAS
For The Patriot Ledger

Casey Yunits couldn’t have been more than 10 years old when she got her first look at poverty. She sat in her fifth-grade classroom at St. Casimir’s - the little red school house founded to serve the Lithuanian community of Brockton - when students from Cardinal Spellman High came to show slides of their ministry trip to Ecuador. What she remembers most is staring at the dirty faces of poor children. She knew then she wanted to one day touch the lives like those she saw, starting even at that early age, trying to empty her pennies and nickels into the hands of homeless people on the street.

‘‘I’ve always felt a pang of guilt when I would see a homeless man or a crying child. Not just guilt,’’ she said, ‘‘but a need to help those people.’’

Yunits, the daughter of former Brockton Mayor Jack Yunits, is 25 now. She spent the past two years living as a Peace Corps volunteer in Moldova, one of the poorest countries in Eastern Europe.

Sharpening her focus, she came back home to carry on, in her own back yard, what she did in her travels - to help educate, inspire and empower others. -She has found a way to do just that, as youth adviser of the first New England chapter of A Circle of Women, a non-profit organization that began in New York City almost 10 years ago.

‘‘A Circle of Women is helping women and young girls develop leadership ability and putting that leadership training into action through local and global service,’’ said Gayle Anne Kelley, founder and president.

‘‘It’s a wrap-around support system that grows women personally and professionally - women investing in women and valuing their contributions from a stronger, more confident identity.’’

Kelley, former director of cultural affairs in Brockton, saw a need to start a local chapter and was looking for someone with a fresh outlook to work as youth adviser. She wanted someone committed, someone with passion, experience and skill.

‘‘Casey has these traits and embodies them within a framework of honesty, integrity and vision,’’ said Kelley, who works as Development and Communications Specialist for the Harvard Project, Honoring Nations at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

‘‘Young women admire and respect her. Older women find hope and promise through her eyes and her actions,’’ Kelley said.

The chapter is based in Brockton, but members come from Braintree, Easton, Whitman, Mansfield, Norwood, Dorchester, Somerville and New Bedford.

One of Yunits’ goals is to develop youth leadership skills and work with local elementary and high schools to ‘‘promote peace in the classrooms.’’

Just two months old, the chapter is seeking grants and planning programs and seminars for the summer.

Kelley said the organization is expecting to open a new chapter in Tanzania - and that Yunits, because of her travels and working with many different cultures, will be an asset as the organization continues to work with women and young girls around the world.

Lees Yunits, Casey’s mother, believes her daughter’s passion for peace began as early as age 5, when as a little girl she would lie awake, crying. ‘‘It wasn’t a cry ‘I’m thirsty’ or ‘I’m hungry,’’’ she said.

‘‘I held her in my arms while she just sobbed.

‘‘She couldn’t verbalize it but her sobs were so deep it made me feel like she was crying for the world.’’

In the summer of her senior year in high school, Yunits saw poverty for herself when, through the school’s outreach program, she took her own ministry trip to Duran, Ecuador.

She said she witnessed ‘‘extreme poverty of materialism’’ - and, at the same time, ‘‘extreme wealth of spirit, kindness and beauty.’’

Lees Yunits remembers her daughter couldn’t talk for the first 20 minutes after arriving home.

‘‘When we talked about what we were going to have for dinner, she sobbed.

‘‘All she could think about were the poor children she left behind in Ecuador, who didn’t know whether they would eat let alone have a choice.’’

She wasn’t surprised when her daughter ended up in the Peace Corps.

‘‘She gets that from her father, realizing something is not right and wanting to make it better - to improve others’ lives,’’ Lees Yunits said.

-- During her senior year at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., Casey Yunits worked as an intern for the Office of Disability Support Services.

Part of that job was to help organize and maintain a program for students unable to take notes for themselves. - Through Yunits’ work, one particular young female student who was deaf was able to go outside her isolated environment.

Director Bonnie McClellan, now retired, credits Yunits’ efforts, energy and drive to encourage 90 students to sign up for an informal class in sign language. Because of that, the school organized its first sign language club and later offered two semesters in sign language for credit.

‘‘She focused on helping others,’’ McClellan recalls, ‘‘but not as someone who holds them up and supports them, but someone who sees what is needed to make a difference for them - to empower them, to help them find and employ the strengths within themselves.’’

The following year, Yunits was on her way to Moldova.

Jeff Kelley-Clarke, U.S. Peace Corps/Moldova Country Director, hasn’t forgotten Yunits and the contribution she made during her two years in the Peace Corps.

He remembers how she encouraged young women to do things they had never done before or likely would never do.

‘‘Moldova has a society where women are expected to do a great deal of work, but take a back seat in decision-making to the men - and this can be difficult for female American volunteers.

‘‘Casey worked on projects designed to make young women feel more confident and capable of playing leadership roles in their communities - and in their own lives.’’

Recalling her experience in Moldova, Yunits said it was very abstract.

‘‘It wasn’t just building houses,’’ she said. ‘‘It was trying to change an attitude.

‘‘Too many Americans don’t realize how incredibly lucky we are in terms of our standard of living, our facilities and the conditions - public and private buildings and homes.’’

Yunits says she wants to explore more of the world - maybe spend a year or so in Asia teaching English or working in youth development.

For now, she is content making a difference in her old neighborhood.

visit online - For more information on A Circle of Women, visit www.acircleofwomen.org.

Copyright 2007 The Patriot Ledger
Transmitted Tuesday, June 19, 2007