STRATIS Helps Those Who Help Others

LUCY Outreach (“Lifting Up Camden’s Youth”) received a technology gift from teams at STRATIS and Bulogics. When Luis Martinez, customer service expert at STRATIS, saw that there were extra refurbished tablets (50 to be exact!) that weren’t being used by STRATIS, he knew just where to send them. Martinez was LUCY’s first ever graduate (Saint Joseph's University class of '13) and he was happy to be able to give back to the organization that gave him so much. The tablets will go to LUCY’s college-bound freshmen for their first fall semester at college.

LUCY’s mission is to help at risk Camden youth, age 12 to19, rise to their greatest potential. Through supportive, multi-lingual programs including graduate mentor programs, tutoring, summer camps, social justice workshops, and civic responsibility classes, young people learn to support each other and become socially responsible adults and changemakers.

Originally part of the Camden Catholic Youth Ministry program, the organization was revamped into a secular non-profit organization by Executive Director & Founder, Kristen Prinn who expanded programing to better serve a larger population of young people in the area.

“I got involved with LUCY in 8th grade,” Martinez explained. “Back then it was just an after school program where we would go to hang out, stay out of trouble, and play basketball. During high school, Kristin took over the program and brought some new and exciting opportunities. Some of these opportunities included college preparation and visits, community service and counseling.”

Today LUCY serves more than 400 youth in the greater Camden area. Throughout high school, Martinez continued to be an active participant of the LUCY Outreach.

“With the guidance and assistance of this program, I was able to obtain the Ignatian College Connection Scholarship, which granted me full tuition to Saint Joseph’s University. I attribute a lot of my success to this program and hope that it continues to grow.”

As LUCY’s first graduate, Martinez holds a special place in Prinn’s heart.

"As director of the program, it has been an honor watching Luis grow into the incredible young adult he is today.” explains Prinn. “His hard work throughout college and in his new career has been inspiring and motivating not just to me but most importantly for the youth who follow him and look to the graduates for motivation, wisdom, and a positive path to follow. Immediately after graduating college Luis began donating to LUCY on our website, and this donation through his current company, of 50 tablets for our college-bound freshmen, was a beautiful gesture representing the importance of remembering your roots and where you come from, and paying it forward for others in the shoes you were once in.

"I’m so happy that we were able to make this contribution," Martinez explains about the tablet donation. “The LUCY youth continue to amaze me, and I'm excited to see the program continue to grow. Keep up the great work!”

STRATIS is not only committed to making a sustainable environmental impact, it also has a strong social commitment to evoke positive change in the Philadelphia area. Since its inception, community outreach has always been a part of the STRATIS mission. Among other local community outreach projects, STRATIS offers some office share opportunities, hosts events for local organizations like East Falls Forward, Mission INC, and Momentum. The STRATIS team participates in the annual Schuylkill River Area clean up and makes yearly clothing donations to an organization that provides professional clothing to underprivileged women.