LYNN — Lynn Youth Street Outreach Advocacy (LYSOA) held its fifth annual gala Thursday night, where they presented the 2024 Above and Beyond Award to Dawn and Michael Sorrenti and a Champion of Youth Development Recognition Award to Lonnie Wright.
LYSOA participant Anderson Nunez and keynote speaker Judge Sarah Joss of the Lynn District Court spoke at the event.
President of the Board of Directors, Michael Contant, opened the gala by thanking the community for supporting the organization’s mission.
Contant also recognized LYSOA’s outreach workers, Ashley Braswell, Rebecca Hermann, Angel Cintron, and Karla Gonzalez.
“These are the people interacting with the kids. They help them get back into school. They visit them so they’ll stay there while they’re at school. They help kids get back from community service in the city,” Contant said. “They’re the ones who are doing, really, all the direct work. The Board of Directors, we make decisions from a high level, but really it’s these people who are doing all that work.”
Guests at the gala included State Rep. Daniel Cahill, State Sen. Brendan Crighton, Mayor Jared C. Nicholson, District Attorney Paul Tucker, Lynn Police Chief Christopher Reddy, and Lynn City Councilors Obed Matul, Coco Alinsug, Natasha Megie-Maddrey, Dianna Chakoutis, and Hong Net.
Program Director and Co-Founder Antonio Gutierrez and Executive Director and Co-Founder Teresa DiGregorio also spoke throughout the night, telling the story of their growth when LYSOA became a 501(c)(3) in 2011.
14 years later, the organization has expanded to another location in Lawrence and is already looking towards the future, where they hope to help more communities around Massachusetts.
“The work that LYSOA does every day, their entire team, their board, their staff. Antonio, Teresa, it is incredible, and we are so grateful to have their passion, their tenacity, their experience, and their wisdom,” Nicholson said at the event. “The growth of this event is itself a testament to the eyes that you have opened really around the state in the power of your work.”
Joss’s speech testified to the help the team at LYSOA has provided for the cases that have passed through her court, further illustrating the importance of LYSOA’s role in the city for supporting at-risk youths.
“Every day, the LYSOA team works to build and reinforce structures that promote community, and the foundation of that community is hope,” she said. “I’m so thankful for the presence, advocacy, and work of all of the people in this room, and I look forward to our continued partnerships and building community and hope.”
Offering the perspective of someone who was supported by LYSOA and their outreach team, Nunez spoke about the assistance they gave him on his journey to becoming his best self.
“Helping others is always something that was left at the top of the list, and everything for myself was left last. I almost thought I was destined to become a person who brings my people to the light, while I held myself in the dark,” Nunez said. “Everything changed when I met the four people that shined the brightest light on my life: Ashley, Becca, Antonio, and my mentor, Skylar.”
DiGregorio and Gutierrez presented the Above and Beyond Award and the Champion of Youth Development Recognition Award to finish out the night.
Probation officer at the Lynn Juvenile Court Dawn Sorrenti and Chief Court Officer of the Lynn Court Complex Michael Sorrenti, a husband and wife duo who have both worked with LYSOA extensively, were first to receive their award.
“I have to say that Mike and Dawn have a special place in my heart,” DiGregorio said. “They not only believe in LYOSA but believe in the youth in our community. They work tirelessly to make sure that the kids they work with have a better chance at life.”
During their speeches, Dawn and Michael Sorrenti both spoke of their commitment to giving everybody in the community a chance to be better and thanked the people in Lynn who have helped them achieve that mission.
Next up was Wright, who was presented with the LYSOA’s first Champion of Youth Development Recognition Award.
Wright first joined LYSOA as a youth outreach worker in 2021 after seven years at Kelly’s Roast Beef. He now works as a Juvenile Justice Youth Support Specialist for the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services.
Wright’s journey to LYSOA was a difficult one, as he went in and out of jail and was shot in two separate incidents before Gutierrez and DiGregorio took him on, setting Wright on a path of supporting young people.
“I was shot one time in 2007 and shot four times in 2018. My mom passed away a week before I came home from jail, and I’m still standing here in front of y’all with the biggest smile in the world because God got a calling for me,” he said. “And my calling is to help these youth better their lives every single day, and that’s what I was made to do.”
