Catholic Charities held a breakfast fundraiser at the office of Nutter, McClennen & Fish LLP in the Seaport District last Thursday morning to benefit the Teen Center at St. Peter’s. The event’s co-hosts included Fr. Jack Ahern, Jim Brett, Jim Gallagher, and Bill Kennedy. Boston Police Commissioner Bill Evans was the guest speaker.

The Teen Center at St. Peter’s, located in the heart of the Bowdoin/Geneva neighborhood, serves roughly 150 adolescents daily, many of whom are Cape Verdean immigrants. Catholic Charities President Debbie Rambo says the teen center was created as a response to violence in the community.

“We started the afterschool program for elementary school-aged kids, so we hired teenagers to tutor young grammar school kids,” Rambo said. “And from that the teenagers that were tutors said, ‘Hey, can’t you do something for us?’ And so the teen center was born.”

Rambo said even as the program increases to serve about 500 teens over the summer, the center has continuously succeeded in helping them stay safe. “Not one of our kids has been lost to the violence of the neighborhood in the 12 years we’ve been there,” she said. “I always say it’s the oasis in the desert,” Fr. Jack Ahern added.

It certainly was for Euclides Fontes, the middle school academic coordinator for the center. Fontes, who was born in Cape Verde, first came to the teen center at age 15.

“During the summer of 2005, my friends and I were playing football outside, and then a group of guys charged us with knives and bats,” he said. “Since we were getting into a lot of fights that summer, my friends wanted to start up a gang.”

Fontes said the teen center helped him steer clear of gangs and has resulted in an overall improvement in the community.

“For the Cape Verdean community, all around the teen center you have different gangs,” Fontes said. “It impacted it because the violence rate of Cape Verdeans dropped down a little bit, and that’s because of the kids we get into the program.”

Commissioner Bill Evans pointed out summertime as being the crucial time of year for places like the teen center. “We’re coming upon the most violent part of the year—June, July, and August,” he said. “So centers like St Peter’s and the teen center, this is where we really need that place to step up and get as many kids in there, get them the sports, get them the computer skills, keep them in the books over the summer. That’s what we need. I’m a big supporter of keeping kids busy.”

Evans said he could relate to the kids on a personal level, because he received help from his parish as an adolescent, when dealing with the death of his father and brother. “When you look at kids in the St. Peter’s area and the teen area, they’re very much like what I was when I was a young kid,” Evans said. “They’re all real good kids with not a whole lot going for them. And what we can provide for them is why the teen center is so important.”

Bill Kennedy belonged to St. Peter’s parish for 30 years and his experiences have led him to become an active supporter of the center for many years. “I just think it’s in a lot of ways, an important part of my life growing up there, with my friends and family, and I was fortunate,” Kennedy said. “I got some breaks along the way, and I think it’s important to recognize that.”

St. Peter’s is just one example of the strong Catholic presence in Dorchester, Kennedy said. “The schools are doing good, the kids are getting into the exam schools, and so parish life is very strong and doing well.:”