Roca, the Chelsea-based nonprofit focused on violence intervention, had spent years planning to move its Boston headquarters on Albany Street to a new location.

The agency works with young men and women who are affected by gun violence and hail from Dorchester, Mattapan, Roxbury, Hyde Park, and Roslindale. There are 179 people in the Roca program; 49 percent come from Dorchester, and 16 percent from Mattapan.

“We needed to find a space that was neutral for them, that was safe for them,” said Carl Miranda, director of Roca Boston, which first came to the city in 2014.

They found it at 60 Newmarket, the former home of a Citizens Bank, located across from the Newmarket commuter rail station and a few steps away from Victoria’s Diner.

A renovation of the 3,300-square-foot space added multimedia classrooms as well as a room where young men and women, some of whom have dropped out of school, can work on their resumes or workforce readiness curriculums.

“Now they have a space to engage in those services,” Miranda said.

Roca is leasing the space from the Lewis Family Foundation. An investment firm tied to the Lewis family bought 60 Newmarket in 2019 for $2 million.
Roca also has locations in Lynn, Springfield, and Holyoke.

The formal opening of the new space in June drew Mayor Michelle Wu; Jay Ash, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership; and Robert Lewis Jr., president and CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston.

The nonprofit, which also has operations in Hartford and Baltimore, focuses on 16- to 24-year-olds who are involved in the criminal justice system, or guns and gangs, and seeks to create relationship to build safety and stability in their lives, teaching them skills and partnering with other institutions to pull the young men and women out of a cycle of violence.

It operates with help from private grants and contributions, as well as federal and state aid and income from investments.

In Newmarket, Adrian Major, a manager for Roca Boston, pointed to the butcher shops, fish markets, and distribution centers around the new office in the industrial area. “We can tap into different resources,” he said. “We want to give our guys the opportunity to get back into the workforce.”

Jocyline Semedo, a youth worker with Roca, said the office is also close to the state Department of Transitional Assistance. “It is a safe space, it is accessible,” she added, pointing to the commuter rail station across the street.