Rally at City Hall Against Summer Youth Employment Program Cuts

Rep. Charles Rangel addressing the rally. In the background is 9th grader Abel Peralta, a participant in the Center's WAVE program. Photo: Daily News

Youth from all five boroughs gathered at City Hall last Thursday to express their opposition to the planned Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) funding cuts, including many of the Center’s participants and staff.

Planned changes in state and city funding would cut the number of jobs available for teens this summer would be reduced to 17,200 from a record 52,000 last year.

Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel was among the politicians who spoke at the rally, encouraging youth to continue their efforts to convince state and New York City lawmakers of the importance of the summer jobs program for youth, families and their communities. He promised teens that if they persist, their efforts can succeed: “Don’t give up, don’t give in, this is a fight we must win. We are going to win it for this summer.”

Read more about the rally in the Daily News:

For the past 40 years, the summer job program has given city youth employment and educational opportunities, working entry-level jobs in various fields, from hospitals to summer camps.

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“In this climate of record-high youth unemployment, it is bad policy to slash this critical opportunity for young people,” said Anthony Ng, of United Neighborhood Houses.

Gigi Li, of the Neighborhood Family Services Coalition, noted that teens usually spend their paychecks locally, “helping our economy.”

Politicians who attended also echoed the students’ concern.

“The tough economy is a good reason to keep this program, not gut it,” said state Sen. Dan Squadron (D-Brooklyn). City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Queens), who said he worked in the program as a kid, said he knew “firsthand what these jobs mean to our youth.”

Sunset Park Youth Speak Out Against Funding Cuts

Photo: UNH Campaign for Summer Jobs

The threat of severe cuts in city and state funding for youth programs, particularly the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), inspired young people in our community to let lawmakers know how important these programs are for Sunset Park families.

On Youth Action Day in February, teens and staff representing all of the Center’s youth programs took a trip to Albany, where they met with over 30 Assembly members and state legislators. While there, they also attended a rally organized by the Campaign for Summer Jobs, a coalition of New York City community agencies led by United Neighborhood Houses (UNH).

Participants, parents, staff and worksites employing youth in the summer also sent over 1,500 letters to state and city lawmakers and officials, including Governor Patterson, Assembly Member Felix Ortiz and State Senator Velmanette Montgomery. Young advocates, parents and staff testified at City Council hearings on the planned budget cuts.

“I felt that I played an essential role for all of New York youth because not many young people get the opportunity to fight for summer jobs and voice their opinion,” a youth participant said. “It was a powerful experience.”

The Growing NYC Cooperative Network

by Vanessa Bransburg, Cooperative Project Coordinator, Center for Family Life

In the past few months, the Worker Cooperative Project at the Center has fielded numerous inquiries from community-based organizations and individuals about how to develop a worker-owner cooperative in their own communities. We had several meetings to answer their questions and tell them about our story. It soon became clear that these groups and individuals need much more support than these conversations can provide.

Based on these experiences, I began to speak to cooperative worker owners, allies and other developers in New York about the need for support to those interested in developing their own cooperative businesses in low-income immigrant communities around the city. The Center’s annual Fair Work Symposium in December 2009, provided an excellent opportunity for the launch of a city-wide network of worker-owned cooperatives.

The idea behind the NYC Cooperative Network is to provide support, guidance and access to resources to both newly formed cooperatives as well as seasoned ones. By serving as an information clearing house and a forum for advocacy, the network can make a significant impact in the city’s immigrant neighborhoods, promoting economic opportunities through safe and fair work and fostering community development.

The meeting in December was full of energy and inspiration, and a strong desire to build a network that would evolve into an organization working in alliance with the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives. Since this meeting, the NYC Cooperative Network has created a listserv in order to facilitate communication among the 41 active members.

Our second meeting was held at the Urban Justice Center, coordinated by attorney Ted Barbieri and myself. This meeting helped us refine and express what our goals and interests are. We also had a great time getting to know each other on a more personal level. By the end of the third meeting, held in February at Little Sisters of the Assumption and led by Omar Freilla, Founder of Green Worker Cooperatives and Flor de Maria Eilets, Workforce Coordinator at LSA, members had produced a solid draft of the network’s mission statement.

We still have much work ahead of us, yet it is clear that the NYC Cooperative Network has the potential to become a magnificent space for those who need tools and support as they take on the challenge of developing worker-owned businesses in their own communities.

Cooking East to West Series Off to a Great Start

The Cooking East to West culinary project launched in December with a class featuring three of Émigré Gourmet’s chefs. In February, the series continued with a hands-on Indian cooking class led by Émigré chef Afsari Jahan. Participants learned the secrets of classic foods like tandoori chicken (see recipe below), and took part in a shared meal.

Using Social Group Work to Promote Leadership and Build Community

In February, staff and youth participants from the Center ‘s Community School Project at  PS 1 took part in the NYC 2010 “Beacon of Lights” conference sponsored by the Youth Development Institute. At the conference, they led a workshop on the use of social group work to foster youth leadership development and community building. The workshop featured presentations by our PS 1 youth participants who talked about their leadership role. In April, they will lead a similar workshop at the Coalition for Community Schools 2010 National Forum in Philadelphia.

Our staff at the PS 1 afterschool program

Group work is a core methodology of the social work profession that aims to promote individual growth and social change in the context of a group experience. Social group work provides a framework for anticipating predictable stages of group development and for selecting activities purposefully to meet the changing needs of the group and its participants at each stage in the life of the group. Group work is at the heart of the Center’s youth development programs, which are offered through partnerships with six Sunset Park public schools, including PS 1, PS 503/506, MS 136/MS 821 and the new Sunset Park High School. The use of social group work is a common thread across these programs, which provide a range of activities that help young people acquire skills through the arts, sports, educational support and community service projects.

Free Tax Filing Assistance in Sunset Park

From now until mid-April, the Center’s Community Service Program is offering free tax filing assistance. This is a great opportunity for convenient income tax filing and getting advice from a tax expert.

This free service is available to individual filers who made less than $18,000, and to those filing jointly or claiming dependents who earned less than $50,000 in 2009.

To make an appointment, contact the program site at (718) 492-3585. The office is located at 5505 4th Avenue in Brooklyn. Tax filing is available Monday through Thursday from 12 to 7pm, and Saturdays from 9am to 5pm.

Follow this link for a complete list of free tax filing locations in the five boroughs.

It is very important to have all required documentation to be able to complete the filing process. These documents include:

Funding Cuts for Youth Programs to Have Severe Impact in Sunset Park

The Governor’s proposed state budget for the 2011 fiscal year includes an $11 million funding cut for the Advantage After School Program and the elimination of  NY State funding for the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP).

These cuts would have a huge impact in Sunset Park: the Advantage After School Program provides funding for three of the Center’s school-based youth programs, including PS 1, PS 503/PS 506 and MS 136/MS 821. The Summer Youth Employment Program supports over 1,300 summer jobs for teens each year, including hundreds of counselor positions that are essential to the neighborhood’s free summer day camp programs.

Upcoming Events at Employment Services

February will be a busy month at the Center’s Adult Employment Program, with a variety of employment and entrepreneurial opportunities.

On Monday, February 1, is the first open house session for the Cosmetology Project. This is a great opportunity to receive training in cosmetology, receive a state license and find a job in the beauty sector. The event begins at 10 am at our Adult Employment Program office at 443 39th Street, Brooklyn, NY. To inquire, please contact project coordinator Dulce Jimeno at (718) 633-4823.

We invited the Business Outreach Center to provide a small business development workshop on February 5. For those interested in starting a  small business, the workshop will help prepare for the first stages of development, including business plan creation and information about useful resources. The two-hour workshop will begin at 10 am at 443 39th Street, Brooklyn, NY; registration is not required. If you have any questions, contact program director Maria Ferreira at (718) 633-4823.

As you may know, 2010 is the year of the decennial Census, and the U.S. Census Bureau is hiring temporary, part-time census workers.  The first step to becoming a census worker is taking a test, which you can do at our program site. Tests will take place at 1 pm on several days, including February 1st, 3rd and 5th.  If you can’t make it next week, more dates will be available throughout February; please contact Ms. Ferreira at (718) 633-4823 for more information.

Our Worker Cooperative Project will organize a new worker-owned business in spring 2010. The new cooperative will provide interior painting and decoration services, and it follows the model of the successful coops organized by the Center over the past three years.  We are organizing an open house event on February 22 at 5:30 pm to recruit members for this new coop. This is a fantastic opportunity for participants to increase their income and become business owners; previous experience and skills are great but not required. To learn more, contact Cooperative Coordinator Vanessa Bransburg at (718) 633 4823. You can also read our previous posts about the award-winning Worker Cooperative Project by clicking on this link.

On February 25, we are hosting an open house event for those interested in working as home attendants. Offered by Partners in Care, this program includes a free, three-week training and a job opportunity for those who complete the training successfully. At the open house event, representatives of Partners in Care will conduct interviews with interested participants between 10 am and noon.

As an ongoing service, we offer credit counseling by a professional consultant every Tuesday from 9 am to 12. This service is available by appointment only – please call Maria Ferreira at (718) 633 4823.

The Adult Employment Program also provides a range of free services to help participants increase their chances to find employment. These include ESL classes and workshops in resume writing, job interview preparation and and using office computer software.  To participate, visit our office at 443 39th Street, Brooklyn, NY to complete an application and receive orientation. For those already registered, job search assistance in our computer lab is available every Monday and Wednesday at 9:30 am.

More Ways to Help Students Explore Careers: Job Shadowing

The Center’s Youth Employment Program, now located at the new Sunset Park High School, helps teenage youth explore career options and prepare for higher education and the workforce. During the school break from February 16th to 19th, the program offers high school juniors the opportunity to spend two hours with adults at their workplace.

This gives students a chance to gain first-hand experience in a field of their interest, witnessing the work environment and the skills the occupation requires in practice. Students are interested in a wide variety of careers, but especially in engineering, technology and medical fields.

If you are interested in hosting a student at your workplace, please email Liz Stevenson at estevenson@cflsp.org or call the Youth Employment Program at (718) 840 1640.

Volunteers Needed: Help High Schoolers Choose a Career

The first annual Career, College & Community Building Day at Sunset Park High School will be held on Friday, January 29, 2010. Center for Family Life and the Sunset Park High School are seeking adult volunteers who will introduce students to a variety of career options.

From 10:30 am to 1:30, volunteers will lead discussions with students during three lunch periods. Each of the three lunch periods is 1 hour in length, and we hope that guests will be be able to spend all three hours at the event so that all students will have a chance to interact with all of the guests.

During each lunch period, guests will speak about their education and career paths, and answer questions from a group of 5-8 ninth-grade students. Tables will be organized by employment field/career.

We plan to set up 21 tables, and welcome several additional volunteers.  In particular, we need volunteers representing the business community and health/medical careers, but anyone who would like a chance to interact with the SPHS’s terrific first graduating class of 2013 is welcome.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Julie Brockway at (718) 840-1620 or jbethstein@aol.com by Wednesday, January 20!