Community Outreach - Summer 2024
Following our announcement about expanding to additional NYCHA developments, we were invited to several Family Days and Back-to-School Resource Fairs this Summer. We “tabled” at events sponsored by the Marcy Houses, the SumnerNeighborhoodStat, TompkinsNeighborhoodStat, the Bed-Stuy Community Partnership Program, and NeOnWorks.
These events were an absolutely great opportunity to connect with community leaders, but the best part was chatting with residents one-on-one about their plans, their impressions of what goes on in the community, their hopes and sometimes their frustrations. We listened, we encouraged, and we shared info about the Marcy Scholarship program. At times we connected folks to other resources – to GED and workforce development programs for example.
A big benefit to the Marcy Scholarship Fund was the wide range of organizations we got to know like Save Our Streets, the Bed-Stuy Community Partnership Program, the Bridge Street Development Corp and the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence.
We also saw other City government agencies and other organizations handing out
information on everything from human resources to mental health, job opportunities, anti-trafficking, financial literacy, fire safety and, even overdose rescue kits with Naloxone. (These were provided following a short on site one-on-one training session!)
Of course, the food and music were always great!
The NYPD was at every event and we talked to them about connecting with the youth in their programs. We’ve got a meeting with Bridge Street comin up, and Save our Streets will be leading a workshop on healthy relationships as part of our peer group mentoring program.
