Investing in Change | Spring 2014 Newsletter

Spring 2014 Newsletter

InvestingChange in

Making an investment for tomorrow… today.

Child Life Specialist, Melanie Moreno shows three year old Ever Ayala’s mother how to properly use the nebulizer for his asthma treatments.

Inside A Special Kind of Healthcare Rental Housing Shortage We’ve moved

Providing a Special Kind of Healthcare

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s. Ayala, who doesn’t speak English, is having trouble understanding how to use a nebulizer for her son’s asthma. Dr. Gueorgui Dubrocq asks Melanie to come into the exam room at Winthrop’s Hempstead Pediatric Clinic. Melanie Moreno is a Certified Child Life Specialist, hired to help families understand medical care. Melanie speaks Spanish, a key to talking to a growing population

on Long Island. “It improves trust and understanding,” says Melanie.

Our $50,000 grant in 2011 to Winthrop Pediatric Associates in Hempstead allowed a part-timer to be hired. Pleased by the results, last year the Long Island Community Foundation gave a $50,000 renewal grant for a full-time Certified Child Life Specialist.

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“With the generous funding from the Katherine Sloan Pratt Fund at LICF, we were able to renew the grant to Winthrop and expand the important work Melanie is doing to continue to enhance the lives of these families,” says Mary Beth Guyther, program officer at the Foundation.

Cinema Arts Vital to Downtown

One of Nassau County’s poorest communities, Hempstead also has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy. Many teen mothers don’t know how to look for potential health problems.

“Lack of parental education, low income, and age place the children of these teens at increased risk for poor social, emotional, and learning outcomes,” explains David Okorn executive director of the Foundation.

The cheerful waiting room has a play area with a small table and chairs. “Melanie has transformed a once dull space into a welcoming place for children and parents,” says manager of Private Practice, Jacqueline Weber. “She is a positive force in our practice, not just with the patients and families, but with the staff as well.”

Panelists from a Sustainable LI, special preview screening of the documentary Suburban America: Problems & Promise” lead a dynamic and thought-provoking discussion about local issues in economic development, environmental health, and social equity.

Melanie endears herself to patients of all ages. On a recent day, she got smiles by handing a toy to a patient celebrating her first birthday to distract her before getting a shot.

Photo credit: Sustainable Long Island.

“I know the work that I do helps make going to the doctor a more positive experience for our patients and their families — as research shows, a positive attitude promotes healing and recuperation. I love my job and I’m honored to be making a difference.”

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vibrant downtown needs the arts. Ask anyone in Huntington, where the Cinema Arts Centre lures visitors, who then spend money at restaurants and shops. A study conducted by the Long Island Association indicates that arts organizations generate more than 3,000 jobs on the Island, with annual payrolls of almost $150 million.

The Cinema almost went extinct when digital technologies accelerated, making traditional 35mm projection systems obsolete.

“Without the digital equipment, we would have had to close for the simple reason that we would no longer have had the technical ability to show new movies,” explains Dylan Skolnick, the Cinema’s co-director.

Melanie is getting briefed from Dr. Dubrocq before she meets with the patient.

“Toys are a great distraction for kids, especially when they’re getting a shot or having a medical procedure,” explains Melanie.

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The Cinema received private and state support for the campaign; with a $20,000 grant from the Long Island Community Foundation, they closed a gap.

In total they raised $165,000 required to purchase digital projection equipment. “The Cinema uses the power of film to create a sense of community around important issues like the environment, social justice, and human rights,” says Mary Beth Guyther, program officer at the Long Island Community Foundation.

Rental Housing Shortage

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an’t find a good house to rent on Long Island?

Join the crowd of frustrated young parents, recent college graduates, and retirees. The Island’s failure to meet the demand for affordable rental housing is straining our economy and hurting the quality of life.

Long Islanders who go away for an education find they can’t come back. And as the population ages, many seniors don’t want the burden of owning a single family home or can no longer afford it. Here’s the simple fact: Long Island’s housing cost burden is among the highest in the nation. Rental costs have climbed 17% since 2000, and the region has far fewer rental units than neighboring suburban communities.

The Long Island Community Foundation, with support from the Ford Foundation, helped bring together a group of housing advocates, business and civic leaders, academics, and public officials to start coming up with an affordable housing strategy.

The goal: to design a way to build multi-family affordable rental homes in communities with good schools, strong local economies, and room to grow. The group focused on data collection, public education, and policy planning.

For the past two years, the Foundation has worked with the taskforce. The result: the first Long Island affordable rental housing report, plus community engagement toolkits, an affordable housing website (www.li2035.org), a centralized database of affordable housing resources, and coordination between affordable and fair housing supporters.

The Long Island Rental Housing Crisis report and local toolkits were supported by an $86,000 grant from the Long Island Community Foundation. The study, conducted by the Regional Planning Association, provides data that identified the problems and a set of recommended solutions.

Another study, commissioned through a $10,000 grant from the Henry H. Shepard Fund at LICF for Hofstra University’s National Center for Suburban Studies analyzes accessory dwelling units, and whether they relieve the Island’s rental shortage.

“Data gathering is an important part of this program,” says Sol Marie Alfonso-Jones program officer at LICF, “because Long Island doesn’t have a centralized depository for housing data.

Funding these studies gives the community tools to strengthen policies and address some long-standing barriers.”

Another $20,000 LICF grant will let the Center for Popular Democracy conduct a review and legal analysis of the Long Island Workforce Housing Act so the law can be strengthened. All this should help future generations find a home — and an affordable one — on the Island.

Investing in Change Published by Long Island Community Foundation 900 Walt Whitman Road, Suite 205 Melville, NY 11747 www.licf.org David M. Okorn, Executive Director (631) 991-8800 x226 dmokorn@licf.org Marie C. Smith, Director of Donor Relations & Communications (631) 991-8800 x223 msmith@licf.org

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Long Island Community Foundation

Non Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 385 Hicksville, NY

900 Walt Whitman Road Suite 205 Melville, NY 11747

InvestingChange in

We’ve moved.

The Long Island Community Foundation is in its new home in Melville. We are conveniently located on the border of Nassau and Suffolk counties.

Our new address is 900 Walt Whitman Road (Rte 110), Suite 205, Melville, NY 11747. There are new phone and fax numbers too – Phone (631) 991-8800, Fax (631) 991-8801.

Please feel free to stop by and visit!

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Check out our website at licf.org and friend us on Facebook, and Twitter.

Mission The mission of the Long Island Community Foundation is to enhance the well-being of the people and communities of Long Island.

You know that good feeling you get when you help make things better?

LICF grants are made possible in large part by generous Long Islanders who want to make a difference—and set up endowed funds with us. To find out how you can leave your own legacy, contact Marie Smith, Director of Donor Relations & Communications at (631) 991-8800, ext. 223 or msmith@licf.org.