Community News 2022 Issue 3

COMMUNITY

READING THE ROOM HIGHLIGHTS READING AT CAMP PROGRAMS

For more than 10,000 children across the city, summer camp meant not only playing games, going swimming, singing songs, making art, and bonding with friends—it meant celebrating reading and building skills to combat summer learning loss.

Many camps highlighted literacy and offered at least 30 minutes of reading per day, while at one location a unique partnership supported by the Pinkerton Foundation enabled campers to attend specialized literacy sessions in the mornings with Jamaica Reads and take part in traditional Y camp activities in the afternoons.

Throughout the summer special guests visited and shared in the love of reading. Older campers also had opportunities to ask elected officials about their roles and discuss campers’ plans for the future.•

(top) Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie at the Northeast Bronx Y (above) Assembly Member Phara Souffrant Forrest at the Bedford-Stuyvesant Y

WE’RE HERE FOR ALL NEW YORKERS –to empower youth, improve health, and strengthen community.

(clockwise, starting from upper left) Council Member Farrah Louis at the Flatbush Y; Council Member Julie Won at the Long Island City Y; Council Member Christopher Marte at the Chinatown Y’s Beacon 131 Summer Rising program; Council Member Robert F. Holden at the Ridgewood Y; Council Member Kevin Riley at the Northeast Bronx Y.

(clockwise, starting from upper left) State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. at the Ridgewood Y; State Senator Jamaal Bailey at the Northeast Bronx Y; Congress Member Nicole Malliotakis at the Broadway Y; State Senator Jabari Brisport at the BedfordStuyvesant Y; State Senator Brian Kavanagh at the Chinatown Y.

GROW WITH GOOGLE

Y TEENS BUILD DIGITAL SKILLS THROUGH INNOVATIVE PROGRAM

The Y is partnering with Google to teach digital skills to teens through the Grow with Google program. Based at the West Side Y, Google trainers are offering a series of inperson workshops to 30 Y teens while also live-broadcasting to classrooms at YMCAs in Washington D.C and Charlotte, North Carolina.

All technology, trainers, and materials are provided by Google, with the aim of supporting young people in building the skills they need to grow their careers. Workshop topics include improving resumes, developing negotiation skills, and improving online presence.•

HEROES OF NEW YORK

(top) Y teens gather for an informative workshop. (above, l to r) Petia AbdurRazzaaq from Google teaches teens to read resumes like a hiring manager; Council Member Gale Brewer speaks about the value of digital skills.

THE Y HONORS NY LEADERS AT ANNUAL DODGE DINNER

Over 350 people gathered at Cipriani 42nd Street for the Y’s 46th Annual Dodge Dinner celebrating Heroes of New York. The Y‘s first large in-person gathering since the COVID-19 pandemic started, the event honored Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Dr. Wayne Riley of SUNY Downstate Medical Center, and MetLife

for their dedicated support of the Y’s work across the five boroughs.

This year’s Dodge Dinner celebrated the best of New York City and featured a Coney Island-style arcade and live music by Brooklyn-based band Alice Valentine. The event raised nearly $1.3 million to support Rowe Scholars, the Y’s highly successful college access program.•

(left) Karl and Mary Ellen von der Heyden join teen recipients of the von der Heyden Scholarship (l to r): Alanis Omar, Follyvi Dossa, Yaricuyay Moran, and Olivia Lombardo. (top) Honoree Dr. Wayne Riley speaks to the crowd; (above) Michael Zarcone, Head of Corporate Affairs and Chief of Staff to Chairman and CEO, accepts an award on behalf of MetLife, while joined by the Y’s Vice President of Business Innovation & Partnerships Marjorie Jean-Jacques and YMCA President and CEO Sharon Greenberger. to empower youth, improve health, and strengthen community.

ON A PATHWAY

THE Y PROVIDES WORKFORCE TRAINING TO FOREIGN-BORN NEW YORKERS

The Y’s New Americans Initiative has fully reopened at four locations across the city to provide in-person classes in English, civics, and more. Thanks to support from the New York State Education Department, at the Chinatown and Flushing Ys, we have also officially launched a five-year Workforce Development Program serving immigrant communities.

Through this program the Y provides contextualized English language learning and on-site workforce training to support new Americans in obtaining certifications as Food Handlers or Microsoft Office Specialists. Y staff also support students with developing resumes, dressing for success, and practicing for job interviews, so that students can advance their careers down the pathway of their choice.•

CERTIFIED LIFE SAVERS

(above) Students at the Chinatown Y’s New Americans Welcome Center learning contextualized English to prepare for work; Flushing Y students practice their Microsoft skills while working on their resumes.

THE Y CONTINUES TO ADDRESS NYC’S LIFEGUARD SHORTAGE

As part of the new Aquatics Center of Excellence (ACE), the Y offers a free Lifeguard Training & Development Program across the five boroughs.

Since the program started in 2021, nearly 80 people have passed a nationally-recognized lifeguard certification. The certification opens up employment opportunities at the Y and beyond—more than two dozen graduates have already become employees.

Additional class sessions are planned in the coming year to help NYC be ready to swim safely in Summer 2023. Fall 2022 offerings are currently taking place at the Castle Hill, Cross Island, Prospect Park, South Shore, and West Side Ys, and prospective students can learn more at ymcanyc.org/lifeguard.•

Future lifeguards practice lifesaving skills at the West Side Y.

IT TAKES A

THE Y AND ITS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE

Y INSIGHTS

The Y hosted a special briefing with First Deputy Mayor Lorraine Grillo (left), who spoke with YMCA President and CEO Sharon Greenberger about the role the Y can play in the future of the city.

YOUNG AT HEART

HEAR YE! HEAR YE!

(l to r) Northeast Bronx Y staff member Meghan Gough, Northeast Bronx Y Executive Director Meishay Gattis, community leaders Alonzo de Castro and Shirley Fearon, and YMCA President and CEO Sharon Greenberger joined Council Member Kevin Riley as he presented a City Council Proclamation celebrating the Y’s 170th anniversary.

POLICY WONKS IN TRAINING

(l to r) Daisy Muñoz Castro, Joyce Nandji, and Samir Ghimire joined other Y teens from across the city to debate policy in the annual Teens Take the City culminating event, while Council Member Gale Brewer (above) spoke about the joys of public service.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

YMCA President and CEO Sharon Greenberger (far right) joined (l to r) moderator and United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew, Regional VP of Western Governors University Rebecca Watts, State Senator John Liu, and other panelists (not pictured) at the City & State Education Summit to discuss innovation and developments in education.

WE’RE HERE FOR ALL NEW YORKERS –to empower youth, improve health, and strengthen community.

LOVE WINS Y staff and families came out to celebrate NYC Pride.

State Senator Kevin Parker visited older adults at the Flatbush Y’s Young at Heart Senior Center.

SAFETY FIRST

Governor Kathy Hochul visited the Northeast Bronx Y to sign a package of gun violence prevention bills into law. The governor was surrounded by (l to r) Assembly Members Chantel Jackson and Kenny Burgos, State Senators Anna Kaplan, Jamaal Bailey, and Luis Sepúlveda, State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie, Assembly Member Jonathan Jacobson, State Senator Brad Hoylman, Assembly Member Amy Paulin, and State Senators Kevin Thomas and Brian Kavanagh. Also present but not pictured: Attorney General Letitia James and Lt. Governor Antonio Delgado

TALK OF THE TOWN

HELPING HANDS

Volunteers from Deloitte added vibrant touches to the Harlem Y for their Annual Day of Service.

BE THE CHANGE

Rockaway Y Teens Take the City participants Tyler Hodge, Jeremy Bastardo, and Davian Muñoz received Certificates of Merit from Assembly Member Khaleel Anderson for legislation they crafted in response to gun violence.

ROAD TRIP

As part of the Change Makers and Youth Advocates Programs, the Y sent the largest delegation of youth leaders ever to Capitol Hill. Of those teens, Princess Ibtihaj and Nikita Nag, seen here with staff member Gabriel Ruiz and other participants from New York state, represented for the YMCA of Greater New York.

FULL CIRCLE Michael Boodhoo (far left), Business Banking Relationship Manager at Ridgewood Savings Bank and former YMCA camper, joined (l to r) Cross Island Y Youth & Family Director Byresha White, Y Vice President of Field Operations La-Vena Francis, and Ridgewood Savings Bank Branch Manager Elizabeth Martinez, to present a donation to the YMCA Access Fund.

REACHING OUT Volunteers marked Citi’s Global Community Day by distributing food at the Coney Island Y and Flatbush Y’s Community Markets.

The Cross Island Y hosted a community town hall with Council Member Linda Lee and Comptroller Brad Lander (at center, with community members) to discuss issues like school budgets and property taxes.

YMCA Greater York West 63rd Street, 6th New York, NY 10023 212 630 9600

READY, STEADY, GO!

BACK TO SCHOOL DRIVES HELP Y KIDS PREPARE FOR A NEW SCHOOL YEAR

A s families prepared for a new school year, the Y and our partners looked for ways to help them start out on the right foot. In the Bronx, Staples donated 500 back-toschool kits for kids at various sites. At the West Side Y, the board of managers came together to donate, fully supply, and assemble 160 backpacks for students in afterschool programs at P.S. 145, 165, and 191.•

(left) Students with new school supplies in the Bronx; (above, l to r) West Side Y backpacks ready for pick up; volunteer Christine Murray and West Side Y Board Member Matt Anderson help prepare supplies to fill a new backpack youth, improve health, community.