unh logo black 
Newsletter
August 2011
In This Issue
Save the Date!
Young Advocates and Summer Jobs Participants Attend Final Citi Field Kids Program of the Season
Outstanding Teens Honored with Allan Morrow Scholarship
Fresh, Healthy Food Arrives at Pomonok, Queens
FY 2011-12 City Budget Summary
Grant News

Save the Date!

                      

Save the Date - UNH Benefit  

 

 

Young Advocates and Summer Jobs Participants Attend Final Citi Field Kids Program of the Season
                      
Nancy Wackstein and Mr. Met

UNH Executive Director Nancy Wackstein with Mr. Met

For the final Citi Field Kids Program of the season, two hundred young people from Queens Community House, Henry Street Settlement, Hudson Guild, South East Bronx Neighborhood Centers, Educational Alliance, Chinese American Planning Council, Grand Street Settlement, and Alianza Dominicana flooded the Jackie Robinson Rotunda at Citi Field Stadium. Attendees included advocates for the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) at UNH's Youth Action Day as well as SYEP participants. To reward them for all their hard work, UNH invited these young people to Citi Field Stadium for a day of inspiration and baseball.

 

Keeping with the SYEP theme, UNH's Policy and Advocacy Director Anthony Ng reminded the attendees about the importance of keeping the summer jobs program well funded. As always, Mr. Met made a guest appearance at the program's conclusion to pump up the kids and hand out t-shirts. Helping out the Mets mascot was 16-year-old Avion Cummings, a program participant at Educational Alliance who appeared on NY1 with Mr. Ng at the beginning of July to talk about summer jobs for New York's youth.

 

Citi Field Kids is a collaboration between UNH, the NY Mets, Citi, and the Jackie Robinson Foundation.

Outstanding Teens Honored with Allan Morrow Scholarship
 

On June 22rd, UNH held its annual award ceremony to honor the 2011 recipients of the Allan Morrow Scholarship. Each year, this award is granted to outstanding high school seniors who have demonstrated a strong commitment to promoting positive social change and tolerance in their communities. Speaking to the students at this event were UNH Executive Director Nancy Wackstein, UNH Board Member Nelson Hioe, and EVP and Chief Financial Officer of Viacom James Barge. UNH would like to thank Viacom for hosting the ceremony and the four Viacom employees who served on the selection committee: Gary Pagano, Andi Blady, Hector Cardenas, and Lorna Montalvo.

 

This year's Allan Morrow Scholarship recipients are Quanisha Davis of Hudson Guild, Estephania Paredes of Goddard Riverside Community Center, Jhmar Galloway of Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation, Roberto Brutus of Union Settlement, Ria McKenzie of Henry Street Settlement, and Jaquan Arzu of New Settlement Apartments. To learn more about these exceptional students, check out UNH's Wednesday Scholar Spotlight Series on our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/UNHNY) 

Allan Morrow Honorees

Honorees (left to right): Quanisha Davis, Roberto Brutus, Jhmar Galloway, Estephania Paredes

 

Click here for more photos from this event 

Fresh, Healthy Food Arrives at Pomonok, Queens
Queens Community House Farmers' Market

Corn from farmers' market

On July 7th, UNH member agency Queens Community House opened up its new farmers' market at Flushing's Pomonok Community Center as part of the Healthy Communities Through Healthy Food project-a partnership between UNH and The New York Community Trust. The market, located in a NYC Housing Authority development, will be open every Thursday through mid-November from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

 

Healthy Communities Through Healthy Food engages older adults in efforts to increase access to and use of healthy food in low-income communities throughout the City. Other UNH members currently involved include United Community Centers in Brooklyn and Bronxworks in the South Bronx. This project is part of the Community Experience Partnership (CEP), an initiative of The Atlantic Philanthropies working to demonstrate the unique contributions older adults can make in U.S. communities.

 

 


FY 2011-12 City Budget Summary 

 

The adopted city budget for the 2011-12 fiscal year ended up being a mix of good and bad news for UNH members. On one hand, there were a large number of funding restorations for programs originally slated to face massive cuts. For instance, in February, the City announced plans to implement the largest cut to child care in more than a generation. UNH was at the forefront of the fight to preserve child care, and, with the adopted budget, the Mayor and Council respectively restored $40 million and $42 million to the program. Other victories include the addition of $14 million in funding for senior centers and partial restorations to youth OST (after school) programs and Beacons. Yet, despite these successes, the City did end up cutting vital funding for many services provided by UNH member agencies.

 

The victories that did occur were in no small part due to the tireless efforts of thousands of New Yorkers who participated in rallies, protests, call-ins, and other measures to preserve human services. One highlight was the Yes for Youth rally in June, where hundreds of parents, students, teachers, and after school program leaders gathered outside of City Hall to chant, "You say cut back, we say fight back!" On June 7th, several children pulled a little red wagon up to City Hall to drop off nearly 30,000 petitions and letters to stop cuts to child care, showing that there is no age limit to political activism. UNH firmly believes that the work of these individuals and the Policy and Advocacy team at UNH-working with its member agencies and advocacy colleagues-played a crucial role in keeping many of the City's essential human services intact.

 

Save Childcare

Two of the littlest protesters

Grant News

UNH is gratified to have received grants from important foundation supporters including a grant from The Altman Foundation for UNH core policy and advocacy and member services activity, from The New York Community Trust for a new effort to promote collaboration among UNH members, and from FJC to support policy work related to services for older adults. A new grant from Citi Foundation will support the second year of a partnership with Goddard Riverside to strengthen UNH members' college access programs.

 

 

Quick Links
Join Our Mailing List
United Neighborhood Houses
Board of Directors
Honorary Chair
Sidney Lapidus

President 
Lewis Kramer

Vice Presidents 
Patricia M. Carey
Roger Juan Maldonado

Treasurer 
James W. Barge
 
Secretary & Counsel
Thomas M. Cerabino

Board Members
Eric C. Andrus
Rahul Baig
Paul F. Balser
Darel M. Benaim
Julie Copeland
Marc S. Dieli
Sue Fox*
Mark Handelman*
Mark Hershey
Nelson Hioe
Alain Kodsi
Jack Krauskopf
David W. Kubie
Anne C. Kubisch
Ann L. Marcus
Ilene Margolin
Carolyn McLaughlin*
Kristin Nygreen
J. Donald Rice, Jr.
Stephan Russo*
Thomas C. Skrobe
M. Bryna Sanger
Arthur J. Stainman
Beth Taylor
Patrick Vatel
Wanda Wooten*
Michael Zisser*

*Member agency representatives

Emeriti
Richard Abrons
Barbara B. Blum
Anthony D. Knerr
Emily Menlo Marks

Executive Director
Nancy Wackstein



 
UNH Welcomes New Staff Member
Kevin Douglas
 UNH recently welcomed a new staff member, Kevin Douglas, to its policy and advocacy team. Kevin will focus on employment and skill building programs for youth and young adults. He will coordinate UNH's role in the Campaign for Summer Jobs, NY Coalition for Adult Literacy and the Campaign for Tomorrow's Workforce.

 

UNH Staff in the News 
Anthony Ng on NY1

Inside City Hall video

On July 8th, UNH's Policy & Advocacy Director Anthony Ng appeared on NY1's Inside City Hall segment to talk about the importance of summer jobs for NYC's youth.
We Need Your Support

Donate Now button 

 

Your contribution will help UNH to strengthen New York's communities.  

 

Right now, we are working closely with our 37 member agencies to fight for continued funding for working families and children in New York City whose child care could be lost this Fall due to budget cuts. In September, we hope these working families will not be forced to make life-changing decisions. We are advocating for the kind of common sense support that will help the parents of our City keep working and contributing to our economy.  

 

To get more involved with signing petitions and other forms of advocacy on this issue, go to our child care campaign page at  

www.facebook.com/SaveChildCare  and also UNH's facebook page www.facebook.com/unhny   


United Neighborhood Houses Newsletter
Newsletter
Month Year
August
2011