United Neighborhood Houses E-news
October 2011
In This Issue
UNH Benefit a Success
HSBC Bank Volunteers
UNH at Alliance and UNCA 2011 National Conference
Citi Supports College Access
Members in the Spotlight
Web links
 Visit our NEW website!

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Upcoming Events

Making Democracy Work: Strengthening our Social Safety Net



December 2, 2011

 

Goddard Riverside's Bernie Wohl Center

 

647 Columbus Ave

(Between 91st & 92nd St)

 

8:30am- 1:00pm

 

Agenda and speakers coming soon!
  


     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 Dieli
Sue Fox*
Mark Handelman*
Mark Hershey
Nelson Hioe
Alain Kodsi
Jack Krauskopf
David Kubie
Anne C. Kubisch
Ann L. Marcus
Ilene Margolin
Carolyn McLaughlin*
Kristin Nygreen
J. Donald Rice, Jr.
Stephan Russo*
M. Bryna Sanger
Thomas C. Skrobe
Arthur J. Stainman
Mary Elizabeth 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
Eling Tsai
UNH recently welcomed a new staff member, Eling Tsai, as UNH's Communications Associate. Eling will focus on coordinating the UNH website, online communications strategy, written reports and other external publications. 
Join Our Mailing List
Wedding Registry and Tribute Gifts

Recently wed UNH Board member Nelson Hioe and Elizabeth Schwartz named UNH as a beneficiary in lieu of wedding gifts. This is a wonderful way to celebrate a union or other special milestone and help an important cause. If you would like to learn more about how you can include UNH in your wedding registry, click here - and congratulations and thank you to Nelson and Elizabeth!

 Nelson HIoe and Elizabeth Schwartz

Dear Friend,

United Neighborhood Houses has a lot to report, starting with our recent Annual Benefit. We're proud to share with you the latest news going on in and around UNH!
 
UNH Benefit a Success!

 

Rachel Nancy Alain Lew
Honoree Rachel Foster, UNH ED Nancy Wackstein, Honoree and Board Member Alain Kodsi and Board President Lewis Kramer

UNH would like to thank all the wonderful supporters who made the UNH Benefit on October 26th a great success, raising $600,000 to help UNH support settlement houses and New Yorkers in need throughout our great city. Special thanks to this year's New Yorkers Who Make a Difference: Alain Kodsi and Rachel Foster and The Clark Foundation, our emcee Michelle Yu (SNY), and our Golden Benefactors including Paul Balser and Paula Del Nunzio, EmblemHealth, Judy and Lew Kramer, Ruth and Sid Lapidus, and Lois and Arthur Stainman and all those who supported and attended our special event. We welcomed 400 people to Tribeca Three Sixty on a beautiful NYC night. 

 

Clark Foundation
Clark Foundation honorees Douglas Bauer, Yancy Garrido, Bharathi Sethumadhavan 

Many supporters and friends took part in the UNH video project which was being filmed by our wonderful volunteers Hector Cardenas, Vic Sorvino, and Jay Yorke from VIACOM. We look forward to sharing the edited event video with you soon. In the meantime, please view pictures from the benefit. Have photos or stories you want to share? Post them on our Facebook page.

 

Again, we thank you for your partnership as we work to strengthen New York City's neighborhoods at a very challenging time for those struggling to succeed.

 

More photos>> 

 

 

HSBC Volunteers at Hamilton-Madison House

On October 5th, volunteers from HSBC Bank served lunch to almost 300 seniors at UNH member Hamilton-Madison House City Hall Senior Center.   

 

UNH Board member Mark Hershey (Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer of HSBC Bank USA) led his volunteer team of 16, serving hearty lunches of curry chicken and rice to the enthusiastic seniors.  

 HSBC volunteers at City Hall Senior Center

Thanks to city subsidies,  the seniors only pay $1.25 for a nutritious lunch, keeping them healthy and social. City Hall Senior Center can serve up to 325 meals, with attendance varying with cultural holidays. The Center keeps seniors extremely engaged with games and activities, as well as a library dedicated to quiet reading. Following a grateful round of applause for the volunteers, the seniors moved on to karaoke after lunch service ended.      

 

Thank you to the HSBC volunteers and the City Hall Senior Center for working with UNH on this volunteer event.

For more photos, view our album.  

 

If you are interested in participating in a corporate volunteer day, contact Jessica Ziegler at [email protected].

 

 

UNH Presents at Alliance and UNCA 2011 National Conference

On October 17, three UNH staff members traveled to Washington D.C. to speak at the 2011 National Conference of United Neighborhood Centers of America and The Alliance for Children and Families. UNH Policy Analyst Gregory Brender led a discussion on UNH's response to City budget cuts, including strategies employed to develop the successful Emergency Coalition to Save Child Care. During the "More than Food: Building Healthy Communities" workshop, Senior Project Manager Monica Serrano and Community Experience Partnership Project Director Terry Kaelber spoke about UNH healthy food efforts, and making community engagement, fresh food, and healthy eating a priority. Learn more about UNH's healthy food programs here. UNH member agencies who also presented at the conference as well included Educational Alliance, St. Nicks Alliance, and Bronxworks.

 

 

Citi Continues to Support College Access
OPTIONS Institute participants
Participants of the Options Institute gather during the September Orientation.

Last month kicked off the second year of UNH's partnership with Citi and UNH member Goddard Riverside's OPTIONS Institute to provide access to specialized training for settlement house college access staff throughout the UNH network. This year, support from The Citi Foundation will provide 11 college access staff from seven UNH member agencies with a 60-hour curriculum spanning the next six months. Topics covered will include Strategic College Lists, The Application Process, and Financial Aid Counseling, among others.  

 

UNH agencies are recognized as leaders in the area of college access and college prep. UNH member Goddard Riverside Community Center opened its OPTIONS center in 1985, which has since then counseled 6,000 students who have gone on to attend college. Now, OPTIONS has helped develop college access centers in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn. Overall, twenty UNH members provide college access programs. Citi's support is vital to helping UNH member agencies to continually improve services to low income students with college aspirations.

 

 

 

Members in the Spotlight

Innovative Senior Centers

 

Congratulations to Lenox Hill Neighborhood House and BronxWorks, two UNH members who were chosen to develop the City's first wave of "Innovative Senior Centers". Eight community-based organizations in total were found to be the "the most qualified providers to enhance and transform our senior center network," said Dept for the Aging Commissioner Lillian Barrios-Paoli. The eight centers will educate seniors on health and wellness through a variety of innovative programs allow older adults to exercise their creativity, provide nutritious and flexible meals, and be a place for seniors to thrive socially.

 

Young Adult Literacy Program

 

Four UNH member agencies are playing a leading role in the Young Adult Literacy Program (YALP) - BronxWorks, CAMBA, Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation, and Union Settlement Association. The expansion of the YALP is the first part of the Young Men's Initiative to be launched by the City. Through this expansion, almost 1,000 disconnected youth a year will be served. With improved literacy, these young men will be directed back on track to get diplomas and jobs.  

 

We celebrate our members for playing an integral role in these important and new initiatives in NYC.

 

 

 
Visit the UNH website to continue learning about our services, advocacy work, and member agencies. Thank you for your continued interest in and support of UNH.
 
Sincerely,

 


Nancy Wackstein signature
Nancy Wackstein
Executive Director
United Neighborhood Houses
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