Adult Employment Program Archives - Center for Family Life

We are delighted to announce that we will be holding our annual staff recognition Extra Mile event in-person on Wednesday June 5th, from 6-8pm at L’Wren in Sunset Park, Brooklyn!

Please join us here in Sunset Park and meet some of our amazing ESOL staff and students as we celebrate the strength of our life long learners!

Since the fall of 2022, very high numbers of newly arrived individuals and families have come to our immigrant community in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The majority share stories of difficult passages here to the US and most continue to experience challenges as they establish their new lives in Sunset Park. New arrivals come to Center for Family Life looking for a variety of supports to build new lives for themselves and their families, and most have a pressing need to learn English so that they can find work and make the most of their new lives in NYC. Our ESOL staff team has gone above and beyond to support new arrivals and to encourage them as they move forward in their journey to learn English.

Come celebrate our incredible ESOL staff and hear directly from staff and students in our program about what the program means to them!

You can purchase tickets for the event by clicking here!

December: Holidays in Sunset Park

December 30, 2023

by Cornershop Creative Economic Well-being Programs News and Events

The holidays are an incredibly special time for family and friends to spend time together and celebrate, strengthening bonds and giving us all the chance to feel loved and appreciated. However, for those who are far from home, who have very limited financial resources even to satisfy basic needs, or who have no stable shelter or holiday gifts or food, the holidays can be a time where what we do not have and what we cannot give our children is especially painful.

This year has been difficult for many children and families in our community, as families with low wage jobs and little job security continue to deal with social, emotional and financial hardships as we move through the post-pandemic recovery. Since September 2022, thousands of new migrants have arrived in New York City. A majority of these families crossed the border with no belongings and are living in shelters or overcrowded apartments. Since these families are already experiencing significant financial constraints, most cannot afford warm clothing this winter, let alone holiday gifts and special meals.

To support our clients this season and to reduce their stress, we reached out to our friends, donors, our Board of Directors and community to help families celebrate the holidays!

Our Community Services Program and Adult Employment Program have been busy this winter distributing warm clothing to clients. After hearing that many of our clients lack appropriate clothing for the cold, our generous donors and Board of Directors quickly helped us to purchase coats, hats, scarves and gloves to distribute. We are so glad that we can help to keep our community members warm this winter.

Each year, Center for Family Life’s Family Counseling and Adult Employment Programs purchase and accept donated gifts to give to our families in need. These items are delivered to CFL, wrapped and distributed to parents so that parents have gifts and toys to give to their children for the holidays. Thank you to everyone who supported the purchase of these gifts, the children were so excited!

With your help, children and their families received gifts through our Family Counseling and Adult Employment Programs!

Every holiday season is busy for us here at CFL, especially for those in our food pantry who work extra hard to put together special food packages. In November, in addition to our regular distribution, our food pantry gave out 240 turkeys for families to take home for their Thanksgiving dinners!

We are truly so grateful to everyone who helped make this a joyous holiday season for our clients, we could not do this without your support. We are proud to have such dedicated partners and excited to continue to serve our wonderful community in 2024.

From all of us at Center for Family Life in Sunset Park, warm wishes for a

Happy New Year!

One of our ESOL classes during their graduation celebration this June!

July: English for Speakers of Other Languages

August 2, 2023

by Kathleen Lion Economic Well-being Programs News and Events

Our Adult Employment Program at Center for Family Life serves Sunset Park residents as well as those in neighboring Brooklyn communities. Our goal is to prepare for and find full-time work opportunities for the clients we serve, many of whom are among the newest New Yorkers. As so many of our clients are non-English speakers, our Adult Employment Program offers free English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes, paid for with generous funding provided by the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) and the New York City Council. These classes give our clients the opportunity to learn English which is useful in so many areas of life in New York City including getting a job, riding public transportation, going to the doctor, visiting their children’s school and more.

In Spring, 2023, CFL held a total of 6 ESOL classes and we are so proud of the accomplishments of the 114 students who received a Certificate of Completion! At graduations held in June we celebrated by recognizing each student’s accomplishments and appreciating all the hard work put in by instructors and staff, all while enjoying delicious food and desserts brought in by students.

This month, we are focusing on the positive impact these classes have on our client’s lives by sharing CFL ESOL instructor reflections on teaching and a student success story.

CFL ESOL Instructor Reflection: Julian Colón

CFL ESOL Counselor Reflection: Jessica Garcia

CFL ESOL Instructor Reflection: Stefan Fernández

“The students’ determination to learn and better their lives through language acquisition has been truly awe-inspiring. We’ve laughed, faced challenges, and celebrated victories together. It’s been heartening to witness how our small classroom evolved into a tight-knit community where diversity was cherished, and every individual’s progress was celebrated. Watching my students grow and flourish over the semester has been one of the most fulfilling aspects of my role as an instructor.

The spring semester at the Center has been an unforgettable experience. It has reinforced my love for teaching English as a second language and solidified the belief that education has the power to create lasting, positive change in people’s lives.”

CFL ESOL Student Success Story: Jose E.

Jose is a high school graduate from Honduras who came to the United States in March of 2022. He was in Sunset Park just over a week before coming to the Center to inquire about ESOL classes. Jose worked diligently to refine his language abilities. Since completing the ESOL course here at CFL, he has sought additional services from our Adult Employment Program including help with resume writing, preparing for interviews in English and exploring job opportunities. During the pandemic, Jose accepted a temporary position as a cleaner with the MTA system and when his temporary job ended, he returned to CFL to continue his job search. Jose is now a Resident Advisor at a migrant’s shelter and is planning to enroll in college to continue his education. He says that he is proud and thankful that he can share his experience and knowledge of resources with other immigrants.

We are so honored to have the opportunity to help clients learn English to improve their lives here in the United States and we are grateful for all that we learn from our amazing students as they pursue their education. Stories like Jose’s are why we do what we do, and we are so thankful for the support of our donors and grant partners for enabling us to help our clients in this way.

Center for Family Life

Posts tagged: Adult Employment Program

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