We are delighted to announce that we will be holding our annual staff recognition Extra Mile event in-person on Tuesday, June 10th, from 6-8pm at L’Wren in Sunset Park, Brooklyn!
Please join us here in Sunset Park to celebrate Center for Family Life’s “Life Lines” partnership with public schools, MS 136 and MS 821. Our unique collaboration engages students in interdisciplinary projects that blend academic subjects with the arts to build community in the classroom and enrich student learning.
We are grateful for this partnership and are excited to recognize the MS 136 and MS 821 principals and our Life Lines teaching artists. We look forward to celebrating decades of creative collaboration!
Watch our “A Reflection on 40 Years | Life Lines Community Arts Project Documentary” above to learn more about our partnership which has spanned four decades.Â
For over twenty years, Center for Family Life has been providing free tax-filing assistance to our neighbors in Sunset Park via the IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, and our usually busy tax season hasn’t shown any signs of slowing!
As a VITA site, CFL has certified volunteer and staff tax preparers on hand to assist those who are eligible for VITA in filing their taxes.
Juan Obando, CFL’s VITA Tax Manager, conducts extensive outreach each year to recruit volunteer tax preparers. In addition to recruiting via NYC Service and NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, Juan and his tax team have successfully secured partnerships with Fordham University, Kingsborough Community College, NY Cares, and Royal Business Bank to solicit volunteers. All volunteers receive thorough tax-preparation trainings and must acquire their official IRS Tax Certification before working as tax preparers.
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A client with Juan Obando
This year, we’ve been lucky to have fifty-seven tax preparers support us in filing nearly three thousand returns, yielding over four million dollars in refunds! Thank you to all our CFL staff and volunteers who help make this program possible. The funds our neighbors receive in returns can be crucial for them to make rent, pay bills, or buy groceries.
A tax preparer working with a client
Indeed, Juan has emphasized it is the ability to “help someone get the most money in a year, and hearing [our clients’] stories” which has been the most meaningful to him in his two decades of providing tax-free filing assistance professionally.
If you qualify for free tax preparation, we encourage you to make an appointment with us. More information on eligibility and appointments is outlined below.
Alternatively, if you have the means and are able to support our tax-filing assistance program, please consider donating to Center for Family Life today.
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Interested in making an appointment?
In 2024, if your income was up to $65,000 as an individual — or up to $93,000 as a family — you are eligible for free tax filing services.
Appointments are available at CFL’s main office from 11am to 7pm on Mondays through Fridays, as well as on Saturdays from 9am to 4pm.
An appointment can also be made at our partner NYU Langone location — which is located on Fifth Avenue in Sunset Park — on Tuesdays through Thursdays between 12pm and 7pm.
This holiday season, the Center for Family Life is so grateful for supporters like you who make the work we do possible. With your support, at this special time of year we go above and beyond in all of our programs to share holiday foods, gifts and clothing with the families who come to our doors. Â
Thanks to your contributions, between Thanksgiving and Christmas the Center was able to provide over 400 turkeys to neighbors in Sunset Park! We are especially grateful to NYC Council Member Alexa Aviles, New York State Senator Andrew Gounardes, City Harvest, and the Skanska company for their generous contributions to the Center for Family Life’s food pantry this holiday season. Donations of turkeys and all the trimmings helped more of our neighbors to have festive and fulfilling feasts this year.
 We are also grateful for the generosity of St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Church — who donated so many toys to the Center — and for our case planners in the Family Counseling Program who distributed the gifts to parents. Â
Our Adult Employment Program also provided toys and hosted a toy giveaway, where families picked up wrapped presents for their children. Some parents came to the Center while their children were in school, and sometimes it was a family affair to pick up gifts!
CFL’s School Based Youth and Community Programs were also busy this holiday season hosting holiday sing-alongs, plays, and gingerbread house-making events in the 11 schools where we offer afterschool programming to in Sunset Park.Â
Additionally, we are grateful for our wonderful Board of Directors who donated scarfs and gloves to the Center, and for a holiday grant from the United Neighborhood Houses which allowed our Family and Community Supports Program to buy winter coats and holiday gifts for community members in need. As we head toward the coldest months of winter, it’s more important than ever that our neighbors have protective and warm clothing to get them through this winter. Your end of year donation today will help us to ensure that there is one less neighbor without food or warm winter clothing. If you haven’t already, please consider donating to the Center.Â
It’s always been our mission to be a resource to our neighbors in Sunset Park; seeing everyone come-and-go from the Center — whether to give or receive gifts — made us grateful to be in a community where we all strive to include each other in our festivities and celebrations. The ways we support each other in our community is, in and of itself, something to celebrate as we end 2024 and enter a new year.Â
In utmost gratitude, and with warmest wishes for the New Year,Â
On March 14th, a group of Center for Family Life staff and program participants in our Community Study Circles ventured to Albany to present their advocacy priorities to elected officials!
Through funding provided by the Thriving Families, Safer Children Youth, Family, and Community initiative, we offered a series of Chinese and Spanish Community Study Circle (CSC) workshops, which were co-created and led by program staff with lived experience. These eight-week workshops used a popular education methodology to introduce community participants to community-specific and citywide data on education, housing, economic development, environmental issues, public sanitation, food access and child welfare participation. Group members explored the “story” that data tells about community experiences, contextualizing this data “story” in their own immediate and personal life experiences. Workshops culminated in final presentations to policy makers and elected officials, where participants shared their personal experiences and ideas for community strengthening!
A significant highlight of our Community Study Circle program was our advocacy trip this March. CFL staff, including CSC group leaders, and Spanish and Chinese program participants travelled to Albany where they engaged directly with state officials to discuss policy recommendations and to elevate community priorities. Our team was incredibly grateful to meet with the offices of Senators Iwen Chu, John C. Liu, and Roxanne Persaud. Together, our team presented the collective concerns of the Chinese and Spanish communities in Sunset Park.
After their day of advocacy, we asked participants to share their reflections. Here is what they chose to share:
“Having participated in study circles at CFL gave me the opportunity to develop my leadership skills and proudly represent our Latino community in Albany. It was an experience that will be unforgettable for me. Our voice was heard, we carried a message and we were heard. Now it is up to the senators to work for our needs so that our community’s goals can be met!”
“For me, it was a wonderful trip and a great learning experience. It was my first time going to Albany, I am satisfied with my small contribution to our community. It is a phenomenal experience because of La Union Hace la Fuerza (strength in unity). God willing, the official electors can commit themselves to work for us and provide us with support for each topic and solution that we have presented.”
“It was great working with the Spanish speaking group, which allowed two marginalized groups to unite for such special cause. Thank you for inviting me!”Â
This trip truly emphasizes the power of diverse communities coming together to expand their reach and impact. We are so proud of our CFL staff and program participants for voicing their concerns and advocating for changes in our community and throughout NYC!
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!
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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!
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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.
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Come celebrate our incredible ESOL staff and hear directly from staff and students in our program about what the program means to them!
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You can purchase tickets for the event by clicking here!
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