center for family life Archives - Page 3 of 7

A box of fresh produce, including lettuce, carrots, and other green, from Mimomex Farms

We are thrilled to announce that we received a New York Food for New York Families grant award from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. This grant has made it possible for us to distribute produce and eggs at our food pantry- direct from the farm to our doors!

Through the New York Food for New York Families grant award, we have partnered with Latinx immigrant farmers to supply clients with vegetables and fruits that are commonly used in Latin American cooking traditions, and that are nutritious, and sustainably grown. With this innovative partnership, we hope to improve the health and wellness of our community members while supporting immigrant farmers based in New York State.

Our partners on this project include Mimomex Farm, who provide our pantry’s produce and herbs, and Tello Farms, who provide fresh eggs.

Mimomex Farm is owned by Martin Rodriguez and Gaudencia Gonzalez, who at a young age started farming in their native country of Mexico. Martin and Gaudencia both strongly oppose the use of pesticides, and believe in the importance of naturally grown produce and sustainable farming practices.

Another incredible partner on this project, Tello Farms, is owned by Nestor Tello, who immigrated to the United States from Colombia in 1992 to escape political violence in the country. Nestor Tello started his farm in 2000 with his wife Alejandra, where he raises chickens to produce eggs and grows various crops.

This effort to provide fresh produce and eggs to our community members has been extremely well received, as both the Latinx and Chinese communities who make up the vast majority of our neighborhood population, prize the inclusion of eggs, fruits, vegetables, and herbs in their cooking and diets.

We appreciate our Food Pantry Project funders for allowing us to serve our clients nutritious foods and are proud to report that in calendar year 2023 to date, we have served nearly 3,200 clients and over 2,600 families in our food pantry!

Center for Family Life’s Food Pantry Project helps individuals and families who are experiencing food insecurity to meet basic needs for nutritious food. We provide clients with packages of dry and canned goods, fresh and frozen proteins, fruits and vegetables that will support 3 meals a day for 3 days for all members of client families. Our food pantry operates for 52 weeks a year and distributes food packages Tuesday through Thursday and by appointment on Monday and Friday. In addition, the Food Pantry Project offers a portfolio of onsite supportive social services that help clients to regain household and financial stability.

We are grateful for the generous funding provided to our food pantry by United Way of NYC, the NYC Department of Social Services’ Human Resources Administration, and City Harvest.

Thank you to all of our supporters for giving us the opportunity to promote our philosophy of food justice and equity.

Celebrating Community 2023

October 17, 2023

by Kathleen Lion News and Events

On October 5th, we celebrated our annual Celebrating Community event at the Stone Park Cafe, where we honored Leroy Street Studio as well as Charlie Allen and the firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP.

In addition, we were thrilled to recognize the 40th anniversary of “Life Lines” Community Arts Project!

In celebration of the nationally-recognized program Life Lines, we created a documentary showing how the program has grown since 1982 and exploring its impact on Sunset Park youth and the overall community over four decades. We would like to thank all Life Lines staff members and participants, both past and present, for being a part of this program and everyone who contributed to this documentary for making it so incredibly special!

To watch the full documentary, click here!

Our 2023 Honorees

Our Community Hero
Leroy Street Studio

In 2018 we partnered with the designers of the interim Sunset Park Library, Leroy Street Studio, who collaborated with participants in our Life Lines Visual Arts Troupe to create a welcoming and vibrant space with the use of art. In 2021, the library was recognized as one of the winners of the Library Building Design Award, one of only five libraries selected in the United States.

We are so glad that Leroy Street Studio has remained a dedicated partner to Center for Family Life in Sunset Park and are honored to have worked on such an important community project together.

Our Corporate Hero
Charlie Allen & Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP

After becoming an independent organization, Center for Family Life in Sunset Park sought the expertise of Charlie Allen and his team at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP on our governance project. This project was a complex and time-consuming undertaking and we would like to thank Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP and Charlie Allen for providing exceptional pro bono service to our organization.

Special Acknowledgements

Thank you to our Board of Directors, esteemed guests State Senator Andrew Gounardes, Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes, Congressional Field Representative Mayra Molina from the office of Congressman Dan Goldman, Deputy Borough President Kim Council, Deputy Commissioner Susan Haskell form the Department of Youth and Community Development, Deputy Commissioner Jackie Martin from the Administration for Children’s Services, along with CFL staff members and all of those who attended and supported our event.

We are so grateful to have such wonderful partners to help us serve the Sunset Park community!

August: Summer Camp in Sunset Park!

September 5, 2023

by Kathleen Lion News and Events Youth and Community Development & School Partnerships

This month, our newsletter highlights the action-packed days of our CFLSP summer camp programs. These programs run full day, 5 days a week in July and August and include field trips to museums, pools, parks, and other sites throughout NYC. Our summer camps engage children in consistent group and community-building activities that promote social, physical, academic and artistic development and offer a diverse range of activities that provide opportunities for children to practice and master skills while having fun.

Here are some of this summer’s highlights!

Students took a trip to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden where they adventured beyond urban life to explore the garden’s rich vegetation and blossoming flowers. These PS 169 campers pictured on the right expanded their knowledge of plants as they observed different trees and flowers during a scavenger hunt throughout the garden.

Summer campers at PS 94 were busy restoring a garden space which had fallen into disrepair after the pandemic and an extended construction project. STEAM specialist, Margaret Wang, and a group of participants got to work planting sunflowers they grew from seeds, along with flowers, green, and tomato and squash plants. This gardening project taught campers how continuous hard work and patience can transform a space into something beautiful and prosperous.

A highlight of our camp program is our summer Olympics, an annual tradition that excites campers and staff. With the goal of promoting sportsmanship and building community across the program, campers were divided into teams and engaged in healthy competition through water challenges, classic field games, sports, obstacle courses and more.

The summer Olympics at PS 503/506 ended with a team-building feat of strength and perseverance as campers “pulled together” in a friendly tug-of-war.

Campers also had the opportunity to explore their creativity in a variety of media, dance, music, acting, and visual arts. Culminating performances delighted family and community members who were proud of the skill development and stage presence of the large cast of performers.

We are thrilled that this summer we served a total of 1,501 children in our summer camp programming!

In addition, 356 young people gained paid work experience as SYEP camp counselors through the NYC DYCD Summer Youth Employment Program. These talented SYEPs worked alongside our dedicated year-round staff to provide enriching activities for children that built essential skills and contributed to our strong and vibrant community here in Sunset Park.

With love from all of us at Center for Family Life in Sunset Park to everyone who made this a most magical and memorable summer!

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.

The Extra Mile

June 5, 2023

by Kathleen Lion News and Events

We are delighted to announce that we will be holding The Extra Mile event in-person and online on Wednesday June 7th, from 6-8pm at L’Wren in Sunset Park, Brooklyn!

Please join us here in Sunset Park and meet some of our amazing school-based staff leaders as we celebrate the strength of youth!

A hallmark of CFL’s program model is our ladder of leadership that provides meaningful roles and opportunities for young people and fosters long-term relationships that enrich our program environments. Participants build leadership skills in elementary school group experiences, move up into middle school service learning activities and then, in high school, become Counselors-in-Training (CITs) who serve as role models for younger children. CITs become our hiring pool of youth workers and group leaders who staff our elementary and middle school programs during their college years. Our ladder of leadership continues to recognize leadership potential and to promote capacity as group leaders move up to AmeriCorps members and Instructors. As staff progress through higher education and demonstrate increasing levels of competence, they advance to BA level Activity Specialists and then to Program Coordinators and MSW Program Directors!

Seventy Eight percent of our current school-based staff, including 10 of our Program Directors and Coordinators began as our participants, demonstrating the success of our ladder of leadership and ensuring that our programs are both responsive to and representative of the diverse community of Sunset Park.

We hope you will join us in celebrating our incredible school-based staff!

You can purchase tickets for the event by clicking the ticket link above or visiting our website centerforfamilylife.org.

We look forward to seeing you in-person or online!