Department of Youth and Community Development Archives

Each year, Center for Family Life in Sunset Park coordinates paid summer work opportunities for youth ages 14-24 through the Department of Youth and Community Development’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP). These work opportunities prepare youth for future careers by giving them the tools they need to build essential job readiness skills while earning money for their families and giving back to their community.

We are thrilled that this summer we connected over 1,150 youth to work opportunities, generating over $2,110,000 in earnings for youth and their families!

A total of 318 younger youth, ages 14-15, in ten cohorts participated in Project Based Learning (PBL) activities that developed their leadership skills and advanced their understanding of civic engagement. Six groups engaged in social justice projects and four groups promoted youth development through intergenerational workshops with elementary-aged children. Our PBL youth gained confidence as they collaborated and developed their capacity to plan and implement innovative community projects.

Social justice participants researched issues related to mental health, homelessness, poverty, and gender and racial inequality. They decided to center their project on providing support for newly arrived families who are facing poverty and homelessness. Social justice participants connected with CHiPS, a non-profit soup kitchen and food pantry in Park Slope. Participants worked together to create, package, and deliver more than 360 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to community members in need. Later, participants designed a map and brochure for newly arrived families with information on local shelters, clinics, employment services, family activities, and food pantries.

This summer, we placed 854 older youth, ages 16-24 at 79 worksites in Brooklyn, giving them the opportunity to gain experience and explore careers in many different fields of work.

At one worksite, Groundswell, youth apprentice artists created beautiful large-scale murals to bring key community issues to life and uplift the neighborhood. These young artists immersed themselves in a collective, start-to-finish public art project, while gaining design skills and forming lasting friendships.

At the historic Green-Wood Cemetery, participants located, mapped, cleaned, and restored broken graves and monuments. SYEPs also led tours for the public and gave presentations about the cemetery and their work.

SYEPs also served as counselors at summer programs across the neighborhood. At Center for Family Life, SYEP camp counselors worked alongside our dedicated year-round staff to engage children in a range of creative educational enrichment activities. SYEP camp counselors formed positive relationships with younger children while leading field trips, engaging in intergenerational workshops, and collaborating on visual and performing arts projects.

To celebrate the end of this summer’s program, Maimonides Medical Center held their 2024 Summer Youth Program Recognition Ceremony. This year, they recognized CFL participants Jenny Vazquez-Flores and Arno Zheng, for their outstanding service at the hospital. We are so proud of Jenny and Arno for going above and beyond this summer.

Thank you to all of the worksites with whom we partnered with this summer and to our wonderful SYEP participants for their incredible work!

June: Cross-site Soccer League

July 1, 2024

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

With generous funding provided by the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), Center for Family Life launched our first-ever cross-site soccer league in February of 2024. Our free program operated across 6 Center for Family Life sites in Sunset Park at PS 1, PS 503/506, PS 94, PS 169, PS 516, and PS 971. Our Neighborhood Youth Soccer Program served elementary and middle school youth, who otherwise may not have had the financial resources to join a soccer team or the experience to be selected for a competitive league.

At the start of the program, CFL staff organized 14 co-ed teams of youth, from ages 10 to 13. All participants were registered on a first-come-first-serve basis and no prior experience was required.

Staff also recruited high school students to assist in implementing sports practices, games, and other activities for participants. This provided high schoolers with the opportunity to build leadership skills and to earn an incentive of up to $400 while serving as mentors to younger youth in the program.

During the first two months of the league, participants attended weekly practices where they received skill-based instruction from CFL coaches, who were trained by Street Soccer USA, a national nonprofit. In addition to offering coaching and safety trainings, Street Soccer USA provided neutral referees for cross-site games.

Official games kicked off in April, as teams faced off against other sites. The league centered on fellowship and community-building, allowing youth to engage in friendly competition with no scores being recorded. In addition, all participants played for equal time, regardless of athletic ability or skill level. This created a safe and inclusive environment, where all players felt valued and appreciated.

Each game was highly attended by family members who came to support youth and to cheer on their teams. Throughout the season, parents shared valuable feedback that led to ongoing program improvements. They expressed how thankful they were to have this opportunity for their children. Our partnership with parents and their investment in the program’s success were a major highlight of this new initiative.

Teams enjoyed playing on professional soccer turf at Soccer Roof in Sunset Park!

After a series of cross-site games and a final grand tournament, the program came to a close with our Award Ceremony on June 7th. At the ceremony, players and their families came together and enjoyed a shared meal to celebrate the accomplishments of participants over the past several months. Players were thrilled to connect one last time with coaches and fellow teammates as they proudly collected their certificates and awards.

We are incredibly grateful to DYCD’s Neighborhood Youth Team Sports Program for funding that provided 120 young people with the opportunity to join a soccer team and gain valuable skills while strengthening our community.

We are eager to build on the enthusiastic engagement of youth and families and on the success of this year’s inaugural soccer league. We appreciate any donations to support our capacity to continue cross-site sports programming in the future.

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.

Center for Family Life

Posts tagged: Department of Youth and Community Development

September: Summer Youth Employment Program