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Celebrating Community 2023

by 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!

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Save the Date for Celebrating Community 2023

by News and Events
RSVP & Purchase Tickets Here

We are thrilled to announce that we will be holding our Celebrating Community 2023 event in-person on October 5th from 6-8pm at the Stone Park Cafe in Park Slope, Brooklyn!

Please join us in honoring Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP for their dedication to pro bono service in our community and Leroy Street Studio for their work on our neighborhood library project and continued partnership.

We are also excited that at this year’s event, we will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of “Life Lines” Community Arts Project!

You can purchase tickets for the event by clicking the ticket link above.

Photo by: Pankaj Khadka/Leroy Street Studio

June: Our neighborhood library in Sunset Park has been honored by the 2021 National American Institute of Architects (AIA) and American Library Association (ALA) as one of the winners of the Library Building Design Award

by News and EventsYouth and Community Development & School Partnerships

We are thrilled to announce that our interim neighborhood library in Sunset Park has been honored by the 2021 National American Institute of Architects (AIA) and American Library Association (ALA) as one of the winners of the Library Building Design Award – only one of five libraries selected in the United States! The temporary Sunset Park Library, nestled in the former Sunset Park courthouse on Fourth Avenue, was designed by Leroy Street Studio and decorated with exquisite work by Center for Family Life high school students!

High school students in CFL’s Life Lines Visual Arts Troupe partnered with the Leroy Street Studio in a collaborative process of art, design, and installation to devise a method of providing shade for library-goers on brighter days. The team constructed a unique cascade of paper mobiles that hang across the large, vaulted windows. The shapes, made bold when backlit by the sun, speak to themes of togetherness, vitality, and natural beauty.

The National American Institute of Architects (AIA), an organization to support quality architecture founded in 1857, focuses on cultivating and encouraging the creation of spaces that center community wellness and vibrancy. According to a statement from their organization, the award acknowledges those libraries that embody “design achievement, including a sense of place, purpose, ecology, environmental sustainability and of history.” 
 
 Despite its status as an interim library, the space is a glowing achievement in Sunset Park. Shawn Watts, a partner at Leroy Street Studio, expressed that the studio is “honored to have played a part in creating this vibrant community hub and thrilled to see how the work of the students from the Center for Family Life elevated the space.”
 
 
The interim Sunset Park Library fulfills a variety of needs with versatile arrangements of space and equipment that serve our diverse community. Leroy Street Studio ensured that the voices of the Sunset Park community, BPL staff, and elected officials were heard in imagining the space. A spokesperson for Brooklyn Public Library noted that the library design, with the window installation “comprised of screens and sculptural mobiles, made in collaboration with students from the Center for Family Life…truly reflects the community it serves, making this award even more special.”