Summer Camp Bracelet Making

August: Summer Camp in Sunset Park!

by News and EventsYouth and Community Development & School Partnerships

This month, our newsletter highlights the action-packed days of our CFLSP summer camp programs. We are thrilled that this summer, we served a total of 1,814 children from Kindergarten through 8th grade! Our full-day, 5 day per week camps ran in July and August and engaged children in a diverse range of activities that promoted social, physical, academic and artistic development and provided opportunities to practice and master skills while having fun and building community.

Here are some of this summer’s highlights!

Campers engaged in many hands-on art projects led by CFL Arts Specialists. For one project at our PS 1 camp called “A Summer Souvenir”, campers fostered creativity by designing unique and colorful friendship bracelets, that will be a token by which they can remember a fun-filled summer.

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All CFL camps take weekly field trips to museums, parks, and other cultural, recreational and educational sites throughout NYC. Above, campers from PS 516 visit the American Museum of Natural History.

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Four groups of campers from PS 169 traveled to Brooklyn Urban Garden School (BUGS) twice per week to tend the outdoor gardens and harvest produce from the hydroponics lab. Campers created their own herb satchels, sampled indoor and outdoor grown cucumbers, learned how to weigh produce, and took home fresh vegetables to their families! This fun and engaging project taught campers sustainable urban food growing practices in a hands-on, delicious and nutritious way.

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A highlight of our camp program is our annual summer Olympics. With the goals of promoting sportsmanship and building community, campers engaged in healthy competition through water relays, classic field games, sports, obstacle courses and more.

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Campers also explored their creativity in dance, music, acting, and visual arts activities with culminating performances delighting family and community members! Above, the PS 516 campers perform in an original show entitled “CFL through the Decades.”

In addition to our summer camp participants, we are thrilled that 397 young people gained paid work experience as SYEP camp counselors through the NYC DYCD Summer Youth Employment Program.

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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!

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June: Cross-site Soccer League

by News and EventsYouth 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

United Community Consulting worker-owners doing outreach for Promise NYC

Mayor Adams Rolls out “Promise NYC” to Provide Childcare Assistance to Low-Income Families with Undocumented Children for First Time Ever

by Family and Community SupportNews and Events

On December 14th, Mayor Eric Adams announced the launch of Promise NYC, a groundbreaking program that provides childcare assistance to low-income families who because of their immigration status, do not qualify for federally funded subsidized childcare. Center for Family Life in Sunset Park, along with sister agencies La Colmena in Staten Island, Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation in the Bronx and Manhattan, and the Chinese-American Planning Council in Queens were contracted by the New York City Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) to help eligible families to enroll in childcare programs and then to pay childcare providers for the children’s care. This program represents a historic step towards recognizing and supporting immigrant communities and highlights the need to care for all New York City children regardless of immigration status.

Not having access to affordable childcare places an immense burden on parents who are seeking employment to support their families. This program will not only allow parents to work by providing them with dependable and safe childcare, but it will also place their children in developmentally stimulating environments. Promise NYC gives parents and their children an opportunity that could better their futures.

United Community Consulting worker-owners doing outreach for Promise NYC
United Community Consulting worker-owners doing outreach for Promise NYC

Center for Family Life is helping families in Brooklyn to sign up for Promise NYC with the help of United Community Consulting (UCC), a newly formed immigrant worker-owned cooperative business. Zenayda Bonilla, worker-owner in UCC states how when Promise NYC launched, UCC “quickly started to schedule visits with local organizations, schools, shelters [and] churches” to get the word out. Over the past several weeks, UCC has conducted numerous outreach efforts to help families determine if they are eligible for daycare support, including virtual and in-person events at the Coalición Mexicana, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Sunset Prep, PS 516, GLO Hotel, Saint Michael’s Church, PS 109, Win Shelter, Stockholm Family Shelter, and many more! Bonilla states that UCC worker-owners, “as immigrant mothers, know and understand the challenges of accessing affordable childcare [and] the confusion of not knowing how to navigate the system.” She states that UCC is doing everything possible to make the enrollment process easy for families and hopes that ACS continues to fund this incredibly valuable program in the coming year.

UCC doing outreach at the Coalición Mexicana
UCC doing outreach at the Coalición Mexicana

UCC has received very positive feedback from those who are enrolling in the program and participants have enthusiastically shared the many ways that Promise NYC gives them greater opportunities such as the ability to work or attend ESOL classes.

“We live in a shelter and the space is small. My children need to do different things and this will help my children to socialize with other children who speak English. That way it will be easier for them to learn the language.”

“This is a great opportunity for me because I want to work and I have no one to leave my son with, I have no family or friends. It’s only been two months since we arrived in New York.”

“I want to take English classes but I don’t have the money to pay for daycare for my daughter, so leaving her in a safe place gives me the opportunity to prepare for later finding a job.”

-Quotes from Promise NYC program participants

UCC worker-owners speaking at an event at Our Lady of Perpetual Help
UCC worker-owners speaking at an event at Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Our goal is to enroll 185 children in daycare programs, distributing over 2.5 million dollars in childcare subsidies to Brooklyn children. While Center for Family Life in Sunset Park is assisting those in Brooklyn, our partners are serving families in all other NYC boroughs.

Center for Family Life in Sunset Park Promise NYC intake staff
Center for Family Life in Sunset Park Promise NYC intake staff

We are incredibly grateful to be a part of such a monumental program that seeks to break down barriers that prevent families from accessing critically needed childcare. Carrie Stewart, CFLSP Co-Director of Family Counseling states how childcare “is a universal need for all families, and we are excited to provide this essential service to immigrant families throughout Brooklyn.” While funding for this program is time limited, we are hopeful that the success of Promise NYC will be a catalyst for the city to fund similar programs in the future.