Name: Food Pantry (Appointment Only)
Start: 2025-11-28T13:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-11-28T16:00:00-05:00
Location: Center for Family Life in Sunset Park

Save the Date for Celebrating Community 2023

September 5, 2023

by Kathleen Lion News and Events

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.

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.

June: BrightlyⓇ Launches in Philadelphia

June 30, 2023

by Kathleen Lion Economic Well-being Programs News and Events

BrightlyⓇ, the first worker-owned cleaning cooperative franchise in the United States, was launched in 2018 with enterprise incubation support from Center for Family Life in Sunset Park. Since then, CFL’s Cooperative Development Program (CDP) has supported Brightly’s expansion to five successful franchise outlets in New York City. We are thrilled that this month we were able to celebrate the launch of BrightlyⓇ South Philly, the sixth cooperative outlet in the BrightlyⓇ franchise and the first launched outside of New York! The Philadelphia expansion demonstrates the scalable impact of this powerful model that brings opportunity to domestic workers in the cleaning industry.

The cleaning franchise provides low-income immigrant workers with the opportunity to receive a fair and livable wage and to avoid becoming subject to the wage exploitation that so many domestic workers face when attempting to negotiate prices and terms of work without any support. BrightlyⓇ provides workers with higher wages, stability, leadership roles and places them in control of the management and strategic growth planning for their business.

We are so grateful for grants provided by the WES Mariam Assefa Fund and the Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation which enabled us to expand this incredible model outside of NYC, providing this business opportunity to even more low-income communities across the U.S. We are also very thankful for the Robin Hood Foundation for their support of this ground breaking work and for joining us at this celebratory launch. In partnership with the not-for-profit organization The Welcoming Center, BrightlyⓇ South Philly launched on June 2nd. At the launch party, which followed a year of trainings and preparation, new members shared their excitement and hopes for this new venture. New York City-based worker-owners joined the celebration and shared their congratulations with BrightlyⓇ Philly members. New Philadelphia members expressed feeling supported by those at the launch knowing that they can rely on their BrightlyⓇ colleagues in New York and Center for Family Life to be their trusted partners as they grow their business.

Karina Mongue, CFL’s Coop Developer shared how the launch of BrightlyⓇ South Philly demonstrates the reach that the franchise can have and how the launch was a culmination of CFL’s work to pilot innovative growth strategies. She shared how exciting it was to be a part of the dynamic and evolving cooperative franchise movement and stated that the expansion to Philadelphia is “just the beginning.”

At CFL, our Cooperative Development Program works to promote the mission of economic and social justice in partnership with worker-owners from communities across the U.S. The expansion of BrightlyⓇ and the values it stands for mirror our mission, and we could not be prouder that our Cooperative Development Program continues to grow and positively impact the lives of people in New York and beyond!

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!

Teachers and CFL Artists-in-Residence worked with students to incorporate math and ELA in the designing of a quilt

April: “Life Lines” Interdisciplinary Arts Projects

May 3, 2023

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

At Center for Family Life in Sunset Park we emphasize the important role that the arts play in promoting skill development, creative expression, community-building and educational progress. We are proud to partner with MS 136/Charles O. Dewey and MS 821/Sunset Park Prep giving 6th grade students the opportunity to participate in the “Life Lines” Interdisciplinary Arts Projects which integrate the arts with social studies, science, math and/or ELA, fostering active participation and enthusiasm for learning.

During this program, which is funded in part by the New York State Council for the Arts (NYSCA), each 6th grade class participates in a 10-12 week-long project. Classes receive two Interdisciplinary Arts sessions per week facilitated by CFL teaching artists in partnership with MS teachers. Each class combines two academic subjects with two art forms (dance, theater, music and/or visual arts), resulting in unique projects that immerse students in an in-depth artistic process.

The primary objectives for the Interdisciplinary Arts Projects are for students to engage in group cooperation, develop communication and self-expression, try new activities and expand their art skills, create and perform a presentation and deepen their understanding of academic subjects through the arts.

Working in small groups, students develop skills as they create, compose and choreograph. They build a vocabulary to discuss, critique and communicate ideas and to learn to interpret art in a cultural and historical context. Students collaborate in designing and implementing each aspect of semester-long Interdisciplinary Arts Projects, in a process that promotes leadership and teamwork, engages students with diverse learning styles, reduces anxiety around learning and requires active participation.

To support students’ learning and their process, CFL artists and their teacher-partners meet weekly to map a framework of activities for each session that aligns with student-designed projects. In addition, programming, logistics and curriculum alignment are coordinated by MS principals and assistant principals in collaboration with CFL Interdisciplinary Project Partner coordinators.

Each project culminates in a presentation of students’ work exhibiting the broad scope of students’ learning to an invited audience of family members, school staff, artists, agency staff and community. Presentations are interactive and engage audience members in student-led demonstrations, gallery walks and through questions and answers. At the conclusion of each project, students, teachers and artists engage in self-assessment, peer feedback and program evaluation.

Jessica Mercado, a 6th grade math teacher at MS 821 and a former MS 136 student participated in the in-school program as a student. Of her experience as a child, Jessica said:

“I participated in CFL as a 6th grader. We learned about science through music and dance. MANY years later, I still remember the song/dance from that unit (it goes something like…”amoebas live in water and in soil”). As a kinesthetic learner, I benefited from movement. It was great! Now, I get to participate in the CFL as a 6th grade math teacher. My students get to learn about plotting coordinates through art and drama! CFL has been such a blessing to Sunset Park and I am thankful to play a small role in what they are doing.”

The “Life Lines” Interdisciplinary Arts Projects not only provide a hands-on approach to learning but are also an opportunity for students and teachers to get to know each other better and to work as a community. We are so grateful to our partners at MS 136 and MS 821 for collaborating with us to implement programming that is instrumental to youth development in Sunset Park.

Center for Family Life

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