SPRING 2014 · VOL. 08 · NO. 01
From the President and CEO Remember your first summer job?
CAMBA Keeps Families Together
Wasn’t it great to feel grown up and starting your career… cashing your first check… deciding how to spend (or save) your own money? As much as you enjoyed the cash, you also pocketed some valuable experiences that influenced you for a lifetime: You gained a first-hand taste of the real world, glimpses into various fields open to you, an introduction to mentors and an understanding of why education is so important.
Nicola Wills of CAMBA, left, with Felicia and her father Ronald
Ronald had a hard life: He was estranged from his mother, lived on the streets, dropped out of school. That’s why he beams now when he reports that his 16-year-old daughter Felicia was named “Student of the Month,” made the honor roll and aspires to become a lawyer. Against all odds, Ronald has become a successful parent—thanks to his unwavering determination, hard work, help from Case Manager Nicola Wills at CAMBA’s Myrtle Avenue supportive housing residence and a pilot project called Keeping Families Together (KFT). Ronald and Felicia’s struggles embody some of the most challenging issues that confront families whose children are at risk of foster care placement. Felicia, who never knew her mom, rotated through homeless shelters as her dad fought to hold a job—and hold on to custody. Their lives changed when the Corporation for Supportive Housing, Robert Wood Johnson and CAMBA implemented a new model program at the Myrtle Avenue Apartments in Bedford-Stuyvesant. This unique program provided extensive wrap-
around services that ensured Ronald and his daughter remained together and thriving: safe housing, access to health care, counseling, legal services, job assistance, benefits, education, parenting classes—whatever they needed. After the KFT pilot ended, Nicola says that CAMBA modeled services for all 11 families living in the Myrtle Avenue Apartments on this initiative—with impressive success rates. “We’ve been fortunate in so many things,” Ronald says. “Nicola is what makes this program work so well,” he adds. “If you go to her and say ‘I need this,’ she is always ready to help.” After life in a shelter, Felicia says she feels safe at Myrtle Avenue. “I’m comfortable in this building and I have friends here.”
Summer jobs and internships, coupled with meaningful learning experiences, lead to personal growth. And they are especially beneficial for the low-income teenagers that CAMBA serves, who too often lack entry into the job market. That’s why CAMBA builds work opportunities into so many of our programs for teens, from our Learning to Work program for high school students, to Summer Youth Employment jobs, to our Beacon Centers, which hire young people as they develop leadership skills. To meet the employment demand for more of our young people who seek a productive summer in 2014, CAMBA has launched our first annual Earn and Learn Fund. This campaign seeks support to create paid, meaningful internships for 25 qualified high school students and reaches out to companies to provide paid summer internships. Turn to page 3 to meet some CAMBA students who’ve benefited from summer internships and let them tell you how these opportunities transformed their lives. Please consider reaching into your pocket or asking your company to help a young person Earn and Learn this summer. You will change the trajectory of a young life!
For news and updates, visit CAMBA.org.
Thank You! We salute the following donors for your generous support (Dec. 1, 2013 – Feb. 28, 2014): CORPORATE AND FOUNDATION DONORS Advantage Testing, Inc.
Franciscan Sisters of the Poor
Park Slope Parents, LLC
The Parkside Group
Amazon Services LLC
Groupe Sanglier
Raich Ende Malter & Co. LLP
Time Warner Inc.
Ameriprise Financial Services
Heidell, Pittoni, Murphy & Bach, LLP
Resurrection Brooklyn
United Neighborhood Houses of New York
IGive
RY Management
BP Elevator Co. Citizens for Lentol Corner News Media DP Group General Contractors and Developers Inc. Dunn Development Co. Fidelity Charitable
Kord Consulting Loralei Bed & Breakfast /Loralei LTD Madison Security Group Maimonides Medical Center
Ridgewood Savings Bank Schmutter, Strull, Fleisch Inc. TD Charitable Foundation The Edouard Foundation, Inc. The F.B. Heron Foundation
Urban Architectural Initiatives, RA, P.C. Wells Fargo Bank. N.A. Wells Fargo Foundation WellSpring Advisors
PHOTO: VANNI ARCHIVE
INDIVIDUAL DONORS Robert Aitchison
Meredith Dros
Judith Kafka
David Rowe
Claudia Albert
Joy Elliott
Nancy Kassim Farran
Rachel Schnoll
Kyle Ancowitz
Neil Falcone
Heather Keton
Natasha Sealy-Dorvelus
Keenya Anderson
Ellen Farrell
Andrew Kraft
Thomas and Dayna Sessa
Agnes Azzara
Gregory and Catherine Farrell
Anika Larsen
Susan Sharer
Gregory Bangser
Elizabeth Fisher
Shay Lehmann
Russell Sharman
Vanessa Basora
Lana Folk
Choichun Leung
Kathryn Sharp
Robert J. and Pamela Bass
Robert Buckholz and Lizanne Fontaine
Kathleen Lewis
Kirsten Shaw
Katherine Gallagher
Jocelyn Lucas
Erica Sims
Barrett Mansfield
Samantha Slarskey
Chloe May
Susan Solomon
Marjorie McKenzie
Joshua Sucher
Andie Miller-Chan
Victor Tellez
Anna Minzer
Jlyn Thomas
Regina Mitchell
Hazel Tishcoff
Charles Morris
Meaghan Trentacost
Kevin Muir
John Tsevdos
Sharon Myrie
Lance Tukell
Robert Newman
Erica Turnipseed-Webb
Maureen O’Brien
Joseph Ulitto
Michael O’Brien
Dino Veronese
Ruth O’Brien
Deirdre Von Dornum
Robert Ohlerking
Catherine Wallach
John O’Neill
Benjamin Walsh
Marilyn Palmeri
Courtney Walsh
Claire Paul
Brigid Walters
Claribel Pearce
Lauren Ward
Lee Pearce
Lucy Warrington
Rebecca Phillips
Molly Wilkinson
Jose Quinones
Kathleen Wilson
Fitz Robertson
Katherine Yang Zhi-Da Zhong
Residents of the Pythian Condominium
Jonathan Berk Robert Berne David Bixby Daniel Bodah MaryJane Boland
Shane Gasteyer Andrea Germanetti Melissa Gindin
Pamela Booth
Jessica Goldberg
David Firestone and Susan Brenna
Janelle Gooley Vera Gordon
Michele Burke
Jonathan Graboyes
Rebecca Calamar
Irmatrude Grant
Emily Campbell
Adam Green
Will Carlough
Ian Halbwachs
Beverly Cheuvront
Sharon Haynes
Jahanara Chowdhury
James Heineman
Mark Chung
Foster Henry
Sonia Clarke
Gabrielle Hernandez
Mary Jo Cullinan
Isabella Hiigel
Dany Cunningham
Kenneth Hillman
Kimberly Cunningham
HungFei Ho
Martin and Virginia Daly
Emily Hoch
Thomas and Jennifer Dambakly
Heidemarie Hoover
Sherry Davis
Sascha Ingram
Joel A. Siegel and Maria Deutscher
Richard Isaacson
Jose Diaz
Kathleen Jones
Vern Bergelin and Mary Ellen Ross
Neysa Alsina
Lora Dela Rama
Sarah Jenkins
American Musical and Dramatic Academy
Claudia Dymond
Jenelle Jones
Michelle Babb
Daniel Eisenberg
Kathy Jones
Epoch Films
Cassandra Leogene
Erasmus High School
Cassandre Leogene
Etsy
Maryann Mallon
Eva Gentry Consignment
Ms. George Children’s Kingdom Daycare Center
Kara Donaldson
Karon Johnson
IN-KIND DONORS
Beardwood & Co. LLC Ricky Benjamin Jonathan Berk Sarah Block Janielle Boncy Megan Brackney Caitlyn Brazill Brooklyn Commune LLC Buchbinder Tunick & Company LLP Celeste Charles Ernst and Lashan Cochy
Margaret Foulise Christine Fox Jason Frazer Gannett Dheeraj Gilhotra Janelle Gooley MHW Ltd. Hyco Foods Imani Culinary & Event Services
Oct. 30: Hold the date for CAMBA Casino Night Out. Our annual Gala will be at the glamorous Tribeca Three-Sixty this year.
CAMBA Gardens I, our newest supportive housing development, on the Kings County Hospital campus, was named “Project of the Year” by CSH. The award salutes the unique partnership with CAMBA, the Hospital and the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation.
CAMBA is a non-profit agency that provides services that connect people with opportunities to enhance their quality of life.
Johann Rohlehr School of Democracy and Leadership Marina Slepak
P.S. 114
Normel Smith Crystal Stewart-Clarke SUNY Downstate Medical Center The Bell House
P.S. 139
Ruby Torregrosa
P.S. 181
Sanura Weathers
P.S. 269
Cregg Williams
James Palazza
Winners Church
Christine Pasquariello
Inson Wood
Natoya Ramong Jorin and Alexandra Reddish
Alice Ann and Claire Zaslavsky
Mark Your Calendar
July 24: A Night at the Ballpark with the Brooklyn Cyclones. (Watch for details.)
Project of the Year
May 4: CAMBA’s Healthy Way 5k Details and registration at CAMBA.org/5kRace
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Board of Directors KATHERINE O’NEILL Chairwoman CHRISTOPHER ZARRA Vice Chairman
PAUL GALLIGAN TERENCE KELLEHER ALLAN F. KRAMER II
REV. DANIEL RAMM Secretary/ Treasurer
BERNARDO MAS
JULIA BEARDWOOD
MOLLY WILKINSON
MATTHEW W. BOTWIN
MICHAEL ROSS DAVID H. SCHULTZ
CAMBA helps 45,000 New Yorkers every year.
BookUp Creates a New Generation of Bibliophiles
CAMBA’s Earn and Learn Fund Gives Teens Paid Summer Internships As a teenager, Pavereesh (Pav) Seepersaud was fortunate to have a summer internship. He worked as a mechanic’s assistant Pavereesh (Pav) at an East New York Seepersaud police precinct, fixing emergency vehicles, repairing flashing lights, even taking test drives.
In this digital age of short attention spans, what could inspire an 11-year-old boy to develop “a craving for books?”
It was an enviable job for a teenage boy. But for Pav, the best part was gaining a valuable career insight: Mechanics, Pav learned, was not for him. He realized he is much happier working with people than with inanimate objects.
Jeremiah, a sixth-grader at Brooklyn’s Andries Hudde Junior High School, will tell you: It’s BookUp. “BookUp is a kind of book club for little people,” says prize-winning poet John Murillo, who teaches a dozen budding bookworms weekly in this program designed and funded by the National Book Foundation. BookUp is part of CAMBA ExTRA, a unique extended school-day program that gives Hudde’s sixth-grade students supplemental tutoring and educational opportunities after the regular dismissal bell rings. It is funded by The After School Corporation (TASC), in partnership with CAMBA, Harvard EdLabs and New York City’s Department of Education. “I signed up for BookUp because I have a craving for books,” says Jeremiah. “I noticed the people teaching it were really nice. They let you read and get your feelings out.” Jeremiah has not been disappointed. Taught by published authors from their
Jeremiah, top right, works with teacher Simba McCray, while Kyle reads “Boxers and Saints.”
communities, BookUp encourages kids to choose the books they want to read. BookUp pays for the books, and every student gets to keep them. Four times a year, students go on field trips to a library, bookstore and restaurant. On each trip, BookUp gives students $25 to buy books of their choice, which they can keep. These trips reward and encourage students to read, expose them to cultural and literary institutions outside their neighborhoods and enable them to build personal libraries—which is especially valuable for low-income kids who often have a dearth of books at home. Murillo says he challenges BookUp kids with sophisticated concepts, in terms they understand. He is assisted by CAMBA staffer and poet Simba McCray, who CONTINUED TO PAGE 4
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Pav spent the next summer as a camp counselor at CAMBA Beacon 269—an experience that opened a whole new career path. Now Pav works part-time at the Beacon and attends Kingsborough Community College, preparing for a career in physical education. “I learned that I’m a people person. I like to work with people and communicate,” Pav says. “I really enjoy working with kids, and I’ve found my calling!” Studies show that early work experiences help people obtain better and higher-paying jobs. Gaining realworld skills and experiencing a variety of industries and tasks helps young people like Pav set realistic career goals. That’s why CAMBA has launched its new Earn and Learn Fund, to give more low-income Brooklyn teens the opportunity for a productive summer. The fund’s goal: to support meaningful, paid summer internships for 25 young people this summer. For these teens, a summer internship will be transformative: introducing them to the demands of work, inspiring them to
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“BOOKUP…” CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
observes that “I saw kids who aren’t fluent in English improve in their reading over the course of the program.” Kyle, 11, says that BookUp “helps me improve my reading skills.” His books are hand-me-downs, so he values the ability to choose his own. “Now I have my own collection of books I will be able to pass down to my relatives or to my own kids.”
Christie Hodgkins, CAMBA’s VP of Education and Youth Development, notes that “at the middle school level, kids are losing interest in reading. BookUp gets them excited about reading. CAMBA strives to inspire a love of reading across all our schoolbased programs, thanks to partners like the National Book Foundation.”
1720 Church Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11226 CAMBA.org
“CAMBA’S EARN AND LEARN FUND” CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 aim for college and careers and giving them the opportunity to form new connections and networks outside of their communities. CAMBA is asking businesses to provide paid internships that include constructive learning opportunities. CAMBA staff will screen the teens and provide support throughout the summer. We also are raising $30,000 in direct funding to ensure that at least 25 teens have paid internships this summer. Debbie Louis, a member of CAMBA’s Junior Board, is an enthusiastic spokesperson for Earn and Learn Fund.
A native of Haiti, her immigrant parents worked hard: Debbie’s father drove a taxi and her mother, who held two jobs, begged her to aim for a medical career. But a summer job at one of CAMBA’s Beacon community centers transformed her. Debbie discovered that she loved organizing events and programs, and this led her to form her own image consulting business, A La Mode. She is now working on her masters in Industrial Organizational Psychology and aiming for a Ph.D. “My mother still wants me to be a doctor. I tell her that I will be a doctor—just not the medical kind,” she laughs.“I believe that all young people should have the opportunities I’ve had,” Debbie adds. “That’s why I support Earn and Learn.”
Hadiyah, 10, earned a first-place trophy in CAMBA Beacon 271’s annual Battle of the Boroughs archery tournament, which drew more than 100 youth this year.
Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Hempstead, NY Permit #133
Help a Teen Earn and Learn This Summer Please help CAMBA give a summer of earning and learning. You can provide a paid internship or support funding for an internship for a low-income teen. Go to CAMBA.org/EarnLearn for details and to donate securely online. For more information, email Claudia Dymond at claudiad@camba.org or call (718) 287 – 2600 x20321. Help give 25 young people meaningful internships this summer.