Promise in Action: Winter 2022

Promise in Action

What’s Inside 2 From the CEO

3 Move Over Santa Claus: Corporate Partners Deliver 10,000 Gifts

4 As Pandemic Needs Evolve, Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation Delivers

5 Our Bronx Impact Initiative Grows, Receives $100,000 Discretionary Funding

7 Creating a Community Through Health Care

Winter 2022

From the CEO Dear Supporters, With Mayor Adams’ administration taking office this month, we are maintaining our strong relationship with city government and forging connections with the many new leaders who took office.

I recently had the opportunity to meet with New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks to discuss how we can work together to advance our city’s education goals. I also had the privilege of joining about 100 other members on the administration’s education committee transition team, advising the mayor on issues such as how to invest millions of dollars in federal relief money, how to navigate the challenges of the pandemic in our schools, and other issues facing the nation’s largest school district.

Promise in Action A publication of Children’s Aid, helping children in poverty to succeed and thrive.

Children’s Aid 117 W. 124th Street, 5th Floor New York, NY 10027

Amy Engel Scharf Chair Phoebe C. Boyer President and Chief Executive Officer Caroline Gallagher Chief Development Officer Anthony Ramos Vice President, Marketing and Communications ChildrensAidNYC.org 212.949.4936 2

Children’s Aid | SPRING 2020 Children’s Aid | WINTER 2022

With our health care system strained in recent weeks, we are also continuing to partner with the city to meet the demand for health services.

We are maintaining our longstanding partnership with NYC Health + Hospitals to provide children, youth, and adults with COVID-19 testing and vaccination at mobile units stationed outside several of our sites. Also, COVID-19 tests and vaccines are available for children and youth at our two community clinics and six school-based health centers on weekdays.

In past communications, we’ve emphasized the ongoing mental health challenges our young people are facing. This year, with support from our government partners, we are responding to the crisis by integrating mental health services into more of our programs throughout the organization. We are also expanding some of our mental health initiatives, like our Children and Family Treatment and Support Services program, where behavioral therapists provide child and family therapy in the home.

This work is just the beginning of our partnership with the new city government, and in the years ahead, we will continue to elevate our communities’ concerns to our elected leaders, which has been and always will be a top priority.

Sincerely,

Phoebe C. Boyer President and Chief Executive Officer On the Cover: Anabel, 10, gets the COVID-19 vaccine at our school-based health center at P.S. 8, a Children’s Aid community school in Washington Heights.

C O

M

M

I

T

T

E

D

P A

R T N

E

R

S

Move Over Santa Claus: Corporate Partners Join to Deliver 10,000 Holiday Gifts The holiday season is a favorite time of year for many children. They can unwind from school, enjoy time with family and friends, and unwrap presents they’ve been waiting for all year. This past year in particular, opening a doll, a beautiful sweater, or a fun game was a chance to take a break from worrying about the pandemic and experience excitement and joy again.

After we conducted a survey throughout our programs and services in fall 2021, we identified an alarmingly high number of children – more than 10,000! – who were at risk for ending the year without receiving a gift due to pandemic hardship. Guided by the firm belief that every child deserves a holiday gift (or several!), our individual and corporate partners joined us to achieve our goal of ensuring that every single young person at Children’s Aid would experience the magic of the holidays.

A little girl holds a gift wrapped by Hearst employees at their company holiday party.

ClearBridge Investments and White & Case LLP were among our corporate partners who donated generous amounts to make a big impact in our holiday drive. Other companies, like the Lazard Foundation, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Morgan Stanley, and Rothschild & Co held employee giving drives where individual staff members purchased gifts directly for our children. The Lazard Foundation also committed to match staff donations in order to maximize overall impact.

Some companies, like PwC, wanted to make their gifts extra special, so they individually wrapped and labeled each one and then sent them to our Frederick Douglass Community Center and Health Connections clients. Hearst volunteers wrapped gifts together in early November, which were delivered to our early childhood students at P.S. 5 during the holidays.

This year’s holiday drive also provided us an opportunity to build out relationships with some of our corporate partners, like Bayer and Tiger Global Impact Ventures, which both provided holiday gifts and gift cards to our community schools in Washington Heights and the Bronx.

By mid-December, we were close to reaching our goal, but were still short. That’s when our trusted partner of more than a decade, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, generously offered to cover the remaining needs.

“My heart just warms up to think of the smile on their faces when they get their gifts,” said Adria Cruz, our deputy director for health programs and integration. “We’ve had an uptick of sick visits these last couple of weeks, so I’m sure the gifts will bring much needed joy during these chaotic times.”

3

WINTER 2022 | Children’s Aid

Every Step of the Way

I

M

P A C

T

As Pandemic Needs Evolve, Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation Delivers a constantly shifting environment, this type of reliable partnership has been particularly valuable for us.

2,668 COVID-19 vaccines administered since June 2021 at our health clinics, and NYC Health + Hospitals mobile vaccine vans stationed outside our sites.

26 of our youth in foster care are currently in college, and 11 of our youth in foster care are currently in vocational programs.

20,000+ academic tutoring hours were offered, focusing on homework help, college prep, GED testing, and other educational goals throughout the calendar year 2021.

4

Children’s Aid | SPRING WINTER2020 2022

Curtis High student participates in Children’s Aid health programming.

Children’s Aid’s relationship with the Dodge family started in 1854, just a year after our founding, making it one of our longest ongoing partnerships ever. Since then, the family continued supporting us generously, and in 1917, they started donating through their newly formed Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation (“Foundation”). Over the years, they have provided us with general operating support, and have chosen to invest in the early years of our breakthrough initiatives, such as education services for girls, community schools, the Next Generation Center, and teen pregnancy prevention, just to name a few.

Since the pandemic hit, the Foundation has continued their tradition of investing in us as new needs emerge.

At the onset of the crisis, they provided a $100,000 emergency COVID-19 relief grant. Then, just a few months later, they supported our first-ever virtual benefit with a $15,000 grant. When the first pandemic holiday season arrived, they recognized how difficult the year was for our youth in foster care, so they contributed $15,000 to purchase holiday gifts for them. As we navigate

In June 2021, as we prepared to resume in-person services in the 2021-2022 school year, the Foundation approached us with an interest in supporting our teen pregnancy prevention efforts. They contributed $50,000 to our Teen Ambassador program, a peer-led teen pregnancy prevention initiative at Curtis High School on Staten Island.

Our peer-led initiatives like Teen Ambassadors take a unique approach: They train teens and employ them as leaders and health educators among their peers, so they can answer questions about contraceptives, sexually transmitted diseases, and other sexual or general teen health concerns, and facilitate workshops and events in partnership with our staff.

The program’s approach acknowledges that sometimes teens feel more comfortable talking to other teens instead of adults, so the ambassadors act as valuable links between our health centers and teenagers in the community.

This support to transition this program back to in person has made a big difference. In-person programming is more effective, teens can have more social interaction, and participants gain valuable work experience.

“The Foundation remains proud to partner with an organization that so effectively delivers the tools for children and their families to access opportunity,” said the Foundation’s Executive Director Emily Mommsen.

Y

O

U

T

H

A C

T

I

V A T

E

D

Our Bronx Impact Initiative Grows, Receives $100,000 Discretionary Funding impact teams working with community residents and stakeholders to organize hyperlocal solutions.

One of BI’s signature programs is my.BronxImpact.org, an online resource directory that lists more than 4,000 Bronx-based services and programs. Residents can get help in their neighborhood by entering their zip code and search terms. In 2020, my.BronxImpact.org supported the connection of more than 12,000 Bronxites to services in their area.

In summer 2021, Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez recognized the value of BI and announced the allocation of $100,000 in NYS discretionary funding in support of this work.

L to R: Michelle Avila, Assistant Director of Public Policy; Abe Fernández, Vice President of Collective Impact and Director of National Center for Community Schools; Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez; and Rose DeStefano, Senior Director of Collective Impact.

Between 2013 and 2019, poverty in Queens and Staten Island reduced by more than four percentage points, and in Brooklyn and Manhattan it reduced by three percentage points. The Bronx was the only New York City borough where poverty increased — from 25% to 26% between 2013 and 2019.

To combat this trend in the Bronx, the New York state (NYS) government identified the borough as one of 16 regions to participate in their 2016 Empire State Poverty Reduction Initiative (ESPRI). Working in partnership with the Bronx borough president’s office, the state chose Children’s Aid to be the key nonprofit partner carrying out ESPRI’s mission in the borough. We named our ESPRI initiative “Bronx Impact,” (BI) which is now a growing part of our work. BI’s mission is to address longstanding inequities in the South Bronx so residents can realize a shared vision of a vibrant neighborhood where people aspire to live, work, and raise families. Bringing together Bronx residents, nonprofits, businesses, and government officials to implement solutions to increase social mobility in historically disinvested communities, BI transforms systems through partnerships of collective

“This work is helping connect individuals and families at or near poverty with the resources they need, whether it be housing assistance, emergency food assistance, access to health care, transportation, workforce development, and educational assistance,” Fernandez said. “Young Bronxites deserve better opportunities that support them in breaking the cycles of poverty that have been unduly placed upon them. I am humbled to provide funding to Children’s Aid in their efforts and work with them as we uplift the future of our state.” The support from Assemblywoman Fernandez means that this work can continue to grow, ensuring that every individual and family in the Bronx can self-determine their future with dignity and respect.

Looking to the future, BI will concentrate on advocacy in early childhood, education, tech equity, food access, economic development, workforce development, and activating public space for the use and betterment of the community.

5

WINTER 2022 | Children’s Aid

3

5

4

1 6

3 2

7

8 Photo Key: 1. Supporter and volunteer Deb Wasser individually wraps 140 holiday gifts and then delivers them to children at our Dunlevy Milbank Community Center’s after-school holiday party. 2. Two boys experience the magic of the holidays at one of our in-person holiday parties, where they received gifts and face painting. 3. 2021 TCS New York City Marathon Team Children’s Aid runner Zach Schoenfeld. 4. 2021 TCS New York City Marathon Team Children’s Aid runners Peter Capomacchio and Lucy Geyer celebrate finishing the race. 5. Supporters Jeffrey Myers and Kirsty Engels participate in a 5K representing Team Children’s Aid during the TCS New York City Marathon race weekend. 6. New York Jets punter Braden Mann auctions off custom Children’s Aid cleats he wore in their December 5 game against the Philadelphia Eagles. As part of the “My Cause My Cleats” initiative, NFL players are wearing the cleats to raise awareness about the causes and charities that are most important to them. 7. New York City park rangers host a singalong story time with our P.S. 5 Early Childhood Home-Based Program participants at Payson Park in Inwood. 8. Next Generation Center youth, who are involved in either the foster care or criminal justice systems, receive their high school diplomas during their graduation ceremony this winter.

6

Children’s Aid | WINTER 2022

P

R O

G R

A

M

U

P

D A T

E

S

Creating a Community Through Health Care Attending the school-based health center also gave Elianny the opportunity to learn about our health ambassador program. In this role, participants serve as the student voice for our Health and Wellness team.

Elianny was hooked, and got straight to work. In her role, she works with the health educator at Charles Drew Campus to teach a curriculum for teenagers called “Be Proud! Be Responsible!”

Charles Drew Campus student Elianny Salcedo Brito.

When Elianny Salcedo Brito, 17, was unsatisfied with her primary care doctor, she switched her care over to Children’s Aid — and in doing so, she gained more than just a trusted health provider.

Elianny is a senior at Charles Drew Campus, a Children’s Aid community school in the Bronx. After she began receiving services at our school-based health center, including on-site physical checkups and routine vaccines, she decided to take advantage of our mental health services too. All of these resources were extremely easy to access — they were just a few steps away from her classes.

She no longer had to miss school to attend a doctor’s appointment, and her mother feels more comfortable with our team of physicians who can conveniently see Elianny anytime she needs medical services.

Through this program Elianny coordinates, teenagers learn about HIV/ STIs prevention, pregnancy prevention, healthy relationships, consent, puberty/ reproductive anatomy, and goals setting. Discussing these topics with a fellow student allows for more frank conversations. Elianny helps answer questions for her classmates in a comfortable setting along with 10 other health ambassadors who were trained to facilitate these conversations.

After her experience serving as a health ambassador, she felt inspired to get more involved in other health initiatives. When food insecurity climbed to high levels in the Bronx, she volunteered to help us provide food relief packages to families to ensure they have access to healthy, nutritious produce and pantry staples.

While Elianny was seeking a more trustworthy primary care doctor, she gained so much more than that; she became a true Children’s Aid community advocate. She received important knowledge, the confidence to educate her peers, an opportunity to serve her Bronx community, and an inspiration for possible career goals in the future.

Promise in Action Children’s Aid 117 W. 124th Street, 5th Floor New York, NY 10027

Executive Updates Simone Hines, a supervisor in our Treatment Family Foster Care Program, received an Excellence in Practice Award from New York City ’s Administration for Children’s Services this past fall.

Children’s Aid is hiring!

Industry-wide staffing challenges and the expansion of several of our government contracts have resulted in many open positions.

Please help us out by referring great candidates to ChildrensAidNYC.org/about/ careers. There is a particular need for new hires in health and mental health care, social work, and education.

7

WINTER 2022 | Children’s Aid

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID S. Hackensack, NJ Permit # 79

117 W. 124th Street, 5th Floor New York, NY 10027

To make a contribution to Children’s Aid, send your gift using the enclosed envelope or visit: Donate.ChildrensAidNYC.org ChildrensAidNYC.org

23RD ANNUAL GOLF CLASSIC Baltusrol Golf Club 201 Shunpike Road • Springfield, NJ • Lower Course MAY 9, 2022 9:00 A.M. TO 6:00 P.M. Last year’s event quickly sold out. Don’t miss your chance to join us this year!

$50,000

•

SPONSORSHIPS $25,000 • $15,000 • $10,000

FOURSOMES $6,000

•

$7,500

INDIVIDUAL PLAYER $2,000

All net proceeds will support the children and services of Children’s Aid.

For more information or to reserve your spot, please contact events@ChildrensAidNYC.org or 917.286.1531 ChildrensAidNYC.org/Golf-Classic  

: ChildrensAidNYC

#CAGolfClassic