Sharing the Joy of Literacy

Grants AUGUST 2017 NEWSLETTER

One woman’s legacy is changing how children learn to read PAGE 3

Sharing the Joy of Literacy Want to help your favorite borough? Call Jane Wilton at (212) 686-2563

PROGRAM UPDATE | Natasha Lifton

Fighting for Kids... and Winning The New York Community Trust helps New Yorkers support the nonprofits that make the City and its suburbs great places to live, work, and play.

Join us.

O

Grants curb hunger and child marriage

ne of our main goals at The Trust is to ensure the well-being of New York’s children. I’m proud of two recent successes.

The first ensures nutritious school lunches for more kids. Even though most of the City’s 1.1 million public schoolchildren are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, a third feared humiliation or harassment and didn’t take advantage of the program. Making all school lunches free erases this “income stigma.”

As an early backer of a citywide free-lunch campaign, The Trust invested $260,000 over four years in Community Food Advocates, a group that brings together educators, pediatricians, politicians, and parents. Its Lunch 4 Learning campaign persuaded Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council to offer free lunches to 475,000 more students. Now, 85 percent of all public school kids can eat lunch at school for free, which, in turn, helps them focus on their studies. Next, we’ll push for 100 percent.

A second success: In June we supported efforts to curtail child marriages in New York State. Yes, it was legal, and yes, it happened. From 2000 to 2010, nearly 3,900 minors were married in New York.

With $20,000 from The Trust, the nonprofit Unchained at Last ran a powerful campaign that led lawmakers to outlaw marriage for those 16 and younger. The bill also mandates legal steps for 17-yearolds who want to wed. It’s a good start to preventing children, particularly girls, from being pushed into wedlock.

We want children fed, not wed. Join us in making New York a better place to grow up. E-mail us at giving@nyct-cfi.org. n Natasha Lifton is a senior program officer overseeing The Trust’s human services program.

WHAT’S NEW: This newsletter highlights some of the 65 grants, totaling $12.3 million, approved at our June 2017 board meeting.

It also features results from past grants—all made possible by the generosity of people like you.

POLLUTION SOLUTION: Reducing greenhouse gases will also improve local air quality.

Grants Newsletter WRITING AND EDITING David L. Marcus Amy L. Wolf Dean Woodhouse-Weil DESIGN Daniella Van Gennep Comments?

Contact us: info@nyct-cfi.org or on Twitter: @nycommtrust

2

CHAIN REACTION: Rallies in Albany, Trenton, Boston, and other state capitals organized by Unchained at Last drew attention to outdated laws that allow minors to marry. Photo by Susan Landman nycommunitytrust.org

“

This program has made me realize the importance of connecting reading to real-life events, to engage students and get them thinking critically and analyzing at a young age.

— PS 116 staff member, Queens

”

EXPERT PANEL: Five experts serve as an advisory panel to Trust program officers Shawn Morehead and Barbara Taveras, who direct the Astor Fund:

Christina Fuentes NYC Department of Education, Emerita

Michael J. Kieffer STORY TIME: A CAMBA staff member teaches in a Ready Readers after-school program. Photo by Peter Dressel Photography.

On the cover: A young reader in the ExpandED Schools network reflects on a story. Photo by Jim Burger

Martin Kurzweil

COVER STORY

Her Love of Literacy Lives On Brooke Astor’s estate helps transform after-school programs

B

rooke Astor, the New York socialite and philanthropist, put it bluntly: “Money is like manure,” she liked to say. “It’s not worth a thing unless it’s spread around.”

We’d add the word “strategically” to that quote. And we’re following her advice—strategically, of course.

Brooke Astor cared deeply about literacy. The New York State Attorney General asked The Trust to invest $45 million from her estate in nonprofit groups, mainly to help underprivileged children learn to love reading.

We started with an expert advisory panel (see sidebar) that looked at how reading is taught in schools and after school. The experts recommended

that after-school programs build on what children learn during the day—rather than simply repeat it.

With our funding, community groups created a program called Ready Readers and trained staff to use it. The groups include CAMBA, Chinese-

Educational Transformation Program, Ithaka S+R

Vanessa Leung Coalition for Asian American Children and Families

Catherine E. Snow Harvard Graduate School of Education

American Planning Council, Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation, and ExpandED Schools.

Initial results are promising. Metis Associates, an independent evaluator, found students demonstrated statistically significant gains in reading comprehension and vocabulary after receiving this extra help. They also found a significant increase in the percentage of students in these programs who scored at grade level. n

IMPACT BY THE NUMBERS | ASTOR FUND EARLY RESULTS

$21.4 million to improve literacy in early grades. Grants have helped 18 nonprofits working in more than 250 elementary schools and prekindergarten programs where 96 percent of students live in poverty. Overall, the funding has helped 20,000 disadvantaged kids from all 5 boroughs improve reading skills.

Since 2014, our Brooke Astor Fund for New York City Education has spent

Grants Newsletter | August 2017

Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development at NYU

facebook.com/ nycommtrust

twitter.com/ nycommtrust

3

Safe at Home Domestic abuse is the top reason families enter homeless shelters in New York City. But the 54 City-run shelters and apartment buildings for those fleeing violence aren’t enough. New Destiny Housing Corporation works with the City to find apartments for abuse survivors in privately owned buildings. The nonprofit is using $200,000 from The Trust to help women like Patricia X., a 31-year-old Brooklyn mother who asked us not to use her last name.

She told her story to Amy Wolf of The Trust.

“A

t first, everything with my new boyfriend was great. But about six months in, he became extremely jealous and suspicious. I couldn’t leave my apartment without him, or even to go to my job or my grandmother’s house. He started choking and punching me. I still have a scar from where he bit my arm.

I was afraid for myself and my son, who was 8.

The first time I ran to the police precinct, they arrested him, but he was released the next day and came back. The abuse stopped for a few FIRST PERSON weeks. Then he went crazy when an exboyfriend called me. That time he was sent to Patricia X. Rikers for three days, but he came back again.

I had to get away. I visited the City’s Family Justice Center in Brooklyn, but they could only move me higher on a waiting list for public housing.

Meanwhile, he continued to stalk me—he followed me to work, standing over me on the subway; he was at my son’s bus stop at 6:30 a.m. This wore on my son, and his teachers asked me what was wrong.

I went back to the Family Justice Center, and this time they referred me to New Destiny. The program director, Yuly Rodriguez (pictured below), changed my life. She connected me to a financial counselor to pay off debts and help me control my spending. She helped find me a new place to live.

This year, I moved into an affordable apartment managed by a nonprofit group. My stalker is in jail for assaulting me. And my son? He’s on the honor roll.” n

HOUSING

Tackling Our Housi

From finding homes for domestic viol

T

A HELPING HAND: Yuly Rodriguez helped Patricia get housing.

Photo by Amy Wolf/The Trust

he City can’t afford to build its way out of the affordable housing shortage; these days, constructing a new apartment costs $400,000 to $500,000.

That’s why it’s essential to preserve units average New Yorkers can afford.

Some unscrupulous landlords drive out rent-regulated tenants by withholding repairs, filing frivolous lawsuits, or starting disruptive construction.

When these tenants move, landlords can bypass the usual rent-increase restrictions, in some instances doubling or tripling the rent.

In Brooklyn, which is losing affordable housing at an alarming rate, Flatbush Development Corporation will

We’re taking a stand to protect housing rights. We hope you’ll jo

A MITCHELL-LAMA BUILDING

The Trust’s Affordability Approach In the past 10 years, we’ve invested $7 million to ease New York’s affordable housing shortage. Here’s a quick look at our strategy:

PREVENT HOMELESSNESS • Provide legal services to prevent evictions

• Design better housing for the homeless that helps stabilize families • House domestic-violence survivors and high-cost Medicaid users

PRESERVE AFFORDABLE HOUSING • Unify and strengthen affordable housing organizations

• Find responsible owners for foreclosed buildings • Preserve rent-regulated apartments and Mitchell-Lama buildings

ousing Crisis

• Make affordable housing energy efficient and improve building conditions

ic violence survivors to preserving affordable housing use $70,000 from The Trust to back the Flatbush Tenant Coalition, which will help vulnerable tenants, including immigrants, stand up to landlords and exercise their rights.

Properties built through the Mitchell-Lama program in the 1970s provide 35,000 middle-income families with affordable places to live.

But the program is phasing out in many properties, allowing owners to turn their apartments into market-rate rentals.

We’ve given $225,000 to New York State Tenants & Neighbors Information Service to organize tenants in Harlem and other gentrifying communities to have a voice in negotiations between the City and building owners. Our goal is to keep Mitchell-Lama rents affordable. n

PUSHING BACK: Members of Flatbush Development Corporation hold a rally to promote enforcement of laws that protect rent-regulated tenants.

you’ll join us. Contact Bob Edgar at (212) 686-2564 to find out how.

• Create community land trusts

ADVOCATE AND EDUCATE • Teach homeowners about foreclosure and mortgage scams

• Prevent hazardous construction and other forms of tenant harassment • Preserve rent freezes for low-income seniors and those with disabilities • Organize tenants to fight for repairs and healthier housing • Build community support for affordable housing

PROMOTE NEW AFFORDABLE HOUSING

• Include affordable housing in new zoning and development

IN FOCUS | HARNESSING TECHNOLOGY

Girls Hack Into Math and Science Video game design preps young women for tech careers

GIRL POWER AFTER SCHOOL: At John Adams High School in Ozone Park, Queens, girls snap their fingers at the beginning of each after-school session as a teambuilding and motivational tool.

H

ow do schools get girls interested in science and math? A program called Girl Hack, started last year in four New York City high schools, offers an innovative approach: Help them create video games.

Participants talk about issues that affect women, from the sales tax on tampons to the pay gap between women and men. Then each girl confronts a topic by designing and digitally coding a video game.

One 11th grader at the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan created a video game inspired by Malala Yousafzai, the young Nobel laureate who risked her life to push for educating Pakistani women.

To win the game, a player navigates obstacles to girls’ education in Pakistan, such as school

closings, roadblocks, and religious extremists.

The program was created by Global Kids, a youth development and education nonprofit, to help young women develop science, technology, engineering, and math skills. Thanks to $100,000 from The Trust, more than 100 teen girls from four high schools in Manhattan, Staten Island, and Queens participated in this year’s Girl Hack.

“The goals of Girl Hack go beyond teaching girls about technology and computer science,” says Evie Hantzopoulos, executive director of Global Kids. “They also get a dynamic, safe space to discuss critical issues affecting girls.”

This year, another 100 girls will experience Girl Hack with Trust support. The program will focus on issues such as global standards of beauty and political participation. n

New Tool Helps Manage Mental Health Technology takes on depression and anxiety POCKET HEALTH COACH: Montefiore’s new app allows patients to text a care team, manage treatments, and keep track of appointments.

6

O

ne in five City residents suffers from depression or anxiety, but only eight percent of New Yorkers get the care they need. Dr. Henry Chung, vice president and chief medical officer at Montefiore Medical Center’s care management company is testing a smartphone app to help people take

control of their mental health.

Developed by Brooklyn behavioral technology firm Valera Health, the app monitors and promotes well-being, allowing the user to privately message a care manager, if needed.

The care manager consults with doctors and other health care providers. With our investment of $152,000, Montefiore will test the app with 400 patients at six Bronx clinics. n

nycommunitytrust.org

Q & A | Lisa Veglia, Expert on Autism

T

How to Train Teachers and Others to Help Those With Autism

oday, one in 68 young people is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. With $130,000 from The Trust over two years, a nonprofit known as QSAC trained 600 educators in 19 New York City public schools to help students on the spectrum thrive. This year, an additional $150,000 will expand the promising program to train more teachers, parents, and nonprofits.

What do educators and parents need to know about those on the autism spectrum?

First, you can’t tell whether someone has autism by the way they look. Also, no two people with autism have quite the same needs. Many people with autism have trouble navigating social situations or adapting to social changes; others are sensitive to light or sound. The best results come when we accommodate the distinctions and strengths of each person.

Can you give an example of how your approach to training educators has evolved?

At one school, we had a difficult time guiding teachers in how to help those on the spectrum with typical challenges like staying organized and making plans. After an extra class or two, the teachers saw how these tools also work for

children without an autism diagnosis. Since then, we train educators to use planning and organizing methods to help every student.

Can you give another example of a technique that works for all students?

When we encouraged teachers to maintain a quiet space in the classroom where students with autism could go when they felt overwhelmed, we learned that all the students would ask to go there when they wanted time to calm down.

What has been a challenge for teachers in using your strategies?

Teachers typically have 6 to 12 students in a special education classroom and 20 or more students in a general education classroom, each with different learning styles. It’s difficult to find the time—amid test prep and other time constraints—to find ways to connect with every student. However, we’ve found that teachers save time in the long run if, early in the school year, they take a few minutes to understand each student. n Lisa Veglia is the co-executive director of Quality Services for the Autism Community (QSAC), which is supported by The Trust.

WRITE ON: At QSAC’s Day School in Queens, an educator works on writing skills with a student with autism and takes notes on her progress. Photo by James Graham/Vibrant Creative

Grants Newsletter | August 2017

7

nycommunitytrust.org

909 Third Avenue New York, NY 10022

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 5013 New York, NY

Address Service Requested

ACTORS’ CHAMPION: Paul N. Turner was dedicated to those in show business. Today, his fund at The Trust continues his life’s work.

He cared about entertainers, so he gave.

W

hen Paul N. Turner came to New York as a penniless law student, he found family in the theater. First, he was a bartender at after-show soirées; later, he became the entertainers’ lawyer.

Turner helped found the Actors’ Equity Association in 1913, and for 37 years he was its chief counsel. The union helped increase pay and benefits. Today, it represents 50,000 actors and stage managers.

Before he died in 1950, Turner created a permanent fund in The New York Community Trust to continue his legacy of caring for those in the theater. This year, we used the Paul N. Turner Bequest to help open a senior center for retired performing arts and entertainment professionals in The Actors Fund of America building in midtown Manhattan.

What do you care about?

Set up a fund to keep your passions alive—forever.

Call Jane Wilton at (212) 686-2563 giving@nyct-cfi.org

AFTER THE STAGE: Many former musicians, dancers, and actors have limited retirement funds.

With an earlier grant, we used Paul Turner’s fund to support free exercise classes at a residential building run

by The Actors Fund.

Photo by Ari Mintz for The Trust