News and Resources

This summer, UNH member agencies CAMBA, Chinese-American Planning Council, Hudson Guild, and University Settlement Society will once again participate in the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance's (MWA) Harbor Camp, which provides school children with field trips to learn about New York City waterways. This year's field trips will include The Science Barge, the Schooner Adirondack, the Fireboat John J. Harvey, the Waterfront Museum, and the Tugboat Pegasus. This is the third summer of this partnership, which is supported by UNH Board Member Paul Balser.

To learn more about UNH's partnership with the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, please contact Lauren Antelo, Member Services Associate.

Citi Field Kids - a partnership between Citi, the New York Mets, the Jackie Robinson Foundation, and UNH - continues to provide "once-in-a-lifetime experiences" to hundreds of young people from UNH member agencies. This season, Citi Field Kids is again making it possible for young people attending UNH members' programs to attend Mets home games, meet with team players and executives, and learn about the inspiring life of Baseball Hall of Fame member Jackie Robinson. Four of the six planned Citi Field Kids games have been held, providing youth with many "amazin" experiences, such as being showcased on the stadium jumbotron, participating in starting lineup ceremonies, and meeting with legendary sportscaster Bob Costas.

 Click here to read press coverage of the program.

UNH also coordinated the participation of member agencies in Citi's Teach Children to Save program, a nationwide campaign which has helped more than 100,000 young people across the country learn responsible spending habits and the importance of saving for the future. Citi volunteers led Teach Children to Save events with children from UNH members Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement House in Queens, St. Nicks Alliance in Brooklyn, and Union Settlement Association in East Harlem.

 

 City Council Speaker Christine Quinn explains the budget before yesterday's vote.

"This is a responsible, recession based budget," said Council Speaker Christine Quinn. "We had a couple of goals. We wanted to pass a budget that didn’t raise taxes, that didn't expand borrowing, that protected core services."

All that was accomplished, Quinn said.

 Nonetheless, some advocates say the neediest New Yorkers will bear the burden of these cuts. The effects of that, they claim, will reverberate for years.

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UNH held its Annual Meeting on June 8 at member agency Hudson Guild. Several important UNH annual awards were presented at the event. Receiving the Emily Menlo Marks Leadership Awards were Sonia Bhuta and Amarilis Perez of The Educational Alliance, and Melissa Nieves of Union Settlement Association. Marisa Ragonese of Queens Community House received the 2009 Award for Achievement in Civic Advocacy. Also honored were Executive Directors Charles Shayne of Kingsbridge Heights Community Center, Verona Middleton-Jeter of Henry Street Settlement, and Roger Sam of Southeast Bronx Neighborhood Centers. Each is retiring after outstanding careers, having made valuable contributions to their agencies and their communities.

Click here to see pictures from the event.

 

“Save our program, save our future,” they chanted. “No justice, no future.”

 To save money, the city slashed the $120,000 grant that funds the popular program at I.S. 289, a middle school in Battery Park City. Thirty-two other middle schools around the city also lost their after-school funding.

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More than 50 I.S. 89 students rallied on Greenwich Street in Tribeca before marching up to City Hall Park earlier this week, hoping to convince city officials to restore funding for after-school programs.

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"Under Bloomberg's grim plan to close at least 50 senior centers by July 1, thousands of seniors will not have a place to eat Thanksgiving this year.

Some of my older neighbors, many of whom live alone, spent last Thanksgiving at our local senior center, where they can find a hot, nutritious meal and perhaps more importantly, company. While the city spared this center, it could still lose a third of its funding. A glance at their monthly calendar of activities, which includes movies, blood pressure screenings, AARP tax assistance, computer and tai-chi classes, gives you a hint of the lifeline centers like these offer to older New Yorkers"

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Clients, providers and advocates from a variety of programmatic sectors came together at City Hall yesterday to oppose proposed budget cuts to a broad range of “core” human services for children, families and seniors. Mayor Bloomberg’s proposed Executive Budget for FY2011 includes millions of dollars in cuts to child care, after school programs, adult literacy programs, and senior centers.

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On April 30, 2010, as part of an annual Viacom event to promote volunteerism in local communities, 20 Viacom employees spent the day supporting the work of UNH member Center for Family Life (CFL) in Brooklyn. Led by Viacom executive Jimmy Barge, Treasurer of UNH's Board of Directors, the volunteers served meals at CFL's Food Pantry and helped young adults with resume writing and on-line job searches. The volunteers also met with graduating high school students to discuss college and career options.

 

To learn more about UNH's corporate partnerships, please contact Jessica Ziegler, Director of Development.

The Adult Literacy Education program will be taking a big hit due to drastic budget cuts proposed by lawmakers, according to a coalition of adult literacy advocates, teachers, students, and City Council members. Cuts were also proposed for GED (General Education Development) testing sites across New York.

 The program would lose approximately $2.6 million during the next fiscal year on top of a $612,000 cut during the 2009-2010 Fiscal Year. GED testing sites would suffer a $1.15 million cut.

 

 Anthony Ng, deputy director of Policy and Advocacy at the New York Coalition for Adult Literacy, stands in front of city hall on Tuesday in opposition to cuts proposed by lawmakers that would remove $2.6 million from the state's Adult Literacy Education p (Aloysio Santos/The Epoch Times)

 “Education is a right,” said Antony Ng, the deputy director of Policy and Advocacy at the New York Coalition for Adult Literacy. He added that the cuts would deprive people seeking to take the GED test throughout New York City and will negatively impact the local economy.