In this Issue

 

CAMBA Casino Night Out Just Days Away

 

CAMBA Celebrates 25 Years of Beacons

 

Take a Tour of 97 Crooke Avenue

 

Help Save HOME Funding

 

Turkey Drive for Pantry Clients in Full Swing

 

Foundation Brings Comfort to Shelter Kids

 

 

 

  

 

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Administrative Assistant, CAMBA Small Business Services

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CAMBA is a non-profit agency that provides services that connect people with opportunities to enhance their
quality of life.
October 2015

CNOTickets Going Fast for CAMBA Casino Night Out: This Thursday, Nov. 5!
CAMBA Casino Night Out is just days away and there's still time to be a part of the celebration.

Join us this Thursday, November 5, at Tribeca Three Sixty° to celebrate a year of achievements and honor two long-time CAMBA supporters and partners: Carlo A. Scissura, President and CEO of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce; and The Hudson Companies, one of New York City's leading housing developers.

We'll also be premiering a video featuring a CAMBA program and one young man's achievements despite his family's struggle with homelessness.

Our gala brings together a dynamic group of more than 300 leaders in business, politics, development, community, arts and service who are committed to empowering low-income New Yorkers.

Join us! 
Click below for tickets and sponsorship opportunities:



beaconCAMBA Kids Help Beacon Community Centers Celebrate 25 Years
A CAMBA Beacon participant presents an award to NYC Council Member Jumaane Williams for his longtime support of Beacons
At a press conference on the steps of City Hall, elected officials, advocates and Beacon participants celebrated 25 years of Beacon Community Centers in New York City. Young CAMBA participants were on hand, joining the Campaign for Children, a coalition of more than 150 early childhood education and after-school organizations, to highlight the impact Beacons have had on communities across the city.

The Beacon model partners a community-based organization with a public school to create a community center that provides services, supports and a space for residents to thrive. Beacons use schools as a hub for after-school programs, health and mental health services, ESL classes and more -- for all ages, from elementary school students to adults. 

CAMBA operates three Beacon centers in Brooklyn, which are among 80 Beacons citywide.  CAMBA participants take advantage of recreational activities like archery, step and dance, filmmaking, music, theater and sports ... along with academic activities, including STEM tutoring, financial readiness and college and career readiness.

"The tutoring help is amazing because I have somewhere to go to get the help that I need," said Kennedy Mayers, a 14-year-old participant at CAMBA Beacon at 269 in Flatbush.

At this month's ceremony, Mayers had the privilege to present NYC Council Member Jumaane Williams with an award for his longtime commitment to Beacons and after-school programs. City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Council Member Julissa Ferreras-Copeland were also honored. 

crookeTake an Architectural Tour of 97 Crooke Avenue
97 Crooke Avenue. Photo by Vanni Archive Architectural Photography
Coming up on November 10, the nonprofit Open House New York is holding a tour of our affordable and supportive 97 Crooke Avenue in Flatbush. From the organizer:

Join Dattner Architects' William Stein and Catherine Selby to learn about how they worked within a unique, long-vacant triangular lot along an MTA subway line in Flatbush, Brooklyn, to create a sustainable, nine-story building containing 53 units of affordable and supportive housing for lower-income community residents and formerly homeless individuals who are exiting the City's shelter system. The award-winning project, developed by nonprofit CAMBA Housing Ventures, features on-site social services provided by CAMBA, a landscaped rear yard and roof terrace and a robust art collection.

This tour is part of Open House New York's Monograph in Motion, an ongoing series of public tours that celebrates the work of design firms that have had a significant impact on New York City's built environment.

Learn more about the tour and buy tickets here.

homeHelp Save HOME Funding
U.S.  Congress is proposing to slash the Federal HOME program, which would severely impact CAMBA Housing Venture's ability to build sustainable, permanent, affordable and supportive housing in New York City.

Learn more about the proposed cuts, see how CHV successfully uses HOME funds, with our partners at New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and find out what you can do to help save HOME funding.

turkeyDitmas Park Corner Hosts Third Annual Turkey Drive for CAMBA Pantry Clients
Thanks to the generosity of neighbors, a happy Thanksgiving is on the table for hundreds of CAMBA food pantry clients. 

Throughout the year, hungry people line up outside our pantry's doors on Church Avenue looking for the food they need to survive. But come November, they hope for a little more -- for their children to be able to take part in the season's bounty. Parents ask: "Do you have turkeys? Do you have meat or anything we can use on our table for the holidays?"

A pantry client takes home her Thanksgiving turkey
For two years now, the "500 Turkeys for 500 Families" campaign has been a huge success. Support flooded in from the community to buy Thanksgiving dinners for our pantry clients. And on Thanksgiving week, no one left the pantry without a turkey and the trimmings in hand.

This year's campaign, organized by the news site Ditmas Park Corner, is now in full swing. Join the campaign and give a Flatbush family something to be thankful for.

preciousPrecious Dreams Foundation Brings Comfort to Shelter Kids
On Tuesday, October 6, staff and volunteers from The Precious Dreams Foundation brought some comfort items to kids at The Landing, CAMBA's recently opened family homeless shelter in Queens.

Precious Dreams is a New York-based organization that provides gift bags of bedtime comfort items to children in homeless shelters, foster homes, foster care and throughout low-income communities.

At the Landing, a roomful of children ages 4 to 10 were greeted with "comfort bags," containing items like stuffed toys, coloring books and pajamas. The kids also took part in comfort-related activities, decorating pillowcases with pictures that bring them comfort (puppies, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, mommy).

"The time Precious Dreams spent with our children reminded the kids that, even in this crazy time in their lives, they are important and deserve to be comforted," said Elizabeth Stephens, CAMBA Senior Program Manager.