Dear Friends & Family,
I’m writing you today under extraordinary circumstances. This is a time of tremendous uncertainty as we push through the challenges that COVID-19 presents at the epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S. The vulnerable communities we serve at the YWCA of the City of New York are taking a direct hit economically, while attempting to homeschool kids and shelter in place. The YW-NYC is adapting our youth development programs to respond to what our families need, but we need your support to help our kids. Please donate to our ‘
Spring Into ACTION!
’
campaign to invest in the 1500 young people and families involved in our
Out-of-School Time
and
Girls Initiatives
programs.
In the past two weeks, we transitioned our after-school and leadership training programs to digital platforms, and we’re working to provide the necessary equipment to our front-line staff and students in Brownsville, Coney Island, Carroll Gardens, Harlem, and our Midtown West Family Resource Center. Our goal is to ensure that we can continue to support each child’s educational needs. Many of these kids, who live in neighborhoods with 40% poverty levels, have a fighting chance this school year as we provide homework help, remote coursework and enrichment activities. Your help provides much-needed resources including:
- Laptops and software so that our staff and students can continue teaching and learning;
- Virtual tutoring opportunities, family check-ins and homework help;
- Remote classroom learning for our Everyday Heroes and other programs where elementary and middle school kids thrive;
- Live, interactive gender equity and racial justice Amplifying Multiple Perspectives workshops for high-school girls and non-binary youth;
- Continued STEAAM partnerships for our Geek Girls e-learning opportunities.
It is our hope that we can create a supportive learning environment for our young people and a smooth transition back into classroom spaces, whenever that may be. We plan to continue providing skills-building workshops to students like Zariah who shares her
Bystander Intervention Training
experience in the
video linked here
.
I call on you to
Spring Into ACTION!
Help us provide e-learning opportunities and community resources for the families we serve. We know this is a challenging time for you, your family and all New Yorkers. We care deeply about your wellbeing and that of the at-risk communities we serve. Please help us move our young people forward.
Sincerely,
