Tag Archives: nyc

The Aftermath of #Sandy

30 Oct

As New York City, and the entire eastern seaboard begin to deal with the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, we see New Yorkers standing strongly together and those affected, rising back up to their feet. According to various news sources, Sandy claimed the lives of over 30 people in the United States alone and the lives of more than 80 people from the start to the end of its course. More than 7 million people on the Eastern seaboard are without power today and the destruction is expansive.

With all the damage and devastation Sandy has brought, I think it sheds a light on the issue of climate change and its catastrophic effects on our world. New York Governor Cuomo said on Tuesday that he told President Barack Obama it seemed like “we have a 100-year flood every two years now.”

“These are extreme weather patterns. The frequency has been increasing,” he said. Hopefully, this storm will encourage others to join the conversations about climate change so that together we can ensure a better, safer future.

Flooding on First Ave. in NYC

NYC cabs submerged in Hoboken, NJ.

 

 

Want ideas on how to help?

  • Donate to the Americares Emergency Relief Fund as Americares works with their response partners in the US and Haiti to help provide immediate aid:

http://www.americares.org/newsroom/news/hurricane-sandy-emergency-outreach-update-1029.html

 

  • Volunteer at a New York City shelter set up for the storm:

http://www.google.org/crisismap/2012-sandy-nyc

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WIN: Helping Women and Children in NYC

21 Jun

This summer I am volunteering at Women In Need. It is a wonderful New York City based organization that is committed to helping homeless women and children. The women and children they help are faced with hardships such as poverty, domestic violence, lack of affordable housing, substance abuse, limited education and job skills, and family instability.

Quick Facts:

9,000 Individuals served each year

6,000 homeless children

2,500 people in a WIN shelter

each night

596 family units in 6 shelters

226 supportive housing units

8 childcare sites

Licensed, outpatient substance abuse treatment clinic

Over 1,000 homeless children served at Camp WIN

WIN is one of the largest providers of both shelter and supportive housing to homeless families throughout New York City each night. Thousands of women and their children sleep in WIN’s transitional shelters and supportive housing units each night. There are six shelters across New York City that provide a safe, clean, independent place for a family to be together while they work to repair their lives. In addition, WIN supplies all families with essential items that many enter the shelters without. WIN focuses on providing a dignified place for mothers to get back on their feet, so the shelter provides classes and programs for the mothers and children, and the support they need to find a job and a place to live.

Visit http://women-in-need.org for more information on WIN and the work they do!

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Cassidy’s Place

10 Jun

In New York City, well over 14,000 children sleep in shelters every night and every day over 600,000 children go hungry because they live in households in which parents must regularly choose between paying the rent and buying food.

Last year, almost 70,000 children were reported victims of child abuse or neglect. Each and every day, hunger, homelessness, physical and emotional abuse, abandonment, neglect, substance abuse, substandard housing, failing schools and disease endanger children’s welfare and undermine their future.

The Association to Benefit Children (ABC) creates model programs that are easily replicable, compassionate, comprehensive, cost-effective and sustainable. Their focus is on early childhood education programs. There are five early education programs across the New York area. I volunteer at Cassidy’s Place 120 preschoolers who live in poverty and suffer from severe disabilities, serious medical problems and have significant special needs develop, play and learn in nine dynamic and inviting classrooms.

Children, who might otherwise be unable to attend school, enjoy an enriched curriculum and the special therapies that help them achieve their highest potential.

Working with the children at Cassidy’s Place has given me a first-hand example of the value of an education. I am amazed to see the transformation in all the children from the beginning of the year until now. Children who would not say a single word, now will not cease to tell me stories about their day, their friends, and their family. Children who would throw tantrums and not sleep during naptime unless they could sleep on my lap, now sleep completely on their own and use their words when they are upset. Children who although started off the year refusing to participate in group activities or make eye contact with me are now some of the most active members of the classroom.

one of the kids enjoying the holiday party last year

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