It's Our Money
#itsourmoney Youth led direct democracy
Name of Your Organization:
Mosholu-Montefiore Community Center
Overview of the Project - Please provide a brief description of the project.
Mosholu-Montefiore Community Center (MMCC) has been a key resource for Bronx and Harlem, particularly for youth from diverse racial, ethnic, and economic backgrounds. One of our main goals is to empower youth by giving them a platform to identify issues in their community and providing them with support and resources to develop solutions on their own.
For the proposed project, young people ages 14-19 will participate in youth councils and youth coalitions, where they articulate concerns and discuss ways to address them. Youth will work in teams and decide what issues they perceive in the community and what they want to work on. They will perform community outreach and learn how government works through concrete civic engagement that can include various issues like racial inequality, the criminal justice system, immigration, voter registration and participation, and/or organizing “town halls” and events to involve the community. They will collaborate with community leaders and elected officials to come up with concrete solutions, including advocacy efforts to bring about actual policy changes in areas like education, health care, economics, and law. Youth will present their projects and ideas in a culminating event and follow up with meetings with elected officials and, if possible, visits to City Hall and the legislature in Albany. Participating youth will receive a stipend of $500 each.
Through these concrete efforts, youth will learn how power and responsibility are shared and limited by government and how they can be active participants in our democratic government process by the people for the people. Youth will understand how politics and government affect their everyday lives and how they themselves can become involved.
We are committed to championing tomorrow’s leaders by giving them the necessary tools to be involved in sculpting and changing their community, where their visions, ideas and demands for their future will be realized and celebrated. We will support young people in leading the charge to promote positive change in their own communities and throughout our city. As our world is evolving, youth will be at the forefront, making their voices heard and advocating for equality and justice.
Which of the following issues does your project address?
- Issue 1 - Addressing Mental Health
- Issue 2 - Preparation for College and/or Career
- Issue 3 - Youth Advocacy Promotion
Issue 3: Youth Advocacy Promotion
Youth Engagement - Please explain how you will engage youth in the planning and implementation of the project.
Young people ages 14-19 will be recruited to participate in youth councils and youth coalitions and work in teams to develop and plan projects of their own choosing. Recruitment efforts will specifically focus on racially and ethnically diverse, low-income neighborhoods in the Bronx and in Manhattan, such as Bedford Park, Riverdale, Williamsbridge, Central and East Harlem. This includes areas with prominent NYCHA public housing complexes. Recruitment will build on the trusted relationships we were able to build within these communities through various programs like our Cornerstone Community Centers that are accessible at eight different NYCHA locations in these neighborhoods.
Youth will gain input from their communities and conduct research to help them decide on the topic they want to focus on and shape their approach (this can include surveys, interviews, focus groups, attending community meetings, and reviewing recent community data). Based on youth’s input, topics can include but are not limited to racial inequality, criminal justice reform, approaches to restorative justice, immigration issues, and voter registration to empower people’s voices. In their teams, youth will be engaged in researching particular topics and policy issues and lead discussions to develop their understanding. Based on their research, youth will develop concrete ideas and projected outcomes. This can include public service announcements, short films, podcasts or websites, community engagement through events, working with local community boards, and outreach to elected officials. The teams will then share the outcomes of their project with their peers and the community. This will be in the form of a culminating event, like a Youth Summit, where students from various sites come together and share what they have accomplished.
Through these concrete activities, young people from underprivileged communities will have a platform to become neighborhood leaders by increasing their civic knowledge and advocacy skills, learning about government and community resources, and working together toward a collective goal. Youth will develop community-based solutions that engage them as capable actors and advocates within their own communities and their cultures through promoting collective leadership and collaboration in an effort to build a more supportive and just society.
In terms of program implementation, we anticipate a blend of virtual and in-person activities, based on CDC guidelines related to the evolving state of the COVID-19 pandemic. Meetings and group activities will be accessible through online platforms and provide engagement opportunities based on the successful virtual programming that we have developed across all our youth development and employment programs over the past months. In addition to platforms like Zoom and Google Classroom, we will be using texting and additional free apps such as Goose Chase, which can be used for virtual scavenger hunts as one way to motivate students to participate, or Kahoot!, an app to set up fun learning challenges that allow students to learn about concrete government structures and processes.
In addition to engaging youth in advocacy efforts, we can connect them to our college preparation and career planning services to help them identify personal and educational goals and map their path to get there.
Budget - Your total project budget must equal $20,000 to be placed on the ballot for a youth vote. Please provide a brief description of what the funds would be used for to successfully implement your project. You will also need to download, fill in, and attach a full budget using this template.
The project budget includes $3,200 for program staff, $800 for food/supplies for meetings, $800 for marketing/materials to engage participants, $800 for marketing/materials to engage the community, $2,000 for a Youth Summit and trips to City Hall and Albany, as well as $13,000 for youth stipends. Also see attached budget.
Timeline- Please describe the timeline for the implementation and completion of the project. All work for this project must be completed by June 30, 2021, which is the end of the city’s fiscal year and the deadline for the funds to be spent.
March: Outreach and Recruitment: We will introduce the project through social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), YouTube and at the agency-wide Youth Advisory meeting in March. Youth meet and form teams/committees to discuss the project and possible topics.
April: Youth will continue to meet in teams/committees to decide on their ideas, conduct research, and reach out to community leaders and elected officials to plan their projects. This can include community surveys using Google forms. They will participate in fun activities and apps like Kahoot! and Goose Chase to learn more about government processes and how they can become involved themselves in their respective communities.
May: Youth will work on a presentation of their ideas, such as PSAs, short films, podcasts, etc., to be presented at a culminating event/youth summit in June. They will engage their communities and share information.
June: Youth will present their ideas in a Youth Summit (virtually and/or in-person depending on COVID-19) and share outcomes with the community. They will follow up with community leaders and elected officials, which can include meetings and, if possible, visits of City Hall or the state legislature in Albany.
Project Activity Alignment - How does your project align with at least one of the following topics:
- Leadership skills development: organizing & advocacy trainings
- Stewardship of public spaces: public parks, transportation, etc.
- Youth and student engagement
- Civic education and advocacy
- Community outreach involving residents that have been historically underrepresented in or underserved by city government and its processes
Our project is aligned with several topics, specifically leadership skills development through engaging youth in teams/youth councils and working on community issues together, as well civic education and advocacy by focusing on concrete steps that can impact policy change and promote active youth engagement in government processes. All actions are youth-led to promote youth leadership and involve outreach within communities that have been underpresented and underserved by government. To help youth understand the election process, our youth councils also run campaigns and elections to determine a President, Vice President and Secretary. Our project will give youth a voice to help promote change and empower them to be active participants in their communities.
What is your organization's area of focus?
- Children and youth related
- Advocacy and organizing
- Arts and culture
- Civic engagement
- Education and literacy
- Emergency management and disaster response
- Employment and workforce development
- Environment and sustainability
- Faith-based
- Food access
- Health and medicine
- Homelessness and/or affordable housing
- Human rights
- Human services
- Immigrants and/or refugees
- Justice related
- Legal services
- People with disabilities
- Senior services
- Women's issues
MMCC is has been a community resource for 78 years, offering a holistic array of education, employment, health, and recreation services across 48 program locations in the Bronx, Manhattan and Westchester. The majority of our programs are children and youth-related, serving about 18,000 young people under the age of 24 on an annual basis. This includes daycare, afterschool, summer day camp, Cornerstone and Community Beacon Community Centers, Boys and Girls Clubs, and youth employment programs. Through these programs, we focus on advocacy and organizing, civic engagement, education and literacy, employment and workforce development. Through our food pantry, which has seen a tremendous surge in demand during the COVID crisis, we provide food access to about 3,200 families per month. Human services include a range of support services, from case management to benefits assessment and enrollment and connection to additional community resources. We also run three senior centers with congregate meal services and senior activity programs.
Affirmations - Type "YES" below each statement to affirm that you are eligible to appear on the ballot for this process.
I confirm that my organization will be registered in the NYC Payee Information Portal and in PassPort, NYC’s online procurement system, in order to receive funding from the City of New York.
YES
I confirm that my organization is able to front the costs of implementing this project. Organizations will be paid based on deliverables.
YES
Completion of Deliverables: I understand all deliverables must be completed by June 30th, 2021.
YES
I understand a condition of funding includes submission of a final report upon project completion, and participating in a debrief session with the CEC.
YES
This idea proceeds to voting because:
Thank you for your proposal submission! Based on our review, your proposal is eligible according to the project guidelines and will be placed on the ballot for the youth vote to take place in February. We may reach out if we need further information to prepare the ballot.
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