It's Our Money

• 1:1 college advising for high school seniors and juniors (for seniors-assistance with financial aid materials, other resources, college selection process and preparation; for juniors, creating well-balanced college lists, understanding financial aid etc).
• Facilitation of early awareness workshops for students in the 9th, 10th, and 11th grades. Workshop topics include: (a) Why College? (b) True Colors: Exploring Careers; (c) College Trip Etiquette; (d) College Applications and College Knowledge; (e) Senior Application Timeline.
• Planning campus-wide events and celebrations to support a college going culture (Parent Nights, College Commitment Day celebrations, etc.).

While this request is for Youth Leaders through June 30, 2021, our work with matriculating seniors will continue through the summer. Building on the work done by the Youth Leaders, we will hire 4 current college students (graduates of our program and Youth Leader ‘alumni’) to work as College Coaches and support our students who are college-bound to prepare for college. This program component is designed to address summer melt and picks up where our Youth Leaders leave off at the close of the academic year. Research has shown that 30-40% of graduating high school seniors who are accepted to college and plan to enroll fail to do so; this percentage is even higher in low-income communities. Failure to enroll has been traced to the many complicated steps that a student must complete during the summer months prior to enrollment. The Summer preparation will focus on selecting majors aligned with student interest, financial planning and preparation for major life changes as our young people enter college.

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.

As detailed in the attached budget we request $20,000 for this project, a cost that includes providing the Youth Leaders with $15/hour for 8 hours a week for 20 weeks ($19,200) plus $800 toward the salary of a full-time College Advisor who will train and support the Youth Leaders. New Settlement will contribute the remaining salary and fringe, program materials and supplies and any transportation costs.

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.

February 2021: Recruit and hire 8 Youth Leaders (High School Juniors and Seniors); Project planning, Meeting with School administration (4 Principals), Training of Youth Leaders. Milestones: 8 Youth Leaders recruited and trained; outreach strategy prepared; Spring 2021 program calendar confirmed with school.

March-April 2021: Operation of full-scale college advising office (1:1 Advising, financial aid assistance, parent workshops, coaching for school staff and teachers, etc.) Milestone: 100 students engaged through 1:1 and group counseling.

May-June 2021: Continue operation of full-scale college advising office; plan and deliver early college awareness workshops to high school freshman, sophomores and juniors. Milestone: an additional 100 students reached through 1:1 and group counseling; 100 students reached through early college awareness workshops.

Project Activity Alignment - How does your project align with at least one of the following topics:

1.    Leadership skills development: organizing & advocacy trainings

2.    Stewardship of public spaces: public parks, transportation, etc.

3.    Youth and student engagement

4.    Civic education and advocacy

5.    Community outreach involving residents that have been historically underrepresented in or underserved by city government and its processes

Our project aligns with (3) Youth and student engagement by training and empowering youth to guide and support their peers and helping them pro-actively make smart decisions about post-secondary education. By supporting4 high schools at Taft Educational Campus it is serving youth who are often the first in their families to plan to attend college. We believe that these young people are best guided and supported by their peers—youth who show leadership qualities, who are successfully navigating the college admissions process and who have the skills and commitment to help guide their classmates. A positive bi-product of this peer-led mode is that these peer relationships create strong bonds that can last as a mutual peer-to-peer support network once students go on to college, where they encourage each other to stay in school.

What is your organization's area of focus?

1.    Children and youth related

2.    Advocacy and organizing

3.    Arts and culture

4.    Civic engagement

5.    Education and literacy

6.    Emergency management and disaster response

7.    Employment and workforce development

8.    Environment and sustainability

9.    Faith-based

10. Food access

11. Health and medicine

12. Homelessness and/or affordable housing

13. Human rights

14. Human services

15. Immigrants and/or refugees

16. Justice related

17. Legal services

18. People with disabilities

19. Senior services

20. Women's issues

New Settlement is a multi-service community agency; our focus on human service programs that serve the Mount Eden community of Concourse/Highbridge (Bronx CD4) encompasses children and youth, advocacy and organizing, arts and culture, civic engagement, education and literacy, employment and workforce development, food access, homelessness and affordable housing, immigrants and refugees, and legal services.

Affirmations - Type \"YES\" below each statement to affirm that you are eligible to appear on the ballot for this process.

Project Activity Alignment to CEC’s Mission: Please select which activity the project aligns with most closely.

Yes: Issue 2-We Don’t Feel Prepared for our Future

I confirm that may 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, 2020.

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.

• +["

  Name of Your Organization: New Settlement (The Crenulated Company, Ltd dba New Settlement Apartments)

  Overview of the Project - Please provide a brief description of the project.

  At New Settlement we believe, and our thirty-year experience working with young people in The Bronx has confirmed, that young people are most inspired to reach for success when they are guided by peers and youth leaders who come from similar backgrounds and perspectives, and have themselves succeeded. Today, at the start of 2021, with the ongoing Covid crisis impacting the long-term education aspirations of our City’s young people, inspiration and motivation are in high demand. New Settlement seeks support for Youth Leaders of our Student Success Center, a youth leadership project in which high school students from the Taft Educational Campus in The Bronx will guide, encourage and support their peers to apply to and attend college. Our Student Success Center is a youth-led, school-based resource addressing a critical shortage in school budgets for qualified college guidance counselors. This Spring, we seek to empower young people to help their peers by employing and training high school students (grades 11-12) as ‘Youth Leaders’ to support their peers with the college application and matriculation process. In partnership with four high schools on the Taft Educational Campus, we aim to: 1) create a schoolwide culture where all students understand their higher-education options; 2) ensure that college enrollment and graduation becomes a reality for the majority of the school’s graduates; and 3) actively engage parents, teachers, and administrators so that they are more informed regarding how to support students on the road to college. This spring, we will train and support 8 Youth Leaders to deliver the program in a hybrid format that can be adapted to the public school opening schedule.

   

  Which of the following issues does your project address?

  1.    Issue 1 - Addressing Mental Health

  2.    Issue 2 - Preparation for College and/or Career X

  3.    Issue 3 - Youth Advocacy Promotion

  Preparation for College and/or Career

  Youth Engagement - Please explain how you will engage youth in the planning and implementation of the project.

  The It’s Our Money grant we have requested will support eight Youth Leaders (two per school) during the 2021 Spring semester who will: 1) provide guidance and support to 200 high school seniors as they complete the college application process and matriculate to college; 3) provide early college awareness workshops to 100 students who are in the 9th, 10th, and 11th grades; 3) work towards enhancing the college going culture at their high school;

  
  

  Eight Youth Leaders (current high school juniors or seniors) will be recruited and receive over 70 hours of comprehensive training in college access and financial aid content covering post-secondary realities, the college research and application process, financial aid and the final steps to enroll in college. Through this training, and with the support of full-time college advisors from our on-site College Access Programs, Youth Leaders will be able to assist in the day-to-day operations of school-based, full-service college counseling offices, designed to ensure that all students who attend high school on the Taft Educational Campus have the support they need to complete applications and matriculate into college. Youth led activities include:

  
  

  • Outreach to all students.
  • 1:1 college advising for high school seniors and juniors (for seniors-assistance with financial aid materials, other resources, college selection process and preparation; for juniors, creating well-balanced college lists, understanding financial aid etc).
  • Facilitation of early awareness workshops for students in the 9th, 10th, and 11th grades. Workshop topics include: (a) Why College? (b) True Colors: Exploring Careers; (c) College Trip Etiquette; (d) College Applications and College Knowledge; (e) Senior Application Timeline.
  • Planning campus-wide events and celebrations to support a college going culture (Parent Nights, College Commitment Day celebrations, etc.).

  
  

  While this request is for Youth Leaders through June 30, 2021, our work with matriculating seniors will continue through the summer. Building on the work done by the Youth Leaders, we will hire 4 current college students (graduates of our program and Youth Leader ‘alumni’) to work as College Coaches and support our students who are college-bound to prepare for college. This program component is designed to address summer melt and picks up where our Youth Leaders leave off at the close of the academic year. Research has shown that 30-40% of graduating high school seniors who are accepted to college and plan to enroll fail to do so; this percentage is even higher in low-income communities. Failure to enroll has been traced to the many complicated steps that a student must complete during the summer months prior to enrollment. The Summer preparation will focus on selecting majors aligned with student interest, financial planning and preparation for major life changes as our young people enter college.

  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.

  As detailed in the attached budget we request $20,000 for this project, a cost that includes providing the Youth Leaders with $15/hour for 8 hours a week for 20 weeks ($19,200) plus $800 toward the salary of a full-time College Advisor who will train and support the Youth Leaders. New Settlement will contribute the remaining salary and fringe, program materials and supplies and any transportation costs.

  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.

  February 2021: Recruit and hire 8 Youth Leaders (High School Juniors and Seniors); Project planning, Meeting with School administration (4 Principals), Training of Youth Leaders. Milestones: 8 Youth Leaders recruited and trained; outreach strategy prepared; Spring 2021 program calendar confirmed with school.

  March-April 2021: Operation of full-scale college advising office (1:1 Advising, financial aid assistance, parent workshops, coaching for school staff and teachers, etc.) Milestone: 100 students engaged through 1:1 and group counseling.

  May-June 2021: Continue operation of full-scale college advising office; plan and deliver early college awareness workshops to high school freshman, sophomores and juniors. Milestone: an additional 100 students reached through 1:1 and group counseling; 100 students reached through early college awareness workshops.

  Project Activity Alignment - How does your project align with at least one of the following topics:

  1.    Leadership skills development: organizing & advocacy trainings

  2.    Stewardship of public spaces: public parks, transportation, etc.

  3.    Youth and student engagement

  4.    Civic education and advocacy

  5.    Community outreach involving residents that have been historically underrepresented in or underserved by city government and its processes

  Our project aligns with (3) Youth and student engagement by training and empowering youth to guide and support their peers and helping them pro-actively make smart decisions about post-secondary education. By supporting4 high schools at Taft Educational Campus it is serving youth who are often the first in their families to plan to attend college. We believe that these young people are best guided and supported by their peers—youth who show leadership qualities, who are successfully navigating the college admissions process and who have the skills and commitment to help guide their classmates. A positive bi-product of this peer-led mode is that these peer relationships create strong bonds that can last as a mutual peer-to-peer support network once students go on to college, where they encourage each other to stay in school.

  What is your organization's area of focus?

  1.    Children and youth related

  2.    Advocacy and organizing

  3.    Arts and culture

  4.    Civic engagement

  5.    Education and literacy

  6.    Emergency management and disaster response

  7.    Employment and workforce development

  8.    Environment and sustainability

  9.    Faith-based

  10. Food access

  11. Health and medicine

  12. Homelessness and/or affordable housing

  13. Human rights

  14. Human services

  15. Immigrants and/or refugees

  16. Justice related

  17. Legal services

  18. People with disabilities

  19. Senior services

  20. Women's issues

  New Settlement is a multi-service community agency; our focus on human service programs that serve the Mount Eden community of Concourse/Highbridge (Bronx CD4) encompasses children and youth, advocacy and organizing, arts and culture, civic engagement, education and literacy, employment and workforce development, food access, homelessness and affordable housing, immigrants and refugees, and legal services.

  Affirmations - Type \"YES\" below each statement to affirm that you are eligible to appear on the ballot for this process.

  Project Activity Alignment to CEC’s Mission: Please select which activity the project aligns with most closely.

  Yes: Issue 2-We Don’t Feel Prepared for our Future

  I confirm that may 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, 2020.

  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.

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