It's Our Money

Name of Your Organization:

Eckerd Youth Alternatives, Inc. (dba Eckerd Connects)

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

Eckerd Connects proposes to implement a relevant and engaging project focused on educating young adults on the history of systematic racism and the implications of it on their present lives and on their communities. The project will be led by a select group of young people ages 17-24 who live in the priority neighborhoods, who are currently not in school and not working, and who are dedicated to becoming community advocates and educating their contemporaries about how they can confront racism in a safe and constructive way.   The goal of the initiative is to engage and empower the youth through education, discussion and taking positive action. 

Eckerd Connects has been operating in New York City for the past 20 years, providing essential services to young adults, including in the University Heights neighborhood of the Bronx. Eckerd has a long history of providing support to young adults, helping them to develop critical competencies including civic responsibility, leadership skills, accepting and celebrating diversity, self-care and wellness, and cultivating confidence in setting high-reaching, intentional, and aggressive educational, career, and personal goals.

For this project, Eckerd will focus on helping a select group of young people to become more knowledgeable about black history, racial injustice, and how to become change-agents, giving them a platform for voicing their concerns and educating their peers about these critical issues impacting their present lives as young people of color. The project will begin with the Eckerd staff developing a recruitment campaign for selecting 10 young adult participants. This will include social media postings, outreach to other community based organizations and agencies that serve the age range, and utilizing our current network of young adult for referrals. We will be looking for individuals who are passionate about social changes and are driven to get involved and make a difference. The program will include 2.5 hour workshops two days per week, as well as independent assignments and research. 

Once selected, all participants will have the opportunity to enroll in the Racial Equity Certification Course, created by Soul Focused Group and offered through the Workforce 180 platform. The course is “intended to educate and empower all workforce professionals, participants, leaders and every community member begin a journey that allows for every person to visualize a future of harmony and peace.” This 5-hour course is online, self-paced, and interactive--utilizing videos, podcasts, and webinars—and culminates in a Certificate of Achievement. Workforce 180 is a premier training organization with a long and distinguished history and Soul Focused Group is a premier Change and Leadership Development consulting company. Together, they have created this robust 4-module training (Socialization, Racism History, Racial Bias, and Moving Forward) that will provide the program participants with an understanding of the barriers racial inequity presents and how to overcome them toward human solidarity.

The next phase will entail the young adults working with the Eckerd staff to identify topics related to their specific interest in, and experience with, racism. Through our current Social Justice Workshop series, a number of topics have already been identified by youth participants as important to the development of their understanding and recognition of the history of racism and the impact and effect it has had on their ancestors as well as themselves. We will develop a schedule of workshops for the participant to take part in, which can include:

Colorism & Racial Identity

Black Lives Matter…Who & What It Is

Every Month is Black History Month: American Black History

Role Models in Black America

How to Deal with Police Interactions as a Person of Color

Fashion for us, Ghetto to them: Cultural Appropriation and Expression

Toxic Communities: Exploring how systemic problems exposes black communities to environmental hazards that impact health

Be The Change: Awareness and Activism, Civil Disobedience and Being Resilient

All of the workshops will include a staff-led peer-to-peer discussion session that will allow participants to share their experiences, to express their thoughts and opinions, and to recognize and appreciate similar and divergent life experiences and ways of thinking. Participation will allow them to also develop essential universal skills, including leadership, communication, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, teamwork, and focus skills. These skills will assist them in the next phases of the project and throughout their adult lives.

At the completion of the workshop series, participants will work as a team to create their own workshop on a related, agreed upon topic, which they will ultimately present to a group of their peers. They will be tasked with working together to select the topic, conduct necessary research and interviews, create surveys, and finally facilitate the presentation. They will be able to conduct the workshop for community members in a variety of settings, including local high schools, community boards, out-of-school youth training programs, other youth serving organizations, community centers, senior centers, at community events and fairs, local city councils, and local libraries. The Eckerd staff will assist them with identifying appropriate programs or organizations and in developing their “sales pitch.”

The final phase of the project will focus on the group creating Public Service Announcements (PSAs) videos related to recognizing and ending racism, supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, how to get involved in ending racial injustice in a positive and non-violent way, and similar messages. The participants will lead the PSA development in full, with the support of the Eckerd staff, including writing the scripts and filming the segments. They will again also be tasked with conducting outreach to organizations and agencies to market the PSAs, to be shown to their program participants/students and/or posted on social media pages.

During all workshops and sessions, participants will be provided lunch and transportation assistance as needed. Participants will also have the opportunity to earn incentives up to $400 total for participating in and successfully completing various project activities, including earning the Racial Equity Certification, completing the workshop development and presentation, and creating and filming the PSA. 

If necessary, Eckerd will utilize virtual meeting and facilitation tools such as WebEx, Zoom, and Adobe Connect to conduct all group sessions and workshops. Though we prefer to meet participants face-to-face whenever possible, we have the experience and necessary techniques and tools to provide remote programming. Ultimately, we hope to find other funding streams to sustain this project beyond June. Eckerd Connects has a dedicated fund development team that will work to identify grants and other opportunities for funding outside of federal monies.  

As these young adults have grown up in a world where the systems in place create and maintain racial inequality in nearly every facet of life for people of color, we aim to have this initiative create for them an inclusive culture and safe space for their opinions and views to be heard, for them to become vehicles for change, and to offer them tools to mobilize their peers to engage with them in community activism.  

Which of the following issues does your project address?

1. Issue 1 - Addressing Mental Health
2. Issue 2 - Preparation for College and/or Career
3. Issue 3 - Youth Advocacy Promotion

Our project focuses on Issue gid://development-app/Decidim::Hashtag/3/3, Youth Advocacy and Promotion.

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

This project has been developed by youth and will be facilitated by youth. Eckerd has engaged young people who are currently enrolled in our New York City programs and who are taking part in our Social Justice Workshop Series in the development of this proposal. Additionally, as the culminating project targets young adults in the community, youth engagement is a primary function of our proposed initiative and will reach beyond the selected participants that create the PSAs. As mentioned above, youth will determine workshop topics, conduct research, develop surveys, do community outreach, and ultimately create and share the PSAs and lead discussion groups. 

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.

Our budget consists of a portion of three current Eckerd Connects Staff, including an Area Manager (program oversight, community partner outreach, program support), a Career Coach (workshop facilitation, participant support and guidance, oversight of workshop and PSA development and presentations), and an Operations Assistant (support with filming and editing PSAs as well as general program operations). Additionally, funds will be used for materials needed for program operations (such as office supplies, filming equipment, and participant recruitment) as well as for direct participant expenses (such as incentives, transportation and professional attire assistance, lunch and snacks, training, and the like). Please see the full budget attached. 

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.

We anticipate being able to start the program by March 1 and complete all deliverables by June 30. 

Key deliverables

1) Market program and recruit participants. 2/28/2021

 2) Select final 10 program participants. 3/12/2021

3)Participants complete Racial Equity Training & Certification. 3/19/2021

4) Participants take part in Eckerd Social Justice workshops & discussion groups, select to4pics for their workshops and PSAs. 4/30/2021

5) Participants complete group workshops & present in community. 5/31/2021

6) Participants finish PSA development and community outreach and distribution. 6/30/2021

7) Video of workshop presentation and PSAs. 7/31/2021  

8) Participant Satisfaction Surveys; final report. 8/31/2020

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

The Lights! Camera! Take Action! Project aligns with several of the major topics this opportunity is seeking to address, namely:

·      Leadership skills development: organizing & advocacy trainings

·      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

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

Eckerd Connects is a national non-profit 501(c)(3) organization operating a full continuum of workforce development, juvenile justice, behavioral health, educational, and child welfare programs around the country. In New York City, our areas of focus are (1) children and youth related and (7) employment and workforce development. 

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