It's Our Money
#itsourmoney Youth led direct democracy
The Advocacy Project
Name of Your Organization:
The Door
Overview of the Project - Please provide a brief description of the project.
The Door is one of New York City’s most valuable resources for young people between the ages of 12-24. Founded in 1972, our mission is to empower young people to reach their potential by providing comprehensive youth development services in a diverse and caring environment. We offer a wide range of integrated services all under one roof for over 10,000 New York City youth each year. Young people can access healthcare and education, mental health counseling and crisis assistance, legal assistance, college preparation services, career development, housing supports, sports and recreation, nutritious meals, and arts programming—all for free and in one space.
Along with the rest of the city, state, country, and world, The Door has felt the repercussion of the pandemic. As The Door continues to adapt to the current COVID-19 crisis, we are mindful as to how it disproportionately impacts our already high-need communities. Thus, our top priority is to keep our youth stable and moving forward while also following all safety guidelines from City, State, and Federal agencies.
With public health in mind, The Door has transitioned many of its services to a virtual setting, while also providing in person socially- distanced services as needed and as we are able, including on site healthcare and the distribution of essential items, including food, clothing, and hygiene items. Throughout the pandemic, we have looked to The Door's Youth Council to advise us on how best to respond to the needs of the young people we serve. What we have heard loud and clear is that young people are yearning to feel a sense of community and connection.
Our model relies on a strong sense of community and has a heavy emphasis on the importance of relationships. In a time when this is more important than ever, and also more difficult than ever, we, alongside our youth leaders, are working hard to find ways to connect. For the past three years, The Door has held a week entitled Ally Week. This week occurs in the month of May, leading up to Pride Month in June, and is intended to help young people explore what it means to be an ally to those who identify differently than you do. This year, we would like to broaden the scope of a typical ally week by expanding programming and providing space for community and connection.
The Door's Youth Council and staff will work collaboratively to create a series of events which will be open to all New York City's youth exploring a range of social issues and culminating in a block party in Central Harlem. The Allyship Project, will highlight The Door’s programs and services, with an emphasis on providing support for young people and families and will offer participants an opportunity to connect with one another and build meaningful community. The smaller events leading up to the block party will occur both virtually and in person, tackling a series of social issues that are important to New York City's youth, including representation for LGBTQ+ identified youth, addressing systemic racism, opening up conversations about mental health, and other topics identified by our youth council. These events will offer both spaces for serious conversation and social justice work and spaces for joyful expression and play.
As previously noted, The Door is deeply committed to supporting the public health of our community. We are engaged in city-wide Test and Trace initiatives and are actively working to connect young people to testing, provide them with appropriate PPE, and share relevant information. These events will be conducted with all relevant public health guidance at the forefront, ensuring social distancing, providing PPE to community members, disseminating relevant information, and promoting safety and wellness.
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
Our Project aims to address issues 1, 2, and 3.
Youth Engagement - Please explain how you will engage youth in the planning and implementation of the project.
The Door's Youth council will be steering and planning the entirety of this project with the support of The Door's staff. Youth Council is a group of 15 young people ages 16 - 24 who have been trained in group facilitation, conflict resolution, program planning, public speaking, and more. This group of young people is paid to participate in the program, and they serve as youth representatives, helping to shape The Door’s programming, ensure that our services are appropriate and responsive, and share the concerns and reactions of the community. Youth Council participants also co-facilitate support spaces for their peers and engage in outreach activities, connecting NYC youth to much needed supportive services. This project is the brainchild of The Door’s Youth Council, and they will drive the formation and implementation of the event series.
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 budget will be used to cover the costs of additional personnel support such as additional teaching artist hours, video editing, and a DJ. Further, a portion will be used for materials and supplies needed to complete the project. Items such as park permits, decorations, table and chair rentals, cleaning supplies, and other additional supplies needed to make the project a success. Lastly, a large portion will be used to fund additional hours for members of The Door’s Youth Council as well as other youth incentives (such as gift cards, tshirts, and masks) for participants who will be participating in the events.
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.
Throughout the months of February and March, The Door’s Youth Council will connect with staff and community partners to determine relevant topics and plan the series of events and gather necessary supplies and resources, including any necessary public permits. During these months, meetings will be held weekly, and this will be the primary work of the Youth Council.
The month of April will consist of a series of mini pop-up events on site at The Door, on site with our community partners throughout the city, and virtually. These events will be intended to connect with young people in different neighborhoods, bring resources and information to those spaces, and foster a sense of connection and community.
In May, we will host Ally Week in a range of forums, both virtually and on site at The Door. This week of activities and events will culminate in the larger block party style event described above.
June, pride month, will be a month of reflection on the previous events with Youth Council as well as engagement in annual Pride events.
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
The Allyship project will touch on all of the above topics. As noted previously, The Door’s Youth Council will be steering this project entirely, allowing not only for their active leadership development, but also providing them with a platform to support and engage their peers. Youth Council will be trained and supported in organizing and advocating, and will utilize a wide variety of public spaces to connect with community and foster engagement. Youth Council participants will also be identifying relevant community topics and working together to create events and spaces that encourage productive dialogue. We are excited to support the creation of platforms that elevate youth voice and foster community and connection.
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
The Door is a youth development agency that focuses on a wide variety of issues including but not limited to advocacy and organizing, education and literacy, arts and culture, civic engagement, employment and workforce development, food access, health and medicine, homelessness and affordable housing, human rights, human services, immigrants and refugees, legal services, and justice.
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
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
This idea proceeds to voting because:
I have updated the proposal. The Door continuously aims to serve New York youth from all of the listed neighborhoods, however we are hoping to get our permit to have the culminating event in Harlem. I am not sure if I addressed this properly in the proposal, please let me know if the update suffices.
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