It's Our Money

Name of Your Organization:

Friends of Morningside Park Inc.

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

Harlem Youth Gardener - Youth Education and Career Building Program

The Harlem Youth Gardener (HYG) Program is a highly successful program begun in the summer of 2020 to give local Harlem Youth the opportunity to work and learn job skills in horticulture and gardening in their local Harlem Parks. The program provided part time (16 hours per week) employment for 22 teens and two coordinators over the summer of 2020 and transitioned to a 12 person team with one coordinator in the fall of 2020. The HYG crew worked with and learned from the NYC Dept. of Park and Recreation Gardeners in the four Historic Harlem Parks (Jackie Robinson, Marcus Garvey, St. Nicholas and Morningside). The program is administered by the Friends of Morningside Park. This grant would allow us to continue with a six person crew with one coordinator between May 3 and June 25, 2021n (8 weeks) as we continue to seek additional funding to again employ a larger crew over the summer of 2021.

HYG provides valuable job training in plant identification and horticulture for teens aged 14 - 19. For many of the teens employed last summer and fall, this program provided them with their first paid jobs and enabled them to build a valuable employment history which they are able to use going forward. This fills a critical need in our community during the midst of the ongoing COVID pandemic.

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

Issue 2 - Preparation for careers in Horticulture and related fields

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

We have already identified 2 teen leaders for the HYG Spring 2021 crew. These leaders worked in the program over the summer and fall of 2020. They have proven commitment to the program and have demonstrated their leadership skills during the program.

The HYG Program Coordinator acts as a mentor and educator for all the teens in the program. HYG teens work in collaborative groups and give presentations with their team members at the end of the term. At the end of the term the HYG Coordinator provides recommendations for the teens that they can use when seeking further employment.

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 funds are used to pay the teens ($18/hr) and the HYG Coordinator. We also provide work clothes (T-Shirts, work gloves and work vests) for the teens. We are attaching our full 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.

The period covered by this grant will be an 8 week period beginning on May 3, 2021 and ending on June 25, 2021. We are seeking funding from other sources with the hope that we may extend the program into the summer. However the work covered by this grant will be completed before June 30 2021

During these 8 weeks the team of 6 youth and one coordinator will work 16/hours per week. They will be working under the suppervision of the coordinator and in close collaboration with NYC Dept. of Parks Gardeners. The crew will work in the four Historic Harlem Parks. They will work for two weeks each in Jackie Robinson Park, Marcus Garvey Park, St. Nicholas Park and Morningside Park.

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 is directly related to the hands on stewardship of the public parks listed above. The program also builds leadership skills and a sense of civic engagement as the youth learn the history of the parks they are working in and about the community groups that have a long history of caring for those parks. Youth selected for the program are from the historically underrepresented neighborhoods of Central and West Harlem. Here are some videos from previous participants in which they talk about how much the program means to them.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CESdBpEhsVJ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CEP4BEwBqw8/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

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

8.ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY

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