It's Our Money

Name of Your Organization:

Research Foundation/LaGuardia Community College Summer Youth Employment (SYEP)

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

Mental Health virtual meetings and youth 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

This project addresses, Issue 1 and issue 3

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

Our project will be centering around the realities of youth mental health and amplifying the importance of de-stigmatizing mental health. To do so, the youth will lead workshop series to discuss facets of mental health and wellness resources and solutions. LaGuardia Community College’s Division of Student Affairs has a proven track record of providing high quality financial, social, and emotional support services which our participants have access to as extensions of our community. Through cross-campus collaboration, we aim to leverage this legacy of impact to partner the youth participants with The Wellness Center. We believe this collaboration will be fruitful for exposure to support that can be beneficial to them in many ways.

LaGuardia Community College has a wellness department, and we will have staff on the youth led zoom meetings to discuss their mental health, their loneliness, and their need to be heard with wellness solutions. We will use our college network as a resource for the youth as well as NYC’s Strive Thrive program. The youth will check in on zoom, once a week to discuss their community board participation and they will also have the contact information for the wellness professionals that will offer mental health counseling, if the youth need someone to talk to in between the zoom meetings.

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.

We will use funds for stipends, permanent employees supporting the implementation of the project, incentives to promote participation in the project. (e.g., travel costs, gift cards, supplies)

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.

Virtual weekly mental health workshops, starting March 5th until May 28th. (The week day and time is to be decided by the participating youth at the first meeting on Friday March 5th)

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 under-served by city government and its processes

This project proposal aligns with all the above 5 topics. The project activity will be led by youth to develop their leadership skills which will help to alleviate some of their mental health challenges, by getting involved and helping others. They will attend community board meetings that will enforce their organizing and advocacy skills. The participation within their community board will promote the stewardship and feelings of belonging as they discuss their public spaces, transportation, and their communities. As part of the community board committee, our organization will help them understand their role as a resident of the community and their ability to make changes. The youth will then share their community experiences along with any mental health challenges, with the program participants and professional college facilitators, on a weekly basis.

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

RF/LaGuardia Community College’s area of focus is Children and youth related, Advocacy and organizing, Civic engagement, Education and literacy, Employment and workforce development, Human services, Immigrants, and refugees.

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