A Growing Public Housing Community Fund

We have had quite the summer. I am thrilled to see all these smiling graduates who went through these Community Fund programs supporting NYCHA residents.

We celebrated our first graduating class of NYCHA Clean Energy Academy, celebrating 24 graduates. Next week, the graduates will meet with contractors to place at least 16 NYCHA Clean Energy Academy members into green jobs at NYCHA. What could be better than a program that creates employment opportunities? Another cohort starts soon. We hope to see this program grow in the years to come.

Our program partner, Rising Tide Effect, and representatives from the Mayor’s Office, city agencies, and CBOs to celebrate the inaugural cohort of NYCHA Swim Safety Corps. I wrote about this earlier this month that this first-of-its-kind approach, the NYCHA Swim Safety Corps pilot is an earn-while-you-learn program providing employment, swim, life-safety training, skills building, and work experience opportunities to dozens of NYCHA youth. Another employment opportunity is where we work with these graduates as they prepare for the NYC Lifeguard Training program in 2024.

Also, Vision Urbana, a CBO working in several NYCHA communities on the LES, with our facilitation partner, Soulful Synergy, to celebrate the second cohort of NYCHA Youth Tech Corps at Bracetti Plaza. This intergenerational program brought together youth and resident leaders to teach them tech skills and help solve technology programs in NYCHA communities while fostering intergenerational connections. We are looking to scale this program in Staten Island and Far Rockaway.

This mural installation is part of our Green Space Connections Program that improves NYCHA open spaces for 14,000 in the Bronx and Brooklyn. Lots more murals will be coming to NYCHA in the year to come.

All of these programs are funded with private funding. Please get in touch with me directly if you want to support programs like this and others. We need more corporate sponsors! NYCHA houses 15% of NYC residents across all boroughs. That is bigger than the city of Atlanta!