My Personal and Professional Story for this Giving Tuesday

It is that time of year again, and some of you have already been inundated with appeals to donate for #GivingTuesday. While there are many worthy non-profits out there, including five organizations I highlighted in a LinkedIn article three years ago, I want to share a personal appeal for a 501(c)3 non-profit organization I established last year with a colleague of mine, which I can now add to the list of organizations that are either small but have a huge impact and/or organizations that provide a very unique service to families.

Fifteen years ago, I made the decision to leave teaching altogether. Although I enjoyed working with my students, I was more interested in focusing on policy reform in our education, health care, and social service systems and how these systems are all interconnected. This was especially relevant after earning my master's in public health (MPH) degree, where I learned about the importance of system change to improve health outcomes, which also applies to education. Thanks to a good friend of mine, I was encouraged to apply for a position as the Coordinator for the Lower East Side Community Partnership Program (CPP), a program funded by the NYC Administration for Children's Services (ACS) to promote community engagement within the L.E.S.

At that time, I had no understanding of the child welfare system other than what I may have read about or seen in the news, which does not give the public a true understanding, but I soon realized that my life would be changed, as I was exposed to the challenges of the child welfare system and the families whose voices were not being heard and were often marginalized. Years later, I developed a much deeper understanding of the impact of trauma and how it affects families across all demographics, but its consequences are often more dire for the most disenfranchised. Eventually, this became my life's work.

In 2018, ACS made the decision not to renew the CPP contract for the Lower East Side community, citing that the Lower East Side is no longer a "high-needs area". While it is true that more wealth has poured into the Lower East Side due to gentrification, we know that wealth and the resources that come with it are not distributed equitably and given to the families most in need.?

It was because of this that some of my colleagues who were actively involved in the original Lower East Side CPP and I decided to continue the work with or without funding from ACS. Four years later, which included a major pandemic of epic proportions, we established ourselves as a 501(c)3 non-profit, thanks to some fundraising, community outreach, and the assistance of a community-minded attorney who filed the paperwork because he believed in our work. We are still the CPP, but we are now the Lower East Side Community Partnership Project, Inc. We also made the decision to move our operation to E. 10th?Street, between Avenues C and D, as we identified that the greatest need was found along the Avenue D corridor, given the large concentration of public housing in that area. Many of the families we serve live in the area, so we made it much more convenient for them.

Although we just started out, we have already accomplished a great deal during a small time window. Within a few months, we started a monthly parent/caregiver group called Drop-in, Parents! (DIP!) session, where we open our doors to the community and connect families with additional resources. One of our areas of interest includes social-emotional awareness, where we introduce families to helpful tools and a nationally recognized curriculum developed by the Child Mind Institute . Last month, we invited a teacher to discuss how parents/caregivers can make the most out of their Parent-Teacher conferences.

Lower East Side CPP also works with a circle of kinship caregivers whose children are either in or formerly in the foster care system, and we are committed to providing support to fathers who want to be more involved in their children's lives. Because our non-profit is still a start-up, we rely heavily on additional funds to continue our work, which is why your tax-deductible contributions can provide the support we need, as we work towards applying for additional funding and look at other methods of generating revenue. If you are interested in making a tax-deductible contribution, our PayPal account can be found here.?

Pay Lower East Side Community Partnership Project, Inc. using PayPal.Me

Go to paypal.me/LESCPP and type in the amount.

You can also send a check or money order out to "Lower East Side CPP" and mail it to:

Lower East Side CPP

P.O. Box 20674

New York, NY 10009

For more information about the organization, you can send an email at either [email protected]?or lescpp.mail@gmailcom?or you contact me at, (646) 294-1725 or [email protected] to set up an appointment with me to learn more about our work. You can also visit and follow our social media pages: Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram.

So, if you are still considering which organization(s) to give this year, please consider ours. Any contribution you can provide would be greatly appreciated.?