Education United States Project #45593

Coronavirus Relief for NYC's Children and Families

by Children's Aid

Coronavirus Relief for NYC's Children and Families

Project Report | Dec 14, 2021
A Social Worker Reflects on This Year's Impact

By Danny Stern | Annual Giving Officer

Yvonne Amarh

As foster care social worker and therapist Yvonne Amarh (pictured above) prepared for the holiday season, she reflected on the past year and wanted to share her meaningful memories she has with the ones who help make her work possible — each and every one of you.

This past year, there was a sharp rise in mental health care needs as youth grappled with changes, isolation, loss, and other pandemic hardship. That made your support of Yvonne’s work more critical than ever before.

When Yvonne received a call that a 16-year-old client was arrested and admitted to the ER to detox from drug use, she immediately rushed to be by his side. When he was released from the ER, the relative he was living with wouldn’t allow him to return to her home. The young man had nowhere to go, so Yvonne spent the whole day with him, taking him to lunch and then the park until we found him a new home.

“We had a really nice talk, we discussed his goals in life and I learned so much about him that day,” Yvonne said. She didn’t leave his side during the whole ordeal. Once we did find a new home for him, she moved all of his belongings from his former foster home to his new one. “I was willing to stay with him for as long as it took,” she said. Now he is in a stable and secure foster home placement.

For many other foster youth, the opportunity to take a simple outing or field trip — something many of us take for granted — is a special treat. There is one youth Yvonne works with who is an animal lover, so Yvonne arranged a special trip to visit a pet store with her. They spent the day petting the cats, and the youth found the experience to be extremely therapeutic. “By the end of our trip she could not stop saying how much her day was made and how much she enjoys our outings,” Yvonne said. “I appreciated hearing that I was able to do that for her.”

When other youth are mapping out their careers, Yvonne is able to access a host of college and career resources to help them achieve their goals. This year, Yvonne worked with 17-year-old Ashanti, who has continued to stay on track to earn her high school diploma and is preparing for cosmetology school. She has big dreams to open up her own salon, and with access to the right opportunities, nothing will get in the way of her success.

In the year ahead, thanks to the continued generosity of so many friends like you, Yvonne can continue to support our youth in foster care. Thanks for being a friend of New York City’s children.

Links:

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Aug 3, 2021
COVID-19 Can't Thwart a Future Educator's Ambition

By Danny Stern | Annual Giving Officer

Maame

Of the many impacts COVID-19 has had on youth, academic and mental health challenges have been particularly pronounced. For young adults considering secondary education while grappling with these hardships, the data revealed this past spring was rather stark: college enrollment sank by 25%.

Maame is a 17-year-old Bronx native who has always been a stellar student, maintaining a 4.0 GPA while juggling commitments to a variety of extracurricular activities throughout high school. When finishing up her junior year of high school, she had her eyes set on college, but wasn’t completely sure what she wanted to study and how she would even afford it. Then, the pandemic ransacked New York City, limiting her ability to explore jobs and internships or make money to pay for college. As the months of quarantine went on, the social isolation caused Maame to become depressed.

In June 2020, Maame wanted to get involved in a program that would help her choose her path in life, and provide a healthy social outlet. With all of the COVID-19 restrictions, options were limited, but she turned to her mentors at our Hope Leadership Academy in Harlem who offered her a great solution. They introduced her to our “Just Ask Me” (JAM) Peer Education paid internship program, which at the time was operating remotely. Maame applied and was accepted to work as a health educator for teens on topics such as birth control, HIV/STI prevention, and gender identity. Through this program, Maame found her calling.

“Being able to answer my peers’ questions with confidence further motivates me to become an educator. The JAM Peer Health Education Program has continuously reminded me of my future goals and pushes me to become a teacher,” Maame said.

The program also helped Maame combat the feelings of isolation, and stay focused on her goals and maintain her wellness. She said it “…was a helpful outlet because it gave me something to look forward to during my days…even if it was on Zoom." Maame also shared that she took advantage of Hope’s mindfulness and meditation classes.

During her senior year of high school, Maame’s hard work paid off after she was accepted to her dream school — New York University. She received a scholarship from the school, but the remaining balance was still a financial squeeze. She knew she absolutely wanted to go there, but was overwhelmed by the prospect of accumulating so much debt.

Then, she heard about the Children’s Aid scholarship program.

“By receiving the Children’s Aid scholarship, I would be able to pursue my dream career,” Maame said in her application. Children’s Aid recognized her potential and knew her goal should not be a dream deferred, nor a dream denied. She won an $8,000 scholarship, which gave her the financial backing needed to pursue her higher education goals at her dream school.

Thank you for supporting students just like Maame. By staying engaged and focused on her goals through the help of her mentors and programs at Children’s Aid, students like Maame are able to continue their education and start their careers — despite these challenging times.

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Mar 25, 2021
One Year After the Peak

By Danny Stern | Annual Giving Officer

Children's Aid's children, youth, and families

One year ago, New York City was emerging as the global epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since that time, you and 1,764 other generous people from New York City, across the United States, and from five different countries around the world helped raise about $160,000 for our city’s young people. It’s been truly remarkable how the global community unites to care for one another during a time of crisis.

Over the past year, we’ve been dismayed by the loss and hardship, but also inspired by strangers helping strangers, children and families overcoming adversity, and the rapid development of vaccines. We have now passed the worst of the pandemic and hope to soon return to a sense of normalcy, but issues still remain. Like so many others impacted by this pandemic, our children, youth, and families continue to grapple with academic losses, hunger, poverty, unemployment, and emotional wellness. But we remain assured by the inspirational words of our young people and their families. We’d like to share a few of those with you:

“Starting my first college experience online in an asynchronous course, I took advantage of tutoring that Children’s Aid provided and that changed my life. I started to see my grades increase, and now I have a 3.8 GPA.”
-Kadiatou, Medgar Evers College student (pictured left)
“It feels like a family. Like I have support. These are people who care about me and my children, and want to see me succeed as much as I want to see myself succeed.”
-Karen, whose children received mental health support this past year (pictured center)
“Playing at school with my friends is so much fun! I love my teachers and singing songs in class.”
-Antonio (pictured right)

Links:

2020 Annual Report: Essential

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