Audrey James,
Special Education Teacher
Loreen Gaines
Elton Best,                  Program Participant
"The subsidized jobs program gave me the foundation and support I needed to become independent."
"My life has changed for the better since joining this center. I will continue to support and attend as long as God grants me life and health. God bless this center that has given me so much to live for."
"The EASE program has brought so much to my classroom and to me as a teacher. I now have many more ways to reach, and therefore teach, my students."
“If I didn't have this assistance, I don’t know what would have happened.”
Marie Bigaud,                                                          Program Participant
"I don't know where I would be if it weren't for the stimulus plan. I had my back against the wall. I lost my job.  I lost my apartment. I lost all hope. I was going through some hard times. I didn’t know where to go for help. Until VNSNY came into my life. They gave me hope again. Now thanks to the stimulus plan, I am currently working."
"I now have a sense of stability...I am hopeful that this opportunity will lead to better opportunities, such as picking up a trade and joining a union. For this, I am grateful."
Loreen Gaines,
Program Participant
"If I didn't have this assistance I don't know what would have happened...They helped me to understand what it means to get up and move on."
Ty-rik Harris,                                                                                                Linden Houses Resident
Zoila Velez,
Program Participant
Under the leadership of the City University of New York, ARRA funds help support several solar energy initiatives with direct impact on East New York, such as the development of the NYC Solar Map and the establishment of three NYC Solar Empowerment Zones. These efforts provide New Yorkers with the tools to deploy clean energy technology that can lower electric costs for businesses and residents.
With Investing in Innovation funds, the NYC Dept. of Education implemented Everyday Arts for Special Education (EASE), which is a professional development program designed to increase the number of effective teachers in special education settings. Citywide, over 600 teachers will be trained in EASE methodology. P53K@384, one of the 20 partner school sites, is located in the East New York neighborhood.
This ARRA award helped improve the general quality of life for residents in East New York.  The funds supported graffiti removal in five local parks and helped to address code violations in 30 NYC public schools.
The NYC Dept. of Housing Preservation and Development utilized ARRA funds to develop affordable housing in East New York. The 17 residential buildings at Livonia Terrace benefited from much-needed rehabilitation, including repairs to masonry, fire escapes, concrete, plumbing, and electrical work.  Residents returned to apartments with new bathrooms, functioning kitchen appliances, and some new doors. Combined, the 17 buildings now contain 173 one-to-five bedroom apartments.
ARRA funds have allowed the NYC Dept. of Homeless Services to work with entire families by addressing safety net, crisis-oriented issues such as access to food stamps, public assistance, and emergency housing. It has also allowed them to tackle longer-term issues that contribute to family stability, such as permanent housing, employment, and education. Since July 2009, nearly 1,000 households in East New York at risk of homelessness have received services and case management assistance. Over 90% of these households have not entered a homeless shelter a year after receiving services.
Capital repairs – including new entrance and exit doors, two new 10,000 gallon rooftop water tanks, and masonry work – were completed at Linden Houses, thanks to the ARRA-funded Public Housing Capital Fund Recovery Grant. Upgrades were made to meet building code standards and to improve living conditions for the more than 3,600 residents of the housing development.
The NYC Dept. of Technology and Telecommunications and its partners are providing 18,000 sixth-grade students in 72 low-income schools citywide with home computers, discounted broadband service, digital literacy training, and an array of other resources to link the home and school learning environments. The broad aim of this ARRA-funded program is to support sustainable adoption of broadband within a key segment of the City’s low-income population.  The East New York Family Academy was one of the 72 schools chosen to participate.
Fully supported with ARRA Workforce Investment Act funds, the NYC Dept. of Small Business Services partnered with community-based organizations to serve adults who have recently been laid off or have barriers to employment such as low literacy or criminal records, helping these residents avoid prolonged detachment from the labor force. Program participants receive a variety of services that help connect them to employment, including one-on-one career counseling, resume and interview preparation, and occupational skills training.  With these ARRA-funded workforce services, 117 East New York underemployed or unemployed residents were placed in jobs, including nursing aides, bookkeepers, customer service representatives, computer support representatives, and retail sales managers.
Leveraging ARRA Workforce Investment Act funds, the NYC Dept. for Youth and Community Development supported the Summer Youth Employment Program, providing 540 teenagers and young adults in East New York with summer employment and educational opportunities. In addition, the agency supported the In-School Youth Program, providing after-school paid internships to almost 200 participants from the neighborhood on the condition that they remain in or return to high school and meet academic and job performance standards.
With ARRA funds, the NYC Dept. for the Aging helped provide seniors with congregate meals and home-delivered meals. These programs are essential in assisting seniors to stay in their homes and delaying or avoiding institutionalization. Because of ARRA funding, local community-based organizations were able to purchase raw food and disposable items like containers, plates, and utensils for 14,000 congregate meals at senior centers and 5,800 home-delivered meals for homebound elderly in East New York.
The NYC Dept. of Citywide Administrative Services is using ARRA funds to conduct energy audits of four public schools in East New York. Implementation of some of the measures identified in the audits will result in improved comfort and air quality for students, helping create better learning environments for children in one of the City’s highest poverty neighborhoods. These audits will also lead to projects that have the potential to reduce energy costs for each of these schools by almost $100,000 annually and greenhouse gas emissions by close to 1,500 metric tons annually.
With ARRA funds, East New Yorkers benefited from a range of programs administered by the NYC Dept. of Youth and Community Development, such as extended summer camp sessions for 560 children; an after-school program for 160 children; a responsible fatherhood program for 30 men involved in the criminal justice system; and a youth summer jobs program that offered work experience and an opportunity to gain income during summer months to 380 young adults.
The ARRA-funded Subsidized Jobs Program administered by the NYC Human Resources Administration is an important component of the mission to assist New Yorkers in achieving self-sufficiency. This program focuses on individuals facing multiple barriers to employment, helping these workers gain hard and soft skills to become productive, contributing members of the workforce.   In East New York alone, 183 individuals from the neighborhood participated in the program with 55 transitioning to unsubsidized employment.
ARRA funds allowed individuals and families with limited income to receive a 13.6% boost in their benefits to purchase food items at participating grocery stores and farmers’ markets. This is particularly important in areas with limited access to affordable  healthy foods, such as East New York.  In this neighborhood, an average of 71,738 monthly recipients received SNAP assistance.  The funding not only allowed families to buy additional nutritious food, but also brought additional revenue to East New York when the recipients shopped for their groceries in their local stores.
Brian Caldwell,                                     Program Participant
"It was very helpful, it got me my job...I learned communication skills, how to speak in public and my resume is now quite impressive."
"Affordable housing creates jobs, and when complete, provides safe, clean, and reasonably priced homes. These homes give people peace of mind, as well as an opportunity to plant roots, save for the future, and establish themselves in the East New York community."
"It was inspiring to walk through the NYC public schools and up to the rooftops. Not only was our ARRA-funded program helping to prepare these buildings for potential solar energy systems, it will help provide students access to technology that can open the door to new career paths."
"America’s food stamp program, currently called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, is one of our nation’s proudest achievements. It provides assistance to millions of struggling families by helping them put food on their tables during difficult times."
"They really are interested in the people they deliver food to and not just dropping off the meals. They want to take care of me."
Celestine Ferguson,            Program Participant
Mathew Wambua, HPD Commissioner
Noah Ginsburg,              NYC Solar Ombudsman
Robert Doar,        HRA Commissioner