Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation (CHLDC)

Youth and human services the Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation (chldc) served 2,430 children in high quality, comprehensive afterschool and summer camp programming in fy22. We engaged young people in evidence-based literacy building programming, arts and cultural activities, recreation and sports and community service. Our organization implemented several strategies and models to strengthen the social and emotional competencies of our program. At our beacon school-based community centers at jhs 218 and ps 214 we served 975 children and adults with education, recreation and leadership Development programs, including our counselors in training initiative which is the first rung our internal ladders of leadership which enhances the leadership skills of our youth and trains them for careers in youth Development at our organization. In fy22 our middle school student success center (msssc) educated 607 middle school students about the high school choice process and its importance to pursuing higher education and supported 211 eighth graders and their families through the city's complex high school choice process, enabling 88% of our students to secure admission to high schools with graduation rates above 75%.

Career & education programs, small business support and community organizing - chldc served 1,022 residents through our career & education programs in fy22 which includes the summer youth employment program and sector specific job training programs, including transportation, health care and construction skills. We also continued to provide classes to prepare young adults for the high school equivalency exam. Chldc organized Local merchants in a merchants association called Cypress Hills business partners to plan for a business improvement district in the neighborhood and helped with graffiti and trash removal and community clean up on the commercial corridor.chldc mobilized Local residents and merchants through the coalition for community advancement to demand housing and economic justice for the community. Last year, 593 residents participated in meetings and actions to stop the displacement of black and latinx, low and moderate-income people from eny. The coalition includes other community-based organizations, clergy members, homeowners, renters and merchants. They are also advocating for transit equity and investments in the broadway junction hub, which includes a bus depot, the subway stop and a long island railroad stop. Our community organizing team at chldc also supports youth activists in a grassroots group "future of tomorrow" that is seeking reforms in the state's and city's suspension and policing policies in public schools. Chldc is incubating the east new york community land trust, which is advocating for community control of public land in the neighborhood.

Housing and community Development - we finished construction on chestnut commons, which provides deeply and permanently affordable housing to 274 families, neighborhood retail and a new community center run by chldc. Young adults, graduating from our building east new york job training initiative found employment throughout the construction of chestnut commons. Through the generosity of many donors, chldc raised over $4 million for the build-out, furniture, fixture and equipment, it and av, and signage and wayfinding for the community center. During the year, we also made progress on several other affordable housing Development and preservation projects, which are in the pre-development phase. We hosted our Cypress Hills farmers market with grownyc and helped 1,558 community members gain access to healthy food. In fy22, our housing counselors assisted 161 renters and homeowners in accessing emergency housing relief programs, securing repairs and preventing displacement. Chldc offered in-person eviction prevention, tenant counseling, foreclosure prevention, financial literacy and homeownership stabilization support throughout the year.

College success programs - chldc runs a suite of programs that support young people in east new york in aspiring to college, applying to college and financial aid, matriculating into college and persisting until graduation. In fy22, we provided college access and persistence services to 2,788 high school and college students across two school-based student success centers (ssc) and our community-based college steps office. We provide early awareness groups, college knowledge workshops, in-person college trips, one on one intensive admissions counseling, essay writing help, financial aid help and support around selecting the "best fit" college. Through our college persistence program, we worked with 1,128 college students to transition into higher education, select courses and majors, secure academic and other support services on their college campuses, navigate oftentimes-bureaucratic systems and transfer from community colleges to four-year institutions as appropriate.

Emergency response - chldc has been on the ground throughout the global pandemic for residents experiencing food and housing insecurity and helping Local merchants stay and thrive. We distributed bags of groceries, supermarket gift cards and ppe to 13,145 residents this year directly and in partnership with grassroots food pantries. Chldc also collaborated with united neighborhood houses and a private family foundation to issue emergency grants to residents to pay for funeral expenses, avoid eviction and foreclosure and keep utilities on. We assisted 1,425 low-income residents to secure and retain snap benefits and assisted 105 small businesses to obtain loans and grants to sustain their operations and/or resolve problems. We maintained our emergency response hotline and weekly newsletter to keep the community informed of benefits and ever-changing public health advisories. Chldc worked tirelessly to create greater access to covid-19 vaccines, hosted community conversations on vaccinations and organized "pop up" vaccination and testing events.