Posts in category: News and Events

“Life Lines” Community Arts Project is a free, nationally-recognized year- round arts and leadership program for youth, ages 10-21, that brings together the arts, education and social work to engage young people in group experiences that promote individual growth, encourage mutual aid, develop leadership and build community.

Each year, Life Lines presents an improvisational play that brings to life the struggles and vitality of young people and families in our diverse neighborhood. Although there is a skeletal outline of scenes, there is no written script for the final show. Instead, the characters play out their situations in improvised dialogue that changes from performance to performance.

We are delighted to announce that we will be holding The Extra Mile event in-person and online on Wednesday June 7th, from 6-8pm at L’Wren in Sunset Park, Brooklyn!

Please join us here in Sunset Park and meet some of our amazing school-based staff leaders as we celebrate the strength of youth!

A hallmark of CFL’s program model is our ladder of leadership that provides meaningful roles and opportunities for young people and fosters long-term relationships that enrich our program environments. Participants build leadership skills in elementary school group experiences, move up into middle school service learning activities and then, in high school, become Counselors-in-Training (CITs) who serve as role models for younger children. CITs become our hiring pool of youth workers and group leaders who staff our elementary and middle school programs during their college years. Our ladder of leadership continues to recognize leadership potential and to promote capacity as group leaders move up to AmeriCorps members and Instructors. As staff progress through higher education and demonstrate increasing levels of competence, they advance to BA level Activity Specialists and then to Program Coordinators and MSW Program Directors!

Seventy Eight percent of our current school-based staff, including 10 of our Program Directors and Coordinators began as our participants, demonstrating the success of our ladder of leadership and ensuring that our programs are both responsive to and representative of the diverse community of Sunset Park.

At Center for Family Life in Sunset Park we emphasize the important role that the arts play in promoting skill development, creative expression, community-building and educational progress. We are proud to partner with MS 136/Charles O. Dewey and MS 821/Sunset Park Prep giving 6th grade students the opportunity to participate in the “Life Lines” Interdisciplinary Arts Projects which integrate the arts with social studies, science, math and/or ELA, fostering active participation and enthusiasm for learning.

During this program, which is funded in part by the New York State Council for the Arts (NYSCA), each 6th grade class participates in a 10-12 week-long project. Classes receive two Interdisciplinary Arts sessions per week facilitated by CFL teaching artists in partnership with MS teachers. Each class combines two academic subjects with two art forms (dance, theater, music and/or visual arts), resulting in unique projects that immerse students in an in-depth artistic process.

As we emerge from pandemic restrictions and losses, our community continues to face a number of significant systemic challenges that impact the wellbeing and stability of residents. Mounting challenges impacting our community are tied to the reversion of critical relief policies passed by the federal government at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. These include the reduction in supplemental food stamp benefits (SNAP) and nearly double-digit inflation on basic foodstuffs including eggs, milk and other previously affordable staples that have contributed to increased food insecurity in Sunset Park. In addition, Congress’s failure to recertify the pandemic-era Child Tax Credit means the loss of financial relief for many Sunset Park families. The lifting of the COVID eviction moratorium and the depletion of the emergency rent assistance program (ERAP) at the New York State level also means increased hardship related to rental debt and housing instability.

To support our community through times of economic stress and uncertainty, we offer individual and family counseling. We see the real and positive impact that our counseling programs have on the mental health of participants. To address the truly vast scope of systemic challenges and their toxic impact on the community as a whole, we also facilitate Wellness Groups that address stability and wellbeing at a population level. We offer our Spanish and Chinese language Wellness Groups through generous funding from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation.

Center for Family Life in Sunset Park continues to assist eligible clients to file their taxes, alleviating the stress that so many of our clients experience when preparing tax filings and ensuring that millions of tax dollars are distributed back to our community! The returns and credits individuals receive after filing their taxes have a huge impact on the household resources available to the many low-income families who visit our tax site. We are proud that last year our team helped 2,688 people file their taxes, yielding close to $4.4 million in refunds. We hope to assist more clients this tax season and bring about a larger return to help stimulate our community economy!

Our free drop-off tax filing services are available to clients five days a week through April 18th. Those that qualify for our services include single filers with incomes of $56,000 or less in 2022 as well as families with incomes of $80,000 or less in 2022. Our services are made easy. Clients simply gather their documents, drop them off during their prescheduled appointment and pick up the completed return later! If they have questions at any point in the process, our staff is here to help!