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Save the Date: The Extra Mile 2024

We are delighted to announce that we will be holding our annual staff recognition Extra Mile event in-person on Wednesday June 5th, from 6-8pm at L’Wren in Sunset Park, Brooklyn!

 

Please join us here in Sunset Park and meet some of our amazing ESOL staff and students as we celebrate the strength of our life long learners!

 

Since the fall of 2022, very high numbers of newly arrived individuals and families have come to our immigrant community in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The majority share stories of difficult passages here to the US and most continue to experience challenges as they establish their new lives in Sunset Park. New arrivals come to Center for Family Life looking for a variety of supports to build new lives for themselves and their families, and most have a pressing need to learn English so that they can find work and make the most of their new lives in NYC. Our ESOL staff team has gone above and beyond to support new arrivals and to encourage them as they move forward in their journey to learn English.

 

Come celebrate our incredible ESOL staff and hear directly from staff and students in our program about what the program means to them!

 

You can purchase tickets for the event by clicking here!

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Celebrating Community 2023

On October 5th, we celebrated our annual Celebrating Community event at the Stone Park Cafe, where we honored Leroy Street Studio as well as Charlie Allen and the firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP.

In addition, we were thrilled to recognize the 40th anniversary of “Life Lines” Community Arts Project!

In celebration of the nationally-recognized program Life Lines, we created a documentary showing how the program has grown since 1982 and exploring its impact on Sunset Park youth and the overall community over four decades. We would like to thank all Life Lines staff members and participants, both past and present, for being a part of this program and everyone who contributed to this documentary for making it so incredibly special!

To watch the full documentary, click here!

Our 2023 Honorees

Our Community Hero
Leroy Street Studio

In 2018 we partnered with the designers of the interim Sunset Park Library, Leroy Street Studio, who collaborated with participants in our Life Lines Visual Arts Troupe to create a welcoming and vibrant space with the use of art. In 2021, the library was recognized as one of the winners of the Library Building Design Award, one of only five libraries selected in the United States.

We are so glad that Leroy Street Studio has remained a dedicated partner to Center for Family Life in Sunset Park and are honored to have worked on such an important community project together.

Our Corporate Hero
Charlie Allen & Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP

After becoming an independent organization, Center for Family Life in Sunset Park sought the expertise of Charlie Allen and his team at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP on our governance project. This project was a complex and time-consuming undertaking and we would like to thank Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP and Charlie Allen for providing exceptional pro bono service to our organization.

Special Acknowledgements

Thank you to our Board of Directors, esteemed guests State Senator Andrew Gounardes, Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes, Congressional Field Representative Mayra Molina from the office of Congressman Dan Goldman, Deputy Borough President Kim Council, Deputy Commissioner Susan Haskell form the Department of Youth and Community Development, Deputy Commissioner Jackie Martin from the Administration for Children’s Services, along with CFL staff members and all of those who attended and supported our event.

We are so grateful to have such wonderful partners to help us serve the Sunset Park community!

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Save the Date for Celebrating Community 2023

We are thrilled to announce that we will be holding our Celebrating Community 2023 event in-person on October 5th from 6-8pm at the Stone Park Cafe in Park Slope, Brooklyn!

Please join us in honoring Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP for their dedication to pro bono service in our community and Leroy Street Studio for their work on our neighborhood library project and continued partnership.

We are also excited that at this year’s event, we will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of “Life Lines” Community Arts Project!

You can purchase tickets for the event by clicking the ticket link above.

Our school-based staff speakers! From left to right: Taide Acevedo, Stephanie Ruiz, Shanice Peters, Johnny Tapia, and Andy Li

The Extra Mile 2023

On June 7th, we celebrated our incredible school-based staff and leaders-in-training at our annual Extra Mile event! We are so glad that our guests were able to hear the unique experiences of these outstanding young adults and to appreciate their journey along our “ladder of leadership.” 

 

Our Co-Executive Directors Julia Jean-Francois and Julie Stein Brockway with our school-based staff presenters and Councilmember Alexa Aviles, who personally congratulated our staff on behalf of City Council!

Read below to learn about our school-based staff members’ journeys up the ladder!

Taide Acevedo: Taide was born and raised in Sunset Park, starting her journey with CFL as a 5-year-old participant in the afterschool program at

PS 503/506. As a teen, Taide started volunteering her time at PS 503/506 and joined the Counselor-in-Training Program. Later, she graduated from Sunset Park High School, the first public high school in the neighborhood, and climbed just about every rung of leadership in the school-based programs. Taide is now the Program Director at PS 971 and has a MSW from Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College.

Andy Li: Andy is a junior at Telecommunications High School. He is a graduate of Sunset Park Prep (M.S. 821), where he participated in the “Life Lines” program for all three years. Andy has been a Leader-in-Training (LIT) since 10th grade and still participates in the Life Lines high school program.

Shanice Peters: Shanice was part of the first graduating class from Sunset Park High School where she spent all four years involved in the Life Lines program by participating in their performing arts troupes. Throughout her time at CFL, she has been a participant, group leader, high school advisor, LIT supervisor, an assistant and director of the Life Lines Summer Arts Camp, and a Program Coordinator for Life Lines. Shanice is now the Program Director at MS 136 and holds a MSW from Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service.

Stephanie Ruiz: Over the years, Stephanie has climbed up the ladder of leadership in the school-based programs including office aid, assistant group leader, group leader, CIT coordinator, high school advisor, and activity specialist. Stephanie is now the PS 169 Co-Director, has her BSW, and is attending Hunter College to obtain her MSW!

Johnny Tapia: Johnny started CFL in 2015 as a Life Lines group leader. He has also been a high school advisor, LIT supervisor, parent liaison, activity specialist, CIT supervisor, and an AmeriCorps supervisor. This summer, Johnny has been promoted to Program Coordinator and will co-lead the PS 94 program.

 

Bonnie Greaves, Vice-Chair
Our Board Vice-Chair, Bonnie Greaves
Tim Sheehan, Chair
Our Board Chair, Tim Sheehan

Thank you to our Board of Directors, esteemed guests NY City Councilwoman Alexa Aviles and Congressional Field Representative Mayra Molina from the office of Congressman Dan Goldman, along with CFL staff members and all of those who attended and supported our special event. We are so proud of our young leaders and are excited to see them continue to grow!

 

Staff from PS 516 being highlighted before breaking out into our discussion groups!

November: Center for Family Life in Sunset Park’s Annual All Staff Retreat

On November 11th, Center for Family Life in Sunset Park held our Annual All Staff Retreat at Sunset Park High School. The retreat, attended by more than 250 CFLSP staff, included participants from each of our 10 neighborhood schools as well as our family serving programs in the food pantry, immigration law and tax programs, benefits access and adult employment programs, counseling and case management programs and our cooperative business development program. We were grateful to be joined by our Board Chair, Tim Sheehan and Board Vice Chair, Bonnie Greaves.

The annual retreat is a unique opportunity to refresh our staff’s commitment to our mission and their awareness and understanding of all of the many programs that we offer in our integrated services model. Most importantly, each staff member is given support to understand and share the way in which the work they do each day, whether at an afterschool program, a food pantry worker or as a legal navigator to name only a few staff roles, contributes to our ability to achieve our mission as an organization.

Tree as metaphor for retreat
Each discussion group helped to decorate a tree during the retreat by writing what they hoped to achieve at CFLSP in the coming year on leaves and acorns!

A tree was used as the metaphor for this year’s retreat, and the foundations of our work, which draw from the mission of the historic settlement houses, from our founders Sister Mary Paul Janchill and Sister Geraldine Tobia at the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, and social group work theory, were understood to be our “roots”. 

The retreat began with a super-sized welcome circle in which the entire staff gathered and were celebrated in games and activities for the work that they do for the community. After recognizing each program site in the welcome circle, staff joined 14 different discussion groups each made up of a diverse group of staff from across our many programs and led by program leaders from across the agency. 

This year's discussion group leaders!
This year's discussion group leaders!

The thematic focus of discussion groups in this year’s retreat was social group work. The discussion groups explored the ways in which this methodology is rooted in our practice at Center for Family Life in Sunset Park. Social group work is a methodology that facilitates social action and change as individuals practice both leadership and “followership,” each contributing to each other’s learning and growth. Within group work there are stages of development which consist of beginnings, middles, and ends. During these stages, different objectives are achieved within the group and the outcome can be both individual and community growth as well as advocacy and activism.

Tashira Velez Hernandez receiving her award for 5 years with CFLSP, presented by Co-Executive Directors Julia Jean-Francois and Julie Stein Brockway!
Tashira Velez Hernandez receiving her award for 5 years with CFLSP, presented by Co-Executive Directors Julia Jean-Francois and Julie Stein Brockway!

The conclusion of the all-staff retreat including a staff recognition ceremony and shared meal. During the recognition ceremony, any staff member with an educational milestone, including those currently in school and those who had recently graduated, were enthusiastically cheered and congratulated by all for their achievements. Staff were recognized for longevity milestones as well, including the truly remarkable 40th anniversary of service by our own Co-Executive Director Julie Brockway! Staff were deeply touched by the kind words said in the recognition ceremony and all were acknowledged for their dedication to service and community advocacy.