Jennifer Jean Louis

For this assignment, I tagged along with my mother to a community event that she usually attends on Wednesdays and at the end, I was lucky to speak to the trainer who trained the class. The trainer (Deborah) I spoke to was a retired strong and beautiful looking lady almost 60 years of age who used to work in a federal well paid field. She allowed me to audio tape her as I asked her various questions to get more information about the program. She became included in this program because she wanted something to do; being retired, she had a lot of time on her hand, so she took training to be a trainer/teacher in the program. She said to be one of the teachers that teach at the various classes in the program the requirements are “certifications” for whatever course that the person is interested in teaching. The course she chose to learn was training to become a fitness instructor, and after she got the certification for that, she got her position.  Healthy start Brooklyn is the name of the organization and it was founded in 2003 through Doula services which helped over 2000 families. The program focuses on mostly women who lives in very under-served community neighborhoods but it’s for parents in general men included. The trainer (Deborah) is directed to train at the places such as Fulton, East New York, Brownsville but the program goes even bigger than just those places it’s for Brooklyn. When this program was put in place it was purely to benefit those people that has no aids in learning how to treat their bodies, how to take care of their kids and just how to live a healthy, safe and informed life. The program is free so once you go on their website (https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/health/neighborhood-health/healthy-start-brooklyn.page), a person can see the different classes that they have and look at the times and dates and just attend whichever they want or need information on. For whatever class that is chosen only one class per week will occur; for example, the classes the lady mentioned are Dancing through pregnancy, Snap back women, Daddy iron chef, Pregnancy, CPR, Car seat, Yoga/Gym and these classes only happen one day in the week for 8 weeks. Upon attending a person will be required to sign in on a sheet and will receive a MetroCard with two fares when leaving. When people attend the teachers or trainers get paid by the amount of people that attends. Something she (Deborah) mentioned can be better in the program is she would like the classes to happen at least 3 times a week because she sees how much the people enjoy themselves talking to other mothers and building friendships etc… I noticed that not a lot of people attend the classes only around 10 and if more people took the classes serious it would probably have a bigger and better impact on the community.

While coming across different nonprofits organizations, Achievement First caught my eye. This organization helps the community by placing schools in low income communities to provide families with better options so that their kids can have access to a higher education. I interview Karissa Parris, she’s been working for the organization for a couple of months now. Her position is a Outreach Coordinator in Team Recruit. She is responsible for hiring teachers for our 36 schools. The target goal of the organization is to close the opportunity gap, so all students have access to great education despite their background and socio-economic status. Referring to one of the questions I had asked her, concerning the issues the organization is trying to solve or is there anything she wished more people knew about the organization. She stated that the opportunity gap doesn’t exist, because families of color aren’t attentive to their children or invested in their education. That the opportunity gap exists because, of inequity and various systems that keep the poor poor and the rich rich. She wishes that people knew that Achievement First is actually trying to undo some of those systems.

 

Questions Asked:

1. What is the name of your organization?

2. What is your position in this organization?

3. What is the target goal of the organization?

4. How does your organization help the community?

5. Is there anything you wish more people knew about your organization or the issues you are trying to solve?

I interviewed GRYC (Greater Ridgewood Youth Council) I heard about it from a friend of mine that introduced a job opportunity to me. GRYC is a after school program that gives the students support on school work and fun activities for them to try out or engage in. Some of the activities that the kids love are sports, recreation, art, Stem, and cooking. These activities are some basic activities that run through every school that works under GRYC. One of the questions I asked one of the directors that run GRYC is What types of people seem to do well in this department/organization? Her reply was and I quote “Highly motivated people do very well in the the GRYC. It is a fast paced work environment. Individuals who have a passion to change the world also do well. The GRYC is a serviced based organization and there are opportunities and expectations that staff give back to the community.” When Giving back to the community they would provide trips for the kids and for the sports kids they would have sport tournaments or clinics where it may not be a school day but some holidays that are given to us we give to the kids and open the gym for them. Letting them play multiple types of gym activities from basketball, soccer, European handball and football.
The strengths of GRYC is and I quote “ Passion, giving back, treating each employee as an individual and the family feeling environment of the agency as a whole.” All together this program is a great experience to be around with and be a part of.

Questions and additional answers:

1-How would you describe the culture here?
The culture at the GRYC is inclusive and welcoming. Employees feel safe, welcome and known. The Board of the Directors and Senior staff work to create a positive culture that embraces diversity.

2-What types of people seem to do well in this department/organization?
Highly motivated people do very well in the the GRYC. It is a fast paced work environment. Individuals who have a passion to change the world also do well. The GRYC is a serviced based organization and there are opportunities and expectations that staff give back to the community.

3-What opportunities exist for advancement?
There are many opportunities for advancement. Many GRYC Directors began on the group leader level and worked their way up the ladder.

4-What are the opportunities you see for this department in the next year?
There are group leader and instructor opportunities always available as well as opportunities to make a difference in the community.

5-What are the greatest strengths of this organization?
Passion, giving back, treating each employee as an individual and the family feeling environment of the agency as a whole.

6-What would you change about this organization if you could?
I would love to have more funding opportunities.

steven Iglesias