We Are Never Alone When We March For Justice and Unity

With the rise in hate crimes all over the world and in the United States groups have been gathering to march to show their strength and perseverance. The hate crimes against the Jewish community in the past two years have increased and become more violent. Over the holiday of Channukah, multiple incidents of hate against the Jewish community occurred. This drastic string of events caused the Jewish community to stand up and organize a march.

How The Y Helps the Community

Two very different community members, one organization that helps all.

One family who suffered a major loss and with the Y's help was able to grieve, recover and move forward.

One senior who survived the Holocaust, Stalin's Police State and with the Y's help was able to find a home in Washington Heights' Wien House. 

Please read both stories below as they demonstrate how the Y is there for its community as it always has been for the past 102 years, 365 days a year to provide help and care, joy and celebration, grief and support, inspiration and pride – all with kindness.

Paying Tribute to the Tree of Life Synagogue one year later

Last month marked the one-year anniversary for the shooting at the Tree of Life Syagogue in Pittsbugh, the worst anti-Semitic attack in the history of the United States. Twenty-one representatives from 16 different Jewish Community Centers (JCC) paid their tribute to mark this solemn event while providing support to supporters but still recognizing a sense of community and hope that has been built from this tragic event. A detailed description of this event can be found here in an e-mail message from Doron Krakow, president and CEO of JCC Association of North America. 

Last year Martin Yafe, our Chief Program Officer, drove to Pittsburgh during the aftermath of this senseless and hateful shooting to pay our respects, while our CEO, Martin Englisher, provided his statement here. 

On October 27^th of this year Victoria participated in a deployment to Pittsburgh with 19 of her fellow Jewish Community Center (JCC) professionals from throughout the continent as part of JResponse, a program of the JCC Association of North America which brings the greatest asset of the JCC Movement, its people, to provide relief and recovery efforts after a crisis, disaster, or other time of serious need.

Victoria was among a team who staffed the JCC during the one year commemoration of the Tree of Life shooting, helping to answer phones, interact with community members, staff a blood drive, and do whatever else was needed so the local staff could be free to grieve and reflect with their community. Victoria’s poem reflects the deep impact the JResponse deployment had not only on the Jewish community of Pittsburgh, but on the JResponders themselves.

Lost (and Found) in Inwood

Author Talk Connects the Past to the Present

On a rainy October night, members of the Center for Adults Living Well (CALW) @ the Y were captivated by old photographs projected onto the Y’s big movie screen. For more than an hour, they travelled back in time to when Nagle Avenue was the Nagle family farm.

L' Shanah Tova 5780

Preparing Young Teens to be Career-Ready.

The Y completed another successful year of the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) supporting 771  teens and young adults by placing them in job sites where they were not only able to earn some extra money during the summer but develop skills that will prepare them for their future careers. This year the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), the City’s agency that funds SYEP, decided to take a new direction with Younger Youth in the program, where 14 and 15 year-old teens received a more hands-on, educational experience before they get placed at a job site. This fits well with the Y’s own philosophy of how we run our own SYEP, as we understand the unlimited potential a meaningful SYEP experience can provide for the youth we serve when they are given opportunities to learn and grow.

In Memory of Lou Yehuda Strauss (1921-2019)

Recently, the Y community was saddened to find out about the passing of long time Y member and Holocaust survivor, Lou Yehuda Strauss. Lou Strauss shared many wonderful memories here at the Y. His family members mentioned during his funeral how much he looked forward to having lunch with his friends every day at our senior center, Center for Adults Living Well (C.A.L.W), and participating in different activities at the C.A.L.W until his health no longer allowed him to.

Rocks, Water, Rainbows, Plants, and Insects

S.T.E.M Education at Footpaths Nursery Camp

(But Still Playing and Having Fun)

S.T.E.M (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) or S.T.E.A.M (S.T.E.M plus Art) has become a “hot” topic in the world of education but its applicability and relevance to the early childhood world is less well known. With a better understanding of how the brain develops, we now know that three year-olds are quite capable of understanding complex concepts and possess the critical thinking skills that are at the heart of the scientific process. At Footpaths Nursery Camp, STEM is not only recognized and acknowledged but embraced! Over the course of this summer, our campers have been investigating an array of interesting topics including the water and rock cycles, seed and plant growth and the world of insects.

Growing Children's Hearts and Minds in Be Me

As a child of the 70’s and 80’s, I was blessed with Mister Rodgers as the key television personality in my formative years of television watching. I still do remember the opening and closing songs. “It’s such a good feeling to know you’re alive...” and while I can’t say that any one episode or sketch stood out for me, years later I can attest that the show laid out a blueprint for a healthy emotional intelligence that still might be unmatched in children’s television programming. Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood probed the depth of children’s feelings and did not shy away from difficult topics such as love, divorce, and death. I sometimes wish Mister Rogers was required viewing for anyone audacious enough to raise children.

The Y Organizes Drive to Aid Homeless Mothers

The Y invited the community to help fellow New Yorkers by contributing to a collection benefitting Siena House. The week-long drive culminated at the Y’s Purim Carnival on Sunday, March 24 and today we delivered the boxes to the Bronx shelter.