Neighborhood Success Stories by Lamberg Carol;Brewer Gale A.;Diaz Ruben Jr.;Diaz Ruben;

Author:Lamberg, Carol;Brewer, Gale A.;Diaz, Ruben, Jr.;Diaz, Ruben;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fordham University Press
Published: 2018-04-03T02:49:35+00:00

12

New Settlement Today

I started this chapter right after returning from a visit to the Bronx. I was showing New Settlement Apartments to a global philanthropist, and he was impressed. It was a beautiful summer day. The buildings shone. As we walked around the campus, the tenants and their neighbors greeted Jack with enthusiasm. We also ran into a dozen or so employees, all visibly proud to be working at New Settlement.

We told the philanthropist that our goal is to help our residents and their neighbors become more upwardly mobile. With so much recent discussion about income inequality in the United States and its sometimes catastrophic impact on families, we believe that community development is one important line of defense.

Living in a clean and safe apartment gives young residents a fighting chance to stay in school and acquire the skills needed to earn a living. The programs at the community center give participants an awareness of their potential. The College Access Center has helped thousands of young people achieve important goals. The mixed-income nature of the buildings provides stability and role models.

Despite these benefits, New Settlement is not without problems. As I waited for the philanthropist on Townsend Avenue in front of one of the buildings, I overheard two women saying how they would never park their cars on the street. After apologizing for eavesdropping, I asked if there were many car thefts. No, that wasn’t the problem. It was that teenagers liked to smash or steal rear-view and side-view mirrors.

More seriously, there had recently been two shootings up the street. Although neither was fatal, the situation is a source of urgent concern. Jack is also worried about renewed gang activity.

On the whole, New Settlement Apartments is thriving. In recent years Jack won a number of new grants to expand existing programs and to start new initiatives. Sometimes when he talks, I get dizzy trying to keep track of the new activities and accomplishments. One large new initiative is an after-school program for 150 middle school students. And in 2017 the state awarded New Settlement with a Twentieth Century Learning Grant. Supposedly this is a five-year commitment, but it depends on federal appropriations. The grant allows several new after-school programs, including one for high school students at the community center.

As a New Yorker, I feel comfortable saying that the $150 million that provided affordable housing for 893 families in 1990 was a great public investment for the city. Despite problems, the neighborhood keeps improving, and New Settlement remains in good repair and affordable for a mixed-income population. Nearly three-quarters of the apartments are still assigned to very low-income or formerly homeless residents at initial occupancy.

The buildings, which were rehabilitated twenty-seven years ago, needed capital repairs. The staff today consists of about two hundred individuals, including staff for the community center and part-timers. How do Jack, my successor Alexa Sewell, and the Settlement Housing Fund board sustain and expand the work that has been done so far? Not surprisingly, they have put an ambitious plan into effect.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.