Youth Development and Opportunity
Giving East Harlem youth the tools to thrive.
WHAT WE DO
Our Youth Services division provides robust afterschool and summer education, arts and recreation programs for children from kindergarten through high school. Through our programs, every year almost 900 eager and energetic children, teens and young adults actively seek and create opportunities to forge brighter futures.
Among our older youth, we face a growing crisis: many of New York City’s young people ages 16-24 are neither attending school nor participating in the labor force. Conditions are particularly dire in communities such as ours. We serve approximately 575 out-of-school youth, almost exclusively African-American and Latino, who are more than twice as likely to be “disconnected.”
Founded in 1964, our College Readiness program has provided more than 20,000 low-income students with guidance and encouragement to pursue higher learning. We provide college and financial aid counseling, as well as tutoring, SAT preparation, college trips, and summer enrichment programs.
Programs & Services
Elementary and Middle School Students
We serve children ages 5 to 12 in our lively Rising Stars after-school program at three East Harlem elementary schools and one community center. Our program features year-round activities, including tutoring, computer instruction, visual and performing arts projects, recreation, and a summer day camp. We also offer unique enhancements, such as our popular circus arts programming in conjunction with Marquis Studios and an enriching visual arts program. In the summers, we engaged the Rising Stars children in our highly successful literacy-building Theme Teams program—multi-week learning projects organized around a specific theme.
Contact
Gaylord White Community Center
237 E 104th St, New York, NY 10029
Desmond Reid, dreid@unionsettlement.org
P.S. 112 Jose Celso Barbosa
535 E 119th St, New York, NY 10035
Liza Hunte, lhunte@unionsettlement.org
P.S. 138
144-176 E 128th St, New York, NY 10035
Jasmine Philip, jphilip@unionsettlement.org
P.S. 38
232 E 103rd St, New York, NY 10029
Kinnisha Simpson, ksimpson@unionsettlement.org
646-316-1332
Our Bridges middle school program, operating out of four school-based sites, serves students with academic, personal, and cultural enrichment, as well as our year-round Middle School College Preparation Program, designed to help students in East Harlem’s middle schools gain admission to competitive high schools. In addition, we offer high-quality dance, yoga, Zumba, drumming, creative arts, cooking, improvisational theater, technology, and drama activities during after-school programming. We also offered Leadership Development and Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) curricula, encouraging our students to develop key leadership skills through public speaking, critical thinking, debate, and research in topics such as social injustice, environmental changes, community development, political awareness and advocacy efforts for summer funding.
Contact
Esperanza Preparatory Academy
240 E 109th St, New York, NY 10029
Oscar Manosalvas, omanosalvas@unionsettlement.
M.S. 007
Samuel Stern School
160 E 120th St, New York, NY 10035
Takenia Cotton, tcotton@unionsettlement.org
P.S. 096 Joseph Lanzetta 216 E
120th St, New York, NY 10035
Anais Rodriguez, anrodriguez@unionsettlement.org
PS/MS 108 School of Authors
Nirvanna Shaw
Program Director
nshaw@unionsettlement.org
929-595-4121
Since 2022 we have offered a 21st Century Community Learning Center program at PS/MS 108 School of Authors, with a mission of uniting school, family, and community to help young people achieve their full potential. We serve elementary and middle school students at PS/MS 108 with services emphasizing personalized instruction, student wellness, readiness to learn, community partnerships, and family engagement as key strategies to leverage better academic and social-emotional outcomes among high-need students. Key objectives of the program include increasing student attendance, providing mental health support for students and their families, and providing workshops for parents and families on topics including healthy living, college readiness, and cyberbullying prevention. Our partners include Chase Bank, which provides financial literacy curriculums and workshops for parents; Asphalt Green to assist students with achieving health through a lifetime of sports and fitness; and Springboard Collaborative, to improve academic outcomes while strengthening family-educator relationships.
Contact
Destynee Arnold
Community School Director
PS/MS 108 School of Authors
Darnold@unionsettlement.org
929-598-8338
High School and College Students
Since 1964, our College Readiness Program has provided more than 22,000 low-income students with guidance and encouragement to pursue higher education. We help high school students stay on track for on-time graduation and navigate the college selection, admissions and financial aid processes. Our services include academic, financial, career and personal counseling, career exploration, tutoring, college application essay writing workshops, college visits, SAT and ACT preparation, mentoring and early intervention/transition services for middle school students.
View our 2022 College Readiness program flyer for more information
Contact
Tom Kitchen
College Readiness Director
tkitchen@unionsettlement.org
929.250.3657
In addition to increasing college access among socioeconomically disadvantaged youth, we enhance college success by providing support and guidance to students during their first year of college. Each year, we assist 50 College Readiness alumni with their transition to college. Our Transition Counselor helps students connect with campus resources, supports the formation of good study habits, facilitates peer support and networking and troubleshoots with administrative offices.
Contact
Tom Kitchen
College Readiness Director
tkitchen@unionsettlement.org
929.250.3657
Our DYCD-funded COMPASS High School afterschool program serves high school freshmen and sophomores at Esperanza Preparatory Academy. The program provides counseling, tutoring, college preparation, and team-building activities. Through a partnership with Columbia University and the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, graduate-level social work students worked with participants to develop goals and strengthen their social/emotional intelligence, support school retention and increase attendance. Participants engaged in enrichment activities, including the Esperanza Family Night Community Forum, cooking and nutrition classes, a robotics program, music and dance activities, and a spoken-word forum.
Contact
Alexandra Sandoval
Program Director COMPASS High (9th-10th grade)
Esperanza Preparatory Academy (M372)
asandoval@unionsettlement.org
929-606-9884
Since 2017 we have offered a 21st Century Community Learning Center program at Esperanza Preparatory Academy, with a mission of uniting school, family, and community to help young people achieve their full potential. We serve middle and high school students at Esperanza with services emphasizing personalized instruction, student wellness, readiness to learn, community partnerships, and family engagement as key strategies to leverage better academic and social-emotional outcomes among high-need students. Key objectives of the program include increasing student attendance, providing mental health support for students and their families, and providing workshops for parents and families on topics including healthy living, college readiness, and cyberbullying prevention. Our partners include Alvin Alley, which provides dance and art enrichment, and local professionals who contribute to the development of health and wellness and focus on providing culinary classes to empower youth to make healthy meal choices.
Contact
Angelo Cabrera
Community School Director
Esperanza Preparatory Academy (M372)
acabrera@unionsettlement.org
646-371-3075
The Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) is the nation’s largest youth employment program and connects youth 14-24 with career exploration opportunities and paid work experiences. Through our SYEP Career Ready program, Union Settlement serves youth ages 14-24. Participants explore their interests and career pathways, develop workplace skills and engage in learning opportunities through workshops focused on developing their social, civic, and leadership skills. This program operates in partnership with Renaissance Charter School in East Harlem. Older youth receive training and job placement, while the younger youth develop projects through a PBL model of service. Project-Based Learning, participants aged 14—15 learn about career opportunities and make a difference in their communities through paid project-based activities. Through the Work Experiences focus, Young people aged 16–24 improve their work readiness skills and explore career pathways through paid summer jobs in various industries throughout NYC. Receive hourly pay, and the younger ones receive internship stipends.
Contact
Rebecca Mothersil
Work, Learn & Grow (WLG) Director
Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) Director
rmothersil@unionsettlement.org
Dr. Richard Reeves
Associate Director
rreeves@unionsettlement.org
Alternative Programs
Our Career Academy program is a workforce development resource for job seekers and a free talent acquisition service for employers. Serving young adults between the ages of 17 and 24 who are neither working nor in school, the Academy seeks to help individuals with complex barriers to employment (such as criminal justice system involvement and housing instability) to improve their ability to successfully enter and remain in the workforce.
Contact
Richard Reeves
Associate Director of Prevention/Intervention Programs for Youth
rreeves@unionsettlement.org
(212) 828-6113
Reconnect and Rise provides educational, vocational and psychosocial support to young men and women ages 16 to 24 who have left or been pushed out of school and are struggling in the job market. We provide high school equivalency (HSE) classes, workshops, tutoring and college and career exploration. Most of the students we serve perform below a ninth grade reading and/or math level and require remedial instruction before they can begin HSE preparation.
Contact
Richard Reeves
Associate Director of Prevention/Intervention Programs for Youth
rreeves@unionsettlement.org
(212) 828-6113
AIM serves youth who are on probation. Participants, who are referred by the Department of Probation, receive at least 15 hours a week of services, which include counseling, case management, mentoring, home visits and life skills development.
Contact
Steven Meyer
Program Director
smeyer@unionsettlement.org
(646) 672-2595
The East Harlem Youth Opportunity Hub, created in partnership with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, supports the development of young people ages 10 to 24 residing in East Harlem, and helps prevent youth involvement in the criminal justice system.
As a network of more than 25 social services providers, the Hub seeks to foster resilience and prosocial behavior by providing holistic, wraparound services that address the academic, social, personal, familial, recreational and vocational needs of participating youth. We will serve 500 young people per year at the Hub’s three program sites.
Contact
Monica Rene
Regional Director
mrene@unionsettlement.org
(347) 912-0699