Stanley M Isaacs Neighborhood Center Inc

Programs: Meals on wheels - our meals on wheels (mow) delivery area covers the east side of manhattan from 59th street to 142nd street. As the lead contractor, we are responsible for delivering meals in collaboration with our partner agencies the carter burden center and union settlement association. In fy17, we delivered a total of 359,040 meals to homebound and vulnerable seniors, an average of 984 meals per day an increase of 2% from the prior year. Our direct delivery portion for fy17 reached 166,643 meals.

youth and family services - the isaacs center's program and services for children and adolescents create a continuum of engaging and educational out of school time activities for low-income elementary school and middle school students in yorkville and east harlem. With a focus on involving parents and families in learning, our youth programs aim to help students develop the skills they need to succeed in their classes, progress into the next grade, and ultimately enter and succeed in high-performing middle and high schools. [see continuation on schedule o]the majority of students in our youth programs come from families living in poverty and attend underperforming schools. Nearly all (92%) live in public housing, 74% qualify for free or reduced-price school lunches, 83% come from single-parent households, and 82% are black or latino/a. Many have or are at risk of chronic health issues, including asthma and obesity; others struggle with learning difficulties and stress related to living in poverty. As these young people face multiple barriers, in school and at home, to their academic success, the isaacs center's youth-centered programs offer a transformative opportunity to excel and thrive. Our school age services and adolescent programs serve children and adolescents in grades k-12 through both after school and summer programming at four sites: the youth learning center at isaacs/holmes; the james weldon johnson community center in east harlem; the ps 198 beacon program in yorkville, and the ms 224 beacon program in east harlem. At each site, students receive significant academic enrichment services, aligned with common core standards, with the goal of eradicating the 6,000-hour learning gap that children born into poverty face compared to middle-class peers. Academic supports include homework help, individual and small group instruction, and parent information sessions focused on classroom curriculum and assignments, child and adolescent development, communication with school administrators, and the admissions and application process for applying to middle schools, high schools, and college. Young people also have access to literacy materials and computers, including libraries and technology labs. In addition to academic supports, our programs offer a rich set of engagement activities offered in collaboration with local partners, designed to improve students' physical health, social-emotional growth, and learning readiness. These opportunities include swimming lessons, basketball, and soccer teams offered by asphalt green; performing arts offered by trevor day school; dance classes offered by spence school; printmaking workshops hosted by art connects ny; community art projects and mural making with creative art works; a "mentoring day" with goldman sachs volunteers; and council member ben kallos' reading challenge. To address the impacts of toxic stress on children's health, wellness, and readiness to learn, we also partner with the mount sinai school of medicine to offer cyclopedia, a bicycling program for east harlem youth that combines fitness and collaborative activities to strengthen connections with and awareness of our streets, parks, and waterways. Participants gain mapping, geography, and tech skills while learning about the history of their neighborhoods and new york city. In fy17, the isaacs center's school age services and adolescent programs served more than 600 young people. Daily average attendance across the three sites was 88%, showing a high level of program engagement. Attendance was as follows: - for children in grades k-5: 66 attended after school programming at the youth learning center at isaacs/holmes, 102 attended the beacon afterschool program at p. S. 198, and 358 attended after school programming at our cornerstone. - for middle school students: 55 attended the 'tween zone at the beacon afterschool program at p. S. 198, and 253 attended after school programming at our cornerstone. - 520 high school students participated in evening programming at our cornerstone. For the second year, children ages 8-12 at the isaacs/holmes youth learning center participated in the partnership for after school education (pase) explorers program, which allows students to explore their neighborhoods and create presentations on local stories. Children gain a variety of skills, including web design, presentation, internet research, communication, and project management skills. With funding from the william t. Grant foundation, the isaacs center completed implementation of an improved, systematic approach to training program staff team members, with improved professional development for group leaders leading to better continuity of program themes and consistent implementation of our curricula across sites.

aging services - the isaacs center senior center has provided culturally competent senior services for more than 50 years, since the organization's opening, and is designed to ensure that seniors grow old with dignity and "age in place" safely and comfortably. The isaacs/holmes development, where our senior center and administrative offices are located, is a designated naturally occurring retirement community (norc) a geographic community not originally built for seniors, but now containing a significant proportion of older residents. There are now a total of 1,164 apartments in isaacs/holmes, with approximately 500 units (43%) housing individuals over the age of 60. [see continuation on schedule o]our services reach low-income, underserved residents of yorkville/east harlem a vulnerable group living in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods of new york city (nyc). For the senior residents of our community, poverty, health issues, isolation, decreased mobility, and mental health issues are serious challenges to healthy aging. These issues are compounded by health care, housing, and social service systems that can be challenging and inaccessible to seniors. Among the seniors who access our services, 72% are female; 41% are latino/a, 17% are african american, and 8% are asian; 26% have disabilities; 7% have limited english; and 45% live alone. Nearly half (49%) are between the ages of 60-74, 27% are ages 75-84, and 18% are over the age of 85. Many have lived in nycha developments for most of their lives, and some were among the original residents when the isaacs/holmes development opened in 1964. Our innovative and recognized hybrid senior center-norc model allows seniors to access a rich set of services, integrated and offered seamlessly all at one place, including case management and health care services, congregate and home delivered meals, education and information resources, and social and recreational activities. More than 200 monthly senior center activities promote physical and mental health and wellness, fitness, technology education, arts and cultural enrichment, social and self-advocacy support, and community engagement. Our offerings dramatically improve seniors' safety, health, and access to critical services. In addition, the isaacs center's nutrition program coordinates the delivery of meals on wheels to seniors living on the east side of manhattan from 59th street to 142nd street in collaboration with our partner agencies, the carter burden center and union settlement association. We also offer two congregate meals daily at the senior center six days a week. We work with the visiting nurse services of new york (vsny) to provide health care case management, including assessing needs and developing care plans with the client and/or the client's family members or caregivers and arranging and coordinating services and resources on the resident's behalf. In addition, vnsny nurses help norc staff to identify healthcare needs and issues within the community and offer a variety of workshops, such as fall prevention, diabetes and heart disease. Numerous other partners enrich our services to seniors, including asphalt green, which offers water exercise classes; service program for older people, which offers on-site mental health counseling; liveon ny, which provides benefits screening and enrollment assistance; search and care, which supports homebound seniors; volunteers of legal service, which offers free monthly clinics, and multiple grant and stipendiary programs which support seniors in need of cash assistance. Fy17 aging services achievementsin fy17, our aging services reached a total of 1,644 vulnerable new york city seniors. We achieved a remarkable set of outcomes with these senior participants, including the following milestones: - we delivered a total of 359,040 meals to homebound and vulnerable seniors, an average of 984 meals per day an increase of 2% from the prior year. Our direct delivery portion for fy17 reached 166,643 meals. - we increased the provision of case management services to senior center members by 56%, reflecting the expansion of our supportive counseling, benefit screenings and referrals, nutrition related services and healthcare navigation supports. - we launched sinc community awakens, a participant-led program to adopt healthier lifestyle choices supported by funding from united neighborhood houses. - we offered 27,684 congregate meals, as well as 192 sunday suppers privately funded, volunteer-organized monthly dinners with music, linens, and traditional home cooking- and holiday luncheons on thanksgiving day and christmas day. - we helped seniors complete 80 medicaid and medicare savings program applications and renewals, 103 supplemental nutrition assistance program (snap) applications and renewals, and 30 scrie (senior citizen rent increase exemption) applications and renewals. - we enhanced our "isaacs in motion" health and fitness initiative for seniors, which provides zumba, meditation, yoga, arts and cultural expression projects, technology classes, and support groups at the senior center.