Cornell University Cooperative Extension – New York City (CUCE-NYC) is one of 50 programs receiving $25,000 from Robin Hood, a poverty-fighting non-profit organization based in New York City. The award is part of Robin Hood’s FUEL for 50 initiative which provides funding and resources to non-profit programs that support families in New York City with children ages 0-3.
The funding will support the development of the Strong Together – Tree of Life Center Partnership for Early Children’s Health (Strong Together) in Jamaica, New York. The Tree of Life Center is a mixed-use building in Jamaica that will soon open 174 affordable apartments, a federally qualified health center and dental clinic, and other community services. Strong Together will unite programs geared for parents and caregivers of kids aged 0-3 that focus on early childhood development from all the Tree of Life Center partners: CUCE-NYC, First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, First Jamaica Community and Urban Development Corporation (FJCUDC), and the Community Healthcare Network.
“We are delighted to work with our partner Cornell Cooperative Extension to support wholistic family support empowered by the Robin Hood FUEL for 50 grant,” said Rev. Patrick O’Connor, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica and FJCUDC board chairman. “It’s a great opportunity for preschoolers and their families.”
Strong Together will help residents in the Tree of Life Center, and the community, access existing programs and will also help design new programs, leveraging the specific focus of each partner.
“Five years ago, these partners came together to help develop programming at the Tree of Life Center. Strong Together is an opportunity to co-create resources and build a strong sense of community centered on promoting health and health equity,” said Jennifer Tiffany, executive director of CUCE-NYC. “Intentional partnership will enable us to build the kind of community –a village — in which young children and people of all ages in the Jamaica community will thrive.”
FJCUDC’s focus, for example, centers on health equity and food access while the Community Healthcare Network serves 4,000 patients in its Jamaica health center which will soon be in the Tree of Life Center. The First Presbyterian Church has ongoing programs for adults who care for kids, including a food pantry and health fairs, as does CUCE-NYC through its nutrition education and parenting education programs like Growing and Learning Together Through Play and Healthy Children, Healthy Families. CUCE-NYC’s Queens office is in the Tree of Life Center.
“When First Church envisioned the Tree of Life Center it was as a one-stop resource for the needs of Jamaica residents and their families no matter where they were on the life cycle,” said Rev. Anna Taylor Sweringen, FJCUDC board member. “That’s why I’m excited about Strong Together. We’ll be helping families with infants and preschoolers develop future resilience because they’ll have a healthy start.”
CUCE-NYC and its partners could receive additional funding from Robin Hood to test the efficacy of the Strong Together program. In November, Robin Hood will award 10 of the FUEL for 50 programs $250,000 to intensify their work. Later, up to three of the programs would get $1 million to bring their proven efforts to scale.
FUEL for 50 was born out of Robin Hood’s Fund for Early Learning (FUEL). Launched in 2016 FUEL focuses on the impact of poverty on kids aged 0-3. The Robin Hood Foundation started in 1988 to fight poverty in New York City.
