How CHCF delivered impactful programs for young Bronx kids with Work ED

CHCF enlisted Work ED and its local, well-trained staff to run fun career-readiness programs, including robotics! Copyright Work ED.

The Committee for Hispanic Children and Families (CHCF) mission statement is to:

“Combine education, capacity-building, and advocacy to strengthen the support system and continuum of learning for children and youth.”

Since 1982, CHCF has been one of the few Latino organizations in New York that combines direct service with policy work to amplify minority voices at the local, state, and national levels. 

One of the direct services CHCF focuses on is providing afterschool program access to children aged 6 - 13 in The Bronx. It’s a much needed service in a borough with some of the hardest-hitting poverty rates in the US, serving schools P.S. 59, The Community School of Technology, and P.S./M.S. 279.

The Bronx is a unique part of New York City. It’s a diverse borough, with a population that’s 56.4% Hispanic and 27.7% Black, with a long history of producing ambitious, successful people, from James Baldwin to Jennifer Lopez. However, The Bronx also has a the highest rate of poverty in New York. In 2021, the poverty rate in The Bronx was 26.4%, compared to the 18% average across NYC. Within The Bronx itself, the highest poverty rate is found in Community District 5, with a 5-year average poverty rate of 35.4% between 2015-2019. 

Community District 5 is home to P.S./M.S. 279. This school sits in the Community District with the highest poverty rate in The Bronx, which has the highest poverty rate of any borough in the State of New York.

The odds are stacked against the young people that attend P.S./M.S. 279. Many of them have grown up in poverty, with many more growing up in near poverty (NYCGov calculates near poverty as those with a household income of 150% of the poverty threshold, and estimates that in 2019, near-poverty rates in NYC as a whole were 40.8%). Attending school alone is unfortunately not enough to guarantee an escape from poverty in The Bronx.

Knowing this, CHCF aims to provide young people in the area with access to developmentally-appropriate programs outside of the school day, including afterschool and during the summer break. Unfortunately, the logistics of launching such programs, especially post-pandemic, are not straightforward.

Finding a fully-staffed solution

Work ED hires local staff that make children feel safe and heard so they can learn their own way. Copyright Work ED.

One of the main barriers is that staffing these types of programs is a challenge. Since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, staffing shortages have been an issue across the country. CHCF needed a partner that could provide staff. And not just any staff—staff that understand the situations Bronx kids can grow up in and are well trained to handle the emotional challenges kids face. Thankfully, CHCF discovered Work ED.

Work ED had been running afterschool and intersession programs primarily in California, but they had also been growing a team in NYC led by Brooklynite Darren Sanchez, NYC Program Manager.

Darren has worked in NYC education for many years. Not only did he grow up in a borough neighboring The Bronx, he’s seen first-hand the challenges that certain boroughs face in his home city. Opportunities are scarce, as Darren explains:

“The Bronx can be a ‘forgetten borough’. Students are eager and always willing to learn new things but there’s issues with lack of exposure to opportunities and resources to run them..”

– Darren Sanchez, NYC Program Manager, Work ED

Darren, knowing the challenges that CHCF faced in getting their programs off the ground, reached out about Work ED’s fully-staffed programs.

It was a great match. CHCF programs have a focus on technology, STEM, and academic support. Work ED focuses on teaching young people soft skills through innovative curriculum based on future-facing, tech-oriented topics.

The curriculum worked. CHCF chose:

• Robotics

• Video game design

• Entrepreneurship (how to launch a business startup)

As you can see from the pictures throughout this page, the curriculum was a hit with the students. They learned to code a working robot (that chased targets across a whiteboard), design their very own video game concept (see a finished game concept from a Work ED student), and learn the basics of how to launch their own business and manage their finances.

But the impact of this CHCF program went far beyond the curriculum.

Social-emotional learning and community-building

Social-emotional learning helps develop emotional regulation, collaboration skills, and a sense of community. Copyright Work ED.

It’s the aim of CHCF programs to create community engagement. Through this Work ED program, CHCF was able to do this in two ways: 

1. Social-emotional learning that helps young people learn to self-regulate, build relationships, and understand their impact in their community.

2. A community day at the end of the program where parents, caregivers, and family are invited to see the students’ projects, meet the staff, and enjoy food together as everyone celebrates as a community.

Work ED uses a social-emotional learning (SEL) approach. SEL means acknowledging and celebrating each student as a unique individual with emotions, needs, ideas, and ways of learning that don’t always vibe with the one-size-fits-all approach to traditional classroom education.

When students come from different backgrounds and experiences, SEL helps students understand what they are capable of, and teaches them the value respecting others’ unique stories and abilities, too. SEL frameworks help young people develop skills around teamwork and communication, emotional regulation, and empathy. These skills ripple outwards into stronger school and community connections, and help young people feel a sense of belonging—a crucial emotional trait that kids from immigrant or minority families, or those with disabilities, can struggle to feel. 

Work ED also hired staff locally to build out its NYC operations, led by Darren Sanchez. He knew that making a connection with students is crucial, and only hired staff he knew could make genuine connections. And he’s seen the impact the programs and staff had on students:

“Seeing WorkED come in and assist CHCF with providing programs to expand the minds of the youth has been great. We are seeing that the students are engaged, having fun, letting loose and expanding their creative side.”

Darren Sanchez, NYC Program Manager, Work ED

And Darren isn’t the only one. Glendaliz Valdez has also been impressed by the impact the Work ED program has had on students:

“Our Students have received the Work ED Curriculum extremely well, are fully engaged, excited about the program, and are eager for things to come.”

– Glendaliz Valdez, Director of Programs for The Committee for Hispanic Children and Families

Through the program, students that entered the door as shy or disruptive students had the opportunity to express themselves in a supportive environment. They worked in teams, using creativity and their own initiative to create fun solutions to their projects, culminating in a presentation in front of proud parents and caregivers watching on—skills that will set them up well in life whatever pathway they choose, and help them realize the power they have to take control of their own future, both in school and beyond.

Who had a great time on this Work ED program? Copyright Work ED.