|
Our new “Choices and Community” Beacon School at Community Intermediate School
117 in the Bronx has begun to provide nurturing and challenging out-of-school
experiences to 1700 youth yearly. The Center for Prevention, Education and
Health Promotion will soon publish culturally-competent HIV/AIDS education
materials for Dominican young people, based on what they and their parents have
told us will be most effective. To support the hard work of tenant managers,
ACDP is now helping to administer a “7A” building. Together with the
Audubon Partnership for Economic Development, we have initiated an exciting
Upper Manhattan job development and placement program.
Government contracts and foundation grants fund much of ACDP’s work. However, as
a community resource, we must often meet needs not covered by contracts and
grants. We responded to the citizenship application crisis without waiting for
funding. Although foundation support has been critically important, we continue
today to provide citizenship classes and application assistance beyond that
funding. We supported Padres Para Padres’s Saturday respite/recreation program
for mentally retarded youth before ACDP and Padres Para Padres jointly gained
state funding. Now, to give disabled and non-disabled children the chance to
play together, we support program costs over those covered by the State. As we
write, ACDP is helping to mobilize and organize the flow of aid to the
Caribbean in response to Hurricane Georges.
In order to do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, we
need your help. If you can give time, come and talk to us about becoming a
volunteer. If you can give money, we welcome your tax-deductible contribution.
If you work for New York City or the Board of Education, you can designate
Community Association of Progressive Dominicans as your choice in the Combined
Municipal and Combined Charities Campaigns. If you work for a private company,
ask if your employer matches employee contributions. Invest in the future of
ACDP, of our communities, and of our children!
Sincerely,
|