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Archives
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Gifford
Miller |
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Liz Krueger |
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Leslie Crocker Snyder |
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Catherine Stimpson |
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Eric Gioia |
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Adolfo Carrion Jr. |
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David Weprin |
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Featured Non Profit
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Septembers
Mission
Monica Iken,
founder of
September's Mission,
lost her husband,
Michael, a bond
broker on the 84th
floor of Tower Two
in the World Trade
Center on September
11, 2001.
Soon afterwards, she
founded September's
Mission to honor
those who lost their
lives in the terror
attacks and to
ensure that the
families' concerns
are heard in the
9/11 memorial
process. In
addition,
September's Mission
is dedicated to
helping children who
lost a loved one on
9/11/01.
September's Mission
is committed to
working with the
families, Manhattan
residents,
businesses and
public officials to
ensure that the
future of the World
Trade Center site
not only honors the
lives that were lost
on September 11, but
serves all New
Yorkers for
generations to come.
September's Mission
is also dedicated to
helping families who
lost loved ones on
9/11. By hosting and
supporting events
throughout the year
for families and
children, it
strengthens personal
connections and
creates a positive,
nurturing forum that
contributes to
healing.
September's Mission
is one of the
leading 9/11
non-profit
organizations to
support the
development of a
memorial on the
former site of the
World Trade Center
to honor the lives
lost on September
11, 2001. In January
2002, Governor
Pataki appointed
Monica Iken to the
Family Advisory
Committee for the
Lower Manhattan
Development Council.
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In
Guest Editor: Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum
The purpose of the office of the Public Advocate is to make local government more open and responsive to the needs of citizens. We do this by cutting through bureaucratic red tape. When people call my office with government-related problems, our ombudsmen and ombudswomen go directly to the city agencies to help resolve the situation. Problems can range from potholes to evictions. If the ombudsmen run into trouble resolving cases, I’ll pick up the phone and call agency heads myself. I get involved because I see solving people’s problems as the core of the office. If individual complaints suggest a systemic problem with government service, then we do an investigation.
As Public Advocate, I have made sure that my investigations are directed toward improving city service delivery. I do not believe in criticizing just for the sake of criticizing. I want to work with city agencies to make government better. So far, the approach has been a success. For example, my long-term investigation of school construction in New York resulted in recommendations for improving the process that Chancellor Klein has since adopted, publicly crediting my office for coming up with the ideas. That’s the way I think the office of Public Advocate should work.
Helping not-for-profits has also been a core mission of the office. We found that not-for-profits agencies were often waiting many months for the city to pay them for contracted services, such as neighborhood health care. Sometimes the not-for-profits are made to wait so long that they have to stop providing important services. As a result I sat down with the Mayor’s contracting-reform taskforce to make sure their plans included speeding up payment to not-for-profits. I think the system is now improving but I hope not-for-profits will call me for help when they need it.
As soon as I became Public Advocate, I created out own not-for-profit, the Fund for Public Advocacy as a public/private partnership that would allow me to create innovative new programs in a time of budget cutbacks. We have already created a number of projects dedicated to helping New Yorkers.
The Fund for Public Advocacy’s Child Welfare Project helps children and families in the City’s foster care system. Most recently, the project released a report on child fatalities in New York City which was widely acclaimed as a step forward in improving our foster care system. You can read the report on the Web at pubadvocate.nyc.gov. The report finds that the city is needlessly conducting lengthy investigations of low-risk families who could be better served by counseling and preventive education—and at the same time neglecting high-risk cases. For example, a woman who called the Administration for Children’s Services simply looking for some help with post-9/11 trauma ended up losing her children to foster care for three months. On the other hand, a three-year-old girl died of child abuse even though she had been reported as having unexplained bruises only three months earlier. The report concludes that if more preventive services were offered to low-risk families, we could focus more on high-risk situations, reduce foster care numbers and save the city millions of dollars.
The Fund’s Disaster Preparedness Project has published and distributed a pamphlet to 50,000 New Yorkers, and established a Web site that explores issues on a monthly basis, such as mental health and disaster preparedness and talking to children about 9/11: http://www.pubadvocate.nyc.gov/html/dpp.html. We will be talking with experts in the fields of bioterrorism and public health to continue updating our resources.
The Fund has also begun to assist parents of public school students. In these difficult fiscal times, it is critical that families take advantage of the resources available to them, both in our public education system, and through the non-profit sector. With support from the Heckscher Foundation for Children and the William and Mary Gréve Foundation, the Fund was able to survey hundreds of parents across the five boroughs to find out what they know (and don’t know) about these resources. Next spring, the Fund will print a Parent’s Guide to the Public Schools based on the survey’s findings.
Here in the Office of Public Advocate, the Fund for Public Advocacy is improving the Ombudsman Unit where thousands of New Yorkers turn each year for help navigating the government red tape. During my campaign for elected office, I pledged to refocus the office on this unit, and to ensure that it serves New Yorkers with the utmost efficiency and with the best available technology. |
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Featured Non Profit
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September 11, 2001 Children's
Fund
The September 11, 2001
Children's Fund was founded with
the purpose of providing
financial support with respect
to education to the children
directly affected by the
September 11, 2001 terrorist
acts at the World Trade Center
in New York, The Pentagon in
Washington, D.C., American
Airlines Flights 11 and 77, and
United Airlines Flights 175 and
93.
The Fund aims to change the life
of children who lost a parent or
legal guardian in the terrorist
acts of September 11.
To date, the September 11, 2001
Children's Fund Inc., is one of
the only organizations set up to
assist families with the
financial burden associated with
primary and secondary education
costs. Because their mission is
to mentor these children through
the 12th grade they are
responsible for several years'
worth of tuition payments for
each of their registered
children.
Featured Non Profit:
Portals of Wonder
Portal of Wonder is an arts
education organization that serves
children facing life threatening
illnesses, and homeless and
underprivileged youth.
Portals Of Wonder's
performances, workshops and staff
development programs using music,
song, dance and magic bring pride
and healing to the American spirit
after 9/11.
Portals Of Wonder works with
people of all ages to awaken the
imagination with wonder, curiosity,
and inspiration. Through
non-competitive, multi-cultural, and
gender-sensitive activities, Portals
Of Wonder celebrates the conviction
that every life is full of hope and
possibilities.
Portals Of Wonder offers a
unique form of arts education
focusing on vaudeville, magic,
music, myth, and mime. These media
combine to simultaneously increase
individuals' self-esteem and improve
communication and community-building
skills. As participants sharpen
their perceptive and critical
thinking skills, they enhance their
social, academic, and career
development.
These programs, presented in a
supportive social group work
setting,
have served more than 3,000
children and hundreds of elders in
two years.
Portals of Wonder works with
schools and community programs to
tailor programs for children that
fit their needs.
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Featured Non Profit
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September Space
Se p t e m b e r s p a c e is a
community center based on the
volunteer spirit that swept New York
City in the days following September
11th, 2001. It was founded by a
group of disaster volunteers who
realized that mutual support and
comfort are as crucial now as they
were at Ground Zero. They were
determined to establish a permanent
location where people could go to
find a social and emotional support
network to help them cope with the
residual effects of the attacks.
With that idea in mind September
Space was born. Their doors are open
to everyone - volunteers,
rescue/recovery workers, uniformed
personnel, survivors and their
families, and all events are free.
Among the programs and workshops
offered are:
9/11 Fatigue Workshop
September Space in conjunction with
the Jewish Board of Family and
Children Services, Inc. offers a
social support group for those
affected by 9/11.
Stress Reduction Seminar
Many of us are feeling stressed and
disoriented...a downturn in the
economy, fewer people in the
workplace to do the same job and our
inability to get back to normal
since 9/11. The new “normal” is
different and September Space in
conjunction with Safe Horizon will
teach stress reduction techniques to
help adjust to where we are now.
SATURDAYS--Family Fun Days
Family Fun Day was designed to help
children and adults cope with the
after-effects of September 11th,
both together as families. September
Space offers different themed Family
Fun Day’s each month. Families are
welcome to come and enjoy various
expressive arts activities and
storytelling.
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