Harlem Children’s Zone’s Wesite

Harlem Children’s Zone’s website……….

The organization agrees with researchers that confirm that the early-childhood years are the key to building a strong foundation for future educational success.  The program works with children and families in these critically important first years. The early childhood programs provide their services free to the public, which is possible because people donate money to the organization.

The organization has ten programs that comprise the HCZ Project which targets on the geography.

Nine focusing directly on the needs of children and one on the broader community:

Youth Services

·  The Baby College is a 9-week Saturday series of workshops that offers parents and other

caregivers of children between the ages of 0 and 3 both the range of information and the

supports necessary to raise happy and healthy children who enter school ready to learn. The 6 workshops cover such topics as ages and stages of development, discipline, bonding, safety,health, and nutrition.

·  Harlem Gems is a universal pre-k program located at PS 149 that prepares four- year-old children for entry into kindergarten. Harlem Gems offers extended day activities throughout the school year.

·  Family Support Center is a walk-in storefront social services facility that provides families in crisis with immediate access to professional social services including foster care prevention,domestic violence workshops, parenting skill classes, and group and individual counseling.

·  Parents Help Center is a drop-out prevention program based at Public School 207. It serves children with severe academic and attendance problems.

·  Harlem Peacemakers/SMART: Harlem Peacemakers identifies and trains college aged young people who are committed to making their neighborhoods safe places for children and families. Through the School Success Project, Peacemakers work in elementary school classrooms and run after school and summer programs enriching children’s educational and recreational experiences. SMART (Shaping Minds Round Reading and Technology) is

designed to significantly improve the reading skills of each participating student. Using trained staff, this computer-based literacy program offers children personalized reading instruction, tutoring support during and after school, and lending libraries.

·  Fifth Grade Institute To recruit and prepare local students for the transition from elementary to middle school, Harlem Children’s Zone created the “5th Grade Institute” in fall 2003. The 5th Grade Institute operates in four Harlem elementary schools, providing eight 5th grade

classrooms with daily after-school academic help and enrichment. During this three-hour period, a certified teacher and 3 assistants provide focused attention and academic coachingto small groups of students.

·  TRUCE (The Renaissance University for Community Education) is a comprehensive leadership program for adolescents. The program promotes academic growth and career readiness using the arts, media literacy, health and multimedia technology. Participating students work on Harlem Overheard, a community newspaper; the Real Deal, a cable

television show; HOTWorks, a theater program; and/or Umoja Media Project, a violence prevention initiative.

·  TRUCE Fitness and Nutrition Center offers a free, 8,000 square foot exercise facility to

youth and the broader Harlem community. The program promotes academic growth and helps youth develop skills in nutrition, fitness, presentation and advocacy.

·  The Employment and Technology Center offers dropout prevention services for young

people, aged 14-18 who are enrolled in and attending school full- time. The center also

provides free use of computers and participation in computer training classes to neighborhood residents as well as a Saturday literacy program.

Community Development

·  Community Pride is a resident- and community-driven neighborhood revitalization and community building program. The program organizes community beautification projects,helps tenants become homeowners through the city’s TIL program, and works with tenant and block associations. During the HCZ Project’s first three years, the primary emphasis of its management was on

getting new programs started, and on refining existing program operations and service delivery.

These programs have grown rapidly, serve significant numbers of individuals, and have met Phase I goals for growth and market penetration. The long-term goals of the HCZ have not being met because of the scale of participation is not sufficient.

This website had a video of President Obama speaking and supporting the Harlem Children’s Zone organization. He spoke on the early childhood programs and working with children living in poverty.   President Obama stated:

“There is no reason we should spend tens of thousands of dollars a year to imprison one of these kids when they turn 18, when we could be spending $3500 to turn their lives around with this program. To really put it into perspective, think of it this way. The Harlem Children’s Zone is saving a generation of children for about 46 million dollars a year. That’s about what the war in Iraq costs American taxpayers every four hours” (HCZ, 2009).

This statement made since to me because there are billions of dollars spent every day in our country on war and helping out other countries.  I feel that we should help our own country before we go to the war or help out other countries.  I feel as if our country tries to protect other nations and countries instead of focusing on issues that exists in the U.S.

References:
Harlem Children's Zone. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.hcz.org/home