Talk Bronx New York

Bronx Youth Services Center Gives At-Risk Kids ‘Sense of Belonging’

Center head Lynne Echenberg and Andrew Smith

For 17-year-old Andrew Smith and countless others like him in Morrisania, a new youth services center may be just the second chance they need.

The Next Generation Center at 1522 Southern Blvd. officially opened last week to provide programs and job skills for teens too old for the foster care system and other at-risk youth.

“The center’s helping me mature and take the responsibilities I should have been taking all along,” said Andrew, who recently dropped out of high school.

The 10,000-square-foot center, run by the Children’s Aid Society, is geared toward youths ages 14 to 24. It offers workshops that teach such skills as cooking and financial literacy. Young people are also taught how to live independently and receive standard college prep and homework.

“It’s a place where they can get a sense of belonging, where they can stay connected to the community and obtain skills,” said Children’s Aid Society President Angela Diaz.

Child advocates say more than 1,000 youth leave foster care each year, but many have little support to help them make the transition to leading independent lives.

These youth are particularly vulnerable to homelessness, joblessness, jail, illness and sexual and physical victimization.

Society officials used a panel of teens to brainstorm what services they needed, and The Next Generation Center was born.

The center, being touted as the first of its kind, includes classrooms, a computer lab, sound studio, a teaching kitchen and fitness room. Free health services are also provided, from dental to pediatric care. Other programs, such as an onsite GED prep program and a visual arts institute, will be added soon.

“The potential here is boundless,” said center Director Lynne Echenberg.

The building opened its doors earlier this year. Andrew Smith has been attending different workshops for four months.

His time at the center has inspired him to earn his GED and go to college so he can become an Air Force pilot.

“Even though it’s not going to be easy,” he said, “I’m willing to take that road and become the man I’ve always wanted to be.”

SOURCE: NYDailyNews.com

(No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...
 Email This Post

Bronx Community Boards Schedule

COMMUNITY BOARD 1 (Melrose, Mott Haven) meets at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 24 at CB1 Office, 3024 Third Ave. Call (718) 585-7117.

COMMUNITY BOARD 2 (Longwood, Hunts Point) meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 30, at Urban Health Plan, 1065 Southern Blvd. Call (718) 328-9125.

COMMUNITY BOARD 4 (Highbridge, Mount Eden and Concourse) meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 22, at Bronx Lebanon Hospital, Murray Cohen Auditorium, 1650 Grand Concourse. Call (718) 299-0800.

COMMUNITY BOARD 5 (Morris Heights, Fordham, Bathgate and Mount Hope) meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 23 at St. Simon Stock School, 2195 Valentine Ave. Call (718) 364-2030.

COMMUNITY BOARD 9 (Soundview, Clasons Point, Parkchester, Bruckner and Harding Park) meets at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 17 at CB9 Office, 1967 Turnbull Ave. Call (718) 823-3034.

COMMUNITY BOARD 10 (Throgs Neck, City Island, Pelham Bay, Co-op City, Zerega, Westchester Square, Country Club and Edgewater) meets at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 17 at Preston High School, 2870 Schurz Ave. Call (718) 892-1161.

COMMUNITY BOARD 12 (Wakefield, Williamsbridge, Woodlawn Eastchester and Baychester) meets at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 24, at CB12 office, 4101 White Plains Road. Call (718) 881-4455.

(No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...
 Email This Post

Famed Arthur Ave., the ‘Little Italy of the Bronx,’ would be spruced up under BID plans.

Little Italy Gets ‘BID Guys’ To Take Care Of The Neighborhood 

The “Little Italy of the Bronx” may soon have its own little Renaissance.

Efforts are underway to create a Business Improvement District in Belmont that would include popular shopping and restaurant stretches like famed Arthur Ave.

“There are so many positive things taking place in this neighborhood,” said Community Board 6 District Manager Ivine Galarza. “This BID would really enhance the whole area.”

The effort, which is being led by the Belmont Small Business Association, has been in the works for two years.

The community board will hold a special hearing on the proposal at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13, at the Belmont Library, 610 E. 186th St., to get local business and community input. The board meeting also will include an update on the redesign of the Fordham Mall Plaza.

The Belmont BID plan, which needs approval from the community board, City Council and Mayor Bloomberg, would allow for additional sanitation, security and marketing services.

Merchants, business owners and commercial property landlords would be charged various fees expected to total $340,000 annually.

The BID would be home to more than 300 businesses spread across 37 blocks bounded by Fordham Road to the north, E. 183rd St. to the south, Lorillard Place to the west and Southern Blvd. to the east.

More than 50 similar BIDs exist throughout the city.

“Every single one of them has brought increased shopping, increased foot traffic, and safer and cleaner conditions for everyone,” said Frank Franz of the Belmont Small Business Association.

One major proposal under the BID would be to expand parking in three popular shopping districts: on Arthur Ave., 187th St. near Beaumont Ave., and Fordham Road near Southern Blvd.

Other possible projects include steam-cleaning sidewalks, video surveillance, facade improvements and promotional events such as street fairs and boccie tournaments. “There are a lot of opportunities here,” Franz said.

SOURCE: NYDailyNews.com

Read more..

(No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...
 Email This Post

 Shoppers look for bargains outside stores in new business improvement district along Southern Blvd. in Longwood.

Southern Blvd Gets BID To Help Residents & Businesses Living

A major shopping strip in the South Bronx has become the city’s newest business improvement district - joining such BIDs as Times Square and downtown Brooklyn’s Fulton Street.

On New Year’s Eve, Mayor Bloomberg signed into law a plan by business and property owners in the Southern Blvd. area of Longwood that will increase their property taxes to pay for additional sanitation services, security, graffiti removal, marketing and Christmas lights.

Owners in the new district, which runs from 163rd St. and Hunts Point Ave. to Westchester Ave., also hope to create a parking lot to both raise money and make shopping more convenient, and to add extra lighting on the streets, which will allow businesses to stay open later.

They hope the improvements will attract new and bigger retailers, reduce crime in the area, and make it a more pleasant place to shop.

Read more..

(No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...
 Email This Post