As New York City's children living in poverty head back to school for in-person and remote learning, they continue to grapple with hunger, homelessness, and financial hardship, while also trying to catch up in their academics. At community schools and community centers across New York City, we are providing robust services in academics, health, and family enrichment to help 50,000 young people and their families on their road to recovery.
As our children head back to school, youth homelessness in New York City is at the highest rate it has been since the Great Depression, and 44% of New Yorkers are food insecure. Aside from these basic necessities, when children do try and focus on their academics, broadband access, teacher shortages, financial hardship, and family stress are making it difficult to learn and catch up from the "COVID-19 slide."
To meet the basic necessities, we're providing food boxes to hungry children, and helping advocate for families at risk for homelessness. In school, we're offering supplemental instruction, tutoring, academic enrichment, and thorough cleaning services. For children with limited health care access, we refer them to our health clinics to receive testing for COVID-19, or remote mental health counseling to deal with anxiety and stress.
In the long-term, our food packages will help our families stay nourished through periods of hunger, and our legal advocacy will help families maintain stability as they try and recover from unemployment and rent arrears. Our academic services will help children continue learning, growing, and leading throughout this pandemic so they can avoid further academic losses.
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