SCO News
CFL students and staff rally to save after-school programs
April 24, 2015 / Independent Youth News
Staff and families from SCO's Center for Family Life in Sunset Park joined a crowd of community members who rallied at Brooklyn Borough Hall on April 23rd, calling on Mayor Bill de Blasio to fund 17 after-school programs in high-need neighborhoods that would be forced to close this summer unless the mayor allocates additional funding. Center for Family Life programs based at PS94 and PS169 in Sunset Park, are among the six Brooklyn programs in jeopardy.
Read MoreSCO Program Leaders Participate in Early Childhood Development Forum Panel
April 15, 2015 / SCO News
SCO's Maggie Petrosky - Director, Nurse Family Partnership & Parent-Child Home Program and Chanda Hill - Assistant Executive Director of Program Services (overseeing SCO's Early Childhood Programs) were among the Early Childhood leaders who served as panelists at the Early Childhood Development Forum in Brooklyn, hosted by Borough President Eric Adams and the Parent-Child Home Program, National Center. The forum brought together thought leaders, direct service organizations and policy makers to discuss the importance of early childhood education and care, specifically between the ages of 0-3.
Read MoreSCO Celebrates National Volunteer Week 2015!
April 13, 2015 / SCO News
SCO Family of Services is celebrating National Volunteer Week (April 12-18, 2015) by recognizing our outstanding volunteers. SCO provides vital human services to more than 60,000 vulnerable New Yorkers every year, thanks in part to the support of more than 950 dedicated volunteers, who collectively volunteered more than 3,443 hours over the last year. In honor of National Volunteer Week, SCO is taking the opportunity to express the gratitude we feel toward every one of our supporters all year long, as well as to give special recognition to several particularly dedicated individuals and corporate volunteers: Gap, Inc. SCO’s ongoing relationship with Gap, Inc. has yielded friendships, amazing events and unparalleled support for our life-changing work. Gap’s volunteers have consistently brought behind-the-scenes organizational support to our major events – helping to sell raffle tickets, directing models down the runway, preparing baskets for silent auction, and helping to keep the events running smoothly. During the past year, Banana Republic Factory Store volunteers have mentored youth in our Young Adult Internship Program (YAIP) during Work Readiness and Interview Skills workshops in Brooklyn. In 2014, 125 Gap, Inc. staffers logged 538 volunteer hours supporting SCO. The Gap volunteers are professional, generous and enthusiastic, and always go above and beyond!
Read MoreSCO’s Sandy Moya Appears on Immigration Forum Panel in Queens
April 10, 2015 / SCO News
Vice Chair Crowley, Assemblyman Moya Host Immigration Forum in Jackson Heights Crowley, Moya meet with local community to discuss executive action on immigration and what’s next for the NY DREAM Act (Queens, NY) – On Wednesday, April 8, Rep. Joe Crowley (D-Queens, the Bronx), Vice Chair of the Democratic Caucus, along with NYS Assembly Member Francisco Moya (D-Jackson Heights) hosted an immigration forum to give members of the local community an opportunity to hear from leaders and experts on the status of President Obama’s executive action on immigration, and the future of the NY DREAM Act, among other topics.
Read MoreGarden of Dreams Foundation Awards SCO Student ‘Inspire Scholarship’
April 9, 2015 / SCO News
We are excited that Austin Van Schaick of Baldwin, NY, a student at our Westbrook Preparatory School in Westbury, is one of the inaugural recipients of Garden of Dreams’ Inspire Scholarships. Congrats, Austin! Read the full announcement below: THE GARDEN OF DREAMS FOUNDATION LAUNCHES INSPIRE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM The Foundation that works with The Madison Square Garden Company continues to change the lives of children in need throughout the tri-state area Twelve $10,000 renewable college scholarships to be awarded each year; first round of recipients announced NEW YORK, NY – (April 9, 2015) – The Garden of Dreams Foundation, a non-profit organization that works closely with The Madison Square Garden Company (MSG) to help children in need, has launched the Garden of Dreams Inspire Scholarship program, which will award twelve $10,000 renewable college scholarships each year to high school seniors from the Foundation’s partner organizations. The first recipients of these new scholarships were announced today.
Read MoreSCO Family of Services Celebrating Annual Benefit to Support Vulnerable Children & Families
April 9, 2015 / SCO News
Honorees Include FJC Security Services, Inc. of Floral Park and Steven and Leslie Marentis of Old Brookville GLEN COVE, NY – SCO Family of Services, a leading provider of human services in New York, on May 29th will celebrate its annual benefit at Nassau Country Club to support programs and services provided each year to more than 60,000 children, teens, adults and families at over 110 locations throughout Long Island and New York City. The event will honor FJC Security Services, led by Chairman and founder Frank J. Califano, Sr. FJC has for more than a decade provided security services for seven shelters managed by SCO serving more than 1,000 people each day. Other honorees include SCO Board Chair Kelly L. Williams, former Corporate General Counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, and longtime supporters Steven and Leslie Marentis of Old Brookville, NY.
Read MoreHillary Clinton and Chirlane McCray Announce “Talk To Your Baby” Campaign at SCO/FirstStepNYC
April 1, 2015 / SCO News
NYC First Lady Chirlane McCray and Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited SCO Family of Services’ SCO/FirstStepNYC early childhood education center Wednesday, April 1, 2015 to jointly launch New York City’s “Talk To Your Baby, Their Brain Depends On It” public awareness campaign, urging parents to talk, read and sing to their babies from birth. Clinton, McCray and Deputy Mayor Richard Buery announced a collaboration between the New York City Children’s Cabinet and the Clinton Foundation's Too Small to Fail children's initiative that will feature major public awareness campaigns and a new partnership with Scholastic Inc. to distribute baby book bundles to hundreds of thousands of new NYC parents. These efforts will focus on closing the “word gap.” Studies have found that by age four, children in middle- and upper-income families hear 30 million more words than their lower-income peers. This disparity in hearing words from parents and caregivers translates directly into a disparity in learning words. And that puts our children born with the fewest advantages even further behind.
Read MoreHillary Rodham Clinton and Chirlane McCray to Launch Early Childhood Initiative at SCO/FirstStepNYC
March 31, 2015 / SCO News
Update: Click here for our recap of the event. THE CITY OF NEW YORK OFFICE OF THE MAYOR NEW YORK, NY 10007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:[email protected], (212) 788-2958 **Media Advisory** WEDNESDAY: FIRST LADY CHIRLANE MCCRAY AND SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON JOINTLY LAUNCH NEW YORK CITY EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES NEW YORK – On Wednesday, First Lady Chirlane McCray will team up with Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to jointly launch New York City’s Talk to Your Baby public awareness campaign and toolkit distribution, and the Clinton Foundation’s Too Small To Fail Community Campaign Guide at SCO Family of Services' FirstStepNYC Child Development Center.
Read MorePRESS RELEASE: 5th Annual SCO/Family Dynamics Art Auction & Cocktail Party
March 26, 2015 / SCO News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Press Contact: Sharman Stein, Director of Communications [email protected], (718) 797-3068 Brooklyn, New York – The 5th Annual SCO/Family Dynamics Art Auction & Cocktail Party will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28th at Site/109, 109 Norfolk St., in Manhattan. The auction’s Honorary Artist Chair is contemporary artist Harif Guzman of New York. Harif’s early years in his father’s print shop and roots in street art, collage and mechanical reproduction continue to inspire and inform his transformation from “street-smart skate punk” to acclaimed contemporary painter and mixed media artist. Guzman has created an original painting for the Auction entitled “Death Divorce Debt.” In addition to Guzman, whose work has a worldwide following, and has been featured at The Whitney Museum of Art, the other talented artists whose works will be auctioned off include: Ryan Keeley, Richard Phillips, Alison Jackson, Ron Diorio, Robert Szot, Deborah Brown, Erik Parker, Clayton Calvert, Andrew Fladeboe, Eric Demarchelier, Patricia Avellan, Ashley Woodson Bailey, Georgia Elrod, J Grabowski, Ann Jackson, Richard Jacobs, Anthony Kiernen, Glenn Paul Smith, Ross Watts and Brian Pearson. The Art Auction supports Family Dynamics’ after-school art programming, which provides art instruction for children and teens in high-need communities throughout Central Brooklyn. To date, students have created striking self-portraits, mixed media and collage style landscapes, sculptures and stagecraft all with discarded materials. As their contribution to the Auction, students will create and donate for auction a large mixed media portrait of President Barack Obama made of fabric, beads and other nonconventional materials provided in partnership with Materials for the Arts.
Read MoreFirstStepNYC hosts CityTech Nurses for community health event
March 24, 2015 / Independent Youth News
Seeking to raise awareness for two major health concerns facing children and families in Brownsville – uncontrolled asthma and childhood obesity – the New York City College of Technology Nursing Department and representatives from Brookdale and Kings County hospitals Tuesday held a community meeting at SCO/FirstStepNYC, an early childhood education…
Read MoreANNOUNCEMENT: NYC Worker Cooperative Development Initiative
March 20, 2015 / SCO News
The Center for Family Life (CFL) has been incubating worker cooperatives in Sunset Park, Brooklyn for the past eight years. We have seen how our work has helped empower our community by supporting cooperative members in their quest for fair wages and dignified employment through their cooperative businesses. In the…
Read MoreSCO Taft Academy Conference
March 13, 2015 / SCO News
Nearly 200 staff members from our five campuses for youth with special needs attended the first SCO Taft Academy conference in March for a robust panel discussion and professional development activities. Through Taft, our staff are improving outcomes for children and youth with special needs by enhancing their skills and performance through Taft’s educational and professional development opportunities, and establishing a culture of performance excellence through consistent practice and interdisciplinary approaches. Participants attended from the schools and residences at Robert J. McMahon Children’s Center/Tyree Learning Center, Ottilie RTF/Theresa Paplin School, Madonna Heights RTF & School, The Christopher School and Westbrook Preparatory School. The SCO Taft Academy is made possible by the generous support of the Taft Foundation.
Read MoreDream Big, Speak Out Open Mic Event
March 9, 2015 / Independent Youth News
“About My Black”, “Unlucky Number 8” and “The Last Fight” were just a few of the poems our transfer school students recited March 2nd at the 1st Annual Dream Big, Speak Out Open Mic Event at the famous Nuyorican Poets Café. The students have been participating in Dream Big, Speak Out – a program created by the New York Knicks,Garden of Dreams Foundation and Urban Word NYC – designed to celebrate the African American Experience. Watch video highlights from the performance and check out photos from the event below (click thumbnails to view gallery)! Your browser does not support iframes.
Read MoreBecoming a Forever Family: Declan Redwood O’Hare’s Adoption Story
January 22, 2015 / SCO News
Adoption Day: Making Their Tribe Complete The excited buzz in the Kings County Courthouse was more noticeable than you would normally expect for the small group of New Yorkers hanging around a waiting room near Judge Robert Ross’ offices on the morning of April 10, 2014. When Declan Redwood O’Hare burst out of a nearby office and tore down the adjacent hallway, the preschooler was trailed by his laughing pint-sized clone and little brother, Arthur (“Arty”), sporting a dark blue sweater nearly identical in color to Declan’s miniature suit jacket and vest. While the significance of the day may have been lost on Declan, who would turn three the next day, the adults were fully aware of what a momentous occasion it was: Three years after a five-day-old Declan was first placed into their arms, longtime couple Hugo Redwood and Denis O’Hare would officially go from foster parents to legally-recognized dads, when Declan’s adoption was finalized that morning.
Read MoreJanuary is National Mentoring Month – Get Involved!
January 12, 2015 / Independent Youth News
Could you navigate through a twisting, turning, pitch-black tunnel using only your sense of touch? Our kids did just that in the “Touch Tunnel,” one of many cool exhibits enjoyed Saturday by participants in our Family Dynamics Mentoring Program at the Liberty Science Center. See more photos below! January is National Mentoring Month – If you’d like to Be Someone Who Matters to Someone Who Matters, email us at [email protected]. Find out more: http://sco.org/2014-mentoring-benefit/
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