Food Stamp Clinics

A special thank you to Adrian Franklin and Stacey Oliver from the Food Stamp and Nutrition Outreach program who spent a day with us at the Mediation Center this February helping residents determine if they are eligible for food stamps, begin the application process, and answer a myriad of other questions. The individual time and attention they give our community members is greatly appreciated. The next Food Stamp Clinic is happening on Tuesday, March 17th 12:00pm-5:00pm. Call 718-773-6886 to make an appointment today.

The Movies Comes to Crown Heights

Actor, director, and screenwriter Scott Prendergast and movie producer Bonnie Timmerman met with Crown Heights Mediation Center staff and residents to discuss Black and Jewish relationships in an effort to do research on an upcoming film. The film will be based on a true story about a young African American performer who must recover from a head injury in a Jewish old age home. Bonnie and Scott took a brief tour of Kingston Avenue and talked with residents from different backgrounds gathering the unique perspectives of residents in Crown Heights.

Organization of Young Women's Rites-of-Passage Program

Since January 9th, the Crown Heights Community Mediation Center has been working with a phenomenal group of young women at Paul Robeson High School through the Organization of Young Women's Rites-of-Passage Program. Rites-of-Passage is a womanhood development program that helps young women develop a positive self-image by addressing issues that arise as girls move into womanhood.

Youth Entrepreneurship Program Launches!

On January 28 the Crown Heights Community Mediation Center launched the Youth Entrepreneurship Program with the superstar 6th grade class at Middle School 334 for Academic and Social Excellence. Together, we'll be starting a business! Through a hands on approach, the Youth Entrepreneurship Program is designed to teach young people the skills needed to start a business, and allow them to see the connection between entrepreneurship and solving neighborhood problems.

Train the Trainer Workshop

The Mediation Center is offering another Train-the-Trainer Conflict Resolution workshop, Friday March 6th. Call or email for more information!

Fundraising: Planning During Challening Economic Times

We Are All Brooklyn in cooperation with Project CARE, Brooklyn College Conference Center, and The Foundation Center are presenting an event about fundraising during difficult economic times. Susan Shiroma, the Senior Librarian at The Foundation Center will present on the topic on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009. The event will be held at Brooklyn College Conference Center East 27th St. and Campus Rd., The Penthouse Brooklyn, NY 11210. Registration begins at 8:30am, and the event will run from 9:00am-12:00pm. There is a $10 fee that can be paid at the event. Please register here: www.communityuplink.net/fiscaltraining3.htm

Access NYC Computer Terminal

The Crown Heights Community Mediation Center now has an Access NYC computer terminal. This new service will help community members learn if they are eligible for over 35 different city, state, and federal human service benefits programs at one time. New Yorkers can access this information in one of seven languages, English, Spanish, Haitian-Creole, Arabic, Russian, Chinese, or Korean. If you or someone you know is interested, please call 718-773-6886 to make an appointment with a Mediation Center staff member who can help you through the process of beginning an application for a variety of public benefit programs. Once you find out which programs you are eligible for, you can print out the application and the agency office locations where you are able to file the applications.

Hate Crimes Forum

On Thursday, January 29th, 2009, our very own Amy Ellenbogen, Project Director of the Crown Heights Community Mediation Center, spoke at the 20th Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer Interfaith Retreat on Social Justice Confronting Hate Crimes. This event was meant for religious leaders who can play an important role in reporting and addressing hate crimes. The retreat addressed a myriad of different issues surrounding hate crimes, including: identifying what is a hate crime & how to recognize it, how religious leaders can work with city agencies and other non-profits to report and address hate crime incidents as soon as they happen, how religious communities are both targeted for hate crimes, but also can also have individual perpetrators that abuse religion to justify attacking those who are different, and how religious leaders can offer a unique response by working together and fulfilling the faith-based, moral imperative to respond with both justice and compassion. Amy spoke on a panel with a detective from the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force, Matthew T. Lattimer from the US Department of Justice Community Relations Service, and Amardeep Singh from The Sikh Coalition.