Empire State Poverty Reduction Initiative Phase I Work Plan
Submitted by: United Way of Long Island
Briefly describe the designated nonprofit’s qualifications to head the anti-poverty initiative.
United Way of Long Island addresses critical challenges in the areas of education, financial stability and health by connecting local people in need with evidence-based programs, strategic funding investments, community initiatives, volunteer support and community leadership to direct resources to solve problems.
Our organization is proud to lead the Village of Hempstead Poverty Reduction Initiative. We will serve as a facilitator to bring together agencies, organizations and community members to address poverty in the community. We have an intimate understanding of the conditions that would need to be met within the Village of Hempstead in order to achieve the goals of the Poverty Reduction Initiative and we are committed to undertaking a strength-based approach to implementation that builds on current community assets and leverages existing resources.
United Way of Long Island has a long history in combatting poverty across the region. United Way’s board of directors have made a bold decision to focus the organization’s work on breaking the cycle of poverty in the region. Through strategic community partnerships, United Way of Long Island is working with a diverse group of service providers to help families in our community who are struggling to obtain basic needs. The following is a snapshot how United Way helped to reduce poverty in 2016:
Briefly describe the other organizations and individuals that will serve on the Task Force, as well as why they were selected.
Organizations and individuals were selected to serve on the Task Force based on extensive community engagement during the summer and fall of 2016 and their willingness to be part of a Poverty Reduction Initiative that is collaborative, community-driven, person-centered, data-informed and evidence based. Together, we will call on the entire community to help lift our most vulnerable members out of poverty by addressing the barriers that prevent individuals and families from moving toward economic stability.
The following organizations and individuals have agreed to serve on the Task Force:
- Don Ryan – Mayor Village of Hempstead
- Reverend David A. Anglada – The Lutheran Church of the Epiphany
- Dr. Fadhilika Atiba-Weza – Hempstead Union Free School District, Interim Superintendent of Schools
- Lorraine Aycock – Bank of America, SVP Market Manager/Enterprise Business & Community Engagement
- Jan Barbieri – Child Care Council of Nassau, Executive Director
- Evangelist Reginald Benjamin – ABBA Leadership Center, Executive Director
- Lawrence Bernstein – The Lawrence Foundation, Executive Director
- Dana Boylan – Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, Unit Chief, Director of Community Re-entry Initiatives
- Legislator Siela A. Bynoe, Nassau County Legislature
- Reverend Malcolm J. Byrd – Jackson Memorial AME Zion Church
- Paulina Ceballus – Community Member
- Barber Chamikea – Community Member
- Roger Clayman – Long Island Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, Executive Director
- Michele Cohen – BOCES, Nassau, Assistant Principal
- Reverend Canon Dr. Lynn A. Collins – St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church
- Nancy Copperman – Northwell Health, Assistant Vice President
- Elise S. Damas, Esq. – Central American Refugee Center (CARECEN-NY), Program Director
- Reverend Dr. Patrick Daymond – Memorial Presbyterian Church
- Claire Deroche – Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, Social Justice Coordinator
- Lawrence Ding – Cambridge Business Institute, School Director
- Rosalie Drago – Workforce Development Institute, Regional Director, Long Island
- Edward Dumas – Long Island Railroad, Vice President Public Affairs & Market Development
- Jeanique D.R. Druses – JP Morgan Chase & Co., Vice President Relationship Manager Global Philanthropy
- John R. Durso – Long Island Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, President
- Reverend Dr. Sedgwick V. Easley – The Union Baptist Church, Pastor
- Pat Edwards – Citi, Vice President, Director of Community Relations/Long Island and South Queens
- Lance W. Elder – EAC, President & CEO
- Reverend Philip E. Elliot – Antioch Baptist Church, Pastor
- Don Friedman – Empire Justice Center at the Public Advocacy Center at Touro Law School, Managing Attorney, Long Island Office
- Diane M. Gaines – The Woman’s Opportunity Rehabilitation Center, Executive Director
- Hector Garcia – LIRR Government & Community Affairs
- Andrea Gatewood – Nassau County Department of Health, WIC Director
- Greta Guarton – Long Island Coalition for the Homeless, Executive Director
- Martine Hackett, Ph.D. – Hofstra University, Assistant Professor, Department of Health Professionals
- Juanita Hargwood – Director Human Relations, Inc. Village of Hempstead
- Ana-Maria Hurtado – Hempstead Works, Commissioner & WIB Director at Town of Hempstead Department of Occupational Resources-Hempstead/Long Beach WIB
- Diane Ialenti – Nassau Inter-County Express, Director of Human Resources
- John Imhof – Nassau County Department of Social Services, Commissioner
- Dennis Jones – Hempstead Chamber of Commerce, President
- Iris A. Johnson – EOC Nassau, Chief Executive Officer
- Jean Kelly, The Interfaith Nutrition Network (INN), Executive Director
- Lawrence Levy – Hofstra University, Executive Dean at National Center for Suburban Studies
- Cara Longworth – Empire State Development, ESD Long Island Regional Director
- Carolyn McCummings, MPH – Nassau County Department of Health, Director Social Health Programs and Minority Health
- Reverend Phillip McDowell – South Hempstead Baptist Church
- Chief Michael McGowan – Hempstead Police Department, Incorporated Village of Hempstead
- Patricia Moore – Village of Hempstead, Special Counsel
- David Nemiroff, LCSW – Long Island FQHC, Inc., Executive Director
- Danielle Oglesby – Community Development Agency, Commissioner
- Rosemary Olsen – Village of Hempstead Housing Authority, Executive Director
- Gwen O’Shea – Chief Executive Officer and President, CDC Long Island
- Lynda Parmely – Hagedorn Foundation, Program Director
- Perry Pettus – Deputy Mayor Village of Hempstead
- Donna Raphael, MA/Jeffrey Reynolds – Family and Children’s Association-Hands Across Hempstead, Director of Youth Services & Community Relations
- Brandon V. Ray, MPA – AT&T External Affairs-Long Island, Regional Director
- Erica Rechner – Opportunities Long Island, Executive Director
- Jenise Richardson – Mayor’s Office Director of Publicity/Special Asst. to the Mayor
- Kyle Rose-Louder – Deputy Executive ADA, Government & Community Relations
- Father Luis Miguel Romero – Our Lady of Loretto R.C. Church
- Lucas Sanchez – New York Communities for Change, Long Island Director
- Gladys Serrano – Hispanic Counseling Center, Chief Executive Officer
- George Siberón, M.P.A., M.S.W. – Hempstead Hispanic Civic Association, Inc., Executive Director
- Madeline Singas – Nassau County District Attorney
- Robert Suarez – Bethpage Federal Credit Union, Assistant VP, Community Development
- Tina Shuford – ALL THE WAY 100 PERCENT INC., President/CEO/Community Advisor
- Harris Tracey – Community Resident
If not actively represented on the Task Force, please describe how the Task Force will coordinate with, and obtain input from, the following groups: municipal, county and/or state government; individuals living in poverty; community members impacted by poverty; local social services districts; local school districts and other education organizations; not-for-profit and faith-based community organizations; employers; workforce services entities; economic development organizations; public safety officials; and health services providers.
The Poverty Reduction Initiative is an unprecedented community-wide effort to reduce poverty in the Village of Hempstead. This initiative is made possible by extraordinary community collaboration and integration with community leaders, municipal, county and state government; community members impacted by poverty; local social services district; local school district; not-for-profit and faith-based community organizations; employers; workforce services entities; economic development organizations; public safety officials; and health services providers. All entities representing the aforementioned groups have been included in the Task Force and will provide input.
Describe how the Task Force workgroups will be convened and led, including how the ideas of workgroup members and other stakeholders will be collectively considered to develop recommendations.
United Way of Long Island, working with our partners in government, will bring together a diverse set of stakeholders to respond to the Village of Hempstead’s deepening poverty epidemic. Workgroups and Resource Teams will include the input of residents impacted by poverty. They will identify common themes that serve as the foundation for all poverty reduction planning and implementation efforts. We will establish 6 workgroups (Health Committee, Justice Committee, Economic Development Committee, Workforce Development Committee, Education Committee and Social Support Committee) which will be comprised of people impacted by poverty, front line workers and focus area leaders. This will include regularly scheduled meetings at community locations. Over a period of 12 months goals will be set, workgroups will be convened and a report will be issued. The Task Force will involve approximately 500 people from the community, including 75+ volunteers on committees and workgroups, 250+ community members, and most importantly people impacted by poverty. This will include: Town Hall Meetings, Listening Sessions, Community Surveys, Individual and Group Interviews and Resource Teams.
Describe how the Task Force will identify areas of focus, including how priorities will be identified and ranked. Explain how the Task Force’s recommendations for those areas will be developed and implemented.
During Phase I, the Task Force and its workgroups will ensure extensive community engagement, research and a rigorous design process that will result in a roadmap for advancing the initiative. Community workgroups will develop and rank recommendations for addressing poverty-related barriers in the Village of Hempstead with specific focus on: health, justice, economic development, workforce development, education and social support.
The Task Force will focus its efforts on addressing the needs of the working poor to help them emerge from and, stay out of, poverty and addressing the barriers that prevent individuals and families from moving toward economic stability. Our ultimate goal will be to enable every child and family in the Village of Hempstead to have the opportunity to live in a stable environment where the promise of economic stability – and economic mobility – is within their grasp.
We hope to reduce poverty in the Village of Hempstead by:
- Recognizing and mitigating the factors that get in the way of persons breaking free of poverty—in particular, creating equity for all members of the community.
- Increasing access to quality employment and opportunities for advancement.
- Effectively linking to the economic and employment opportunities that are taking root in the community and the region.
- Addressing gaps in services related to social supports, access, awareness, capacity, effectiveness and/or integration.
If your local area received funding through the Upstate Revitalization Initiative, please describe how you will coordinate the efforts of the Task Force with that initiative.
Not applicable. The local area did not receive funding through the Upstate Revitalization Initiative.
Describe efforts that will be made to secure additional resources to support the poverty reduction initiative, including business and foundation support.
The Poverty Reduction Initiative is a community-informed strategy developed to coordinate and align resources. Our sustainability plan provides a roadmap to diversify the program’s funding in order to continue operations if OTDA funding becomes unavailable. United Way of Long Island will constantly be on the lookout for new opportunities for funding the initiative, scanning every situation we encounter with an eye toward the sustainability of the program. Moreover, we will collectively develop a funding model to ensure initiative sustainability. This will provide the framework for developing a funding process that maintains strategic alignment between New York State and local government funders. We will also establish partnerships with local and national foundations who have expertise in reducing poverty, that may, and likely will, have an interest in supporting the implementation of Initiative recommendations; create a local funder team led by key staff from the Village of Hempstead, United Way of Long Island and local foundations that will meet with the New York State identified representatives from the Task Force to develop a high-level plan of action; establish the links between categories of funds and the policies and regulations that guide them; identify policy shifts with new funding mechanisms.
Describe your goals for Phase I, as well as an estimated time frame for each goal.
The major goal for Phase I is to develop a report with findings of the workgroups, barriers and recommendations. The report will provide the foundation for future work and investment and will be a beginning point and not an ending point. During the 12 month period of Phase I, workgroups will develop recommendations for their specific area of focus. Workgroups will be formed to tackle barriers that, early in the process, have been identified as cutting across all of the key areas. Workgroups will be charged with identifying assets and barriers that currently exist in the community, developing recommendations based on S.W.O.T. analysis for their specific area of focus, and establishing key success measures. Each workgroup will include the active participation of people impacted by poverty and will ensure that the voices of those experiencing poverty are heard and given equal influence in the process. Recommendations will be developed and prioritized with strong community engagement, with the objective of achieving a high level of acceptance from persons impacted by poverty. Lastly, the initiative will establish a Systems Design Team in partnership with the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University to merge and synthesize the many recommendations from workgroups, into a unified plan, identify common themes and recommend next steps for the implementation of Phase 2. We will explore best-practice models for combating poverty with examples of evidence-based programs that have been tested and proven to reduce poverty in other communities and could be replicated in the Village of Hempstead. Rather than offering a list of programs and funding requests that will solve the crisis, this report will lay the foundation for the future work and for future investment in the initiative.
Identify who will be responsible for tracking and evaluating the success of the initiative, including developing a report to summarize Task Force findings and recommendations. Note, a report must be submitted to OTDA that, at a minimum, summarizes workgroups established and recommended poverty reduction strategies identified by the workgroups and Task Force recommendations for Phase Two activity.
The Program Team will be responsible for tracking and evaluating the success of the initiative, including developing a report to summarize Task Force findings and recommendations. This will be written and prepared in partnership the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University. Additionally, the Program Team will communicate and execute the strategic direction with the Steering Committee and Task Force; develop and implement community engagement activities (town hall meetings) with a focus to directly support the strategic goals of the Poverty Reduction Initiative; create engagement and inclusive opportunities for stakeholders and the community; gain support from Village of Hempstead community; lead workgroups which will be created by the steering committee to focus on specific issues related to poverty; facilitate community forums (each workgroup will be responsible for holding forums to get input from the community); manage resource teams to develop specific strategies and tactics to address the common themes that arise from workgroups.