ASTEP is currently offering two exciting initiatives in NYC:
The Incarnation Children's Center (ICC) is the only licensed pediatric skilled nursing facility exclusively providing specialized care for children and adolescents living with HIV/AIDS. These children represent all five boroughs of New York and a growing number have recently emigrated from Africa. The ICC's unique combination of expertise and support provides these youths and their families with an interdisciplinary approach designed to meet the challenges of this illness and minimize its effects on the quality of life. The ICC's main focus is on children who are too sick to be cared for at home but not ill enough to require hospitalization. The center houses around 34 children from ages 1-21.
One of the challenges the ICC faces is the transitioning and reintegration of the oldest patients into active members of society. At 21 these young adults are required to leave the center and pursue lives independent from the sheltered upbringing of the ICC.
ASTEP has been invited by Lillie McCatty, the ICC's therapeutic specialist, to provide their 18-21 year old students with interactive arts experiences that focus on developing individual living skills and action plans through artistic explorations of everyday life, personal circumstance and the power of community. ASTEP's volunteer educators come together with these youths to share ideas and help create first-rate theatrical performances in a safe, supportive, passionate environment. In doing so, these young adults find that creativity and discipline are not mutually exclusive; their development in the classroom and onstage will be mirrored by the offstage development of improved work habits, increased problem-solving abilities, and powerful dedication to team work.
Each year, thousands of refugees are invited by the U.S. government to seek safety and freedom. Forced to flee conflict or persecution, many have survived for years against incredible odds. They step off the plane with next to nothing but their dignity, hope and determination. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) services 42 countries, providing emergency relief, relocating refugees, and rebuilding lives in the wake of disaster. The IRC provides opportunities for refugees to thrive in America. Through 22 regional offices in cities across the United States, The IRC helps refugees resettle in the U.S. and become self-sufficient and rebuild their lives.
Beginning in mid-October of 2009 ASTEP volunteer educators will be able to take part in the IRC's Saturday Learning Series a part of the IRC's Refugee Youth Program. The Saturday Learning Series is held in mid-town Manhattan and provides regular Saturday classes that focus on extra homework help and English language instruction through creative and fun learning activities. The children involved in the program come from countries all over the world including Nepal, Burma, Thailand, Tibet, Iraq, Guinea, Congo, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Cuba, Togo, China, Morocco, Haiti, Dominican Republic, and Bangladesh. ASTEP volunteer educators in collaboration with the IRC hope to inspire the children of these very different communities, by way of artistic projects and classes, to look toward each other for inspiration and support and help build bridges between their communities to create a commonality where all of their talents can flourish and equal opportunities explored.
In January of 2008 ASTEP began collaborating with Sing For Hope and Young at Arts to provide the talented youth of Bronxville and Mount Vernon an exhilarating after-school arts program enriched and enlivened by ASTEP volunteer artists. In the spring of 2008 ASTEP volunteers helped this young ensemble prepare a wonderful performance of Once On This Island. By using the underlying themes and material in this play, the students engaged in broader conversations about social themes relevant to their circumstances.
ASTEP's work continued (July 2008) with these young people during the two week summer intensive coined 'Building Bridges, Building Communities' and again in 2009 themed 'Discover the Pride-Share the Responsibility'. The students were exposed to ASTEP's Y.E.S. (Youth Education Station) classes where they collaborated with ASTEP volunteer educators on exercises focused on the particular theme of that day.
In the summer of 2009 ASTEP partnered with two new organizations to further our reach and affect change in the lives of additional New York City children. The first partnership, inspired by ASTEP's relationship with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS was with the Incarnation Children's Center, the nations' only pediatric HIV/AIDS facility dealing with children who not only have the virus but also have other special needs. The second was the International Rescue Committee, which supports newly arrived refugee children by providing them with immediate aid including food, shelter access to housing, job placement, employment skills, clothing, medical attention and education. With both groups ASTEP's aim is to help these children transition; culturally and through lifestyle changes, via communal arts projects and classes.
14 million American children live in poverty. 3.5 of these children are at risk for hunger. Currently, child poverty in New York State is a whopping 26.3%, ranking it the highest in the industrialized world. 1 in every 4 children (approximately 527,085) in New York City come from families with an annual income of $16,600.00 or less for a family of three.
Having immigrant parents also increases a child's chances of living in a low-income family. More than 20 percent of this country's children, about 16 million, have at least one foreign-born parent. Fifty-eight percent of children whose parents are immigrants are low-income. Children whose families are in volatile or deteriorating financial circumstances are more likely to experience negative effects than children whose families are in stable economic situations.
New York's 1.5 million poor people are as diverse in race, culture and tradition as the City itself. What they share in common is the lack of skills, education, and capital necessary to achieve a better future. Children living in poverty face a disproportionate number of risk factors that jeopardize their well-being and life outcomes. Children in poverty are 2 times more likely to repeat a grade and 3.5 times more likely to drop out of school than children who live above the poverty line. In short, high rates of child poverty and income inequality in the U.S. can be reduced, but effective, widespread, and long-lasting change will require shifts in both national policy and the economy.*
*Information gathered from National Center for Children in Poverty, Children's Defense Fund, Wikipedia, NYC.gov (The New York City Commission for Economic Opportunity; CEO Report 2006)
