Hudson Guild Talks - September 2021 Newsletter

October 6, 2021 | by hgadmin

Meet Rachel!

I am the Health and Disabilities Manager at the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Program. Our team delivers quality health and special education services. This includes educating staff, families, and children on health, nutrition, mental health topics, and more through our monthly newsletters, frequent workshops, and training.

Within the health components of my role, I assist families in securing medical and health-related services, ensuring children have health coverage, vaccinations, and routine examinations. To ensure the safety of our staff and children, I supply the classrooms with First Aid and PPE supplies. On the disabilities end, I help identify developmental concerns and support families as they navigate the special education process.

A motivation for me is Hudson Guild's mission to empower those in the community. I feel the empowerment begins here in the ECE program. So many of our young participants are deeply impacted by the effects of poverty and socioeconomic disparities, which trickle into their quality of life and overall outcomes. Our ability to provide families and their children with the support to advocate for their health, their needs, and the tools to change their future is inspiring. Personally, watching our families and community grow and thrive is one of the most enjoyable parts of working at the Hudson Guild.

One of the greatest challenges is dismantling the systemic oppression and poverty that reduces our participant's access to resources and equitable opportunities. While we provide the tools, support, and lift our participants to the greatest extent possible, existing economic and social exclusion coupled with capitalism continues to impact our organization and the community we serve. While these are large barriers to break, the challenges further fuel my passion for social justice and push me to continue advocating for the betterment of the community.

While at Hudson Guild, my proudest moment was providing health and disability services virtually when the COVID-19 pandemic halted in-person programming. My team quickly adapted to the changes and invented new ways to support our children and families. We coordinated teletherapy services, facilitated workshops for families twice a week, checked in with families weekly, and curated a monthly health newsletter. The ability to continue providing quality services to our children and families felt amazing during such a difficult time.

I love traveling to Puerto Rico. A lot of my family lives out there, and I love the fresh beaches and delicious food.

Ready For School

On Saturday, August 28th Hudson Guild's Community Building Department and the Elliott Chelsea Tenant Association held their annual Back to School Bash family day event. It was great to see the community outside and the children getting backpacks and school supplies for the upcoming school year. We are very thankful to our partners who helped us get the supplies such as Walt Disney Corporation, Turner Construction Company, Roc Nation, 605 TV, and Avenues: The World School. Wishing all kids a great school year!

Disney In The House!

We would like to give a special thanks to The Walt Disney Company for sponsoring the Back to School Bash with a $10,000 grant, in addition to sending over six wonderful Disney VoluntEARS who helped give out school supplies during the event to families in the community. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Disney on more volunteer and support opportunities!

Dreams coming true!

We are happy to share that Michael P, a 19-year-old participant in Hudson Guild's Teen & Young Adult program has received a full basketball scholarship from Central Methodist College in Missouri. Michael, who is from the UK, has been staying with relatives here and came to play basketball at our facility. Our Coach Marcus Gooding invited Tippy McTernan, a well-known basketball coach, to come see a workout where he noticed Micheal. After seeing Michael play, Tippy reached out to several of his colleagues, which eventually lead to the scholarship offer. The timing was amazing because Michael was set to return home to England. While he had always dreamed of pursuing his passion for the sport, when he first came to play basketball with us Michael never imagined this would be the result. We are extremely happy for Michael. There’s truly nothing like having a dream come true.

This Month's Buzz

Time After Time, a new exhibit featuring algorithmic time-lapse panoramas by Tommy Mintz will open at Guild Gallery II in Hudson Guild’s Fulton Center on September 30 at 5:30 PM. Time After Time features Tommy Mintz’s signature technique called Automated Digital Photo Collage (ADPC) -- an algorithm for creating time-lapse photo collages. Mintz commented, “Walking around the city, then standing still with my camera, I take photographs of vacant lots, disappearing landmarks and new towers, behind a parade of infinitely varied people. The joy and beauty in their movement through the city is particularly notable now following the echo of emptiness which occurred in 2020.”

Our Early Childhood Education program is currently enrolling children born in 2017, 2018, or 2019 for free or reduced-cost preschool for the 2021-2022 school year, at five west side school locations. For more information email: preschoolenrollment@hudsonguild.org

Our Adult Center at the Fulton Community Center is now open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Pre-registration is required. Please email sundial@hudsonguild.org or call 212-924-6710 for hours and to register for meals and activities. Check out this month's Adult Center newsletter here.

Events

September 30- Denise Corley: Vigilance - Shields and Totems Opening Reception, 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM at Hudson Guild Gallery I, The Elliott Center, 441 West 26th Street

Jobs

Whether you're looking for full-time or part-time employment, a permanent position or one for the summer, Hudson Guild currently has a number of job opportunities available.

To view all jobs, please visit hudsonguild.bamboohr.com/jobs.

Categories: News newsletter E-Newsletter