Invest In Our Promise

Children of Promise, NYC (CPNYC) has been confronted with the ongoing challenges of the COVID pandemic. This difficult time on top of the issues our community grapples with every day has fueled our team to new heights. CPNYC has expanded our programs and services and strengthened our trauma-informed clinically care.

As we look towards 2022, we hope that you will support our mission and work. CPNYC will roll out our advocacy work to address the root causes of mass incarceration, and we will continue to expand our programs and services for children, youth, and families.

Please, invest in our promise to children, youth, and families. Make a year-end contribution and provide valuable resources to continue our critical work in Brooklyn and the South Bronx.

Take a few minutes to read the powerful stories of Sabrina, Dalvin and Jackie.

Sabrina

My proudest moment in life was becoming a mother. A mother to my two beautiful sons and now a grandmother to four beautiful grandchildren. Being a mother has brought me so much joy, but two years ago my family experienced a life changing act of violence. My youngest son James was shot and left paralyzed by the mother of his child in my very own house — one of the most traumatic days of my life. Now my days of motherhood are spent taking my son to physical therapy and raising my eight-year-old grandbaby Jayceon, whose mother is incarcerated, and he has become very protective of his father. After my son was injured, not knowing what was coming next was the hardest part but Children of Promise, NYC (CPNYC) was there to help me deal with the emotional ups and downs and provided support for my grandson. They have provided stress management courses and have cared for Jayceon through after school and summer programming, along with counseling to help him deal with such a traumatizing event. Since my family connected with CPNYC, we have felt tremendous relief and more hopeful about the future.

Dalvin

For most of my life, I have lived with my grandmother and brothers due to my mother’s incarceration. The biggest challenge in my life has been the distance between us. Letter writing provided me with comfort and kept us close throughout her incarceration, but she was departed to St. Lucia upon her release. Now I struggle with a new level of separation. I try to visit my mother every summer, but the separation that I feel is always there. Children of Promise, NYC has been a place where I can escape and have access to an extended family for most of the week. Through CPNYC, I have been able to experience different aspects of my community and give back. Last year, I had a very difficult time with online learning and the pandemic. When schools shut down, I was a sophomore in high school, and now that school has started in person again, I am a senior. CPNYC has provided educational resources, emotional support, and as a member of the Youth Action Program, I am learning what it means to use my voice, to be an activist. CPNYC providing support and creating opportunities for me to tell my story has helped me through this tough time.

Jackie

At a young age, my son lost his father to incarceration, and I began to wear many hats. My son Xavier would ask questions like “why did they have to take my dad?” Oftentimes, I felt very alone. But after connecting with Children of Promise, NYC, my life with my son began to change. The organization has helped my son to open up about the things that have been affecting him and has helped me with my mental health as well. Through CPNYC, I have been able to learn different tools to cope with my feelings and how to handle myself in situations. Before joining their stress management class, I would just sit anywhere and begin to cry, but the program has taught me how to turn negative energy into feeling more positive and I’m hopeful thanks to the tools that I have learned. CPNYC is more than a program, they are my family. I have transitioned from feeling isolated and experiencing ongoing sadness to having a team that has helped me to manage life without my fiancé and my son’s father.

CPNYC’s impact on the lives of our scholars:

  • 70% of regularly attending scholars demonstrate an increase in academic engagement, social skills, emotional regulation, self-esteem, and a sense of purpose.

  • 80% of scholars improve their school attendance, homework completion, classroom participation and desire for learning.

  • 80% of scholars experience reduced post-traumatic stress symptoms by learning how to process, manage and resolve distressing thoughts and feelings.

  • 75% of scholars and adults experience improvements in supportive communication and cohesion within the family.

  • 90% of caregivers are more involved in their child’s academic progress and emotional development.

  • 97% of caregivers gained skills to effectively cope with trauma.