Ponce De Leon Foundation 2018 to 2023 Report

Union Settlement Association

Their program, CareerAcademy, functions as both a training resource for job seekers and as a "no fee" talent acquisition service for employers. The Career Academy serves young adults between the ages of 17 and 24 who are workforce development

neither in school nor working and face complex barriers to employment. Since its inception, Career Academy has increased the work readiness of more than 1,370 young people and has placed more than 580 graduates in full-time, part-time, and temporary positions.The Career Academy has served 43 young people and placed 13 participants in employment. Eleven participants have received security guard training, and seven participants have been placed in internal internship placements. In addition to soft skills training, individual career counseling, and placement assistance, we also o ff er sector-specific training to program graduates who are interested in careers in the security sector. They o ff er both the 8-hour and 16-hourtraining courses through our partnership with Center SecurityTraining. Trainees who complete both courses are eligible for licensure as security guards.

Urban Design Forum

In support of the recovery of small businesses and neighborhood institutions, Urban Design Forum partnered with the Van Alen Institute to launch Neighborhoods Now To develop safe, e ff ective, and scalable response strategies, the Urban Design Forum forged diverse social and professional coalitions to advance a more equitable economic recovery for small businesses and community organizations. This pandemic response initiative mobilized 225+

designers, engineers, lawyers, and financial advisors to provide technical assistance to 11 community development corporations and business improvement districts, including Bedford-Stuyvesant, Washington Heights, Jackson Heights, the Lower East Side, and Kingsbridge and Longwood. This grant enabled a range of project accomplishments, including: supporting 25+ restaurants’ re-openings in Jackson Heights through outdoor construction and permitting, assistance to 15+ cultural organizations to continue safe operations in the Lower East Side, support to provide vaccinations and other emergency social services at Restoration Plaza in Bed-Stuy, the construction of outdoor retail, restaurants, and play spaces in Washington Heights, the reactivation of five community gardens for social service provision in the South Bronx, and the launch of Chinatown Nights, a night market established in May 2021 in Forsyth Plaza to increase commercial and cultural exchange in Chinatown.

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