After a months-long, nationwide search, we are pleased to announce that Romarilyn Ralston has joined our team at CCF as our new Executive Director! Look out for a new blog post later this month to learn more about Romarilyn and her vision for CCF. In the meantime, check out the press release below detailing her arrival!
Team work makes the dream work!
A huge thank you to our community of supporters who showed up in a big way at the end of 2021. Our end-of-year campaign raised 153% more than our goal!
Thank you for being a part of our community, and saying "yes" to access to education and opportunity! CCF depends on individual donations to sustain our work, which is only possible because of your support! And the more we raise, the more tools and resources we can provide our community.
In Memoriam
We hold dear each and every member of the CCF community. Moving forward in our newsletter, we will be honoring participants and alumna who we have lost. In this newsletter we honor those we lost in 2021.
Glenna McCarthy
Glenna McCarthy passed away in late December 2021. She recently graduated with her MSW from Hunter College in May of 2021 and was an accomplished writer both publishing her own story and as a regular contributor to POZ Magazine. Read more about her journey here.
Zaida Sanchez
Zaida Sanchez passed away in August. Zaida was passionate about giving back to her community and had dreams of becoming a licensed social worker. She earned an Associate’s degree from Bronx Community College in 2015, a Bachelor’s from Lehman College in 2018 and most recently was working on getting her CASAC certification. Zaida was also part of the MultiGen program. Zaida and her grandkids loved attending CCF activities, especially family days and holiday celebrations.
Join Team CCF!
CCF is now hiring for Community Engagement Coordinator, Uplift Mentoring Manager, and Senior Community Organizer! If you are interested or know someone who may be interested, please visit our Career Opportunities page to find more information and spread the word!
CCF held its first Holiday Outing on December 17th at the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG). The holiday outing was an opportunity for the women and their families to connect with each other while enjoying the NYBG Holiday Train Show, Bronx Night Market, and the GLOW light show.
In an effort to expand upon, and streamline, its partnerships network, CCF recently joined Unite Us NYC, a coordinated care network made up of health and social care providers. This platform supports meaningful collaboration, community-wide care coordination, and secure, bidirectional data sharing.
CCF has finalized its Spring semester activities calendar and includes a combination of new and returning guest speakers who will explore topics such as, Gentle Parenting, Homebuying, Financial Education(Community Service Society), Financial Aid + Student Loans(Community Service Society), Accessing Liberation Through Ritual Rest, Securing Liberation Through Boundary, Praise Yourself, and Owning Your Story. This collection of speakers was curated to best meet the needs and expressed interests of CCF participants. Stay tuned!
Audrey Evelyn, CCF’s former Program Support and Event Coordinator, transitioned into the role of Academic Counselor, while Amanda Vazquez (pictured on the right) was recently hired to fill the Program Support and Event Coordinator(CEC) role. Congratulations to Audrey and Amanda!
CCF’s Uplift Mentoring Coordinator, Amy Choudhury, transitioned out of her role at the end of December; however, she has signed on to support as a consultant as the team works to fill her position. In addition to her support, another consultant has been brought on to revamp the curriculum and delivery of group activities.
The third Uplift cohort launched in November 2021 and will run through November 2022, while the fourth cohort is set to launch in May 2022 serving up to 15 mentees!
The fall cohort of MultiGen celebrated the end of the semester by sharing an outdoor dinner together during the Holiday Outing while also enjoying a family-led activity that included a polaroid camera and scrapbook kit to capture and commemorate the occasion.
The spring cohort is scheduled to begin mid-March, with applications set to open in February! CCF has expanded the MultiGen participation criteria! Now, participants are able to apply and enroll each semester regardless of the number of semesters they’ve already completed in the program. If you have any questions about enrollment or the new criteria, reach out to Whitney at wvairin@collegeandcommunity.org!
On November 29th, we held our 2nd Annual Career Convening hosted in partnership with JPMorgan Chase and guest presenter Suzette Guzman. Participants heard from Nichol King, Vice President and Community Manager at JPMorgan Chase; Sara Chapman, Director of Programs at NMIC; and Terrence Byerson, Community Relations Manager at Strive.Org and gained insight into hiring practices, support with resume preparation, and interview techniques.
NEW Career Advancement Program Model for 2022! Now, participants can choose exactly the type of support they’re looking for to strengthen their career skills and achieve their dreams! The three new options are CAP Select, CAP Max, and CAP Intern-only. Click Here to learn more or reach out to Career Coach, Janelle Rollins, to determine your eligibility.
Governor Hochul Announced Her Intention to #TurnOnTheTAPNY!
In the State of the State (NY’s equivalent to the State of the Union) and her Executive Budget, Hochul announced her intention to repeal the ban on the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) for those incarcerated thus opening up the educational opportunity for the many people in New York’s prisons. This win highlights the urgency for the legislature to push this policy and ensure it is in the final State budget.
During our #TurnOnTheTAPNY Advocacy Day earlier today, we heard from members of the New York State (NYS) legislature, directly-impacted, experts, and CCF’s new executive director! Advocates also met with NYS legislators all day to let them know that we MUST restore TAP for people in prison now. Advocates focused on racial justice as we continue to tie the issue back to the historical exclusion of Black and Brown Americans from education throughout our history.
Also, in case you missed it: We have had some wonderful op-eds in regions all over the state. See the Buffalo News and Lohud. This bill S4464/A2322 was first introduced in 1999 and has never made it out of committee. You have an opportunity to be a part of history and help it pass. For all things TAP keep up with the website: https://www.turnonthetapny.org/
Pell Updates
In 2020, CCF helped push for the reinstatement of Pell grants after the 1994 Violent Crime bill banned them for those inside prison. Now we are in the implementation phase. The Department of Education has been charged with providing the corresponding regulations that will determine the future of the college-in-prison landscape. To learn more check out this post on our IMPACT blog.
CCF is committed to ensuring the Department of Education understands its obligation to the ‘education continuum.’ That is where CCF’s mission comes in. Many more students will now be able to begin their educational journey inside. However, that does not mean they will graduate. We must create college-in-prison programs that help people obtain post-secondary degrees during education during re-entry. Alongside our partners at the Formerly Incarcerated College Graduates Network, CCF penned a memo to the Department of Education and several other federal administrative agencies. You can read that here.
Even better you can listen to some of the wonderful CCF alum who were able to contribute to a rich understanding of how we define access and how we truly open the doors in education to those with touch points to the criminal legal system: Sister Eli, Mimi Pascual, Jeanette Toledo, and Helen “Skip” Skipper!
Stay tuned! We’re staying at the table to make sure we get as much support as possible for formerly incarcerated people continuing their degrees.
This Fall, THRIVE trained 12 people at Bard Microcollege for Just Community Leadership in Harlem! Participants at this site learned about specific evidence-based and promising practices they can implement in their campus culture & overall service delivery to better serve justice-involved students.
In the new year, THRIVE will be focusing on a curriculum rebrand in the new year! THRIVE’s next phase will have one target market, businesses, with the goal of educating and supporting them in accessing an underutilized part of the workforce and to increase career attainment for justice-involved people.
