Center for Family Life

Join CFL's Support in Schools program for a free summer market!

Enter Sunset Park from 44th Street & 6th Ave today between 1PM-4PM and you can pick up gently used clothes, shoes, toys, books, and more 🌞

Yesterday, PS 1 Beacon Co-Director David Garcia and staff member Pedro Paz testified before City Council on the value of Beacons in Sunset Park.

The Department of Youth & Community Development's () Beacon programs are school-based community centers that serve youth and adults during non-school hours.

As former Beacon program participants themselves, David and Pedro know firsthand the importance of these spaces for recreation, leadership development, family support, and community building.

Thank you, David, Pedro, and all of our Beacon staff!

We always love participating in the Sunset Park Puerto Rican Parade () 🇵🇷

It is a beautiful celebration of music, dance, culture, and community!

⚠️ NYC's budget deadline is June 30 — and a critical program is still not funded! You can make a difference in fewer than 5 minutes!

NYCBenefits helps New Yorkers navigate the complicated process of applying for food assistance, housing support, healthcare, and other vital benefits. In FY25, it helped 34,000 people access the help to which they were entitled. Across the city, hundreds of nonprofit staff work through this program to make sure eligible New Yorkers don't fall through the cracks.

Despite that track record, NYCBenefits was left out of Mayor Mamdani's FY27 Executive Budget. Administration officials have said the program will be funded in the Adopted Budget — but they haven't committed in writing, and there's no agreement to baseline funding that would secure the program's future.

Meanwhile, federal cuts to SNAP are creating new hardship for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. This is exactly the moment we need NYCBenefits most!

Here's what you can do — it takes less than 5 minutes:
1️⃣ Call your Council Member and ask them to restore $9.75 million for NYCBenefits in the Adopted Budget. Find your rep at council.nyc.gov/districts.
2️⃣ Call 311 and leave a message for Mayor Mamdani urging him to restore and baseline NYCBenefits.
3️⃣ Share this post so your neighbors know what's at stake.

Access the toolkit here for scripts and more information: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zbYAkEjzr9O9JSk_DbiiFP9pVwWxvcqRONYNz7gmpiY/edit?usp=sharing

Budget negotiations happen fast. Your voice matters right now.

Center for Family Life relies on NYCBenefits grant funding from the City to help our clients secure life-saving public benefits.

NYCBenefits funding was not included in the City budget and some of our services are at risk.

Sign the petition today to save NYCBenefits! https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8881974/Save-NYCBenefits

Center for Family Life is partnering with United Neighborhood Houses () to Get Out the Vote! 🗳✅

By voting in the 2026 New York elections, you can make sure your voice is heard on the issues you care about.

Visit the link in our bio to sign the digital pledge and learn how you can vote. Share this post with your friends and family and encourage them to exercise their voting rights!

Today is the last day of CFL's after school programs before summer break! This year flew by.

We served over 2,000 students across our 12 after school partner sites. Over the past month, programs have put on a variety of spring shows to celebrate the end of the year. Participants showcased the skills they have been developing in dance, theater, art, and music!

Thank you to the students, families, and NYC Public Schools for participating in another amazing year with us. We also want to shout out our fabulous team of Program Directors and Program Coordinators who make it all happen!

Happy Summer from CFL! 😎🌞

CFL staff and Counselors in Training attended a New York Liberty game last week! Everyone had a fun time celebrating the win 💪🏀🗽

Thank you for the opportunity!

We are happy to partner with ExpandED Schools () to bring their Lit C.R.E.W. initiative to our youth participants. This program is designed to enhance literacy engagement and skill development.

Last week, a group of our middle schoolers took home the trophy for "Best Movement and Prose" at this year's Live Project Awards hosted by ExpandED. They performed a dance titled "The Messengers", from their fall show "City of Ember" based on a book they read for the LIT C.R.E.W. program. Our CFL programs love the to combine literacy development with creative performance!