United Neighborhood Houses

We didn’t think the budget news could get any better for child care this year, but Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani proved us wrong (in the best way) when he released his Executive Budget Proposal today.

The Proposal includes investments in outreach to make sure parents know to sign up, in Family Child Care providers who have been overlooked for too long, and in raising the per-child reimbursement rate for centers that are still operating on 2021 budgets. It goes to show that he and his team really understand this issue and how to actualize the vision of universal care in New York City!

Last Thursday, Tara Klein, UNH's Deputy Director of Policy and Advocacy, sat on a panel on combatting SNAP skimming at NYCBenefits' (of NYC Department of Social Services ) convening with The Legal Aid Society and our neighborhood settlement houses Chinese-American Planning Council and The Arab-American Family Support Center. UNH has been leading the coalition to combat SNAP skimming, along with the essential direct service and advocacy work of AAFSC, broader state legislative advocacy efforts of our coalition partners, and The Legal Aid Society's federal lawsuit!

Special thanks to Katie Brennan for organizing this panel!

This morning, UNH; our partner New Yorkers United for Child Care; and our neighborhood settlement houses(Center for Family Life, Sunnyside Community Services, East Side House Settlement, Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, Grand St. Settlement, and Goddard Riverside) joined Governor Kathy Hochul's announcement of the State Budget's landmark $4.5 billion investment in universal child care.

UNH's Susan Stamler was quoted in the Governor's press release, citing the neighborhood settlement house movement's century-long fight for early childhood education as a public good from opening the nation's first kindergartens in the early 1900s to championing Universal Pre-K to leading the campaign for 2-Care today.

Thank you Governor Hochul for your vision to put New York on a path to universal child care.

Our current environment is marked by uncertainty, strain, hardship, and fear, and staff at settlement houses face this every single day in the communities they serve. Yesterday, Freedgy Thelisma facilitated a training focusing on techniques to manage and reduce agitation, preventing potentially violent situations from escalating for settlement house staff. Attendees learned how to strategically communicate, understand the triggers of escalation, and de-escalate using techniques that go against natural “fight or flight” instincts.

Thank you Henry Street Settlement for providing us the space at the historical firehouse!

After decades of an incredible career in community building at Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation, we are celebrating Michelle Neugebauer's retirement and legacy! Under her leadership, Cypress Hills grew from one full time employee (also Michelle) to a force of nature of a settlement house with a strong team of dedicated staff that has touched the lives of thousands of East New York residents. Michelle is a person of unquestionable integrity for which settlement house colleagues have always had great confidence in. The settlement house movement is stronger because of Michelle Neugebauer. 💙

Last week, United Neighborhood Houses submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development urging the agency to withdraw proposals that implement work requirements for Section 8 holders and Section 9 residents.

Read our testimony here - https://assets.nationbuilder.com/unhny/pages/23/attachments/original/1777911760/Threatened_Work_Requirements_for_NYCHA__Section_8.pdf?1777911760

It was so lovely to show Assemblymember Diana Moreno around her neighborhood settlement house on Friday! 💖

Last Thursday, UNH joined anti-hunger advocates in rallying to demand the Mayor and New York City Council for an increase in baseline funding to the Community Food Connection program to $100 million. The Community Food Connection Program plays a vital role in our neighborhood settlement houses' effort to combat food insecurity by funding their food pantries and community kitchens. Our City's emergency food system is under unprecedented strain, baselining CFC at $100 million will alleviate that.

Thank you to our settlement houses Project Hospitality and Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation for joining us!
+ United Way of New York City, City Harvest, Citymeals on Wheels, Food Bank For New York City, and more.

UNH was thrilled to attend Henry Street Settlement's Lillian Wald Symposium, named after one of the pioneering founders of the settlement house movement. With Mayor Mamdani's affordability agenda taking over New York City, panelists examined what it actually takes to make our City affordable, inclusive, and livable and who holds the power to make this transformative change happen. Our neighborhood settlement house movement knows that affordable, inclusive, and livable communities don't just happen - they're built through community organizing, policy, advocacy, and sustained investments in our neighborhoods. Thank you Henry St. for this incredible Symposium - we'll see you next year!

UNH was honored to be invited to Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani's 100 Day Address, a recognition of our role as one of the leading organizations behind the 2-Care campaign. At his address, Mayor Mamdani spotlighted his administration's work to pilot the 2-K program to expand universal child care to 2 year olds and gave a well deserved shout out to Governor Kathy Hochul for her $1.2 billion commitment to make it possible. Neighborhood settlement houses have been on the frontlines of child care in our City. UNH is grateful to be recognized as a partner in the Mayor's work and remain committed to working with the Mayor to ensure all New Yorkers can thrive.