Blog Archives - Page 5 of 68 - The New York Foundling

Camp Felix: Giving Children Experiences and Memories for a Lifetime

Camp Felix, our overnight summer camp, is a magical place. For the children in our programs, the streets of New York City are often all they know – there often isn’t the opportunity to experience nature, much less spend a week in the woods at camp. Many are growing up in difficult circumstances – and lack the chance to just relax and be a kid.

Camp Felix, which we’ve operated in partnership with the Felix Organization since 2006, provides children and adolescents in the child welfare system with a rewarding overnight camp experience. Running in August for one-week sessions, our participants have the chance to attend a summer camp with their peers, make memories, learn new skills, explore new surroundings, and build self-confidence. Our current location – located in Sandyston, NJ – features swimming, boating, fishing, a ropes course, and more!

Like all of The Foundling’s programs and services, Camp Felix seeks to build community and forge support systems for those we serve. Campers and counselors form strong bonds that are reinforced through camp reunions and repeat visits – providing the children we serve with the confidence to reach for their dreams.

Meet our Camp Felix Campers

Meet Kenneth, a former Camp Felix counselor

Your support is essential to this work. Your gift this holiday season will allow us to continue bringing camp experiences and other essential programs to New York children and families.

December 29, 2022/by Elefant Design

Blog, Health and Behavioral Health

At The Foundling, Art Promotes Healing

For participants at The Foundling, art can be a lifeline – it provides tools for self-expression, an accessible way to work through trauma, and a means of contextualizing one’s experiences. Many of the people we serve at The Foundling come to us feeling voiceless – from children in foster care struggling to cope with complex situations, to adults with developmental disabilities that face innate barriers to sharing their viewpoints – but through art, they find and showcase their strength.

Art is used to heal minds and souls across our programs – here are just a few of the ways:

The Fontana Center’s Artist Collective provides a safe space for children in our foster care programs to grow and create.
Our Developmental Disabilities programs encourage our day habilitation and residential participants to explore artistic mediums – which culminates in an annual art show.
Haven Kids Rock, our after-school performing arts program, allows young people to channel their experiences into music, dance, and theater.
Our Home of Integrated Behavioral Health partners with our Strong Families and Communities Training Center to provide seasonal art-centered community events across New York City that engage children and families alike.

Learn more about our Fontana Center’s Artist Collective

Watch Haven Kids Rock perform ‘Here Today, Gone Tomorrow’

We can’t do this vital work without your help. Your gift this holiday season brings art and other essential programs to more children, adults, and families across our community.

December 29, 2022/by Elefant Design

Health and Behavioral Health, Media Coverage

Center for Health Care Strategies: Engaging Communities of Color to Promote Health Equity: Five Lessons from New York-Based Health Care Organizations

In a new brief focusing on 5 exemplary NY-based organizations, Center for Health Care Strategies profiled our Home of Integrated Behavioral Health and its efforts promoting health equity and culturally competent care.

December 22, 2022/by Elefant Design

Education, Media Coverage

City & State: The 2022 Responsible 100

Reïna Batrony, our Vice President of Community-Based and Education Strategies, was honored in City & State’s 2022 Responsible 100! This list recognizes New York business, government, nonprofit and advocacy leaders who embody the values of social responsibility in their work.

As Reïna states, “Social responsibility means long-term viability and sustainability that benefits society. It guides individuals’ and organizations’ responsibility to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to build toward independence.”

Read more on City & State

December 13, 2022/by Elefant Design

Blog, Partnerships

After 15 Years of Wishing, Anthony’s Dreams of Independence Came True

Remember the excitement of moving out on your own? Many New Yorkers may never get the opportunity – but they will now thanks to you and thanks to The Foundling. While those growing up without support systems or with developmental disabilities may dream of having their own home, they often struggle to find clear pathways to achieve that goal.

Today, residents in our Supportive Housing programs are seeing their dreams of independence come true. Vital Brookdale, our first supportive housing complex, provides purpose-built apartments and on-site guidance for young people aging out of foster care and adults with developmental disabilities: two groups that often struggle to secure and maintain housing.

In the videos below, see the benefits of this unique approach!

Meet Anthony, one of Vital Brookdale’s new residents

Meet our Supportive Housing team: The Foundling’s ‘Dreammakers’

The Foundling is committed to providing opportunities like this for our community – but we can only do it with your help. Your gift this holiday season will allow more people like Anthony to reach their full potential.

December 9, 2022/by Elefant Design

Child Welfare, Media Coverage

NYN Media: Opinion – New York’s Corporal Punishment Ban is Crucial to Kids’ Mental Health

In an op-ed published in NYN Media, Dr. Mel Schneiderman, Senior VP of the Vincent J. Fontana Center for Child Protection, writes about how New York’s corporal punishment ban is crucial to kids’ mental health.

“As pandemic-related disruptive behaviors continue in schools, mental health supports are the answer,” writes Dr. Schneiderman.

Read more at NYN Media

December 6, 2022/by Elefant Design

Health and Behavioral Health, Media Coverage

Pix 11: The Impact of Diet Culture on the Holiday Season

Pix 11 recently reported on diet culture, and how the holiday season often brings out mixed messages regarding food – which can be harmful to children and teenagers. Dr. Ruth Gerson, our Senior Vice President of Mental Health Services, made an appearance to provide insight on the impact this could have on developing minds – and what parents should do to promote a healthy relationship with food during this time of year.

Watch the video:

Read more on Pix 11

December 6, 2022/by Elefant Design

Child Welfare, Media Coverage

The Hill: Kinship Care is the Future of the Child Welfare System — Let’s Make it Accessible to Everyone

In a recent op-ed for The Hill, Shannon Ghramm-Smith – our Senior Vice President of Child Welfare and Behavioral Health – writes on the benefits of kinship foster care. Kinship care, where a family member serves as a foster parent, often results in much better outcomes for children and families. While it’s underutilized and often inaccessible, Ghramm-Smith argues that Congress and state legislators should work to change this.

Read more at The Hill

December 4, 2022/by Elefant Design

Child Welfare, Developmental Disabilities, Media Coverage

Pix 11: Brooklyn Building offers Affordable Housing for People with Developmental Disabilities

Pix 11 News reported on the opening of Vital Brookdale, our newest supportive housing complex. Watch the video report and meet Anthony McQueen, one of our residents.

Watch the video:

Read more on Pix 11

December 1, 2022/by Elefant Design

Child Welfare, Developmental Disabilities, Press Release

Press Release: Governor Hochul Announces Completion of $82 Million Affordable and Supportive Housing Development in Brownsville

The New York State Office of Homes and Community Renewal released a press release on the opening of the Vital Brookdale apartment complex. This new building – located in Brownsville, Brooklyn – was created as part of the Vital Brookdale initiative in partnership with The Foundling.

As Melanie Hartzog, our President and CEO, stated in the press release: “We are grateful to the administration for their partnership in helping create Vital Brookdale, offering opportunity and promise for the people and communities that The New York Foundling serves. At The Foundling, we continue to look for impactful ways to uplift youth aging out of foster care and people with developmental disabilities. We see Vital Brookdale as one example of many more to come that demonstrates the mutual good that stems from providing opportunities for our neighbors to reach their full potential. It’s been a true joy to watch our residents’ confidence grow as a result of having the resources necessary to succeed on their paths to independence.”

Read the full press release here

December 1, 2022/by Elefant Design

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