SETTLEMENT Neighborhood Resource Center Overview enry Street’s Neighborhood Resource Center and its Parent Center Program help low-income families on H ’s cope with the everyday stressors of poverty by providing a comprehensive and holistic range of services. Our overall goal is to help build strong and caring families, support healthy parents and children, and enable families to achieve financial stability and self-sufficiency. The NRC is a free walk-in program to help the community residents access services more easily. Onsite services are designed to help families become stabilized, learn better coping skills, identify goals towards increased autonomy and a more harmonious family life. Services are based on a comprehensive program model that combines short-term interventions to address immediate challenges and longer-term involvement through therapeutic parenting groups and classes, workshops and other parent support services. These services include:  Bio-psycho-social assessments to help families  Financial counseling identify and set specific goals  Advocacy  Crisis intervention  Screening and referrals to mental health and  Assessment for financial, housing, unemployment psychiatric services and all other benefits  Connection to workforce training and  Onsite food stamp enrollment employment  Help with applying for Medicaid and with  Linkage to any other needed services, including navigating the Affordable Care Act day care, after-school and other youth programs  Legal services

arent Support Services are designed to help parents P develop and learn positive parenting skills, acquire wellness/prevention skills, learn strategies to handle stress, and become pro-active in recognizing and developing childhood milestones at various stages during development. Our approach focuses on nurturing the “self” while supporting the important roles of father, mother, grandparent, caregiver – roles that transform throughout the life cycle. Staff is trained in health, behavioral health, life-span development and wellness, addressing cultural influences on the family. Among the programs offered are:  Positive Parenting Workshops: Weekly workshops on an array of topics, such as bonding, attachment, discipline, development, communication, roles and relationships, co-parenting, stress management and family support systems.  Parenting Groups: Ten- and twelve-week groups offering a parenting certificate, fulfilling the Administration for Children (ACS) mandate. Groups are attended by mandated and non-mandated caretakers.  Bright Beginnings: A new six-week program for parents of infants/toddlers ages 0-3, which offers a parenting certificate.  Parent Support: Support for all parents experiencing questions, concerns, stressors or challenges in their parenting roles, including co-parenting issues. Special events (such as Holiday, Halloween or Mother’s Day parties) and social activities offer a community gathering space and promote peer support among families.  Expert Speakers: Topics include legal advocacy/rights of parents and child rearing/development issues. Workers speak English, Cantonese, Mandarin and Spanish. Client Stories s. T is a 26-year-old single mother of twin M girls, age 2, who was referred to the NRC Parent Center from Henry Street’s Helen’s House, r. X is a 57-year-old Mandarin-speaking a family shelter for single parents and their M single father of K, age 1½. When he children. After pulling on a knife on a fellow misplaced his shaving knife, his toddler son resident who threatened her daughters, Helen’s accidently cut his hand, an injury that required House staff had to file a report of neglect with the stitches. Staff at K’s daycare filed a report with the State Central Registry. As a result, Ms. T’s children State Central Registry, alleging Mr. X neglected his were removed and placed in kinship foster care son. K was removed from his custody and placed with Ms. T’s mother. Ms. T, who was no longer into non-kinship foster care, and Mr. X was permitted to reside at Helen’s House, decided to referred to the NRC Parent Center Parenting return to the Parent Center, and enrolled in a 12- Journey Program. During intake, our Parent Center week Parenting Journey group with determination social worker, who is fluent in Mandarin, to earn a Parenting Certificate for Family Court in conducted a bio-psycho-social assessment and an effort to regain custody of her children. Ms. T, identified family supports including two sisters, through a series of reflective exercises designed to who were granted temporary custody of K. Mr. X build trust, has gained awareness regarding the opened up during group sessions with thoughtful consequences of her actions and alternative reflections on the impact of his childhood solutions when handling situations and making experiences on his current role as a parent. Mr. X choices. She has re-examined her relationship with has set a goal to secure full-time employment and her children’s father, and is able to identify his also to build his English language skills with the positive qualities for the sake of co-parenting. She help of a literacy program. Recently Mr. X notified has agreed to allow the Parent Center to conduct our program that Family Court awarded him outreach to invite him to participate in workshops custody of K. He expressed deep gratitude to our developed for “The Other Parent.” She is now Parent Center Program for their help. He intends searching for affordable housing and hopes Family to stay connected to our Parent Center Program Court will continue to increase her visitation rights and to participate in more groups/activities with her children and eventually to be reunited with throughout the year specific for Mandarin-speaking them after she secures a place to live. parents.

Our Community Partners Legal Services of The Financial Clinic Administration for Children Services Housing Authority MetCouncil Single Stop USA Human Resources Administration American Red Cross New York Health Foundation Su Casa (Lower Eastside Service Center) The Children’s Village NYS Office of Children and Family Services

Contact Information Elizabeth Ashley Young, Program Director Neighborhood Resource Center 281 East Broadway, NY 10002 Tel.: 212-471-2400, ext. 212 Email: [email protected]