Senator Bill Perkins & Local Teens Raise Awareness of Urban Issues

Senator Bill Perkins & Local Teens Raise Awareness of Urban Issues

Senator Bill Perkins & Children’s Aid Society youth organize community resource fair with elected officials in upper Manhattan 

Who:     Senator Bill Perkins, Children’s Aid Society youth  & other elected officials

When:    Friday, August 7, 2009
              1:00 – 4:00 p.m.       
       
Where:   Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building – Plaza
              163 West 125th Street, near Seventh Avenue 
       
What:     Twenty-five teens from The Children's Aid Society's Community Building Summer Internship, working with Senator Bill Perkins and other elected officials, have organized a community resource fair to help residents deal with important issues facing urban areas. 

The Urban Awareness Community Fair will feature information booths offering resources from government agencies and nonprofit organizations on job readiness, housing opportunities, tenants’ rights and immigration. The event will also include food and entertainment.

The fair is the culmination of The Children’s Aid Society’s Community Building Summer Internship program, co-funded by New York City's Summer Youth Employment Program. The internship program ensures that motivated youth gain the leadership skills and practical experience required to succeed in a public service setting by placing them in internships with elected officials.

While the young leaders originally set out to focus on one issue for the fair, they quickly discovered that there were too many issues to narrow them down. "It's hard to pick one issue when there are so many affecting our community," said 17-year old Jorell Diaz, who is interning at the office of Congressman Charles B. Rangel. "While jobs – or the lack of them – are a very important issue, so is immigration, and housing." Stephanie Veras, working on community-based project Unity for Safety, agreed, "After hours of discussion, we decided that the best thing to do is concentrate on the top issues that have come up in our summer internships: job readiness, housing and immigration.”

C. Warren Moses, CEO of The Children’s Aid Society, said, “We are so proud of these students. They have spent their summer vacations working with elected officials on issues of great importance to their communities while gaining valuable work experience and earning money.”

Participating officials include New York City Council Members Maria del Carmen Arroyo, Inez Dickens and Annabel Palma; New York State Assembly Members Marcos Crespo, Adriano Espaillat, Herman Farrell, Jr., Adam Clayton Powell IV, and Peter Rivera; New York State Senators Ruben Diaz, Sr., Bill Perkins, Eric Schneiderman, and Jose Serrano; Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and U.S. Congressman Charles B. Rangel.

For more information on the fair or to participate, please call Cordell Cleare, Chief of Staff to Senator Bill Perkins at 212-222-7315, Lorena Jimenez-Castro, Government Affairs Liaison at 212-358-8932 or Stacey Campo, Director of Youth Development for Community Schools at 718-378-2871.