Welcome to Around the Settlement, our monthly blog post sharing a deeper look into all of the vital programs and services provided by Grand St. Settlement throughout the Lower East Side, Brooklyn, and The Bronx.

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LiveOn NY Summit

Grand Street's Older Adult staff were proud to attend LiveOn NY's Age Strong New Leadership Summit. The summit is one of the largest conferences on aging in New York and brings together leaders from across the state's aging, housing, and social services sectors. We were grateful to be amongst our partners and other leaders on the front lines to discuss policy, affordability, and strategies to ensure that all New Yorkers can age with dignity.

Settlement House Strong

Grand Street proudly stood with United Neighborhood Houses and our sister Settlement houses, community members, and human service workers in Albany to advocate for a budget that benefits ALL New Yorkers.

Together, we called on elected officials to provide critical funding for the Settlement House Program statewide, inflationary increases for all human service workers, and #SNAP4ALL. Deputy Director of Government and Community Relations Aaron Sanders and Community School Director Candace Crawford spent the trip visiting with elected officials to share the importance of these initiatives to our participants.

Love From Grand Street

Love is in the air at Grand Street!

💖 Our participants and their families at Stuyvesant Heights Child and Family Center had the opportunity to celebrate love and community at a special Valentine’s Day event, complete with delicious treats and music. Children and their families even had the opportunity to pose for the cameras at our heart-warming photobooth! 

💞Sunset Park Child and Family Center parents got to bond with other parents and families in a Valentine’s Day-themed crafting session! 

🫶🏽 Participants at the School for Global Leaders enjoyed their own Galetine’s Day celebration! Our Girl’s Empowerment club participants enjoyed refreshments and cupcakes as they created their own stuffed bears, charms, and received Galentine’s cards with confidence-boosting messages!

💘 Friends at Marcy Cornerstone enjoyed sweet cupcakes and painting Valentine's Day-themed artwork!

Honoring Black History Month

Celebrating the Work of Maurice Rawls

Maurice Rawls, Deputy Director of Manhattan Youth Programs, was honored with a proclamation from Representative Dan Goldman at a Black History Month event hosted by Council Member Harvey Epstein in partnership with Assembly Member Grace Lee. Maurice was recognized for over 10 years of contributions to Lower East Side youth while working at Grand Street Settlement. Maurice has guided hundreds of youth and staff during his time at Grand Street, supporting them through challenges and celebrating their successes. We're proud to see him earn this well-deserved recognition and grateful to have him on our team.

The History of the Stoplight

While these participants may be too young to drive, that won't stop them from learning all about Garrett A. Morgan, the inventor of the automated traffic light! As part of celebrating Black History Month at Grand Street, Youth participants at Marcy Cornerstone Community Center learned about Garrett A. Morgan's life and legacy as a notable inventor of safety devices in the early 20th century.

Happy Lunar New Year!

It’s the year of the fire horse! See how Grand St. Settlement participants welcomed this year’s Lunar New Year with festive celebrations across our sites.

Grand Street staff attended the Lunar New Year festivities held by the New York City Council and Speaker Julie Menin in collaboration with Council Members Susan Zhuang, Sandra Ung, Julie Won, Linda Lee, Phil Wong, and Shekar Krishnan, along with other colleagues from the Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus. Thank you for having us!

Chief Operating Officer Willing Chin-Ma attended Governor Kathy Hochul’s Lunar New Year celebration, where she signed the Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Education Equity Act. This landmark legislation is the culmination of years of organizing and advocacy by inclusive curriculum champions like Senator John Liu and Assemblymember Grace Lee to bring AANHPI curriculum to New York State’s public schools.

Youth programs on the Lower East Side celebrated the Lunar New Year with fun cultural activities, traditional cuisine, and crafts that honored the holiday’s heritage. Participants learned about the meaning behind the Lunar zodiac and cheered as they watched the traditional lion dance performances!

Marcy Cornerstone Community Center participants enjoyed their Lunar New Year celebration by learning how to expertly use chopsticks to sample delicious traditional Asian foods, including ramen and seaweed snacks!

The Baruch Elder Services NORC team hosted a lively Lunar New Year spring festival! Despite the wintry weather, the festival mood was warm and lively as participants enjoyed performances from the Golden Star art group. Event sponsor Elder Plan Service provided a festive meal for attendees along with relaxing hand massages to raffle winners. Every participant also received a traditional holiday gift from Humancare Home Care Agency, a lucky red envelope.

Sunset Park Child and Family Center families joined a Lunar New Year arts and crafts activity to usher in a new year of good fortune and prosperity!

Brooklyn Youth programs celebrated by engaging in a variety of luck games and activities, sampling traditional cultural snacks, and using arts and crafts to make their own paper horses!

As thanks for having organized many of our celebratory Lunar New Year activities, our incredible Senior Services and Benefits Assistance teams were treated to delicious Chinese-Cantonese dishes at Congee Village, an authentic Chinese restaurant in the heart of New York. 

Read Aloud with Author Emily Shan

Author Emily Shan visited our Pelham Parkway Child and Family Center to kick off an extra special read-aloud with her bilingual English/Cantonese book, Jojo Goes to the Zoo 祖兒去動物園! Students learned about different AAPI cultures and languages, as well as the countries the animals at the zoo come from. After the reading, author Emily joined our young learners in creating colorful animal masks for a ‘wild’ dance party! 

Learn more about Emily Shan and her bilingual Jojo Adventure books!

Artistic Flair

Our new art group at BEST Norc is preparing for its upcoming art fair. Senior participants have been diving into their creations with energy and enthusiasm. With music playing in the background as they paint, it’s just like being in an art museum!

Collaborative Creativity

Members of the Best Buy Teen Tech Center have been collaborating on a project across our Video Production, Graphic Design, and Video Editing workshops. Their goal: use skills learned in workshops to put together a speculative advertisement. Member Erik is seen here animating a few scenes from the spec ad using Procreate Dreams.

A Whole New World on Ice

We took our Baruch Cornerstone Community Center families to where dreams are made, Disney on Ice! Participants and families got the chance to sing-along to their favorite Disney songs while watching some stunning ice skating performances.

Science, Art, and Fashion

What happens when engineering and art meet? Thanks to our partnership with the New Museum, Educator Program Coordinator Jasmin Tabatabaee instructed our eager Baruch Cornerstone participants on how to create wearable cardboard robot sculptures! The first session of the project was focused on sketching and brainstorming how the robot sculpture would come together with art teacher Brianna Caraballo.