What Can
ECDO Offer you?
Ecumenical Community Development Organization (ECDO)
provides services that include adult and
youth employment, counseling, job placement, tenant and community
organizing, technical assistance to owners and tenants of distressed
buildings and property management. For more information contact ECDO’s
Community Partnership Center which is located at 413 W. 125th Street.
(212) 531-3211.
FYI - In Your Community:
For Your Information
ECDO
HEAD START/EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
ECDO
will be opening a new state certified daycare center on W. 144th
Street for infants, toddlers and preschoolers. For more information
about the day care center, the opening day and any questions that you
may have, please CALL (212) 234-8135.
Please check ECDO’s website at
WWW.ECDO.ORG for a listing of job vacancies and the staffing needs
for the new daycare center.
Parents for Immunization:
START RIGHT is a
program designed to make sure that all children of our community are
fully protected by vaccinations against the major childhood diseases.
ECDO in conjunction with the Northern Manhattan Start Right Coalition
is currently assisting parents who want healthy babies and children by
keeping track of vaccination dates and providing information on
keeping immunizations on time and up to date. For more information,
please visit the ECDO Community Partnership Center or contact Sonia
Gomez at (212) 531-3211.
Employment Opportunities for Adults:
ECDO offers
free job placement assistance for qualified adults. The
requirements for this program is that applicants must be committed to
obtaining a job, have some recent work history and or a high school
diploma/GED or college credit. For more information please call (212)
864-6069.
The Harlem Educational Activities Fund (HEAF) offers several after
school and weekend programs for youth of the community. From chess
instruction and tournament play, summer camp, mentoring tutoring,
leadership development, preparation for SAT, college selection and
application preparation. Contact HEAF for more information at (212)
663-9732. The Harlem HEAF Center is located at 2090 Seventh Avenue
between 124th & 125th Street.
Walking
Tours of Harlem
"Harlem Heritage Tours"
For more information, call (212) 280-7888.
The City of New York Parks Department
offers after school
programs for children between the ages of 6 to 13. Each location
offers a variety of activities such as arts & crafts, homework
assistance, sports and use of computer resources. For more
information contact these local centers:
Pelham Fritz, 122nd Street & Mt. Morris (212) 860-1380
Hansbourogh Recreation Center, 134th & Lenox (212) 234-9603
Jackie Robinson Center 145th Street & Bradhurst, (212) 234-9606. For
program specific activities and locating other centers, please call
(212) 360-8215.
The New York City Self-Help Center
provides free, confidential information and referrals to people
interested in forming self-help and mutual support groups. For further
information, call (212) 586-5770.
Special Olympics New York
officially announced that Seneca Falls has been selected to host the
2003 and 2004 Fall Games.
What does this
mean for our community? All people who have a mental or physical
disability will be able to compete and display their athletic
abilities throughout the New York metropolitian areas.
Twelve-hundred
athletes and coaches are expected to participate at the Fall Games,
which will take place Oct. 10 to 12, 2003 and Oct. 8 to 10, 2004.
Athletes will compete in Bocce, Cross-Country Running, Cycling,
Equestrian, Golf, Soccer and Softball.
“We choose the
host for these events based on community support and the quality of
the sports facilities available,” said Neal J. Johnson, president and
chief executive officer of Special Olympics New York. “Seneca Falls
and the New York Chiropractic College have hosted many of our regional
events and we look forward to their continued enthusiasm and
leadership in providing our athletes with an outstanding experience.”
Preceding the
news conference at the Administration Building lounge, local Special
Olympics athletes and coaches will participate in a parade of fire and
police vehicles from Waterloo, through Seneca Falls, and onto the NYCC
campus. NYCC will be the primary venue and will host Cross-Country,
Cycling, Soccer and Softball. Venues for Bocce, Equestrian and Golf
will be announced at a later date.
Special Olympics
provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a
variety of Olympic-style sports for children and adults with mental
retardation, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical
fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in the
sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other
Special Olympics athletes and the community.
Founded in 1970,
Special Olympics New York is the largest Special Olympics program in
the United States, providing sports opportunities to nearly 40,000
athletes statewide through a network of 30,000 volunteers.
For more
information, call Doreen Hand, associate director of public relations,
at (212)661-3963, or visit
www.specialolympicsnewyork.org .
The
Power of the Campaign Ad!
By:
Jason L. Morrison
To all of those voters who casted a ballot at the last Election Day,
again we witnessed that some of the politicians were slinging mud
again! The governors race for New York state definitely took a giant
leap towards negative ad campaigning. The three men at the forefront
of that race were Republican Governor George Pataki, Democrat and
State Controller H. Carl McCall, and the self-determining and wealthy
businessman and Independent Thomas Golisano. Each, in their own way
did their best to swing opinion polls and votes their way through the
use back biting and negative inferences within their campaign ads.
You know that a typical commercial will run anywhere from thirty to
sixty seconds on television which in most cases depicts the political
candidates opponent in a negative light. In one instance a
politician’s attempt to demean his opponent was comical and downright
funny. We know that many of our esteemed politicians spend millions of
dollars on these commercials which seemingly enough influence the mind
of voters. As a registered and involved voter I would like to see some
drastic changes to the entire political election and campaign process,
first and foremost let’s begin by eliminating these negative ads from
the airwaves.
We as voters must do our best to do some research on these politicians
running for political office and the platform for which they
represent, furthermore no television ad should have the power of
influence over any voter before entering the voting polls.
The Best of Times: What Technology Has Done For Me!
By P. Alberto
Ferrera
I am not
insensitive to those people who have not been exposed to the marvels
of advanced technology. I am well aware of our current economic
climate and realize that I am fortunate. But this is something I have
been meaning to write about for quite some time and that is the
benefit of new age technology.
I have often pondered, and I am not joking, about how our ancestors
lived without digital satellite transmission, palm pilot organizers,
fax machines, computers, compact discs, high tech entertainment, or
juicy steak with a cold Heineken, airplanes, jet skis, SUV’s ,
snowboarding, E-Z Pass, microwaves, two-way pagers, home delivery of
practically anything and everything you can imagine, Play Station 2,
ATM and debit cards, American Express cards, Haagen-Dazs ice cream,
Viagra (for those who need it) and the two best inventions in my
lifetime: cellular telephones and the Internet!
Thanks to advanced technology, most people can use their cellular
telephone in the states as well as outside the country. It is actually
possible to conduct business while tanning on the beach in Rio de
Janeiro and then to window shop via the internet in Paris at a store
on the Champs Elysees.
I no longer have to deal with boorish ill-tempered receptionists when
I need information from a particular company. I can choose if I want
to fly on a 747 or 777. I no longer go to the library to do research.
I have access to all the world’s newspapers and magazines. I pay my
bills on-line. I shop on-line. I get driving directions on-line. Ah
the INTERNET!
I am avid reader of scientific/electronic magazines. Things can only
get better. Technology has made my life simpler. I have more time to
do other things that I enjoy doing besides work. However, there are
two things that I would like to see come to the market: One is the
hyper-sonic transatlantic flights-New York-Paris 25 minutes or New
York-Sidney 45 minutes, and the second is the telephone with a video
monitor, both of which are still being worked on to iron out all the
kinks.
To Bill Gates and all the other techies, keep up the good work and out
there, and thanks!
The West Harlem Master Plan
We
have begun to witness the retail revitalization of 125th Street. There
was a lot of buzz created from the opening of several new stores such
as Marshall’s, Staples, H & M and Nine West Shoes.
This surge of revitalization has overlapped into a development plan on
the west side waterfront at the Harlem piers between 125th and 135th
Street. This redevelopment plan is called the West Harlem Master Plan.
Last month, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Governor George E. Pataki and
Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields announced that the city
and state has committed $6 million of funding to support the design
and construction of waterfront piers. This project will promote a
variety of activities including fishing, water tours, boating and
ecological exploration. Additionally, there will be food and
restaurant courts, small retail shops, a visitor’s center, new
plantings of trees and foliage and recreational areas to attract
bikers and pedestrians to the waters edge.
Building on the past work of the community and in close cooperation
with Manhattan Community Board 9 and West Harlem Environmental Action,
the Master Plan was developed as a two year process with extensive
input from an all inclusive Working Committee comprised of local
organizations, various stakeholders, elected officials, government
agencies and local institutions which met regularly with the
Empowerment Zone team.
The first phase of the development plan for piers starting at 125th
will begin in the fall of 2003.
Affordable Housing is On Harlem’s Mind
Challenging the shortage of affordable housing in Harlem was the goal
at a recent breakfast summit that was sponsored by the office of City
Council with Deputy Majority Leader Bill Perkins, co-sponsored by ANHD
(Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development and Housing First
and underwritten by Washington Mutual Bank. There were over 100
attendees including Janice C. Berthoud, ECDO’s Executive Director
along with leadership from almost every community based not for profit
housing provider, community boards and representatives of state and
federal elected officials.
Ecumenical Community Development
Organization
Administrative and Executive Office
443 W. 125th Street, New York, NY 10027
(212) 678-0037 -- (212) 678-0889 fax
contact@ecdo.org
Satellite/Community Partnership Center for Programs & Services
413 West 125th St., New York, NY 10027
(212) 531-3211 -- (212) 531-3229 fax
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