News: CITY Project wins 4-H Families Count: Family Strengthening Award

National 4-H Council recently announced that the Community Improvement Through Youth (CITY) Project has won one of the 2008 4-H Families Count: Family Strengthening Awards, sponsored by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. National 4-H Council will recognize the CITY Project and four other exemplary 4-H programs with awards of $15,000 each at Galaxy III in Indianapolis on September 17.

In addition to the 4-H Families Count: Family Strengthening Award, the CITY Project was recently honored as a 2007 Successful Urban 4-H Program by the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents (NAE4-HA) Urban 4-H Programs Task Force and was selected as a National 4-H Headquarters Program of Distinction. The Program of Distinction designation is coordinated through the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES).

As part of the award process, the CITY Project will develop a replication plan to teach others about program with the intent that they will begin to use the CITY program model in their work. According to June P. Mead, CITY Project Director and Evaluator, “Winning this award will allow us to conduct a series of regional trainings and produce a toolkit on how to replicate our Youth Community Action (YCA) program. The focus of the toolkit would be on the strategies and mechanisms youth-serving organizations can use to foster successful family and community strengthening program outcomes.”

The CITY Project http://nys4h.cce.cornell.edu/city/ is part of the Children, Youth and Families At-Risk (CYFAR) Program. It uses one of Cornell Cooperative Extension’s (CCE) 4-H Signature Programs, Youth Community Action (YCA), as a model for promoting civic engagement, workforce preparation, and asset development among youth (13-18 years old). In Broome County, the CITY Project is partnered with CCE Broome County, the Broome County Urban League and Binghamton Housing Authority, Broome County Gang Prevention Program. In New York City, the CITY Project is partnered with Cornell University Cooperative Extension New York City; NYC community partners are Jacob A. Riis Settlement House (Long Island City, Queens) and the Police Athletic League Byrne Center (Jamaica, Queens).

In October 2008, the CITY Project in Broome County began partnering with the Binghamton University Liberty Partnership Program, Binghamton and the OASIS After School Program, Endicott. In Broome, the CITY Project’s Summer Employment in Action (SEA) program is funded by the Broome County Youth Bureau.  In New York City, the CITY Project began partnering with Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement House, Long Island City, Queens and the Police Athletic League–Edward Byrne Center, Jamaica, Queens.

What is the CITY Project? 

The Community Improvement Through Youth (CITY) Project employs one of Cornell Cooperative Extension’s (CCE) Signature Programs, Youth Community Action (YCA) and utilizes a National 4-H Cooperative Curriculum System resource, Public Adventures: An Active Citizenship Curriculum for Youth.

 The CITY Project uses YCA as an intentional process to promote civic engagement, workforce preparation, and asset development among youth (14-18 years old). Through Public Adventures, YCA, and 4-H Youth Development, the CITY Project provides the opportunities and support youth need in order to meet the challenges of growing up. Working in partnerships with caring adults, CITY Teen Leaders will identify local problems/issues by using various types of community mapping (e.g., GIS/GPS, photography, and videography) and then create lasting, sustainable changes in their communities. Through paid summer employment, the CITY Teen Leaders will gain job readiness skills as they undertake and complete community improvement projects.

There are two CITY Projects in New York:

• The CITY Project in NYC: In New York City:  The CITY Project in NYC: In New York City, the CITY Project is being implemented by Cornell University Cooperative Extension-New York City (CUCE-NYC). During Years 1 and 2, the NYC CITY Project partnered with Henry Street Settlement and the Police Athletic League. During Years 3 and 4, the CITY Project in Broome County is partnering with Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement House, Long Island City, Queens and the Police Athletic League-Edward Byrne Center, Jamaica, Queens.  Jackie Davis-Manigaulte is the CITY Project Director and Sara Flowers is the CITY Project Coordinator with CUCE-NYC.
  

Click here to see the CITY Project in action. This video was taken and edited by the youth of the CITY project.

The Community Improvement Through Youth (CITY) Project is a Sustainable Community Project funded through Children, Youth & Families At Risk (CYFAR) Program, Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service (CSREES), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) .

CITY Project Team:

Cornell University
June P. Mead, Project Director and Evaluator, Dept. of Human Development
Steve Goggin, Principal Investigator, Dept. of Human Development
Celeste Carmichael, Technology Coordinator, State 4-H Office

Cornell Cooperative Extension Broome County
Kay C. Telfer, Community Project Director
Vicki Giarratano, Community Project Coordinator
Kelly Mabee, Summer Employment Coordinator

Cornell Cooperative Extension NYC
Jackie Davis-Manigaulte, Community Project Director
Sara C. Flowers, Community Project Coordinator