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NYCHA Now
Food Business Pathways
August 2017 

CEP Celebrates a Year of Achievements

Michael Corwin
NYCHA Resident Training Academy
Graduates of the NYCHA Resident Training Academy.

This summer, the Community Engagement & Partnerships (CEP) department celebrated its one-year anniversary. Under the leadership of Executive Vice President Sideya Sherman, CEP embodies the NextGen NYCHA mission to engage residents in new and better ways through connections to best-in-class services.

CEP was formed following a reorganization of NYCHA’s former Community Programs & Development department. Comprised of the Office of the EVP, Resident Economic Empowerment & Sustainability (REES), Resident Engagement, Family Partnerships (formerly Family Services), and the newly created Community Development and Health Initiatives departments, CEP aims to reset NYCHA’s relationship with residents, transition from direct service delivery to a partnership-based model, and connect residents to the kinds of economic and social opportunities that can transform their lives.

Community Development department
Community Development Director Leroy Williams speaking at his department’s one-year anniversary celebration.

Here are some of CEP’s initial achievements:

Quality economic opportunity

  • Connected more than 6,000 resident to jobs
  • Established new union partnerships (Local 8, Local 3, DC 9) that extend direct entry privileges to NYCHA residents
  • Graduated 119 residents from Food Business Pathways
  • Launched Childcare Business Pathways and graduated 18 residents and Section 8 recipients from the first class
  • Launched Opportunity Connect, an online self-service portal that connects residents with NYCHA partner services
  • Helped NYCHA Section 8 voucher holders save nearly $900,000 through the Family Self-Sufficiency program
Food Business Pathways
Food Business Pathways participants in action.

Attracting resources and expanding partnerships

  • Connected more than 14,500 resident to partner services
  • Secured $2,000,000 to expand the Jobs-Plus program to East New York, Brooklyn
  • Launched the new Zone Partner Application to attract quality social service, health, and economic opportunity providers
  • Expanded access to the Earned Income Tax Credit by launching the first-ever Virtual Volunteer Income Tax Assistance sites on NYCHA campuses
  • Reunited 100 families through the Family Re-entry Program
  • Established a Health Initiatives unit and NYCHA’s first advisory group on smoking and health
  • Launched Mental Health First Aid training for nearly 2,000 NYCHA employees in partnership with DOHMH
  • Produced 12,400 pounds of fresh produce last year at four Farms at NYCHA; residents contributed more than 3,000 pounds of food scraps for composting
NYCHA Farm
Residents tending one of NYCHA’s four farms, at Bay View Houses.

Engaging residents

  • Launched 10 new Youth Leadership Councils, empowering young NYCHA residents to make decisions in their community
  • Formed 30 new Resident Associations
  • Transformed NYCHA’s Tenant Participation Funds process to increase transparency, accountability, and efficiency
  • Established the Community Development department, which has engaged 5,000 residents in NYCHA’s new development and preservation initiatives
  • Launched a new constituency-based engagement model, engaging nearly 25,000 residents in the rollout of NextGen initiatives, from FlexOps to the sustainability agenda
Youth Leadership Summit
The 2017 Youth Leadership Council Summit.