Alexander Robertson School offers an independent elementary school program that combines academic excellence, civility based on mutual understanding, and a strong sense of social responsibility arising out of informed compassion in an environment of racial, social and economic diversity. The academic program is enriched by art, music, Phys. Ed, Everyday Ethics, and French for all grades.  Columbia Community Service’s grant allowed Alexander Robertson School to offer meaningful financial aid to highly qualified minority students. For more information on the Alexander Robertson School, please visit http://www.alexanderrobertson.org/

Founded by Tina Ramirez in 1970, Ballet Hispanico explores, preserves, and expands the passion and joyous theatricality of Latino dance through the work in its three core divisions: the Company, the School of Dance, and Primeros Pasos arts education program. They distribute over $140,000 in scholarships to talented and needs-based students each year and all students receive subsidized support for classes. Ballet Hispanico is grateful to CCS for providing scholarship support for talented students from the Columbia neighborhood to attend the Ballet Hispanico School of Dance. For more information on Ballet Hispanico, please visit http://www.ballethispanico.org/

Behind the Book’s mission is to excite children and young adults about reading.  Working with low-income students in New York City’s K-12 public schools, Behind the Book bring authors and their books into individual classrooms to build literacy skills and nurture a new generation of book readers.  They make reading something more than schoolwork; they make reading something kids want to do. For more information about Behind the Book, please visit: http://www.behindthebook.org/

Bloomingdale School of Music’s mission is to provide open access to high-quality music education to anyone who seeks it. Serving the Upper West Side and, increasingly all of the five boroughs of New York City, quality is achieved through the school’s qualified and experienced faculty. Access is achieved through Bloomingdale’s financial aid and public school programs provided $250,000 in services in 2007-08. Each week, Bloomingdale serves more than 1,100 students ranging in age from three months to eighty years old. Half of the students are African- American, Hispanic, or Asian American, making Bloomingdales the most ethically diverse community music school in New York City. The $4,500 grant from Columbia Community Service provided tuition support to 9 students from the Upper West Side who would not have been able to study music without financial assistance. For more information on Bloomingdale School of Music, please visit http://www.bsmny.org/

The Broadway Presbyterian Church Nursery School provides a warm, friendly, supportive environment for up to 20 children ages 2 years, 9 months to 5 years. Children of every race religion, ethnic and economic background are welcomed. Realizing that each child is a unique personality with his or her own special talents, interests, and needs, they carefully plan their curriculum to give attention to all aspects of a child’s development, so that each child can attain his/her full potential.  The children are not separated by age, thus allowing each child to reach up or down according to his or her own development level.  This year's CCS grant was used to grant scholarships to 5 children.  For more information on Broadway Presbyterian Nursery School, please visit http://www.broadwaypresbyterian.org/home.html

Originally founded in 1976, the Children's Learning Center at Morningside Heights (formerly located at Union Theological Seminary) functions as a parent cooperative school. They requested the funds to assist more families in lowering the cost of quality early childhood programming.  As a result of CCS funding, three families from Columbia University and eleven from the surrounding community.  The Children's Learning Center is extremely grateful of the support as are the families who were assisted through this effort.  For more information on the Children's Learning Center, please visit http://www.clc-nyc.org/ .

The Columbia University Tennis Center has been conducting this program for about 25 years. The junior program is held in three different public courts and approximately 400 kids are given instructions during the summer. Very experienced directors for each site are hired who in turn hire tennis instructors. All this helps maintain the high level of instruction. Arvelia Myers, who has been the main catalyst of the program for over 20 years, is one of the directors. She ensures that the program grows and that all surrounding communities are aware of the program.  This year's CCS grant was used for providing better equipment and teaching aids to enable students to pick up the game faster.  For more information about the Columbia University Tennis Center, please contact the CCS office.

The Community Film Workshop Council was founded as a not-for-profit organization in 1969 by Sidney Poitier and George Stevens, Jr. with Shirley MacLaine as co-chair "in order to rescue youth by directing their energies toward effective involvement with media outlets to create an environment of racial harmony." Over a period of fifteen years the CFWC laid the foundation for what became a wave of minority news producers, broadcast journalists, writers, directors and technicians in the motion picture, television and recording industries.  The mission of The Community Film Workshop Council is to empower community residents to effectively use film, video and television to capture, express and communicate to a broad audience, the diverse visions and voices inherent in our communities; and equip them with the necessary skills to obtain meaningful employment in the film, television and media industries.  For more information on Community Film Workshop Council, please visit http://www.cfwc.tv/

Community Impact, a non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization located at Columbia University, is dedicated to serving Upper Manhattan by providing targeted service programs to disadvantaged local residents. Community Impact also fosters a commitment to life-long service by offering meaningful volunteer opportunities for students, staff, and faculty of Columbia University. With the committed partnership of CCS in 2008, Community Impact provided paid internships (some of which led to permanent job placements) for over 20 participants through our Neighborhood Internship Program.  For more information on Community Impact, please visit http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ci. 

The distinctive purpose of Corpus Christi School is to create a Christian educational community where culture and knowledge are enlightened and enlivened by faith that is shared among teachers, students, families, and the broader school-parish community.   Corpus Christi School understands that all children, created by God, are both alike and different.  Thanks to the Columbia Community Services' grant, Corpus Christi students have been able to work with upgraded computers in a newly furnished computer lab.  For more information on the Corpus Christi School, please visit http://www.ccschoolnyc.org/

Figure Skating in Harlem’s mission is to transform young lives and help Harlem girls grow in confidence, leadership and academic achievement. They provide girls, ages 6-18, vital educational and recreational opportunities that build self-esteem, and promote physical well being and academic accomplishment. Thanks to the generous $5,000 CCS grant received, Figure Skating in Harlem was able to purchase needed ice time for skating instruction, rent classroom space for off-ice education classes, as well as obtain quality skating equipment and team clothing for our girls. For more information on Figure Skating in Harlem, please visit http://www.figureskatinginharlem.org/ 

The purpose and mission of Friends of Morningside Park is to mobilize neighborhood residents, institutions and resources for the rehabilitation of Morningside Park in accordance with the ideals of its designers, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, while promoting responsible use of the park for activities that bring the surrounding neighborhoods together. The park is a shared resource within a diverse community. One of the primary goals is to use the park to foster a mutual respect and understanding of this diversity by celebrating the rich cultural traditions of the local park neighborhoods. For more information on Friends of Morningside Park, Inc., please visit http://www.morningsidepark.org/

Goddard Riverside Community Center is one of New York City’s leading human service organizations. The Community Center works to meet people’s basic needs: food, shelter and education. They also work to bring people together for mutual aid, social action, and to celebrate our richness as a society. Its diverse programs share a strong value system and belief in citizen participation. The agency commits to bringing people together across potential barriers of culture, ethnicity, race, class, age, sexuality and personal circumstances. Its programs are catalysts for social and economic change, advancing a vision of a more just and compassionate society. For more information, please visit: http://www.goddard.org/index.html

Graham Windham’s mission is to help under-served children overcome obstacles on the path to self-sufficiency by giving them the skills to succeed, supporting and strengthening their families, and, when necessary, supplementing their families. Graham Windham used the generous grant from CCS to continue the successful Beacon Center Family Enrichment program for youth and their families.  For more information on Graham Windham, please visit http://www.graham-windham.org/ 

Harlem Academy was founded in 2004 to create an opportunity for bright, motivated children to attend a local elementary and middle school program that matches the standards of the city’s best independent schools. They prepare students for success at top secondary schools and set a path for long-term academic and life success. Innovative features like extended hours, family partnership, and an academically rigorous curriculum developed with Columbia University’s Institute for Urban and Minority Education set Harlem Academy apart from local public, charter, and parochial schools. Harlem Academy is setting a new standard of educational excellence in an underserved urban community.  The grant given this year to Harlem Academy from Columbia Community Service was used for scholarship support.  For more information on Harlem Academy, please visit http://www.harlemacademy.org/index.cfm

The Harlem Educational Activities Fund, Inc. (HEAF) is a 501(c) (3) comprehensive supplemental education and youth development organization that works to help motivated students develop the intellectual curiosity, academic ability, social values and personal resilience they need to ensure success in school, career and life. HEAF identifies scholars in middle school and supports them until they are successfully admitted to four-year colleges through a variety of after-school, Saturday and summer educational and youth leadership programs.  HEAF used its grant to support the Youth Leadership Council and gender-specific support groups. Both groups spent the year focused on leadership development, learning how to communicate, organizing students, and planning and conducting service.  Service activities included book and canned food drives for local nonprofits, fundraising for the March of Babies, and participating in the New York City AIDS Walk.  Other activities included spearheading HEAF's Health and Wellness Initiative, developing staff report cards, and establishing a process for student
recognition of other students.  For more information on the Harlem Educational Activities Fund, please visit http://www.heaf.org/

The Harlem Honey and Bears Synchronized Swim Team's mission is to encourage group competition and physical wellness of senior residents in the Central Harlem community through various styles of swimming.  The Health and Fitness initiative strives to involve and educate seniors on the benefits and social impact of synchronized swimming. For more information on the Harlem Honey and Bear Synchronized Swim Team, please visit https://hypercontent.columbia.edu/gca/www.harlemhoneysandbears.org.

Since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Harlem Hospital Center has established itself as a Center for the provision of state-of-the-art HIV services.  HIV medical case management and support services are provided in the adult and pediatric co-located clinic. This year’s CCS grant went to fund various programs aimed at prevention and support that is both culturally sensitive and empowering.  Those programs include the Consumer Events Committee, HOPE Support Group, The Power of Prevention: 2009 HIV/AIDS Community Education and Outreach, and the COBRA Emergency Fund.  For more information on Harlem Hospital's Adult HIV Services, please visit http://www.nyc.gov/html/hhc/html/services/hiv-aids.shtml/

Many children in the Harlem community are at risk. They live with chronic illnesses and lack extended family support. The purpose of Family Friends, an intergenerational project, is to serve and benefit children and their families with an emphasis on health sustaining behaviors, while at the same time enriching the lives of senior citizens. Seniors are matched with children, who engage in educational, recreational and cultural activities.  Another important component of the Program is the collaboration with the School Health Program and Ambulatory Care in which volunteers help increase annual school physicals and health coverage for each child. Family Friends also seeks to strengthen intergenerational ties by drawing from the community’s strength, its seniors, who bring vast life experiences to help resolve difficulties. For more information on Harlem Hospital's Family Friends Program, please visit http://www.harleminternalmedicine.org/index.html

The Harlem Hospital Dance Leadership Program’s goal is to promote and teach dance as an educational and creative art form. The program uses these tools to operate an extensive educational dance development program for community children. The program is also designed to re-focus the participants’ energies in more positive direction, while building their self- esteem. It is the program’s obligation to provide some form of creative art that would be therapeutic and would help remediate any existing emotional, psychological and physical difficulties. The program serves approximately an active student body of 90-120 participants per year. Although, most participants are from the immediate community, the program also serves students from all five boroughs. Inclusive of these students, the program also serves foster and sheltered children. For more information on Harlem Hospital's Dance Leadership Program, please visit http://www.hhipp.org/programs_dlp.asp

The Harlem Hospital Injury Prevention Program plans to introduce an integrated replicable car seat & home safety program that provides car seats and safety bags to families who may not be able to afford them. Harlem Hospital’s mission is to provide quality health care to its constituents without regard to race, class or ability to pay. Within this financially challenged community, almost 70% of patients presented in pediatrics receive either Medicaid or Medicare. While there are over 1,200 births per year at Harlem Hospital, new parents neither receive instructions as it pertains to child passenger safety or proper restraint use, nor do they leave the hospital with car seats or safety bags for their newborns. For more information on Harlem Hospital's Seat and Safety Bags Program for Kids, please visit http://www.hhipp.org/programs_cps.asp

Founded in 1988, the Harlem Hospital Injury Prevention Program (HHIPP) developed the Urban Youth Bike Project (UYBP) to ameliorate the circumstances that place children at risk. The UYBP is an innovative, community based injury prevention program that capitalizes upon children’s interest in bicycling as a method of teaching good study habits, self-esteem, good hygiene, exercise, and responsibility. It has been proven that when children are immersed in well structured positive activities, they are less likely to engage in risky behavior. Each year, the UYBP directly serves 40 youth and hundreds more through its affiliated programs such as the New York Cyclist bike store, Cycling Adventures ride program, community Outreach and Child Passenger Safety Program. For more information on Harlem Hospital's Urban Youth Bike Project, please visit http://www.hhipp.org/programs_uybp.asp

The Winter Baseball Clinic (WBC) is a program of the Harlem Hospital Injury Prevention Program. They provide children with positive activities to fill up their otherwise free time. The Winter Baseball Clinic trains between 75-125 students each weekend during the winter months to prepare them to play ball in the spring. Many of the children who participate in this program are participants in the Harlem Little League. Nine of the young men on the 2001 championship team came from the WBC. The Winter Baseball Clinic is staffed by one Director and variety of volunteer coaches that work with the children. The children served in this program are from East Harlem, Central Harlem and Washington Heights. For more information on Harlem Hospital's Winter Baseball Clinic, please visit http://www.hhipp.org/programs_ap.asp

Project STAY (Services to Assist Youth) is a program of Columbia University’s Harlem Health Promotion Center, whose mission is to provide high-risk and HIV- positive adolescents with a medical “home”. Funded in 1994 by the New York State Department of Health’s AIDS Institute, Project STAY provides comprehensive medical and psychosocial services to 55 young people living with HIV/AIDS, between the ages of 15-25, many of whom are Harlem residents and others that travel in from as far as Long Island. Additionally, the program provides high-risk youth in community setting, particularly in Harlem (i.e. Minisink Townhouse, Renaissance High School, GMAD Gay Men of African Descent, etc.), with multi-media STI/HIV prevention education presentations. Following the presentations, interested youth are provided with individual counseling and testing for sexually-transmitted infections and HIV. Results and on-going primary are given at the Project STAY clinic. For more information, visit ww.healthyharlem.org

HarlemLIVE is an award winning, critically acclaimed web magazine produced by teens from throughout New York City. It is a journalism, technology and leadership program that teaches students ages 13 to 21 how to run an online newspaper. The publication, "HarlemLIVE," (www.harlemlive.org), includes news articles, investigative stories, opinion pieces, personal essays, poetry, photography and video documentaries. The students organize events, conduct workshops and sit on panels, increasing their networking and public speaking abilities. The program is currently located on 123rd Street in Central Harlem.   HarlemLIVE benefited tremendously from the Columbia Community Service Grant! The organization was finally able to update some equipment, including a much needed new server, which has allowed HarlemLIVE to enhance and maximize productivity from students and staff.  For more information on HarlemLIVE, please visit http://www.harlemlive.org/

Celebrating its 45^th anniversary, The Harlem School of the Arts offers children and adults the freedom to discover the artist within them, through instruction in and exposure to dance, music, theater and the visual arts. The Columbia Community Service grant provides scholarships for The Harlem School of the Arts' Bridge Ensemble students in the Theater department.  For 15 years, CCS has been the primary source of funding for this program and ensured the existence of HSA's needs-blind policy that offers students the means to pursue their arts education in a nurturing and challenging environment, free of financial restrictions. For more information about Harlem School of the Arts, please visit http://www.harlemschoolofthearts.org/ 

Legal Outreach’s mission is to prepare urban youth to compete at high academic levels. They use intensive legal and educational programs to foster vision, develop skills, enhance confidence, and facilitate the pursuit of higher education. Legal Outreach works in conjunction with Columbia Law School to encourage rising ninth grade students from Harlem and surrounding areas to consider the pursuit of legal and professional careers through the implementation of the five week program at the Summer Law Institute. Students who successfully complete the Summer Law Institute are invited to participate in Legal Outreach’s multi-faceted, four-year college preparatory program known as “College Bound.” The CCS grant was used by Legal Outreach to provide travel scholarships to financially needy students, stipends to students who completed the rigorous five-week program, and trophies and awards to winners of the mock-trial competition. For more information on Legal Outreach, please visit http://www.legaloutreach.org/index.cfm?nodeId=37

The mission of Morningside Retirement and Health Services (MRHS) is twofold. The first is to help frail and at-risk elderly residents of Morningside Gardens remain in their own homes comfortably, safely, and with as much independence as possible for as long as they can. The second is to provide programs that promote health and provide opportunities for education, socialization and recreation for all older residents of Morningside Gardens, with particular attention to the special needs of the infirm, homebound, and isolated. The CCS grant was used by MRHS to produce and distribute a monthly Newsletter for the more than 1,600 residents of Morningside Gardens.  The Newsletter is a critical outreach tool for MRHS, containing announcements and information about programs and services available at MRHS, as well as about the community at large, enabling many elderly residents to stay connected.  For more information on Morningside Retirement and Health Services, please visit http://www.mrhsny.org/

Hale House Center addresses the need for high-quality, affordable childcare for working families in the Harlem community through the Mother Hale Learning Center (MHLC). MHLC provides educational childcare to infants and toddlers, ages six weeks to five years with a capacity (full-time attendance) to serve 38 children. MHLC delivers nutritious meals and snacks, the curriculum includes special programs in music, art and language and parents are involved in the center through the Parent Partnership Association. Hale House Center continues ‘Mother Hale’s Way’ through the integration of education, community and family in all of its programs by giving children and families the tools to excel.   The 2008 grant award from CCS provided high-quality educational childcare tuition subsides for low and moderate income families at the Mother Hale Learning Center.  For more information on the Hale House Center, Inc., please visit http://www.halehouse.org/

Perhaps, Kids Meeting Kids Can Make a Difference was founded in 1982. After more than 27 years, the organization has involved 750,000 kids from all over the New York City area and from over 140 countries. It is a non-profit 501c (3) organization run by and for young people ages 7 to 21, who work together to solve problems of their neighborhoods, cities and the world. Kids Meeting Kids works at youth development and leadership training. Their projects help young people of different backgrounds, races and cultures to create non-violent solutions to conflict, and a better life for all kids. Kids Meeting Kids empowers youth by helping to find ways to speak out, to work together and develop positive ways to live in peace with one another. The grant from CCS has helped Kids Meeting Kids to reproduce and distribute materials on children's rights and non-violence.  For more information on Perhaps...Kids Meeting Kids, please visit http://www.kidsmeetingkids.org/backup/whoweare.htm

Piano Outreach of New York provides scholarships to children who cannot afford the cost of group lessons (much less the cost of private lessons). PONY allows its students to benefit from the same excellent, conservatory-trained musicians who teach the paying students of the Piano School of New York. PONY's scholarships cover 50-80% of the cost of the lessons, with parents, schools or PTAs making up the difference. Class size is small: three to six students. Piano-playing skills, note reading and writing, ear training, and rhythm are taught, together with music history. Each class is designed to meet the children’s individual needs according to their ages, and all children are introduced to a wide range of music, from sacred choral works of the Renaissance to 20th century jazz. PONY classes are educational, inspiring, and just plain fun! PONY is forever grateful for the support CCS has been providing.  The CCS grant is being used to subsidize the cost of Group Piano Classes Programs in the immediate vicinity of Columbia University.  The grant enabled children who come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds are able to study music with full or partial scholarships. For more information on Piano Outreach, please visit http://www.pianooutreach.org/

Project HEALTH works to break the link between poverty and poor health by mobilizing college students to provide sustainable public health interventions, in partnership with urban medical centers, universities, and community organizations. Founded in1996 by physicians at Boston Medical Center and students at Harvard University, Project HEALTH’s innovative model taps the energy, time, and idealism of undergraduates to address specific unmet needs of low-income children and families. For more information on Project Health, please visit http://www.projecthealth.org/

Purple Circle is a nondenominational, parent cooperative day care center, founded in 1972, and licensed by the NYC Dept. of Health.  Purple Circle provides children with opportunities for direct experience with materials and the environment.  Teachers make room to support children’s strengths and a variety of children’s interests. More than 60 families in the Columbia community are provided with high quality early childhood education.  Children are taught to value themselves and their work, and help them to develop an awareness of their own competence. The children learn to work successfully with each other, and in so doing, develop a sense of community and responsibility. For more information on Purple Circle Day Care Center, please visithttp://www.purple-circle.org

The ultimate goal at the Red Balloon is to create a community where very young children are encouraged and challenged to test the waters of life, where their curiosity is nurtured, and their minds are opened to the possibilities all within a safe and nurturing environment.  This can best be accomplished through hands on learning experiences and through play.  The process of learning is encouraged rather than stressing the product.  This allows the children to try new activities and experiment without the fear of "failure".  Finally the Red Balloon Day Care Center considers itself to be a team and a family.  This means the day care center also deals with the needs of parents while training them to be advocates for their children.  The Red Balloon takes great pride in the diversity of the school.  Part of this diversity is economic diversity.  Last year over $70,000 were given out in scholarships to neighborhood families.  This allowed 9 children who would not have been able to attend preschool to attend the Red Balloon.  The money received from the CCS grant combined with other grants and fundraisers went to this scholarship program. For more information on Red Balloon Day Care Center, Inc., please visit http://www.redballoonlearningcenter.org/

A neighborhood-based enrichment program, with a small child/staff ratio, can provide intense one-on-one interaction with teaching staff that is often needed to nurture the strengths and talents of inner-city children.  This is why since 1997, The Rev. Linnette C. Williamson Memorial Park Association, Inc, a nonsectarian, nonprofit land trust, has offered at no charge to low-income Harlem families the summer youth program called Art and the Gardens.  This program seeks to stimulate thought, learning and imagination; increase basic literacy skills in reading, writing and math; and build self-esteem in 20 to 25 children of color ages 5 to 12.  They were very fortunate in 2009 to partner once again with Columbia Community Service in providing Art and the Gardens in Central Harlem. For more information about this program, please contact the CCS office at 212-854-3638.

The Riverside Language Program offers free intensive English language classes for adult immigrants from around the world.  The program also helps students learn about American culture and its multi-ethnic society. The Riverside Language Program uses CCS funding for an Emergency Fund to help needy students attend our intensive English classes by paying for their carfare and/or offering them a free lunch.  It has been a real boon to people who could not afford to study without this help. For more information on the Riverside Language Program, please visit http://www.riversidelanguage.org/index.html/

In early 1990, under the Riverside Park Fund's supervision, a local resident initiated the project whose mission was to restore the section of Riverside Park at Tiemann Place that had been abandoned by the Parks Department. Yoshiko Scholz, who joined the project in the fall of 1995, has been leading it for the last 6 years. Riverside Park Tiemann Place Volunteers is a volunteer group of 6 core people and occasional volunteers. Its mission is to maintain, restore and renovate Riverside Park at Tiemann Place: the area between 125th street (St. Claire Place) and International House on East Riverside Drive (approximately 4 acres).  Columbia Community Service's grant was used for the following purchases:  Shrubs (Hydrangea Querciforlia, Rhododendron and Buxus), Bulbs (English bells and Muscari Armeniacum) and gardening tools.  For more information on the Riverside Park Volunteers at Tiemann Place, please visit https://hypercontent.columbia.edu/gca/www.riversideparkfund.org

St. Mary’s Soup Kitchen is an Outreach program.  Each Saturday afternoon, teams of volunteers prepare lunch bags (including hot soup in the winter), which they take to people living on the streets, in cars and in parks in Harlem.  Volunteers become acquainted with homeless neighbors and make them aware of resources and services in the area.  The Food Pantry is open Mondays from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. and is operated by volunteers from the church and community.  They serve an average of 50—60 families and individuals per day, people of all ethnicities and ages, about one-fourth children and one-fourth elderly.  Each pantry bag has enough food for three days, and in the local growing season includes fresh produce from an upstate farm through our participation in Community Supported Agriculture. For more information on Saint Mary's Episcopal Church Soup Kitchen, please contact the CCS office.

Top Honors helps struggling New York City middle school students master fundamentals of math. By providing students with a solid foundation, THinc gives them many of the tools necessary to succeed in high school and beyond. THinc’s curriculum features lesson plans that guide tutors through each session and includes exercises that simulate real-life situations. It also includes math-driven games and competitions to make the learning experience more enjoyable for the student. THinc boasts a low student-to-tutor ratio, allowing tutors to tailor the program for their students. Thanks to CCS's generous contribution, Top Honors was able to implement the innovative THInc dollar incentive program where students accumulate THInc dollars throughout the year based on attendance, good behavior, winning at weekly games and passing interim assessments.  This program is credited with greatly increasing student attendance and longevity.  For more information on Top Honors, please visit http://www.tophonors.org/

Since 1990, Uptown Inner City League, a grass root sports program, has been providing recreational programs that serve the children within the Manhattanville community. During the spring, summer and fall season Uptown Inner City League plays baseball, basketball and flag football. The program’s mission is to keep kids off the street corners and in a safe and enriching environment.  Uptown Inner City League's goal is to uplift the spirit and confidence of children through play. U.I.C.L. provides a co-ed sport program for children ages 3 to 16.  For more information on the Uptown Inner City League, please contact the CCS office.

The Wendy Hilliard Foundation (“WHF”) promotes and provides opportunities for young people to learn and compete in the Olympic sport of rhythmic gymnastics and its associated disciplines, as well as, enhance their athletic, social and personal potential through quality instruction. The three main goals of WHF are the following: Increase participant enrollment, enhance existing programs and develop new programs and support competitive team programs. The CCS Grant was used primarily to provide free gymnastics classes for the local youth and also to help upgrade computer systems and archive materials. This systems upgrade was a direct result of the CCS seminar and survey, which inspired the foundation to take a good look at the organization and find more affordable and creative options to improve services to the community.  For more information on the Wendy Hilliard Foundation, please visit http://www.wendyonthetheyb.org/

Through a customer cooperative supermarket style food pantry and social service counseling and referral program, West Side Campaign Against Hunger alleviates hunger and creates a culture that promotes self-reliance. The West Side Campaign Against Hunger changes our perception of hungry people by working in partnership with them, providing food with dignity, and empowering customers to find solutions.  The Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew started WSCAH in 1979. Surveying the needs of low-income neighborhood residents, the church found that their need was for food they could cook at home.  In the last 12 months, WSCAH provided 87,863 people with food for 790,767 meals, and assisted 5,500 households gain other benefits. The CSS grant of $10,000 purchases food for 1 week at West Side Campaign Against Hunger Food Pantry.  $10,000 provided 2,268 people with food for 20,412 meals.  For more information on the West Side Campaign Against Hunger, please visit http://www.wscah.org/

Founded in 1980, the Westside Crime Prevention Program (WCPP) works to keep the people who live, work and go to school on the Upper West Side safe and secure.  To do this, WCPP coordinates three programs: the Tamar Lynn Safe Haven project that keeps kids safe as they navigate the streets of the neighborhood by recruiting local businesses to be safe havens and by presenting Streetwise and Safe workshops in schools; Resolution is the Solution which offers interactive anti-violence workshops to high school and middle school students; and ACT: A Community Together which organizes residents to help them problem-solve around crime and safety issues. Last year WCPP used CCS funds to produce an eye-catching brochure publicizing the Safe Haven project; this year's funds will be used to expand the Safe Haven program, particularly to locations in the Columbia area. For more information on WCPP, visit the website: http://www.wcppny.org/