Chasing the Dream, Season 1: Ep 8

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Chasing the Dream: Youth Programming
On this final episode of season one of Chasing the Dream, we explore the mission of the Southside Community Center and CUMEP (Community Unity Music Education Program) in Ithaca, NY. Natasha Thompson, host of the series and President & CEO of the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, discusses the importance of youth programming in our region with Emily Bowler of the Addison Youth Center. The episode concludes with a story from a community member imagining their own version of the American Dream. Resources highlighted in this episode include:

Southside Community Center
Addison Youth Center
Chemung County Youth Bureau
New York State Network for Youth Success
Broome County Urban League
Boys and Girls Club of Binghamton

For a list of additional resources, please CLICK HERE.

Chasing the Dream, Season 1: Ep 7

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Chasing the Dream: Struggles on College Campuses
This week on Chasing the Dream, we explore the mission of Anabel’s Grocery at Cornell University. Natasha Thompson, host of the series and President & CEO of the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, discusses issues currently facing college students with Deborah Mohlenhoff of Tompkins Cortland Community College. The episode concludes with a story from a college student chasing their own version of the American Dream. Resources highlighted in this episode include:

Anabel’s Grocery
Tompkins Cortland Community College Food Pantry

170 North St, Dryden, NY – Main Building – Room 114

Food for Thought SUNY Broome
National Student Campaign Against Hunger & Homelessness
Wisconsin Hope Lab

For a list of additional resources, please CLICK HERE.

Chasing the Dream, Season 1: Ep 6

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Chasing the Dream: Jobs & Opportunity
This week on Chasing the Dream, we take a look at the Perfectly Suited program at the YWCA Binghamton. Natasha Thompson, host of the series and President & CEO of the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, discusses issues surrounding job training and employment opportunities in our region with Carole Coppens of the YWCA Binghamton. The episode concludes with a story from a local community member chasing their own version of the American Dream. Resources highlighted in this episode include:

YWCA Binghamton
Broome-Tioga Workforce New York
Broome County Urban League
Chemung-Schuyler-Steuben Workforce New York
Delaware, Chenango, Madison, Otsego (DMCO) BOCES
Bradford County Action, Inc.

For a list of additional resources, please CLICK HERE.

Chasing the Dream, Season 1: Ep 5

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Chasing the Dream: Transportation
This week on Chasing the Dream, we hear from the founder of S&P Mobility and his inspiration for starting this business. Natasha Thompson, host of the series and President & CEO of the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, discusses issues surrounding transportation with Jack Salo of the Rural Health Network of South Central New York. The episode concludes with stories from local community members chasing their own version of the American Dream. Resources highlighted in this episode include:

GetThere Call Center
511NY – Traffic, Travel, and Transit Information
Deposit Foundation, Inc.
Schuyler County Transit
The Institute for Human Services
Tompkins County FISH: Friends in Service Helping

For a list of additional resources, please CLICK HERE.

Chasing the Dream, Season 1: Ep 4

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Chasing the Dream: Food Insecurity
This week on Chasing the Dream, the work of VINES (Volunteers Improving Neighborhood Environments) and their collaboration with CHOW® (Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse of Broome County Council of Churches) is explored. Natasha Thompson, host of the series and President & CEO of the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, discusses hunger and food systems in our region with Erin Summerlee of the Food and Health Network of South Central New York. The episode concludes with a story from a local community member chasing their own version of the American Dream. Resources highlighted in this episode include:

VINES
CHOW®
Food and Health Network of South Central New York
Food Bank of the Southern Tier
Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York
Central Pennsylvania Food Bank

For a list of additional resources, please CLICK HERE.

Chasing the Dream, Season 1: Ep 3

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Chasing the Dream: Childcare & Support for Parents
This week on Chasing the Dream, the work and stories of Mothers Helping Mothers of Elmira is explored. Natasha Thompson, host of the series and President & CEO of the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, discusses issues surrounding childcare in our region with Jennifer Perney of Family Enrichment Network. The episode concludes with a story from a local community member chasing their own version of the American Dream. Resources highlighted in this episode include:

Mothers Helping Mothers of Elmira
Family Enrichment Network
Economic Opportunity Program, Inc.
Mothers & Babies
ProAction of Steuben and Yates, Inc.
Opportunities for Chenango, Inc.

For a list of additional resources, please CLICK HERE.

Uncategorized

Chasing the Dream, Season 1: Ep 2

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Chasing the Dream: Housing & Dignity
On this second episode of Chasing the Dream, the work of Second Wind Cottages in Newfield, NY is explored. Natasha Thompson, host of the series and President & CEO of the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, discusses the role of faith in philanthropy with Sister Mary of Tioga County Rural Ministry. The episode concludes with a story from a local community member chasing their own version of the American Dream. Resources highlighted in this episode include:

Second Wind Cottages
Tioga County Rural Ministry
Binghamton Rescue Mission
Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services
Arbor Housing and Development
The Impact Project

For a list of additional resources, please CLICK HERE.

Chasing the Dream, Season 1: Ep 1

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Chasing the Dream: An Introduction
On this first episode of Chasing the Dream, an overview and history of poverty in our area is explored. Natasha Thompson, host of the series and President & CEO of the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, discusses the role of philanthropy with Judith Peckham, Executive Director of the Conrad and Virginia Klee Foundation. The episode concludes with a story from a local community member chasing their own version of the American Dream. Resources highlighted in this episode include:

The United Way of Broome County
The Rural Health Network of South Central New York
Tioga Opportunities, Inc.
Opportunities for Chenango, Inc.
Catholic Charities of Chemung & Schuyler Counties
Proaction of Steuben & Yates, Inc.

For a list of additional resources, please CLICK HERE.

Poverty

Agencies Across Central New York Split Over $13 Million To Fight Poverty

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SYRACUSE, NY (WRVO) – Organizations that help impoverished central New Yorkers get an education, find jobs or decent housing are getting a boost from a pot of state money meant to help the poor. Wayne O’Connor, of the Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection of Syracuse, said the extra cash will help expand his organization that focuses on workforce development, starting in the middle school years. “It will enable us to hire five youth advocates, and some support for those advocates,” said O’Connor. “Every time we add more students, we grow the culture, we grow the program, so it’s significant.”

Hilliside is one of almost two dozen organizations in five counties, awarded a piece of the Upstate Revitalization Initiative grant. The 24-member Alliance for Economic Inclusion decided to split over $13 million between agencies that had successful programs dealing with poverty, as well as some newer ones.

Chasing the Dream

Report: Rural Poverty in America is ‘An Emergency’

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The United States does not stack up favorably when compared to other nations with advanced economies when it comes to childhood poverty worldwide, according to a new report, which considered factors such as the lack of access to quality food, high adolescent birth rates and a child dropping out of school. Out of 175 nations, the U.S. ranks 36th – far behind Singapore, Slovenia, Norway, Sweden and Finland, which round out the top five — and just behind Bahrain and Belarus in the reportproduced by the advocacy group Save the Children. “We are just above Russia, Kuwait and Bosnia,” says president and CEO Carolyn Miles. “So I wouldn’t say that the United States is doing terribly well as far as childhoods.”

The report looks at so-called childhood enders or “events that rob children of their childhood and prevent them from reaching their full potential,” including things like displacement due to war, gender bias, child labor and child mortality. There are three childhood disruptors that account for why the U.S. ranking is relatively low, says Miles, “One was our infant mortality rate, which is by global standards, pretty high.