The site I chose is Harlem's Children Zone: http://www.hcz.org/home
The Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ) is dedicated to help children from poverty stricken backgrounds succeed from a early childhood through high school. Geoffery Canada, the CEO, has made strides to break the cycle of poverty. The agency has introduced many programs to the community of Harlem. Programs such as Baby College which are parenting workshops of children 0-3, Harlem Gems which is a preschool program, Asthma Initiative, a charter school, and an obesity program. Their goal is to create an environment that is supportive of the child, their families and the community. Through enriching, redeveloping and providing support to these areas, they strive to decrease adverse effects of decades of poverty and crime to the Harlem neighborhood community.
This initiative started off as a 1block pilot in the 1990's and has since expanded to 97 blocks in Harlem! Currently it serves about 10,000 children and 7,400 adults. It costs on average about $5,000 per child. One issue that caught my attention was an article called "From Cradle through College." It speaks on the basic principles of the HCZ program that guide them in the service they provide to children and families. It believes that by supporting the community as a whole, building a community among the residents who live in the community, and evaluating the program's effectiveness to improve the conditions of the program. This program has caught the attention of many professionals nationwide with its radical efforts to break the cycle of poverty and prepare children to enter the work force and society successfully.
