2024-2026

97 Blocks. Endless Possibilities

2024-2026

HARLEM CHILDREN'S ZONE

Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) breaks the cycle of intergenerational poverty with on-the-ground, all-around programming that builds up opportunities for children, families, and communities to thrive in school, work, and life. HCZ’s cradle-to-career pipeline of services extends from early childhood, education and career programmes to community outreach and wellness initiatives. We supported HCZ during the COVID-19 crisis in 2020 and are now funding its Education Programmes across its growing 97-block zone in Central Harlem.

www.hcz.org

CHALLENGE

Currently around 16% of all children in the USA are living in poverty – that’s 11.6 million kids. Many families are locked in poverty from generation to generation. If the challenges they face are not addressed, children quickly fall behind their grade level, drop out of school and easily end up in jail.

ACTION

HCZ addresses the urgent needs of the community through education, social services, and access to healthcare and other resources that influence social capital and economic mobility. HCZ offers responsive services and supports for everyone in the Central Harlem, New York community—from expectant parents to children of all ages, and young professionals all the way to senior citizens. Its neighbourhood approach achieves three goals: reaching children in numbers significant enough to affect the culture of a community; transforming the physical and social environments that impact the children’s development; and creating programmes at scale large enough to meet the community’s needs.

Getting children to and through college is the primary means of breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty. HCZ empowers youth through comprehensive, integrated programmes, from early childhood development (The Baby College®) and preschool (Harlem Gems®) to charter schools for children in its community (HCZ Promise Academy®). Complementing this, it also offers exceptional extracurricular activities for students who live in or go to school in Central Harlem (Zone Afterschool Programmes).