Contributed Photo
The youth education and recreation program LEAP sent in this write-up:
Like everyone in the Greater New Haven area, we at LEAP are having to make big changes during this public health crisis. We want to keep LEAP kids and teens, their families, our neighbors and supporters and everyone else up to date on what we are doing. Following the New Haven Public Schools closure on March 12, LEAP suspended our free after-school programming at our five school sites and our community center.
Next week we will be up and running again, using technology.
For the families of our children and for most of our counselors, the COVID-19 pandemic is not just a health emergency. It also creates economic and community hardships. Many parents will be laid off and those that are working suddenly need childcare, which has largely evaporated. In the best of times, for many of our counselors, a LEAP paycheck helps make ends meet at home.
To give a sense of the scale of this for us at LEAP, when we closed last week, we were working with almost 700 young people and employing about 100 local teens and young adults as counselors, instructors and lifeguards. Almost all our children and most of our counselors come from high poverty New Haven neighborhoods.
So what is LEAP doing?
We have created a section of our website dedicated to helping everyone in greater New Haven get through this period. We have links to accurate information on COVID-19, activities for kids, how to get free internet, where to get food, free online books, and a range of other important things. We want this to be a community resource, so if you have a suggestion for anything to add, please be in touch with Erin Bond at LEAP (ebond@leapforkids.org). If you know of a virtual story time, art class, or government program that benefits kids, let us know.
Starting this weekend, we are conducting a survey of our families via phone calls from our counselors to kids’ parents. We want to know what families’ core needs are so we can help. We plan to share this information with city and state government when these needs go beyond our capacity. Counselors will also share information like where to pick up breakfast and lunches at local schools and how to access free internet so kids can get online.
Starting next week, we will be creating videoconference, social media and phone-based programming for children. Counselors will help with school assigned homework, do group read alouds, play educational games, provide academic support, and meet other needs identified by parents and kids. We will also restart our college preparation and SAT tutoring programs for our high school students using videoconferencing.
We are asking some of our resource providers to create videos and do Facebook live events online for kids whether they are in LEAP or not. For example, every Friday (starting March 27) at 3 p.m, local artist and LEAP art instructor Alicia Cobb will host Facebook Live art classes. Her first class will be “Family Paper Quilt inspired by the Gees Bend Quilters of Alabama.” We will also be offering classes in other fields, including yoga and dance. Information for these programs will be available on our website and updated daily.
To make all of this happen, we are employing our young staff members. We are surveying them as well to understand their needs and their availability. We are using videoconference tools like Zoom and Google Hangouts for our meetings with kids and teens – options that they can use for free.
Our team has worked very hard this week to figure out how to operate in this new and difficult environment. We believe it is important to get started as soon as possible, so we know we will not be perfect in the first few weeks.
Over the last week we have gotten great advice and support from the entire LEAP family, including our staff, counselors, board members, parents, donors, the city of New Haven, and so many more. Our slogan is “Creating a New Haven for our Children,” and we are proud to work with our whole city to make a difference for all of our children.