Blue Engine Launches This Week—a New Corps for NYC Schools

By Amy Potthast, originally posted on The New Service.

This week a new national service corps launches its website and application process. Blue Engine, based in New York City, aims to recruit a corps of about a dozen fellows to facilitate daily, specialized, small-group instruction for high school freshmen.

Nick Ehrmann—Blue Engine’s engine and a Teach For America alum—says that we know how to get high-needs kids into college, or getting them “college eligible”—nonprofits and schools have been targeting and tackling hurdles like high school completion, college admissions, and financial assistance.

But, while the high school drop-out problem is far from solved, groups are paying far less attention to college completion rates for high-needs kids, or “college readiness.”

Blue Engine aims to close the gap between college eligibility and college readiness. Watch the video that explains:

A startling statistic: for every 100 kids from low-income families who make it into college, only 15 end up graduating (within five years, from any college).

The problem, according to Nick and others who’ve looked into it, is that our kids who find themselves working hard to get into college, and then leaving, aren’t exposed to the rigorous academic coursework in high school that predicts successful college outcomes.

News Roundup: Continued Support for Haiti, Nature in the City, etc.

News from the past week:

• Helping Brooklyn vendors and residents cope with earthquake trauma (Carib News via Voices That Must Be Heard)
• Locals Reach Out in Wake of Haiti Earthquake (Norwood News)
• In Images of Haiti, Tools for Recovery (City Room)
• Read Faster: Libraries Cutting Back Hours (City Room)
• Into the Wild: Nature’s NYC (City Limits)
• Army Corps to help restore Bronx River (Daily News)

Find Love and Do Good—Or Find a Do-Gooder to Love

With Valentine’s Day approaching, single Idealists might be sliding down the slippery slope of romance-related depression. If you’ve tried all of the standard online dating sites, and if making eyes at the cute guy on the R train isn’t working, you might try GiveAndDate.com.

GiveAndDate is an online dating site for socially conscious New Yorkers. It’s different from most online dating sites in that it combines philanthropy and phlirting (their spelling, not mine, though I wish I’d thought of it). Here’s how you do it: sign up, choose from a list of available New Yorkers, pay a “Love Tax” which includes making a donation (as little as $1) to a local charity, “pass a note” to express interest, and cross your fingers for a response.

Featured charities include: Williamsburg Collegiate, Animal Haven, Solar One, and the Council on the Environment of New York City.

Go ahead and give it a try. As the website says, “Worst case scenario: You helped people.”

To ramp up your social impact—and the potential for a love connection—search for a volunteer opportunity that might be the perfect activity for a first, second, or third date.

News Roundup: Hunger in the Bronx, Gardening at Rikers, etc.

In the news recently:

• Answers About New York’s Response to Haiti’s Earthquake (City Room)
• Bright Lights, Green Living (City Room)
• For Transgender People, Name Is a Message (New York Times)
• School Adds Weeding to Reading and Writing (New York Times)
• Brooklyn stays glued to the radio (EDLP via Voices That Must Be Heard)
• Sleepless in New York: My Night at the HOPE Street Survey (Huffington Post)
• Bronx Neighborhoods Have The Nation’s Highest Hunger Rate (Gothamist)
• An Advocate Grows in Brooklyn (Brooklyn Based)
• UN sees school through Hunts Point eyes (Hunts Point Express)
• A Citywide Plan for Urban Agriculture in NYC (Sustainable Cities Blog)
• Rikers Island Sprouting Green: Gardening Project Helps Ex-Prisoners Plant, Grow, and Not Go Back to Prison (Planet Green via The Wonkster)

Join Us on Monday at the Global Volunteering Fair

On Monday, February 1, you can learn about opportunities for volunteering abroad at the Idealist.org Global Volunteering Fair at Barnard College (LeFrak Gymnasium at 117th Street and Broadway, 6:00-9:00p.m.).

At the fair, you can meet with over 20 different organizations that are looking for international volunteers:

• American Jewish World Service
• Canterio International USA
• Cross-Cultural Solutions
• CUSO-VSO
• Earthwatch Institute
• Global Citizens Network
• Good News Corps
• Greenheart Travel
• InterExchange, Inc.
• International Education Programs
• MASA Israel Journey
• Peace Corps
• Projects Abroad
• ProWorld Service Corps
• SIT Graduate Institute
• United Planet
• Visions in Action
• WAVES for Development International
• Winant Clayton Volunteers
• WorldTeach
• Youth Challenge International (YCI)

There will also be two workshops: Affordable Volunteering Abroad and International Volunteerism 101.

Click here for more information and to register (it’s free!).

Meeting of the Minds: Teach and Learn at Brooklyn Brainery

“If you can make it, read it or think it, we’re probably open to it.” So say the organizers of Brooklyn Brainery, a new group organizing cheap collaborative classes in… well, just about anything.

Want to learn how to describe a painting you like? Where meat comes from and how to bone it, cook it, and savor it? It’s a little too late to register for classes for the inaugural session, which meets through February at The Gowanus Studio Space. But if you like the idea of learning something new for cheap ($25 for four classes), you’ll want to stay tuned to their course listings for the next session.

Every course meets once a week for a month, and the organizing philosophy is that no teacher is an “expert” in the formal, hierarchical sense. So if there’s a skill you’d like to share or explore with your neighbors, you can also reach out to organizers Jen Messier and Jonathan Soma to propose a class. Rather than being a traditional teacher who lectures and grades pupils’ work, you could wind up leading what they call a “book club on steroids”—a small, collaborative learning group tackling fun topics through discussion and a few course materials.

Follow @bkbrains on Twitter, or sign up for the mailing list at brooklynbrainery.com.

If you love the idea of collaborative, informal learning, check out this podcast we produced a couple of years ago. Organized by volunteers in Washington, DC, Learn-A-Palooza brought neighbors together in donated spaces—from coffee shops to home goods stores to the Idealist office—for a day of free classes with titles like “How to Dance at a Party” and “How to Get Out of a Speeding Ticket.” The day was fun, well-organized, and low-key but full of learning. That’s why I’m excited to learn more about Brooklyn Brainery.

Get Those Minds Back into the Gutter

Did you know that NYC’s streets and sidewalks are partly to blame for our dirty rivers and beaches? Minds In the Gutter explains:

Every time it rains in New York City, our combined sewer system gobbles up stormwater running off all hard surfaces – roadways, sidewalks, rooftops and parking lots – into the same network of pipes that carry our sewage. This system quickly reaches capacity, and the stormwater and sewage overflow into local waterways on the order of 27 billion gallons per year.  This limits how New Yorkers can safely access the waterfront, and impairs our estuary ecosystem. It’s also a waste! Almost 30% of NYC’s surface is made of streets and sidewalks that contribute to this problem.

If you can think of an innovative way to improve the situation, submit it to the Minds In the Gutter project.

The project’s sponsors (NYC Environmental Fund, Storm Water Infrastructure Matters, and the North Brooklyn Compost Project) are looking for submissions from anyone with ideas—engineers, designers, environmentalists, community leaders, regular old pedestrians—by February 15.

The submissions that are accepted by the expert judges will go into an exhibit and a book, and will help inform the future of the city’s water systems.

News Roundup: NYC’s Response to the Earthquake in Haiti, etc.

First, some news from us: Idealist is in the running to win a million dollars from Chase Bank. If you’re on Facebook, please vote for us here. Thanks!

Lots of other local news from the past week:

• New York City Responds to Earthquake in Haiti (City Limits)
• NYC Search & Rescue Taskforce Heads to Haiti (Yeshiva World)
• Record-breaking NYC response to Haiti disaster (Crain’s)
• Urban Center Draws Its Curtains Closed (City Room)
• Docs that Rock (Brooklyn Based)
• Magic Bus (Brooklyn Based)
• Holocaust Survivors Find Social Support With Ivolunteer (Chabad Lubavitch)
• Borough’s first Harvest Food Co-op set to hit Long Island City in 2011 (Daily News)
• The Truth About FDNY’s Removal Of NYC Vollies From “The System” (David Konig)
• IIT Madras team wins global competition to clean up NYC (New India Times via Voices That Must Be Heard)
• Bringing No Impact Education into the Classroom (Treehugger)
• Eco-park to restore polluted Canarsie wetlands (Freshkills Park Blog)
• Brooklyn Public Library Announces Power Up! Winners (GreenBeat Brooklyn)
• Brooklyn Volunteers Build On A ‘Dream’ (NY1)

Nonprofit Employees: Need a Break?

Do you often work through your lunch break? Do you forget to get up from your desk for hours at a time? Are you stressed about your next event, grant proposal, or program launch?

Why not take a little break?

Fellow nonprofit BodiBalance is offering dance classes to help you de-stress during lunchtime on Wednesdays. Bring proof of your nonprofit employment (a business card, letterhead, etc.) to get in for free!

It’ll benefit your health as well as your work, since you’ll likely be refreshed and ready to attack that planning meeting with gusto when you return to the office. And it could even facilitate some coworker bonding—unless you’d rather use the time to escape from them.

How to Contribute to Haiti Earthquake Relief from NYC

We’ll keep updating this list as we hear of efforts being organized around NYC. Please add anything we missed to the comments. Thanks!

Benefit events:

• Friday, January 15, 5:00-11:00p.m.: Bring clothes and canned food to the fundraiser co-hosted by Yéle at Katra Lounge (217 Bowery, at Rivington)
• Friday, January 15, 6:00pm-8:30p.m.: New Yorkers for Haiti Benefit at Talay Restaurant (701 West 135th Street at 12th Ave.)
• Saturday, January 16, 10:00p.m.: Dutty Artz Tropical Relief for Haiti at Bowery Poets Cafe (308 Bowery, between Houston and Bleecker)
• Sunday, January 17, 7:00-9:00p.m.: Fundraiser with performances at Nuyorican Poets Cafe (236 E. 3rd Street, between Avenue B and C)
• Tuesday, January 19, 7:00p.m.: Benefit for Haiti at Idlewild Books (12 W. 19th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues)
• Wednesday, January 20, 8:00p.m.: Screening of “Poto Mitan”and fundraiser for Partners in Health at Vox Pop Cafe (1022 Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn)
• Wednesday, January 20 8:00p.m. Benefit: Robert Randolph and the Family Band at Brooklyn Bowl (61 Wythe Ave, Brooklyn)
• Wednesday, January 20, 6:00-1:00p.m.: Donate money or pre-paid cell phones to Yéle at Stay Lounge (244 East Houston Street, at Avenue A)
• January 20, 21, 24, and 25: Benefit shows at the City Winery: Patti Smith, The Swell Season, Roseanne Cash, and more (155 Varick Street, between Spring and Vandam Streets)
• January 21 and 22: Broadway Dance Center dance classes (322 West 45th Street, 3rd Floor)
• Thursday, January 21, 7:00p.m.: WELOVEHAITI Fundraiser Event at La Pomme Nightclub (37 W. 26th Street, between 6th Avenue and Broadway)
• Thursday, January 21, 8:00p.m.: Music vs. Hunger Haiti Relief Benefit at Cake Shop (152 Ludlow Street, at Stanton) 21+
• Thursday, January 21, 10:00p.m.: Ill Banger for Haiti at Alibi Lounge (116 MacDougal Street, between Bleecker and W. 3rd)
• Friday, January 22, 6:30p.m.: NYC I AM HAYITI Benefit at the Caribbean Cultural Center (408 W 58th St, between 9th and 10th)
• Saturday, January 23, 7:00p.m. and 9:30pm: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Haiti Earthquake Relief Benefit Show (405 W. 55th Street)
• Sunday, January 24: Haiti Dine Out Night at various restaurants in NYC—10% of sales will go to Haitian charities
• Sunday, January 24, 5:00-10:00p.m.: Kampe Ansam! (Stand Together!) Haitian Relief Benefit at Southpaw (125 Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn)
• Sunday, January 24, 6:00p.m.-12:00a.m.: The World Stands with Haiti benefit show at Drom (85 Avenue A, between 5th and 6th Streets)
• Sunday, January 24, 9:00p.m.: For the People! A benefit show for the people in Haiti at Highline Ballroom (431 W. 16th Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues)
• Wednesday, January 27: 6:00p.m.: “Strength Through Unity Benefit” at The Bell House with Jimmy Fallon, Cold War Kids, Ted Leo, Eugene Mirman, and more (149 7th Street, between 2nd and 3rd Aves, Brooklyn)
• Thursday, January 28, 5:00p.m.: “Humanity for Haiti” professional happy hour at Taj Lounge (48 W. 21st Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues)
• Thursday, January 28, 7:00p.m.: A Night of Haitian Rara to benefit Partners in Health at Barbès (376 9th Street, at 6th Avenue, Brooklyn)
• Thursday, January 28, 9:30p.m.: “I’m with CoCo” comedy night to raise money for Planting Peace and Partners in Health at Comix (353 W. 14th Street, at 9th Avenue)
• January 28, 29, 30: “Love for Haiti” 36-hour fundraiser at Webster Hall (125 E. 11th Street)
• Saturday, January 30, 10:30-11:30a.m.: A family concert to benefit UNICEF at Musical Kids International (1296 Lexington Avenue)
• Saturday, January 30, 3:00p.m.: Haiti Benefit Bike Race at Tompkins Square Park
• Thursday, February 4: Cocktails for a Cause: Fresh Water for Haiti! at Kush Lounge (191 Christie Street)
• Tuesday, February 9, 8:00p.m.: XXL presents Haiti relief concert with Jim Jones and Juelz Santana at Webster Hall (125 E. 11th Street)
• Thursday, February 11, 7:00-10:00p.m.: Young Professionals in Foreign Policy benefit for Doctors Without Borders at The Tank (354 45th Street)
• Friday, February 12, 12:00-8:00p.m.: Healing Arts for Haiti: massage, acupuncture, fitness, makeovers, and more at the Grand Hyatt at Grand Central Station (109 E. 42nd Street)
• Friday, February 12, 6:00-9:00p.m.: One Brick NY’s fundraiser for relief efforts in Haiti at Sidebar (118 E. 15th Street)
• Sunday, February 14, 5:00-10:00p.m.: Help Haiti Valentine’s Day Benefit for Action Against Hunger at TOUCH (240 W. 52nd Street)
• Saturday, February 20, 9:00a.m.-12:00p.m.: Run/Walk for Haiti in Central Park
• Sunday, February 28: Quarterly Arts Soiree to benefit Orphans International Worldwide in Haiti at Webster Hall (125 E. 11th Street)

Places to donate:

• Find out the specific items the Haitian Consulate of New York is requesting, and where to drop them off.
• Drop off first aid supplies, personal hygiene goods, and more at the Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees office in the evenings.
• In Washington Heights, San Romero de las Americas Church is collecting donated goods (first aid supplies, personal hygiene products, dry foods, batteries, and more) from Thursday through Sunday. Find more donation locations in upper Manhattan here.
• Teen Vogue is sending out a shipment to Haiti Tuesday morning (January 19). You can drop clothes off at the Conde Nast building on Friday or Monday.
• The charity: water office is accepting donations (blankets, tents, soap, and more) on Friday, Saturday, and Monday, to be flown to Haiti on Tuesday, January 19.
• Dwa Fanm and Brooklyn Tabernacle are collecting medical supplies.
• Art space/store Fresthetic in Williamsburg is collecting food and clothing for Yéle. Call 718-782-3884 before going.

Find out more:

• See Idealist’s blog entry for general information about donating and volunteering.
• Take a look at the Helpful Resources for People in New York City posted on Bagay Dwol Journal.
• Find out which Haiti-related NYC organizations need volunteers on NYC Service.
• Tech-savvy volunteers can find a way to contribute their skills at Crisis Camp NYC on January 30 and 31
• On Twitter, search for #HelpHaitiNYC.
• People are connecting with friends and family in Haiti through this New York Times blog post and the photos posted here.