The Y at the Fort Tryon Medieval Festival 2013!

Our awesome Booth!

Our Jewish Program Director Cyndi, dressed in full Medieval garb, chats with Y families

Sports specialist Julian poses with Y kids dressed as knights

Cyndi paints children's' faces

Our photographer Roj takes a moment in front of the cameral to pose with Cyndi

Members of our youth staff (LtoR): Julian Diaz, Stephanie Ladenhauf, Stephane Cespedes, and Jon Zeftel

Our Youth Director Alan spends a relaxing day with his family in the park

Reading at the Y

Due to the generous grant from the Brooke Jackman Foundation, the Y is the proud home of the After School Literacy Program, and the Family Literacy Program. Both of these programs strive to give neighborhood children a chance to spend more time reading books and working on their literacy skills outside the classroom.

The Brooke Jackman Foundation was founded by the Jackman family in honor of Brooke, who sadly died in the World Trade Center attack on September 11th 2001. Brooke loved to read and to share her love for reading with children, and the Jackman family could think of no better way to honor Brooke's memory than to establish this Foundation.

Thanks to their efforts, thousands of underprivileged children across the city are able to attend weekly readings and literacy events. These programs help to foster core educational values and habits that are important to a successful future. With the help of the Brooke Jackman Foundation, these children are able to develop the skills they need to improve their lives in a loving and nurturing environment.

The Y is humbled to be able to take part in these program. Thanks to funding from the Brooke Jackman Foundation, we are able to supply children and families an outlet for reading and literacy skill-building. We offer programming twice a week, free of charge, with a healthy dinner included. Come be a part of this special program with your children, and help keep Brooke's legacy alive.

You can learn more about the Brooke Jackman Foundation here:http://brookejackmanfoundation.org/

For more about the Y literacy program, click here: http://ywashhts.org/youth/children-k-6/family-literacy

The G-Next Program

The Y is proud to take part in the G-Next program. G-Next is an innovative literacy program designed to help teen girls start on the path towards financial independence, as well as physical and emotional well-being. 
 
Led by a professional serving as a mentor and a role model, groups of 15-20 girls meet with their peers weekly during the school year. These young women have the chance to discuss some of the difficulties of their adolescent and teenage years in a safe space.  G-Next members participate in a web-based game to complete missions through community- based activities and share experiences with their group.  

The Y recently participated in this year's G-Next award ceremony. The G-Next group from the Y joined other groups from around the city to meet each other, share stories, and celebrate with an award ceremony.

Read more about G-Next on there website at http://gnextgirls.org/ . For more information about how you can participate or get involved with G-Next at the Y, contact Abraham at APalma@ywashhts.org

Laugh a little!

Have you heard about our Laughter Yoga program? Hear more about it from our very own instructor and guest blogger Francine Shore!

Let’s Unearth our Mirth!

Have no fear… your Laughter Stylist is here.

As a devoted Laughter Yoga Coach and Geriatric Counselor for over 10 years, I have developed creative and compassionate avenues for gen xers, baby boomers and older adults in expressing themselves. Aside from my individual coaching and counseling, my laughter groups are designed to teach us to unleash our own joyful spirit and sense of play, giving us permission to laugh in the face of adversity, trust your instincts and to be downright silly. Life can become challenging as an older adult, and aside from the good news and the milestone celebrations, there are many losses and age related illnesses that older adults face.

Laughter Yoga was created in the mid 1990’s by Dr. Madan Kataria in Mumbai, India. He was looking for a way to stave his patients off of their medications. Remembering the old adage that “laughter is the best medicine”, he started a laughter club. The club grew, but he found humor was subjective, and therefore developed his therapy into non-humor dependent. Hence, laughter yoga was born.

Ten years ago, I ran a Care -giving Program for Caregivers at The Educational Alliance. It was there that I started the first weekly laughter yoga club for seniors in the USA and had an opportunity to present Laughter Yoga in Washington DC at the ASA Conference on Aging for the first time. Prior to becoming a Laughter Yoga Coach and Counselor, I worked for 8 years in the entertainment industry as a Talent Agent and in Casting. My experience working with many comedians and actors, as well as a geriatric counselor have both given me the perfect platform as a Laughter Yoga professional.

You can imagine how delighted I was when I received a call from Patti asking me to start a weekly Laughter Yoga Club at the YM&YWHA of Washington Heights & Inwood, an area so rich in culture and diversity.

 

Laughter Yoga is the latest cardiovascular fitness craze which anybody at any age can participate. It involves laughter exercises with movement or while seated, intermittent deep breathing and stretching, and playful clapping to stimulate our circulation. We close with a seated laughter meditation and healing circle, and we may pick a topic to discuss.

Laughter Yoga’s health perks: strengthens the immune system, releases endorphins, decreases depression and anxiety, lowers blood pressure, enhances creativity, natural pain analgesic, alleviates asthma and arthritis, burns calories, deep connectivity factor.

Group members have reported the following: sense of empowerment, less stressed, fewer aches and pains, less depressed and anxious, more hopeful, feeling connected, sense of joy, happiness, calming factor, living in the present, less angry, feeling centered. With testimonials as these, who needs enemies :)

 

Come down to the laughter club and experience Laughter Yoga yourself. You can’t miss us, we’ll be roaring with laughter!

 

-Francine Shore, Laughter Yoga instructor at the Y

Beacon Program

The Y strives to provide fun programing for people of all ages. When the summer rolls around, we re-open our nursery and day camps spanning the ages of 2 and 15. But what about summer programing for our senior members? Well, we figured if summer camp works for kids, why not for senior adults?!

The Beacon program at the Y is a full-service summer program for seniors. For 2 days each week during the summer, we transport groups of senior adults to our Henry Kaufman Campgrounds in beautiful Pearl River, New York for a day of outdoor activities. "Campers" take part in physically and mentally stimulating activities such as swimming in our Olympic sized pool, arts & crafts, exercise, bingo, nature walks, and music & dancing. We encourage all seniors to come and take part in these exciting planned activities, or to just enjoy our camp grounds for a dose of nostalgia.

Who says camp is for children? Here at the Y, our creative programing ensures that those of all ages are having as much fun as possible. Want to learn more about the Beacon program? We would love to see you!

Beat The Heat

As we are sure you all know, there has been a heat advisory issued for this week in New York City.

But we bet most of you don't know that the Y is a NYC registered cooling center. Anyone can stop on by and take advantage of our cool air-conditioned building, or grab a much needed cup of water. You can even take some time to take a look at some of our amazing programing!

The New York City Office of Emergency Management is dedicated to creating a healthy and safe environment for NYC citizens. To find out more information on cooling centers here: http://www.nyc.gov/html/oem/html/hazards/heat_cooling.shtml

Recognizing Years of Dedication

This month, we celebrated the accomplishments of two of our most beloved and long-standing staff members. Deborah Katznelson, our Chief Social Services Officer here at the Y, has been with us for 30 years. Pedro Hernandez, our Building Superintendent, has been at the Y for 40 years. Deborah and Pedro were both presented with citations on behalf of city council man Robert Jackson Below find words of praise and gratitude from our Executive Director Martin Englisher.


"Debbie: the person who has watched over the Social Services of the Y for many years. This is a much needed department that very few community centers are still committed to providing. Debbie was the person who has helped many people in desperate situations and needed personal attention.  She has been here for 30 years working with me on many projects and helped me to build the Wien House in 1980s. We thank her family, Ira, her husband who is here and Zack her son among her other 3 children all who allowed her the time to devote to the Y."

"Pedro has worked with me here for 40 years. Pedro is the 'keeper of the keys'. He is the one who opens up the Y and makes sure that the operation runs smoothly. It's a hard job and many different people are seeking him at the same time to operate their programs. We together have seen many people pass through the Y and in good times and bad. He raised 4 children here, all who attended the Y as children. We thank his wife Ana and his children have also shared his time for him to be working hard here."