By listening to 40 CBO providers, our research surfaced resources and suggestions that, with good leadership and strategic thinking can be implemented at little to no cost. Because hiring more staff is only part of ensuring that attention is paid to the emotional and mental health needs of our City's most vulnerable.

If schools were equitable, race or income wouldn’t be predictors of academic outcomes.

When we talk about money we can face fears and take action together to advocate for ourselves and others, and the earlier we start, the better. That's why bringing financial education into our classrooms is so important.

Parents and guardians are one of a school's greatest assets in finding solutions and offering help in a pinch. They volunteer time, share skills and donate money, benefiting all students (not just their own). A big part of what made my kids' elementary school so successful was the collaborative spirit of our families, principal and teachers. So it frustrates me when I see a school that needs help, and its principal fails to take advantage of the help that many parents want to give.

To be clear, the purpose of a focus group is to give stakeholders the space to share their experiences and perspectives on issues that are important to them. This allows the listener to collect valuable data that can be used in creating responses that fit your community’s needs. Engaging in focus groups also gives stakeholders the opportunity to connect with neighbors and colleagues towards a common goal

Untreated mental illness and emotional disorders, self-medication with mind-numbing chemical substances that overtake the individual’s judgement and ability to self-manage are the real causes of homelessness. Urges and choices that involve illegal activities, sometimes violence, and often, a disregard for the impact of one’s choices on others (family members, neighbors, community supports and random strangers) are what perpetuate homelessness for the vast majority.

Instead of teaching and learning, teachers and a few students will get to spend 4 days with tests for the sake of bureaucratic rules from the Federal and State education departments.

In April, my son’s 8th-grade teacher asked her students to read a book a week from a list of suggested titles - downloadable. That’s when I decided to make it my mission to challenge our dependency on screens… So far, most of the proposed solutions to education during COVID-19 involve screens and technology. That has become the de facto solution to learning from home. And it assumes that all families have the same facility with technology.

New York City procurement rules actually hurt many small businesses, including MWBEs.