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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Jenny Dembrow, Executive Director of The Lower Eastside Girls Club
2:39:30
ยท
3 min
Jenny Dembrow, Executive Director of The Lower Eastside Girls Club, testified about their Center for Well-being and Happiness (CWBH) and its impact on older adults in the community. She highlighted the center's intergenerational approach to wellness and requested funding to support their work with older adults and to address the organization's financial challenges.
- CWBH serves a significant number of older adults (210 participants aged 50-61 and over 260 participants aged 62+) through various wellness programs and a food pantry.
- The organization is facing a $2 million deficit due to mortgage costs, inflation, and declining donations and government funding.
- Dembrow requested $20,000 from the Committee on Aging for older adult-focused programming and $2.5 million from the City Council for organizational stabilization.
Jenny Dembrow
2:39:30
Good afternoon, chair Hudson and members of the committee on aging.
2:39:34
My name is Jenny Dembrough, and I'm the executive director of the Lower East Side Girls Club and have been with the organization since our founding.
2:39:41
Since 1996, Girls Club has nurtured creative and supportive spaces where young people and their families can dream big, find their passions, and connect to peers and careers.
2:39:51
In 2022, we launched the Center for Well-being and Happiness, CWBH, where we provide a third space that fosters healthy relationships between neighbors, combats chronic loneliness, and promotes intergenerational community care through free accessible wellness programs.
2:40:10
This is a hyper local community space, a dynamic wellness hub with programming that includes nutrition, fitness, wellness, creative expression, and support groups.
2:40:20
Our weekly food pantry serves over 1,700 people, including seven fifty five older adults.
2:40:27
It is also a community space where we collaborate with mission aligned organizations and host meetings, trainings, and community events.
2:40:34
Here, we prioritize the well-being of all generations from babies to elders and all genders are collectively supported.
2:40:42
The CWBH membership is growing.
2:40:45
Currently two ten participants are ages 50 to 61 and over two sixty participants are age 62.
2:40:53
CWBH is a vital resource for multiple generations of community members who are navigating various life challenges.
2:41:00
Our ability to provide community care from immediate crisis support to long term wellness initiatives has made us an essential anchor institution for older adults seeking connection and well-being, especially after the isolation and loss during COVID.
2:41:17
CWBH also supports grandparents and older parents who are helping their children and loved ones with substance use issues.
2:41:24
We have also witnessed an increase in assaults against our elders.
2:41:27
During this crucial moment, we are becoming a rapid response space where individuals feel comfortable seeking support.
2:41:34
We aim to enhance our programming and partner with organizations to provide know your rights trainings, safety trainings, and caregiver training for this population.
2:41:42
We are requesting $20,000 from the committee on aging to support our work specifically focused on older adults to provide wellness support and emergency food assistance.
2:41:53
We are also requesting $2,500,000 from the city council in f y twenty six to support the stabilization of the organization.
2:42:02
Currently, we are navigating a challenging financial reality and stand at a critical inflection point Between a $3,000,000 mortgage for purchasing our CWBH space in 2019, rising cost due to inflation and declining donations and government funding, our revenue has fallen behind resulting in a $2,000,000 deficit.
2:42:22
These fiscal challenges pose a direct and imminent risk to our ability to provide the vital services and innovative programming so many older people in the Lower East Side rely on at a time when the need is greater greater than ever.
2:42:35
Thank you so much.