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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Jenny Dembrow, Executive Director of Lower East Side Girls Club
5:49:46
ยท
153 sec
Jenny Dembrow, Executive Director of the Lower East Side Girls Club, testified about the organization's history, mission, and current financial challenges. The Girls Club provides free arts programming and wellness services to young women and gender expansive youth in New York City.
- The organization has been operating since 1996 and moved into a 35,000 square foot facility in 2013.
- In 2022, they launched the Center for Well-being and Happiness (CWBH) to promote intergenerational community care through arts and wellness programs.
- The Girls Club is facing financial difficulties due to a $3 million mortgage and rising costs, and is requesting $2.5 million from the city council for stabilization.
Jenny Dembrow
5:49:46
Okay, got it.
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Good afternoon Chair Rivera and members of the committee.
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My name is Jenny Dembrough and I'm the executive director of the Lower East Side Girls Club.
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I've been with the organization since its founding in 1996 when there were three boys clubs.
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We operated out of community rooms, schools in over two dozen locations until we moved into our 35,000 square foot facility in 2013.
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In our nearly thirty years, thousands of young people and their families have benefited from our free programming and championing of the arts.
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The Girls Club connects young women and gender expansive youth throughout New York City to healthy and successful futures.
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We nurture safe spaces where young people can dream big, find their passions, connect to peers and careers through free year round programming.
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In 2022, we expanded by launching the Center for Well-being and Happiness, CWBH, which promotes intergenerational community care through accessible arts and wellness programs.
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Arts education is too often inaccessible.
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We are addressing this gap.
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We share healing centered art practices, develop artistic skills, champion creative expression, imagination, and facilitate career pathways.
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Our class offerings include painting, illustration, dance, poetry, comics, screen printing, mosaics, music, animation, photography, film, and podcasting.
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And that's just in this realm.
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At CWBH, adult members access dance and music workshops and creative expression classes.
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Members artwork has been showcased at MoMA, MoMA PS one, art fairs, the United Nations among other locations.
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Our Art plus Community Gallery and the CWBH Gallery provide a vital community space for public art exhibitions, workshops, artist talks, and community gatherings.
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In 2024, we hosted 30 art events.
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Thousands of New Yorkers benefit from our free public arts programming and events annually.
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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 costs due to inflation, our revenue has fallen behind.
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These fiscal challenges pose an imminent risk to our ability to provide the vital services to so many people rely on when the need is greater than ever.
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We are requesting 2,500,000.0 from the city council to support the stabilization of our organization.
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Our mission is more urgent than ever.
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As we search for a way forward, we aim to secure our legacy as a transformative force in the Lower East Side and expand our impact for generations to come and also echoing the 75,000,000 investment.
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Thank you.