Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Sean Miller, Northeast Regional Director of Young Invincibles
1:41:53
·
131 sec
Sean Miller, representing Young Invincibles, testified in support of programs addressing financial barriers for CUNY students, particularly emphasizing the need for expanded access to free MetroCards and Fair Fares programs. He stressed the importance of these initiatives in helping students complete their degrees and called for increased funding and awareness.
- Advocated for more funding for programs like free CUNY MetroCards, Fair Fares, CUNY Reconnect, and Fresh Start
- Highlighted issues with program awareness and eligibility criteria, noting that many students learn about these programs too late or fall just outside qualification limits
- Shared an example of a Baruch senior who only recently learned about Fair Fares, emphasizing the need for better student education about available resources
Sean Miller
1:41:53
we go.
1:41:54
Good afternoon.
1:41:55
Thank you so much for holding this hearing.
1:41:57
Chair Dinowitz, also Councilwoman Brewer, I believe, was here earlier.
Eric Dinowitz
1:42:03
Was here as well.
Sean Miller
1:42:04
Oh, gotcha.
1:42:05
Thank you.
1:42:07
So I'm Sean Miller.
1:42:08
I'm Northeast Regional Director of Young Invincibles.
1:42:10
We're a national nonprofit that works to uplift young adults.
1:42:13
We have lots of CUNY students in our Young Advocates program.
1:42:17
And we also organize and lead the New York Post Secondary Basic Needs Coalition organizing across New York State on issues related to basic needs, especially food, housing, insecurity, and anything non academic that prevents students from being able to matriculate and complete their degree.
1:42:36
I'm here to express our support and thanks for investing further in free CUNY Metro cards and Fair Fairs and Reconnect and Fresh Start.
1:42:47
These are really lifesaving programs that we hear from students all the time, make the difference in whether or not they're able to complete their degree.
1:42:57
And we want to advocate for more funding for these programs because we know that while they are incredible, there's a number of students that, there's a large number of students that don't know about these programs.
1:43:09
One of the main issues that we see and hear from students all the time is that they find out about them late, right, or that they fall just outside of the eligibility criteria, especially once they start earning enough money.
1:43:20
Sometimes there's a cliff where they fall off and no longer qualify.
1:43:24
And so we wanted to be able to expand things like free metric cards in particular.
1:43:31
There's a really pertinent piece of advocacy from one of our students in our blog which I'll share and submit later to the record who mentioned that he's a senior at Baruch and just found out about Fair Fairs this year.
1:43:49
And we need to do a better job of educating students about these wonderful opportunities and expanding single point of entry programs like Mega Everest College Transition Academy.
1:44:03
Thank you.