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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Rachael Gazdick, CEO of New York Edge
3:43:37
·
134 sec
Rachael Gazdick, CEO of New York Edge, testified about the severe financial challenges her organization faces due to delayed payments and the complexities of the city's contracting system. She emphasized the urgent need for solutions to ensure the continuation of their services to thousands of students across New York City.
- New York Edge serves 33,000 students in 136 schools across all five boroughs, with additional programs including Beacon Centers, community schools, and food pantries.
- The organization's line of credit interest has skyrocketed from $70,000 to $1,100,000 annually due to payment delays, threatening their financial stability.
- Gazdick highlighted the strain on staff resources, with multiple fiscal years open simultaneously and constant shifts in priorities due to system limitations and contract amendment processes.
Rachael Gazdick
3:43:37
Thank you to the chair and members of the committee for championing these bills and for your long standing support of New York Edge.
3:43:46
I'm Rachel Gazzdick, the CEO of New York Edge.
3:43:49
We serve 33,000 students in 136 schools throughout all five boroughs of New York.
3:43:57
We have four Beacon Centers, 20 one community schools, and four food pantries.
3:44:04
Just to give the panel a sense, our line of credit before the passport implementation, our interest would run about $70,000 a year.
3:44:16
It's now at 1,100,000.0 and continues to grow and we have maxed out our line of credit and have had to meet with the banks around whether they'll continue the line.
3:44:30
This is a very serious issue.
3:44:33
I have a expansive staff probably unlike smaller not for profits.
3:44:40
I have nine people that can process this in our finance department but with three fiscal years open.
3:44:48
So if we're gonna give the city 20 people, I need somebody to give me 20 people because I have about 10 that can handle a year's worth of work, not three years.
3:45:00
And every time we have to and DYCD has been great in working with us and the city as well but the volume and our staff continuously having to shift their priorities back and forth because the system can only handle one thing at a time.
3:45:18
When contract amendments go in, it moves and rejects all the pending budget mods and it creates a freeze on invoicing.
3:45:28
And we go through this constantly.
3:45:31
So it's not unlike what anyone else has said today but it is crucial that these issues are addressed immediately so we can continue.
3:45:42
We also provide summarizing about 15,000 kids in summarizing and that's becoming increasingly challenging.
3:45:50
Thank you.