THE POINT’s 2007 Year in Review

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT – THE POINT continues to strengthen its services to young people through new partnerships with organizations such as the volunteer group NY Cares.  THE POINT has also joined other South Bronx youth organizations to form the Hunts Point Alliance for Children (HPAC).  The group aims to collectively pool their resources in order to improve the overall quality of life for young people and families in Hunts Point.  In other exciting news: THE POINT’s Literacy Program held its first ever spelling bee.  Winners in each age group from the final rounds had the opportunity to attend the 5th Annual iStar Charity Shootout at Madison Square Garden.  THE POINT secured funding through the NYS Music Fund to make possible the Mambo to Hip Hop Education Project.  Offering music lessons that promote skill building and appreciation of music traditions in the South Bronx, the project has connected young people to Bronx music legends including ban leader Orlando Marin.  The photography program ICP at THE POINT celebrated its 10th anniversary with a show featuring alumni photos with best works from the past decade.  In collaboration with Hunts Point asthma awareness group Greening for Breathing and The After School Corporation (TASC), Visual Arts students and teaching artists Joe Ferriso and Andreas Gurewich created images about environmental issues, linking global and local concerns. These workshops were the source material for the “Love not Oil” mural, 15 x 60’, unveiled at Hunts Point Riverside Park at the Fish Parade.  The cooperative printmaking workshop Mud/Bone Studio 889 also offered lessons to second graders at THE POINT.  The agency secured support through the Department of Youth and Community Development to enroll teens from TASC in its spring Cirque du Monde classes.  Also, four Cirque students attended the Purchase College Circus Camp on scholarship!  For the third year running, Flamenco Vivo! Carlota Santana was the resident company in THE POINT's El Grito Dance Studio.  And students studying under Arthur Aviles Typical Theater dancer Monica Figueroa were a hit at the Final Spring Showcase.  All seven of the graduating seniors in the teen leadership group A.C.T.I.O.N. (Activists Coming to Inform Our Neighborhoods) enrolled in college.  We are proud to announce Renard Correa received the Richie Perez Scholarship for Young Puerto Ricans!  A true A.C.T.I.O.N. success story, Renard is currently attending SUNY Buffalo.  Through family outreach efforts, THE POINT engaged three parent volunteers in the After School Program.  The agency was also pleased to offer the Hunts Point community an expanded 7-week Summer Day Adventure Program.  

ARTS AND CULTURE  - THE POINT and the South East Bronx Community Organization teamed up once again to host the 4th Annual Hunts Point Fish Parade and 14th Annual Hunts Point Summer Festival.  Beginning at the new Hunts Point Riverside Park, groups including Rocking the Boat, Sustainable South Bronx, Harlem Wizards and the Bronx Office for Recycling Outreach and Education helped make this Fish Parade one of the best ever.  THE POINT has recently been commissioned by New York Recycling Ventures to create eight murals, each 7’ x 30’ along its exterior wall. The overall theme is the connection between industry, community and environment. This is a collaboration with Sustainable South Bronx, who will implement a “green wall” surrounding the murals.  Live From the Edge Theater continued to sell out the house with productions of the Ms. Marie and Louise Show.  With support from the Bronx Council on the Arts, the theater also showcased an encore presentation of the circus theater show for young audiences Jackie and the Beanstalk. Artists partnered with Bronx Arts to create a linked student curriculum and the event coincided with an asthma awareness health fair at THE POINT.  Also, the documentary film about the South Bronx From Mambo to Hip Hop, which THE POINT co-produced with City Lore and director Henry Chalfant, won the 2007 Alma Award (televised Latino Oscars) for Best Documentary!

 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT – With the addition of Community Development Associate Adam Liebowitz, THE POINT has been able to enhance its role in important environmental justice groups including the South Bronx River Watershed Alliance and the Organization of Waterfront Neighborhoods.  In partnership with Generation Engage, THE POINT recently hosted a community-based dialogue with a delegation of young leaders from Iraq, traveling under the auspices of the U.S. State Department.  Another achievement, THE POINT helped negotiate a $20 million settlement as part of the Hunts Point Monitoring Control Committee with the Department of Environmental Protection.  As a result, the DEP has agreed to make possible 1) a floating pool located at the recently opened Barretto Point Park, 2) an education center at THE POINT’s José E. Serrano Campus for the Arts and the Environment, 3) a building for the South Bronx Greenway maintenance entity, which will house tools and materials for park upkeep and 4) Hunts Point streetscape projects such as tree plantings and clean-ups.    

Special thanks to our supporters for helping to make 2007 a great year for community building in the South Bronx!!!