Year End Appeal
December 1, 2008
Dear Friends of RHI,
Two weeks ago the Red Hook Initiative (RHI) closed its doors at 595 Clinton Street, a place that so many young people and families from the Red Hook community have come to call home. The organization that has donated the space to us since 2002 needed it back to accommodate their own needs. With the help of our young people, we packed up our belongings and moved RHI into a temporary studio office on the opposite side of the neighborhood. Over the next five months, RHI needs to raise $350,000 to renovate a warehouse in the heart of the Red Hook Houses, which will become our new home. We need your financial contribution to help make this dream a reality.
Given the current economic climate and the financial challenges that our city and our nation are facing, some suggested that we walk away - be proud of the work that we have done and close our doors for good. People tell us that we're crazy to even try to launch a capital campaign at this bleak moment. But the truth is that there are hundreds of people relying on RHI, and in this time of economic hardship, many of them will need us more than ever. Of RHI's 55 employees, 53 live in the Red Hook Houses. In many of their families and households, the only source of income is their RHI paycheck. Our staff members provide services to over 350 people each month who also rely on us for a variety of programs and services.
Jon* has been a participant with RHI since 2005. With our support he was accepted to college two years ago. Throughout his time in college, he has always held a full course-load and a work study job. This past summer he came home from college with a discharge letter. That semester Jon's classes had been overwhelming, his need to work while in school was an additional burden, and a death in the family distracted him in the latter half of the semester; his grades were just not strong enough. With the support of our Education Advocate, Jon was able to write a letter of appeal describing his circumstances and offering a plan that would ensure he would do better if allowed to return. In the meantime, RHI's Youth Employment Specialist helped Jon secure a full-time summer job with a city agency. By the end of the summer the college had granted the appeal, Jon had saved money from his summer job, and he received a $1,700 scholarship from RHI to help off-set some of his financial costs. Jon stays in touch, and tells us he is doing better in school and is back on track to graduate in spring 2009.
* Names have been changed for confidentiality purposes.
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