5 BRONX WEEKLY June 7, 2020 www.BXTimes.com
Robin Hood gifts Lehman College
$150,000 gift to assist DACA and international students
BY JASON COHEN
Lehman College was
recently the recipient of a
$500,000 donation, including
$150,000 from Robin
Hood, a New York City
nonprofi t working to fi ght
poverty.
Robin Hood’s gift will
benefi t students who are ineligible
to receive CARES
Act funding from the federal
government, specifi -
cally, undocumented and
international students.
“At Robin Hood we are
dedicated to fi nding ways
to support those disproportionately
affected and
left behind by the effects
of the COVID-19 crisis, including
those left out of
the federal responses like
the DREAMers enrolled
at Lehman College,” said
Wes Moore, CEO of Robin
Hood. “Education is critical
to mobility from poverty,
and we are proud to
stand alongside Lehman
College to help these remarkable
students who
are working hard to build
better lives for themselves
and their families.”
On May 28, Lehman
College announced several
new institutional giving
partners in The Campaign
for Lehman College,
a fundraising initiative
the college launched in
March that has been providing
funding to support
students affected by
food and housing security,
scholarships and general
operating support to sustain
services and to meet
emergencies as they arise
during the coronavirus
pandemic.
In April, in the CARES
stimulus package, Congress
set aside resources
to help college students
who have experienced disruptions
due to the closure
of campuses during the
coronavirus pandemic.
Enrolled full-and parttime
students who were
brought to the U.S. as children
and were given the
right to live and work in
the country lawfully under
the Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals
program, can qualify for
fi nancial assistance from
Lehman for healthcare,
food, rent, utilities and
other basic needs by applying
here: bit.ly/Lehman-
Robinhood2020 by June 5.
“When the coronavirus
hit New York City, the Lehman
College community
immediately understood
the pandemic could lead to
disaster for many of its students,
most of whom live in
the under-resourced Bronx,
where the median income
is $30,000 a year and health
outcomes are consistently
the worst in the state,” said
Lehman College President
Daniel Lemons. “The Campaign
for Lehman College,
with a goal of raising $1
million, seeks support for
students who need our
help now and to expand the
scholarship pool to support
students through the summer
and fall.”
Grant awards can be up
to $500 are not dependent
on the applying student’s
GPA.
Robin Hood, The Seidenberg
Family Foundation,
Inc. and two anonymous
foundation donors have
raised a collective $480,000
for the campaign. In addition,
a faculty and staff-led
initiative, Lehman Cares,
has raised $55,000 for student
emergencies and
scholarships. Staff began
to distribute the student
emergencies funds immediately,
but with more than
500 applications for $500
micro-grants requested so
far, need has quickly outpaced
demand.
Lehman is seeking additional
donors and partners,
with the goal of raising at
least $1 million to support
students with urgent needs
as the pandemic and its
economic effects continue
to unfold.
Ivan G. and Phyllis A.
Seidenberg, both Lehman
College alumni, committed
$25,000 to The Campaign
for Lehman College
Wes Moore, CEO Robin Hood, whose organization donated $150,00
to Lehman. Courtesy of Lehman College
through The Seidenberg
Family Foundation, Inc.
Two additional donors,
whose gifts total $225,000,
wish to remain anonymous.
To contribute to The
Campaign for Lehman College,
visit lehman.edu/
campaignforlehman.
Bronx Defenders nonprofi t announce campaign to unionize
BY JASON COHEN
The Bronx Defenders,
a nonprofi t providing
public defense to low-income
Bronx residents, announced
its intent to join
the Association of Legal
Aid Attorneys -UAW Local
2325 on May 29.
After an overwhelming
majority of its offi ce signed
cards indicating support
for unionization, it is calling
for The Bronx Defenders
management to recognize
the union and begin
bargaining immediately.
BxD worker, Maryann
Rosa, has been a civil legal
advocate at The Bronx
Defenders for over a year.
Rosa felt the high turnover
due to many structural issues,
unmanageable caseloads,
problems with paid
time off and insuffi cient
support have hurt their
quality of work. Therefore,
unionizing will help them
and their clients. .
“I had high hopes for
working in my community
at this holistic public defender
offi ce, but I’ve now
found that there is demoralizing
for us,” Rosa said.
“With our Union, we can
collectively address these
concerns and make The
Bronx Defenders a more
just and equitable workplace.
I ask that The Bronx
Defenders voluntarily recognizes
our Union to bring
workers’ voices to the table
in order to shift the culture
of our organization for the
better and ultimately to enhance
our innovative approach
to holistic defense
for my Bronx community.”
They have fought alongside
Bronx families whose
safety is jeopardized by policing,
family separation,
housing insecurity, unemployment,
jail building and
other systemic injustices.
A borough that is already
ravaged by fi nancial
instabilities and poverty
and many not paying rent
during COVID-19, Bronxites
need The Bronx Defenders
more than ever.
In order to realize its vision
of a better Bronx Defenders,
it demands the following:
to take bolder positions
and actions to fi ght
alongside Bronx families
against economic oppression,
the prison industrial
complex, and state-sponsored
violence
hiring, promotion, and
workplace policies that
prioritize employees who
are Black, Latinx, people of
color, queer and trans people
and Bronx locals
just compensation and
better benefi ts for our
workers as they work towards
decarceration, family
unifi cation, housing
security, and economic justice
A worker-centered
power structure, which is
necessary for client-centered
representation, and
employee-elected representation
on the board of The
Bronx Defenders
dignity and respect for
all workers, regardless of
identity or role in the offi
ce
Ultimately, its goal is to
fi ght for the people of the
Bronx and join them the
nation’s oldest public defenders’
union.
BxD Union Organizing Committee Courtesy of The Bronx Defenders
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