For Immediate Release: October 22, 2015

Contact: Emma Woods, 646-200-5303,

City Marks 25 Years of Beacon Community Centers

Created by Mayor Dinkins to Transform Neighborhoods after 1980s Crime Wave, Beacons Pioneered Nationally-Recognized Youth Service Model

Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Council Members Julissa Ferreras-Copeland &JumaaneWilliams Honored as After-School Champions

New York, NY – At a press conference on City Hall Steps, elected officials, advocates, and children celebrated 25 years of Beacon Community Centers in New York City. The Campaign for Children, a coalition of more than 150 early childhood education and after-school organizations, was joined by Beacons Unite!, Lights On After-School, and hundreds of students to highlight the impact Beacons have had on communities across the city.

After New York City neighborhoods were decimated by the crack epidemic of the 1980’s, policy makers looked for solutions that combined youth and community development. In 1990, Richard Murphy, Michelle Cahill and Mayor David Dinkins conceptualized and implemented the Beacons model in 10 neighborhoods. During the 1990s, the initiative expanded in New York City to 80 Beacon Centers. Beacons became the first citywide after-school initiative to be replicated across the country, in major cities including Denver, Oakland, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Philadelphia.

The model partners a community-based organization (CBO) with a public school to create a community center that provides services, supports, and a space for residents to thrive.Beacons use schools as a hub for after-school programs, health and mental health services, ESL classes, and more. Approximately 800-1,200 youth are served in each of the City’s 80 Beacon after-school programs.

City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Council MemberJulissa Ferreras-Copeland, and Council Member Jumaane Williams were honored as champions for Beacons and all New York City after-school programs.

“Beacon programs are as essential in our communities as libraries and hospitals—they are community centers that support entire families, the workforce and local schools. I will always be an advocate for Beacons and am truly honored to share their 25th anniversary with my colleagues, two Beacon trailblazers, Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Councilman Jumaane Williams,” said Council Member Julissa Ferreras-Copeland.

“It is an honor to celebrate the 25th anniversary of New York City’s Beacon Community Centers, which provide support to some of our most vulnerable youth. As the Chairman of the Youth Services Committee, I know how important it is to invest in our youth and I applaud the Beacon Program and the Campaign for Children for their dedication to our children,” said Council Member Mathieu Eugene.

The City funds 66 of the 80 Beacon programs; at approximately $346,000 per year, there has been no increase in the funding levels for the Beacons since they were created in 1991. Advocates called for increased funding for Beacons, so they can continue to serve children and families across NYC for decades to come.

“The Beacon is like a family. It also keeps me off the streets. If I didn’t have UAU PS18, I don’t know where or what I would’ve been,” said8th grader Deshawn Bent, a participant at United Activities Unlimited Beacon at PS 18.

“The tutoring help is amazing because I have somewhere to go to get the help that I need, since math is my weakness,” said Kennedy Mayers, a 14-year-old participant at CAMBA Beacon at 269 in Flatbush.

“I moved to Staten Island five years ago to try and better my life and the lives of my two boys as a single mother. I was very fortunate to have the Beacon program in my community to be able to go to work to support my family. I was at ease knowing my two boys were safe with the Beacon staff. I always speak highly of the Beacon because without their help, I would never have been able to work. They helped and are still helping me raise my boys by keeping them off the streets and out of trouble,” saidYvonne Jackson, mother of two United Activities Unlimited Beacon participants.

“Nothing can exist and maintain without a foundation. Beacons are foundations – part of the foundations of their communities. Beacons serve to provide communities with a base and support to fully realize their lives. A safe haven for all, Beacons enrich and empower communities by filling the voids that often leave communities weak, vulnerable, and isolated. Beacons have and will continue to serve as indispensable parts to the foundations of countless children, youth, adults, and communities all over NYC and beyond,” saidLouis DeLuca, Executive Director of United Activities Unlimited Beacon at PS 18.

“For the past 25 years, Beacons have been the place that countless children and families go to learn, play, and bond as a community.The Beacon model is known for providing comprehensive services to participants of all ages, and we are excited to celebrate 25 years of success today, in conjunction with Lights on Afterschool, and to honor three Beacon Trailblazers for their steadfast commitment to the Beacon model,” said Gigi Li, Director of the Neighborhood Family Services Coalitionand Co-Facilitator of Beacons UNITE!

“Our Beacon Program has served thousands of community members from Forest Hills, Rego Park, Corona and neighboring communities. We are thankful to have the opportunity to provide meaningful programmingthat meets the needs of children and families we serve.Since the inception of Beacon Programs in NYC 25 years ago, the model has been replicated in several cities though out the country. As we join in the National celebration of Lights on Afterschool, we alsocommemorate the impact Beacons have had in the after-school community in New York City,” said Patrick Pinchinat, Beacon Director, Queens Community House.

“I was working for Mayor Dinkins when he and the late Richard Murphy, Commissioner of the Department of Youth Services at the time, pioneered the Beacon Community Center concept,” said Nancy Wackstein, Executive Director of United Neighborhood Houses. “I am proud that their innovative thinking – providing multi-generational community based services in public school buildings – still thrives in Beacons today.”

ABOUT CAMPAIGN FOR CHILDREN:TheCampaign for Childrenis a coalition of 150 early childhood education and after-school advocacy and provider organizations, including Citizens’ Committee for Children, The Children’s Aid Society, United Neighborhood Houses NY, Good Shepherd Services, Neighborhood Family Services Coalition, the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, Children’s Defense Fund-NY, Day Care Council of New York, UJA-Federation of New York, andYMCA of Greater New York. The Campaign’s successful advocacy saved child care and after-school programs for more than 47,000 children by securing more than $120 million of one-year City Council discretionary funds for two consecutive years, which then were successfully baselined. The Campaign also advocated for the expansion of Universal Pre-K and middle school after-school programs in NYC.

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