Talking the Bronx 02.06.13

Project Compass launches new program

The Fortune Society is launching new employment services initiative named Project Compass, which serves as an integration assistance program.

Project Compass is a free job training and placement assistance program, exclusively for re-entrants in specific neighborhoods, including in the South Bronx.

Participants must meet all of the following requirements to qualify for enrollment in the fortune Society’s Project Compass Initiative:

• Released from incarceration in the past 6 months or will be released within the next 3 months.
• Physical residence in any of the following zip codes within the South Bronx:
• 10451, 10452, 10453,10454,10455,10456,10457,10459,10474
• Commitment to personal growth and seeking sustainable employment
• 18 years of age or older

Program acceptance includes:

• Work readiness instruction
• Career planning
• Job placement assistance
• Mentorship
• Consideration for additional hard-skills training in food preparation or green technologies
• Referrals for education, counseling, legal and family services

For more information please contact Carmen Bautista at 347.510.3686 or send an e-mail message at cbautista@fortunesociety.org.

Willie Rodríguez in Concert

Latin Jazz pianist and vocalist Willie Rodríguez present a new concert on Sat., Feb. 19^th at The Society for Ethical Culture in Riverdale. The accomplished Latin great has rubbed shoulders with the best, recording with Luis “Perico” Ortiz, Johnny Pacheco and Steve Turre.

Rodríguez also appears in two Grammy award winning albums, including Celia Cruz’s 2002 Grammy Award-winning album La Negra Tiene Tumbao, as well as on Machito’s Grammy Award-winning album Machito and His Salsa Big Band.

Dr. Rodriguez is also an educator, and is the founder and principal of the Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music. The show starts at 8 p.m. at the Riverdale-Yonkers Society for Ethical Culture at 4450 Fieldston Road in the Bronx.

Tickets are $20; $15 for seniors and students and include refreshments.

For tickets and information, visit bronxartsensemble.orgor call 718.601.7399.

The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (BAAD) presents Get Tough, Get BAAD! Series

The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (BAAD) is presenting a new series, starting on Valentine’s Day and ending on Feb., 17^th, that is intended to serve as an exploration of love and life that celebrates queer strength and value. Love is the theme, but the series was propelled to combat hate in 2010 after a series of reports of criminal homophobic attacks in the Bronx and New York City.

The series will be launched on Thurs., Feb. 14 with a “love-in” and dance that starts at 7 p.m. with a potluck, which will be followed by a reading of Eve Ensler’s new monologue, Rising, read by award-winning Bronx writer and actress Desi Moreno-Penson.

Bronx writer Dominic Colon’s short film Crush will be screened. Crush, directed by Gloria LaMorte is about a young, gay Bronx man who finds the courage to come out of the closet.  Elliot Loves, about a Dominican-American’s life from childhood to manhood as a 21-year-old gay man seeking love in New York City, will also be screened.

BAAD is located on 841 Barretto Street in the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx.

For more information, please visit 718.842.5223 or visit www.BronxAcademyofArtsandDance.org.

Bullying: Detection, Prevention, and Intervention

On Sat., Feb. 9^th, Dr. Amy Meyers and Laura Gould will lead a workshop on how to arm parents with information about the signs, symptoms, risk factors, and coping strategies of bullying. This event will take place at the Hunt’s Point Library, located at 877 Southern Boulevard.

This 90-minute workshop focuses on parents who have children who are bullied or demonstrate bullying behavior, or are generally concerned about their child’s susceptibility. Presented is an overview of the risk factors of bullying, the long-term implications, and the family environment which can potentially help diminish a child’s susceptibility to bullying behavior or being bullied.

Amy Meyers, PhD, LCSW is an expert on interpersonal, peer, and sibling relationships. She has presented nationally on the subject of sibling abuse and trains child welfare staff and mandated reporters on risk assessment. She is a certified anti-bullying specialist.
Laura Gould, LCSW is a psychotherapist in private practice in mid-town Manhattan. She specializes in infertility and parenting issues with individuals and couples, and is certified as both an Anti-Bullying Specialist and a Critical Incident Stress Debriefer.

For more information please call 718.617.0338.