SoBRO: South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation

In early May, SoBRO received news that the Mayor's FY 2011 Executive Budget proposed to eliminate all $5.18 million in funding for adult literacy services within the Department of Youth and Community Development. This was in addition to $2.6 million reduction proposed by Governor Paterson to adult literacy services funded by the State. An $8 million cut in funding would cripple adult literacy programs at organizations throughout New York City and force SoBRO to eliminate all adult basic education services and halve the ESOL classes that serve a combined total of 750 individuals annually. Faced with this reality, SoBRO decided to join forces with the New York City Coalition for Adult Literacy (NYCAL) to catch the lawmakers’ attention and protest against the cuts. Our students and teachers wrote letters to representatives at the City Council and participated in a rally attended by over a thousand literacy students from all over the city. We are happy to report that the City Council decided to restore much of the funding for basic education programs in Fiscal Year 2011, allowing SoBRO and other organizations in the city to continue providing these vital services.

Scroll down to see SoBRO's response to this crisis from news of the cuts was first reported.

----------------------

Budget cuts are threatening programs at the core of SoBRO's mission. Adult education courses--provided to our clients free of charge--allow South Bronx residents to break the cycle of poverty and joblessness that has plagued our community for decades. Whether learning English or pursuing a high school equivalence certificate, SoBRO programs give students the ability to improve the quality of life for themselves and their families.

Please email us at info@sobro.org with "Save Adult Literacy" in the subject line to find out more about what you can do to help.

Watch this video that helps to show why these programs are so important to the residents they serve:

SoBRO Adult Education Programs At Risk from SoBRO Economic Development Corp. on Vimeo.

UPDATE: The final budget restores nearly 80% of adult literacy funding! Of course, this still means a 20% reduction in funding for these critical programs, but thanks to everyone that donated money to SoBRO, these cuts won't be as severe.

Here is a letter from New York Coalition for Adult Literacy (NYCAL) Anthony Ng sent the day after the City Council voted on the final budget:

"Dear NYCAL -- Yesterday evening, the NYC Council voted to officially adopt the FY 2011 City budget, that begins July 1, 2010. We have some final updates on funding for adult literacy and the Immigrant Opportunities Initiative (IOI).

City Council Adult Literacy Services Initiative -- Fully restored at $1.5 million. Groups receiving this funding have already been selected. ...
DYCD Adult Literacy Programs -- $3.5 million restored out of a $5.2 million restoration we were seeking.
...
Immigrant Opportunities Initiative restored at $4.5 million out of a $5 million restoration we were seeking. Groups receiving these funds have not been selected yet.

See the link below to view the actual City Council budget document (known as Schedule C) that lists all the restorations that the City Council and Mayor agreed to include in the adopted City budget. Look at page 45 of the actual document (page 48 in the PDF page numbers) to see restorations to adult literacy and IOI. Groups receiving the City Council's adult literacy funding have also been "lined out" in the budget.

http://council.nyc.gov/html/releases/pdfs/FY2011.ScheduleC.pdf

Once again, thank you to everyone for all your hard work advocating for this funding in this tough budget climate. Things were looking far worse two months ago, and we have managed to save classes for many students. But we should keep in mind that even with our success, there will be cuts made.

...

-Anthony"