Category: The Racket

This past Tuesday The HOPE Program, an employment-training program for homeless men and women founded by Deborah MacFarlane Antoine, hosted its 30th anniversary celebration, A Taste of HOPE.

The event brought together HOPE donors, global corporate partners as well as many award-winning food and beverage purveyors. Hundreds of guests attended A Taste of HOPE to celebrate the impact that The HOPE Program has made in the lives of thousands of New Yorkers over three decades. Among the guests who enjoyed the evening of celebration were several NYJTL board members, including Mayor David Dinkins, Board Chair Martin Goldberg and Polly Scott.

Deborah MacFarlane Antoine received the inaugural Founders Award, presented to her by Victoria Pamias, a HOPE graduate and Deborah’s friend. Upon presenting the award to Deborah, Victoria talked about the impact Deborah and the HOPE program made on her life.

“Good evening. My name is Victoria Pamias. I graduated from HOPE over 25 years ago. When HOPE called me and asked me to present this award to Deborah, I actually had to hear it three times to believe it.

Honoring Deborah is one of the biggest honors of my life. Twenty-five years ago, I found myself the victim of domestic violence. When I enrolled in HOPE, I was living in a shelter and had been out of the workforce for over a decade. I was a broken spirit, sad and afraid. I had two children and I didn’t know what the future would bring. HOPE’s balance of support, training and internship – which remains the core of HOPE’s holistic model today – transformed my life.

Today I work for a leading social services agency, Services for the Underserved, which is actually a HOPE partner, as a case manger and career counselor. When HOPE changed my life, the ripple impacted tens of thousands of people I have helped.

And none of this would have been possible without Deborah MacFarlane-Antoine. Not only did she have the foresight and compassion to build this incredible program, but she embodies its values everyday. When I was a HOPE student, Deborah was my prime example of who I wanted to be in the future. She emulates authenticity and strength, qualities which are changing the world one person at a time.

Deborah, you have been a mentor, a personal friend, and one of the first people who believed in me and the countless of HOPE graduates I represent. Through you, I learned that HOPE is eternal. Thank you and congratulation on this well-deserved Founders Award.”

Click here to read more about the fantastic evening and please watch the video below to learn more about the HOPE program and the impact they are making.

The Executives’ Association of New York City, in partnership with SmartCEO magazine, is recognizing the “extraordinary” leaders of companies and nonprofits that are making a difference in New York City.

Awards will be presented on May 20^th at Capitale, at 130 Bowery in Manhattan, starting at 6:30 PM.

The May issue of SmartCEO magazine features the 40 finalists, including our President and CEO, Deborah Antoine. Each of the finalists describe their “Deal of Distinction”, and in our case that’s the amazing Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning, which opens its doors this June after years of commitment from public and private partners.

The companies and individuals represented were chosen by an independent panel of local business leaders and assessed based on the details of their “deal,” and how it positively affected the community.

You can see Deborah’s profile by clicking here (Page 58), and we’ve included the piece below, too.

If I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain;

If I can ease one life the aching,

Or cool one pain,

Or help one fainting robin

Unto his nest again,

I shall not live in vain.

– Emily Dickinson, collected poems, 1924

NYJTL President and CEO Deborah Antoine is reminded of Dickinson’s poem when she thinks about The HOPE Program, an employment training program for homeless men and women that she founded over 30 years ago in the basement of New York City’s Christ & Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church.

In 1983, as a Columbia University PhD student, she volunteered at the Holy Apostles soup kitchen where the homeless people she served inspired her to launch HOPE. She started by helping eight individuals, and while all of them got jobs, none were able to keep them for long. She realized she needed a more comprehensive approach.

Deborah learned by experience, visiting with staff and clients at shelters and soup kitchens. Seeking a proven curriculum she could use to help her clients find and maintain gainful employment, she discovered the Adkins Life Skills Program.

“Adkins is a remarkable tool, not just for helping people determine what jobs they’ll be good at, but also for equipping disadvantaged people to overcome all the other obstacles that stand in the way of success,” Deborah says.

Another element Deborah introduced to HOPE that remains central to the program today is the idea that each participant should go through a meaningful internship program. “I realized that no matter how bad off you are, you feel like you have value when you’re helping others,” she says.

One of the first “fainting robins” Deborah helped through HOPE was Victoria, a single mother who was living in a shelter for battered women. “I was a broken spirit, sad and afraid,” Victoria says. “I had two children and I didn’t know what the future would bring.”

After completing HOPE’s 14-week Adkins program – including assessments, counseling, self-discovery, career training and an internship – Victoria landed a job at the Center for Independence of the Disabled. She hasn’t looked back since. Victoria eventually earned a college degree, to which she credits Deborah’s encouragement, and today she’s on the verge of getting her masters.

“Victoria is a remarkable woman,” Deborah says. “Despite incredibly difficult circumstances, she not only survived, but has thrived.”

HOPE served as launching pad for Victoria’s new life and vibrant career. She has been a counselor and career coach to over 30,000 people – and even worked for Deborah in two different jobs. Later Victoria became the first HOPE graduate to serve on the organization’s board.

Once HOPE began having a lasting impact on the lives of homeless people, Deborah sought to expand the program’s reach. She was grateful for the donations she received from friends, family and parishioners, but to grow the organization she needed more funding. In addition to recruiting participants and running the programming, she had to become a fundraiser.

Deborah sent nearly 270 letters to foundations, which led to her first ever grant: $20,000 from The Clark Foundation. The funding allowed her to hire her first employee, an assistant executive director.

HOPE has continued to grow and transform lives since Deborah moved on from the organization in 1992 to become the Senior Vice President of the South Bronx Economic Development Corporation. “It shocks me how far HOPE has come,” she reflects. “When I started it, I didn’t have a big goal about making an impact on homelessness or poverty. It was – and still is – all about helping each individual person get his or her life back.”

On May 12, HOPE will host a 30^th anniversary celebration, A Taste of HOPE, where Deborah will receive the inaugural Founder’s Award. Fittingly, Victoria will be by her side as her special guest.

For many years, New York Junior Tennis & Learning (formerly known as the New York Junior Tennis League) has been fortunate to receive discretionary funding from the New York City Council.

This funding has helped us to become the largest and most successful scholastic tennis program in the country and allows us to provide tennis and educational programming in every community in the city. Find out how you can help preserve this opportunity here.

We thank the New York City Council for its ongoing support of NYJTL. Parents tell us how their children are part of the NYJTL family and have learned the joys and benefits of tennis – discipline, good sportsmanship, team play and competition – while engaging in an activity that is fun and healthy.

They have witnessed firsthand the benefits of this wonderful, free program.

This spring, we’ve asked for the Council’s continued support for the next fiscal year – so we can continue to operate our free community tennis programs.

Please spread the word (and if you tweet, use the hashtags #nyjtlfreetennis).