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Annual Report 2000
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| Time | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| 3:00-3:45 | Game room | Game room | Game room | Game room | Game room |
| 3:45-4:00 | Snack time | Snack time | Snack time | Snack time | Snack time |
| 4:00-5:00* | Homework | Homework | Homework | Homework | Homework |
| 5:00-6:00 | Dance | Arts and Crafts | Group Club | Drama | Group Club |
*Extra homework and tutoring time before and after designated hour is granted whenever necessary.
X-cel™ Summer Day Camp. The 2000 X-cel summer day camp was our best ever. We served 30-35 kids per day, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and offered a variety of activities based around our newly implemented thematic programming. The weekly themes included "fitting in," "drugs, gangs, and violence," "our neighborhood," "walk around the world and back," and "careers in our city"; activities such as group discussions, educational activities, group reading times, arts and crafts, and drama were designed around the themes. The program also provided an array of recreational options such as dance, fitness, athletic and competitive games, trips to the local public pool and parks, and field trips. We partnered with a local city feeding program to obtain snacks every morning and lunch at noon for each child, free of charge. Once a week, the children visited the local public library, where they enjoyed a story telling activity, played computer games, and learned how to navigate the internet.
In August, the day camp organized a block party where hundreds of kids from around the neighborhood, including non-members of X-cel, participated in games and contests for prizes and candy. At the block party, the X-cel dancers proudly debuted the dance that they had practiced all summer. In July, X-cel co-sponsored with Abounding Grace Ministries our fifth annual basketball tournament held in Thompkin's Square Park where approximately 200 young people competed for first, second, and third place trophies and enjoyed free hot dogs, sausage sandwiches, and beverages.
X-cel Interns. The summer internship program staffed the day camp and included six full-time college students and two high school students who were involved in every aspect of programming from curriculum development to implementation. They also performed clerical duties and data entry and helped maintain the facility. Training included Partnership for After School Education workshops and seminars conducted by Board members Jeremy Del Rio and Cecilia Ruiz. Each college intern received a weekly stipend of $250 and the high school students received a summer stipend of $400.
Fund for the Children of New York. X-cel administrator Jamie Del Rio continued a four-year relationship with the Fund for the Children of New York by managing its softball league and summer camp initiative as part of X-cel's overall summer programming package. In addition, he has organized year-round activities like bowling, ice/roller skating, and Yankee and Ranger games, and serves as a spokesman to the Fund's benefactors and sponsors about the Fund's partnership with X-cel. (The Fund for the Children of New York is a small private foundation based in Westchester County that has sponsored a softball and summer camp program for over fifty years.)
Jammin' Against the Darkness. Jammin' Against the Darkness, an organization based in Seattle that utilizes the cultural influence of professional athletes and musicians to inspire character building in young people, recruited X-cel director Jeremy Del Rio to co-produce an outreach in New York on August 19 that would be hosted by Allan Houston, Charlie Ward, and Andrew Lang of the New York Knicks. Jammin' New York consisted of two distinct events on the same day. The first was an evening concert at Madison Square Garden featuring a basketball exhibition by NBA players Houston, Ward and Lang, as well as Mark Jackson, Monty Williams, Ronnie Grandison, and David Wood; music by gospel artists Newsboys and Grammy Award winning Hezekiah Walker; and inspirational messages from the players and Rev. Steve Jamison. The second, The Championship Living Festival, an outdoor street fair, preceded the concert on eight blocks at the South Street Seaport. Representing Generation X-cel, Jeremy produced the Festival.
Nearly 1,000 young people from across the City registered 210 basketball teams to compete in three-on-three tournaments for six different age groups and skill levels. Twenty local bands provided an eclectic mix of entertainment - hip hop, rock, Latin, house, gospel, and even oldies - from Jammin's 40' x 32' soundstage from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Four current professional players and Hall-of-Famer Nate "Tiny" Archibald spoke from the stage and mingled with the crowd to sign autographs for almost two hours. More than 30 contestants competed in JamFest, a slam dunk competition on 9' and 10' hoops. Three hundred volunteers worked various shifts from midnight to 8:00 p.m. to construct and break down 28 basketball courts, provide security and hospitality services, keep score, offer first aid, and much more.
Jeremy's other responsibilities as a co-producer included promotional appearances on radio and speaking and training engagements at various churches and neighborhood groups. He developed working relationships with forty New York churches and youth agencies and was introduced to approximately 200 more. Rev. Steve Jamison commended Jeremy's efforts and Generation X-cel as "one of the finest programs helping inner city students believe in themselves and reach for excellence in their lives" in a letter of recommendation dated September 7, 2000 (copy enclosed).
www.generationxcel.com. Generation X-cel volunteers launched an informational website at geocities.com in November 2000. Shortly after, Generation X-cel reached a sponsorship agreement with Clear Access Communications, an internet wireless company based in Bradenton, Florida, to redesign the site, host it, establish online fundraising capabilities, and enhance its interactive features for free. The revised site, www.generationxcel.com, will be officially launched in May.
Union Square Award. Generation X-cel co-founders Rev. Richard and Jeremy Del Rio received the 2000 Union Square Award from the Fund from the City of New York on November 16 for their work pioneering X-cel and its parent organization, Community Solutions, Inc. They are the first father and son tandem so honored. The award brought with it a $46,000 grant for X-cel and an enhanced network of youth agencies including Brotherhood Sisters Sol, Fresh Youth Initiatives, CAAV, and many more. In addition, the Union Square program includes capacity building workshops and conferences on topics such as financial management, political activism, and Internet fundraising, which X-cel has and will continue to attend.
Rev. Nicky Cruz Reference. In a recommendation letter dated December 2000, internationally acclaimed evangelist and former New York City gang leader Rev. Nicky Cruz wrote the following about Generation X-cel: "I have ... traveled all over the world and have worked with professionals in Social Work and Human Services - these guys are as effective as any I have seen. Not only are they providing a vital resource and opportunity for the youth in the neighborhood, but they are rebuilding troubled communities, one person at a time."
X-cel Consulting. Jeremy continued a long-standing relationship with the American Bible Society as they invited him to participate in a strategic planning session on December 14 and 15 in the area of youth programming. In particular, he advised them on developing faith-based programs and their potential impact on urban youth. As an outgrowth of X-cel's partnership with Jammin' Against the Darkness this summer, Jeremy presently consults Jammin' on its internet growth strategy, Jammin' Online.
Vision Ventures LLC. In November, Richard Mahee, founder and president of Vision Ventures LLC, an independent consulting firm that specializes in strategic planning and business development, agreed to advise Generation X-cel on a pro bono basis on the development of a business plan for X-cel's expansion, as well as the creation of a computer learning center at X-cel's current site. The business plan includes strategies both for franchising X-cel Youth Centers in other low-income areas and for translating X-cel's "by youth for youth" outreach model to the internet in a way that would provide troubled kids who "live" in cyberspace alternatives to the perversion and hate that is so easily accessed online.
Holiday Party. Over 200 children attended this year's holiday party. Again sponsored by Mrs. Helen Frey, they received gift bags, played games, received prizes, and enjoyed snacks for three hours on December 16. The turnout exceeded expectations and stretched our space like never before.
In addition to the achievements highlighted above, X-cel experienced certain challenges and setbacks that must be addressed in the New Year.
Parents committee. At the start of 2000, one of X-cel's goals was to enhance parental involvement in the oversight and support of its various programs. To that end, we enlisted a parent who had a demonstrated commitment to Generation X-cel and many years experience working with her children's PTA groups to establish a parents committee that would meet on a semi-regular basis to organize fundraisers and other special events and to assess and review X-cel programs and initiatives from the parents' perspective. The early returns were very exciting as twenty-five parents showed up for the first two meetings. Then our parent organizer experienced personal difficulties and essentially resigned without telling anybody. Our interim parent followed suit; she abruptly quit one afternoon in the middle of planning the parents' first fundraiser, a Bowl-a-thon. A third parent organized a bake sale and yard sale during the summer months, but X-cel has not found a suitable long-term successor.
Floods. A significant setback to establishing a truly functional onsite office space has been unending plumbing problems in our facility. X-cel occupies the ground floor of a housing project building that provides many maintenance challenges including floods. After requesting needed repairs for months, the New York City Housing Authority finally "fixed" the problem this summer, but as soon as the heating systems were turned on in the fall, the leaks returned. Floods have claimed one donated computer and nearly destroyed a second that was placed in the only location in the office where there were no pipes and hence, we thought, no chance for leaks. These and other maintenance issues have limited the effectiveness of our site office, forcing us to maintain a twenty-five square foot corner in a neighborhood church as a second "office."
Reduced volunteer recruitment. Since starting X-cel, many of our founders and initial volunteers have effectively worked themselves out of a job by graduating high school, moving on to college and now pursuing careers in other professions. In the process of administering an actual program, we have not been as successful in recruiting new volunteers or establishing successive generations of volunteer leadership as we were in the beginning. To remedy this, Jamie, Luis, and Jeremy have identified potential sources of volunteers both within and outside of the community including colleges and universities, high schools, churches, neighborhood hang-outs, and businesses and non-profits and have established a plan to be more intentional about future recruitment campaigns.
First paid employees. The Pinkerton grant financed X-cel's first paid employees, college students who worked part-time as a program director and an administrator. Other funding allowed it to hire a third part-time worker who does double duty as the porter and a peer counselor, and to administer the summer internship program.
During the 1999-2000 academic year and the summer 2000 day camp, Board member and education advisor Ms. Cecilia Ruiz (a ten year, public middle school teacher) volunteered at X-cel up to three days a week to provide hands-on coaching and direction to X-cel's employees. Thanks in large part to her guidance they were prepared to run the program without her daily oversight when her schedule changed in the fall.
New Board member. Effective February 1, 2001, John Jun was nominated to Community Solutions, Inc.'s Board of Directors. John received a B.S. in accounting from New York University in 1995 and works as the controller for DTI Group, a broadband internet wireless company based in New York City. His nomination will be voted on at the April 2001 meeting of the Board.
Youth Advisory Board. By definition, the youth advisory board is a transitory body, and as board members age, they no longer qualify for the position. Thus the new youth advisory board (effective September 1, 2000) includes Jamie Del Rio (senior, NYU Stern School of Business); Luis Velez (Junior, Nyack College); Chris Medina (sophomore, Hunter College); Edgar Nieves (GED candidate); Tristan Brooke (high school senior); Ayana Morales (high school junior); and Anthony Perez (high school sophomore).
X-cel believes strongly in data collection and evaluation and is working to improve how we gather, process, and organize information about the people we serve and the activities we offer. At a minimum, we require registration materials from each child for each program, and then monitor their subsequent participation in the activities through sign-in sheets. Built into each activity are times for formal or informal evaluation with the participants. Regular staff meetings allow us to hear from the volunteers and staff what works and what needs improvement, while periodic focus groups generate feedback about activities directly from the kids. In addition, staff members receive forms to assess their own performance and the program's in a number of specific areas, and ultimately give each a letter grade (A - F) at strategic points during the duration of a project. Less formal means include one-on-one conversations between staff and children or parents.
The standard by which every X-cel activity is measured is the following organizational core values:
When a program does not measure up, it is improved. If improvements are illusory, the program is abandoned. X-cel rejects precedence alone as a justification for any activity, and programs that have proven to be irrelevant or ineffective at engaging the kids will not be maintained simply on the basis of, "It worked last year." Instead, we look constantly for ways to innovate.
By tracking activities, X-cel has learned several key lessons.
Generation X-cel is committed to becoming a first-rate youth service provider and will use the lessons of the year 2000 as additional steps in that direction. We look forward to making 2001 our best year ever.
