We had a successful Black History Month here at New Destiny. We learned about the numerous aspects of Black culture in a variety of ways. We tried different foods, cooked by volunteers that were delighted to share their family’s recipes with the community. Moreover, children and parents learned about Black history, and were able to experience and learn some of the dances from within the culture! It’s always important to learn about and empower our African-American community, and we made sure to have fun while doing it as well. As the month has ended, we are happy to look back at our success and learning experiences in Black History Month! Nonetheless, the good news does not step there.
Another success story for New Destiny! Carolyn McCombs, New Destiny’s Executive Director was asked by a team of her peers to lead a city-wide initiative focused on countering violence and extremism in the Paterson community. This was precipitated by a foundation called Global Peace Foundation which identified three cities in the state of New Jersey (Camden, Jersey City and Paterson) to engage communities around the risks of violence and strategies for connecting with resources to counteract the risks. GPI is a worldwide organization focused on cross community engagement, building trust, identifying risk factors, and countering violence and extremism. They are funding five community engagement events in all three target cities over the next year with the purpose of gathering residents, exposing them to the myriad of resources in the community and building trust with law enforcement. In the wake of the tragedy at Parkland High School, incident a