The HCC New Ventures Program for Entrepreneurs

Minorities represent 27 percent of the American population, but minority-owned firms account for just 14 percent of all U.S. businesses. Of that share, only 4 percent are black-owned. Ability is not the issue. When given the opportunity to tap capital resources others often take for granted, minority entrepreneurs deliver the goods. A 2002 study revealed that minority firms backed by venture capital delivered an average return on investment of 20 percent, which average exceeded the Standard & Poor's 500 average during the same time period.

Harlem Commonwealth Council is committed to empowering minority business owners by providing them with the knowledge and tools necessary to maximize their success potential. We believe in building the foundation of economic development – from the ground up: – from people to business to community. HCC considers business entrepreneurs to be the life-blood of economic activity in the Harlem community. In an effort to increase the likelihood that small businesses will have the best opportunity to prosper in Harlem in September, 2005 HCC implemented the HCC New Ventures Program for Entrepreneurs, a 16-week course featuring the nationally-acclaimed FastTrac® program developed by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The New Ventures Program imparts business and finance training, develops market research and marketing skills, offers one-on-one business development assessments, and features lectures given by local and national business owners. The HCC New Ventures Program is led by certified FastTrac® facilitators.

For more information, please contact Elisa Moore at 212-749-0900 Extension 111.

Click here to download new ventures application.

HCC Scholarship Program

“A scholarship in any shape or form for the students is actually a real blessing and
a need for the students that attend the community college.”

In September, 2005 Harlem Commonwealth Council, Inc. launched its scholarship awards program designed to promote HCC’s community healthcare initiative. HCC encourages and supports Harlem residents pursuing careers in the healthcare profession by providing grants that will assist deserving students in covering the costs of tuition and books at their respective schools. Since inception of the scholarship program, HCC has partnered with the Helene Fuld College of Nursing, the City University of New York Borough of Manhattan Community College, the City College of New York Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education and Harlem Hospital Radiology Program to provide financial and career development incentives for students seeking degrees in their various nursing, radiology technician and physician assistant programs.

“Our students work so hard and they have so little money that a
Scholarship makes a big difference in their lives.”

HCC scholarships have aided many aspiring healthcare professionals pursue their academic goals and further their career horizons, particularly in the area of degree advancement. Many students seeking scholarships are parents and hold full-time jobs. As students they are dedicated, hard working and committed to succeeding. HCC recognizes the daunting hardships and challenges faced by healthcare students en-route to their goals and is willing to invest in these students. Thus far, over 20 students have been the recipients of HCC scholarships.

HCC also highlights for public recognition special students worthy of distinction because of their excellence in completing their studies. Semi-annual HCC achievement awards are presented at the Helene Fuld graduation ceremony, with past recipients receiving the James H. Dowdy Scholarship Award and Dr. Joseph L. Tait Scholarship Award.

For more information about HCC Scholarships, please contact:

Dr. Joseph Tait
Harlem Commonwealth Council
212-749-0900

Susan Gyamfi, Director of the Scholarship Department
Borough of Manhattan Community College
212-220-8133

Sandra Senior
Helene Fuld College of Nursing
212-616-7271

Click here to download scholarship application.

HCC Summer Internship Program

Internship programs are an integral part of the educational experience having replaced the old apprenticeship system. Harlem Commonwealth Council, Inc., (HCC) while it owned manufacturing Plants, Hotels and Businesses in the 1980’s had a very viable and active Internship Program of its own.
 
The decade of the 90’s saw a revamping of our operations and we no longer owned or operated businesses; as a consequence of which, our internship program was phased out.
 
Despite the economic prosperity of the past few years, the inner city minority student still lags behind his suburban counterpart in educational opportunities that will enable them to advance economically and educationally. Role models are scarce or one-dimensional. There is a need to introduce our inner city minority youth, in this case Harlem youth, to the possibilities and the etiquette of the workplace.
 
HCC has reached out and established relationships with: WLIB, a subsidiary of the Inner City Broadcasting Company, City National Bank; Van Wagner Communications, LLC.; Grid Properties, Honerkamp Paper Products; Danforth Development Partners; Cogswell Realty; Harlem Hospital; A.A. Trucking and Tahl-Propp Equities, who are cognizant of the problems and are interested in helping to minimize the disparity that exists.
 
The placement positions were selected for their value in providing interns with valuable skills and options in career choices.
 
The Internship will be open to those who are residents of Harlem who are high school sophomores and juniors or first year college students.

Click here to download internship application.
 
For more information, please contact Elisa Moore at 212-749-0900 Extension 111.

HCC Adult Education Program

HCC ENGLISH LANGUAGE- CIVICS PROGRAM

In September, 2005 Harlem Commonwealth Council, Inc., in partnership with the South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation (SoBRO), responded to a growing need by our immigrant community by providing English Language (EL)-Civics and English as a Second Language (ESL) classes to non-English speaking immigrants living in the Central Harlem area.

In keeping with its mission to stimulate the overall economic development of the Harlem community through the creation of enterprise, generation of jobs and empowerment of services, HCC is cognizant that there is a growing population of immigrants whose first language is not English. As a result of this, HCC is committed to investing in the Harlem community by providing educational programs that teach basic adult language and civics education to promote job readiness and retention.

It is HCC’s belief that it’s ESL and EL-Civics program will help meet the growing demand for English language skills in Harlem and encourage these individuals to become productive American citizens.

The classes offered at HCC utilize ESL and EL-Civics curriculum teaching techniques that focus on the individual, concentrating on his/her experience, knowledge, immediate needs and concerns. Classes consist of 12 week cycles and will continue throughout the next year.

Current enrollment in the popular program is 125 students, most of whom come from West Africa, Latin America and Haiti.

A continually growing waiting list of over 200 applicants clearly shows that HCC is on target with the need for this program. There are both day and evening classes.

For more information about enrollment and class schedules please contact Elisa Moore at 212-749-0900 Ext. 123

THINK and CREATE!

“We talked about reaching boys and girls who were performing above level and
just giving them something different that the public schools didn’t offer in an after-school program.”

Think and Create! is the outgrowth of Harlem Commonwealth Council’s educational initiative and commitment to provide meaningful activities for the Harlem community’s young people. In September, 2006, Harlem Commonwealth Council partnered with Principal Elizabeth Jarret and the Harriet Tubman Learning Center – P.S. 154 to put into place their vision of a different kind of after-school program that would be engaging, stimulating and fun.

HCC’s Think and Create! after-school enrichment programs, housed within the Learning Center, offer a wide array of hands-on learning opportunities designed to enhance each participant’s cognitive, effective and tactile skills.

“I learned from all this that I could make anything, because before I never knew
how to make pop-ups, and I tried, but I never could . . .”

Student participants in grades 3, 4 and 5 can select from activity modules that include Math/Science, Photography, Soccer, Interactive Computer Technology, Oral History, Drumming and Culinary Arts. Think and Create!’s child-centered teaching methodology is different from what students experience in the regular public school classroom. Think and Create! teachers may introduce a project and present an outline of the skills to be used, but, for the most part, students create their own project and learn by doing.

“They have been talking about angles, space, size and how it all
fits together. The math and science collaborates.”

While many Think and Create! activity modules are oriented toward students performing individual tasks, some of these workshops introduce students to team projects where participants learn to brainstorm within a group dynamic and to execute their ideas with one common purpose. Whether participants are involved in individual or group endeavors, they develop better skills in higher order critical thinking, listening, self-management, discipline and focused concentration.

“Think and create, where we create things . . . but we have
to think about it first, then create it.”

Major funding for Think and Create! is provided by a grant from Harlem Commonwealth Council, Inc. Funding is also provided by the New York City Department of Education /P.S. 154 and the Goldman Sachs Foundation, a global philanthropic organization that promotes excellence and innovation in education.

Click here to view Community Program Archives.