New York Fall Newsletter
NYC Team Newsletter - September 2025
Building Community to Counter Poverty
Second day of the Festival of Arts and Learning: participants and facilitators celebrating the cooling rain.
Dear ATD Fourth World NYC friends,
A lot has happened since we sent our last newsletter. Like New York City itself, the lives of ATD Fourth World members are constantly changing. Some of us have faced new housing challenges, job changes, personal or family illnesses, and administrative issues. In the face of uncertainty, our strength lies in our community ties, the good times we share, and our commitment to making new friends and welcoming old ones.
In this newsletter we address challenges faced by our members and others living in persistent poverty in New York. You'll also find the joy and hope that comes from knowing we're on this journey together.
We want to thank our friend Jackie Leduc, who continues on her journey after several years with us, sharing her incredible ability to create connections, foster relationships, and promote ATD Fourth World’s mission. We already miss her but know that she's close and that we'll see each other again soon.
The New York ATD Fourth World Team
In Brownsville, Brooklyn, children attending the Festival of Arts and Learning listen to a pirate's tall tale.
Festival of Arts and Learning in Brownsville Houses
The Festival of Arts and Learning returned to Brownsville Houses for three days at the end of June and the beginning of July. The theme this year was "Pirate Adventures," and we really embraced it. See for yourself in this video.
Children from the Brownsville Story Garden and their parents spread their enthusiasm to the more than twenty facilitators who staffed workshops and helped with the festival. Thank you all!
On July 9, we held an additional workshop with employees from the company MANE to explore the world of perfumes and fragrances. Several Brownsville residents discovered their creative side by inventing new scents. Thank you Roxane Durand for making this possible!
Building Housing Solutions Through a Collaborative Process
People with very low incomes and limited resources struggle to live in adequate conditions in New York City. Many members of ATD Fourth World have experienced homelessness or have had difficulties finding stable housing.
Over the past two years, we have worked to better understand the experiences of people facing the housing crisis and to develop strategies to improve access to adequate housing for all. These efforts include interviews, the latest cycle of our Fourth World People's University, and a series of participatory dialogues.
You can read the results of this work in the position paper “Building Housing Solutions Through a Collaborative Process,” available in full or in summary form.
ATD Fourth World members and other activists participated in the creating the Building Housing Solution in the Fourth World House.
Other News
☀️At the end of June, we finished our second consecutive year of the Tapori program with third-grade students at Gregory Jocko Jackson School in Brownsville. Throughout the year, we explored themes of belonging to a community, the bonds that unite us, and collaborating to improve life in the neighborhood.
☀️On August 28, we joined Maryann Broxton in organizing the Social Justice Movie Club and watched the documentary Cooked: Survival by Zip Code. The film is a powerful denunciation of the consequences of the climate crisis in disinvested areas and highlights the responsibility of public administrators to prevent these types of situations. Join us on Thursday, September 18, for the next movie club session.
☀️On September 3, Kathleen Saint Amand and Álvaro Iniesta participated in an NYU volunteer fair. More than ninety people signed up to receive more information about ATD Fourth World and so far five have asked to join the facilitation teams for Story Garden, Tapori, and other programs.
☀️Alycia Burnside will join the New York team on September 17 for six months. She has been part of the ATD Fourth World team in Gallup, New Mexico, since 2023. After coming to New York in April to participate in the Indigenous Peoples Forum at the United Nations, she is now returning to continue exploring her commitment as a member of the ATD Fourth World Volunteer Corps. We are delighted to have her here....
☀️On September 20, our Story Garden program at the CAMBA Flagstone Family Shelter in Brownsville will start up again. We will celebrate with a festival day of arts and learning, organized in collaboration with the community garden and Copliana Robinson, the recreation coordinator at the shelter.
☀️Join us on October 17 at United Nations headquarters for the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. This year's theme is "Ensuring Respect and Effective Support for Families." Registration is required. If you are interested in attending, please register here.