The LIFE Project: Building on The Strengths Of Immigrant Families To Promote Quality Early Care And Education Access

Based in New York City, the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), in partnership with Fifth Avenue Committee, LSA Family Health Service, BACDYS (Bangladeshi American Community Development and Youth Services), and Masa, launched the Linking Immigrant Families to Quality Early Care and Education (LIFE) Project to connect quality early education to immigrant families including the city's Pre-K and 3K programs. Their work builds on the passion that immigrant families have for educational opportunities and existing relationships with community programs, identifies unique barriers and challenges faced by immigrant families, and aims to build trusting relationships with the communities served. In our final episode of Season 1, we learn from Rosario, Liza, and Kim, members and leaders of the LIFE Project. Guests reflect on what brought them to this work, the strength of the communities they work with, and the lessons learned as they champion for a more equitable early education system in New York City for immigrant communities.

To learn more about the New York Immigration Coalition and their projects please visit, https://www.nyic.org/.

Guests include:

• Rosario Jimenez, Community Health Worker & Early Care Education Advocate, LSA Family Health Service Inc
• Liza Schwartzwald, Senior Manager of Education Policy, New York Immigration Coalition
• Kim Sykes, Director of Education Policy, New York Immigration Coalition
• Host: Ronda Alexander, Director of Operations, NOW at Vital Village Network

Produced by: Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing

Music By: Morgan Breland
Edited by: Resonate Recordings