Village At Ithaca Inc

Youth and family advocacy - Every family has different challenges. Village at Ithaca works to address essential needs like food, housing, and internet access, as well as more complicated needs such as advocacy within the school system and culturally responsive programming. Programs include providing early employment opportunities to BIPOC youth and those with barriers to employment in partnership with Tompkins County workforce and other local agencies support families to navigate the CSE process and challenges with extra-curricular activities and transportation weekly distribution of food and household supplies to families without access to existing food pantry/donation sites, while facilitating connection to the existing support services supporting local youth action board to create a response system to help youth out of homelessness and ongoing support of the Stolen Joy Project, which has produced two short films about people of color experiencing oppression in public school.

Systems change - We reduce barriers to access for families and students and work within oppressive systems to end discriminatory practices. We consult with teachers and administrators who want to end racism and other systems of oppression within the public education system and support homeless youth during their school years and beyond. We have initiated a transition house Village House for transitioning homeless youth into self supporting youth.