Letter From the Founder Paula Resnick

I recently took a step away from The Meeting House and upon returning the following week, I took a pause to reflect on the continued staying power and relevance of our programs,   I found myself amazed at how much has transpired in such a short time — how in the midst of COVID, The Meeting House had transformed emerging stronger, landing on terra firma with a mission more relevant than ever before. Now, as we prepare for the Fall, launching new programs in new locations and serving new constituents I am energized by the opportunities surrounding us.

Much has been discussed in the past year about the importance of community and connection for health and well being.  During the peak of COVID restrictions there was a new understanding and urgency to these aspects of our lives and they took on an entirely new meaning and level of importance. Being deprived of physical proximity and socialization during COVID created isolation that was previously unimaginable and also gave birth to intimate virtual communities simultaneously.

Overnight, SEL went from being the ugly step child  to Cinderella at the Ball. All eyes were on the importance of meaningful conversation, relationships and emotional expression and how to help an increasingly diverse, traumatized and anxious group of young people around these subjects.  A decade and a pandemic later, every educational regulatory body now has requirements for what schools must be delivering regarding social and emotional support.  Society has caught up and come around to what we knew all along….that academic performance and social emotional development are inextricably bound. It’s very difficult to have success in one area if the other is in distress and unadressed.

Not long ago, in 2009, we had to convince referral sources and school administrators that soft skills and social emotional learning were as vital as academic learning. We had to  fight to get this message out and justify our programs.

Coming out of COVID, The Meeting House went from being an afterschool provider working with elementary students to serving an expanded population from pre-school thru college and also adults…not just in afterschool but in the morning, during the day and in the evening as well.  I will add, that this included me, my brother, and my mother as well as many of our staff members, board members, their parents and many of our friends -  we grew together, we conversed regularly and we used art, spirituality, parenting and race as a springboard to  learn about ourselves and others and prompt our social and emotional development..

Many adults in our community decided to “do the work “ to walk the walk” and see where it would lead them.  I became a student at The Meeting House through our Conversations Program.  Doing the work on myself, just as we ask our kids to…pushing myself to evolve and move forward….to look at myself in new ways and to see others with a fresh lens.  This is where my gratitude story begins. 

I am filled with tremendous gratitude for what The Meeting House has given me in my life.  Beyond how much I have learned and the meaningful relationships with my colleagues, I have admired their standards of excellence, compassion and kindness. With open minds and generous hearts, with professionalism and playfulness they create the magic of The Meeting House and I am deeply grateful.

 In the spirit of getting back on the playground I am taking one of our daily rituals that we do with our younger students which has gone by  many names over the years – The High Five, The Fist Bump, The Shout Out and The Bucket Filler !

WITH GRATITUDE

This year I am personally grateful for the opportunity to have become a student of The Meeting House in our Adult Conversations Programs. Working weekly on Racial Identity with Ife Lenard, Spirituality with Ben Freeman and Friday Art Salons with Vin Buchan & Sherry Lippman. I loved being back in school with them as my teachers. My heart and mind were kept stimulated and bouyant because of the knowledge and insight we shared. The community that developed in each experience will be a cherished memory for me.

I am forever grateful to Jackie Covell, our Clinical Director, who used her creativity, ingenuity and wonderful sense of humor to keep a growing population of students supported and interested in coming back week after week since March 2020.

I am deeply grateful to Steven Rubin MSW our Director of Youth and Young Adult Programs who has followed his passion for working with teens and young adults to expand our programs into high school and college age students on zoom and in person - spearheading our expansion to Manhattan’s east side

I am over a decade in to grateful to Meghan Corridan for her vision and talent in keeping our youngest students engaged on zoom for 18 months and going back in person this summer with our Juniors Program, now also up and running on the East Side

I am very grateful to Ife Lenard who recently published an academic research article through NYU about the relationship between TMALS and TMH memorializing the educational model we’ve developed together. I am also grateful that she initiated weekly parent support groups for the TMALS community during COVID. Even though we could not work with the children directly, her impact with parents was vital in supporting the school.

I am grateful to Kim McGarvey who took the initiative to offer our first parent support group to new mothers and young families who were scared and stretched during COVID. Using her experience and expertise as an educator, not only in our juniors program, but also with the parents of very young children.

I am grateful to McCailey Contreras our talented and energetic performing arts educators who zoomed in without missing a beat from all over the world. Her energy, optimism and talent kept the teen and afterschool students wanting more all the time.

To Eleanor Smith, for her reliability and compassion and for not skipping a beat in resuming her duties when we began in person programming in Central Park last year

To Dan Sullivan, who built The Meeting House Playground, now serving thousands of people each week on line with fun ways to learn about SEL

To Kim Richter our previous Administrator who resigned graciously after tirelessly supporting the organization during COVID.

I am grateful to Lauren Silvershotz, our first college intern, who makes everything look easy and has had such a large impact on TMH this summer

To our loyal constituents, leaders and donors who were more generous than ever before because they believe in our team and the importance of our work

To our Executive Committee who stepped up and in to help me lead the organization over the last 18 months.

It takes a village….and that’s what you all were for me.

Paula