Trellis Briefing - July 2019 - Advocating for Public Housing Residents in NYC

July 22, 2019 by Zac Martin

What if the playgrounds in your community were unsafe and in constant state of disrepair? What if your landlord continued to neglect and delay vital repairs to your apartment? What if the home you were living in was making you sick? What if you had nowhere in your community to escape the heat?

Advocacy is about learning to speak up and out for people and issues that though they might not affect you personally, recognize that as Lilla Watson has so powerfully stated, ''your liberation is bound up in mine,” and knowing you would want the same done for you if you faced struggles like these.

Trellis Crew Report - What up with NYCHA?

June 20, 2019 by Zac Martin in trelliscrew

Some people been giving up on our community and that’s not acceptable, we need to keep fighting until we heard by everyone, until we have more people on or side. I will trying to be one of those people to stand by these people sides and tell them not to give up and keep fighting.
I’ve encountered many senior citizens from my neighborhood Wyckoff Gardens, and they were surprisingly happy to see me

Using public space for community good: A youth perspective

May 02, 2019 by Zac Martin

The access to and affordability of public space in a community plays a vital role in neighbors and neighborhoods seeing each other, spending time together and in turn, working better together. In gentrifying neighborhoods, spaces like this can become more scarce and segregated. Recently two of our Trellis Crew attended meetings on the use and priorities of public space and shared what they heard and learned

Students standing up for school reform

April 17, 2019 by Zac Martin in trelliscrew

I was told that my school (summit academy) will shutdown in march 15. My principal Ms Swift was heartbroken to tell us this news. The high school students were shocked and confused.

I’ve have been a student at this school for 5 years. I started middle school and graduate to high school in summit academy. The staff at summit are like family

The fact that there was barely any standing space was amazing to see that people can all come together on a Saturday to discuss children’s education issues

During the town hall, I felt many things but the primary emotion was anger. In short, I learned that public schools have overcrowded classrooms and a lack of resources for multilingual students, causing large achievement gaps for students. The cause of all of that? Money. Public schools are highly underfunded and that is significant because, as one of the speakers said, “money matters.”

Addressing School Segregation: A Youth Perspective

March 04, 2019 by Zac Martin in trelliscrew, school diversity

One of the girls on the panel story resonated with me because many of her experiences were similar to mine. She stated that after the Trump election she began to receive backlash from her own classmates because she was one of the only minorities in her PWI. She also expressed how her teachers didn’t do anything to stop the comments nor did they comfort her. This destroys one's experience at schools because many minority students face microaggressions because of the color of their skin. Conversations like this can help integrate schools like PS 321 and create a safe space for all kids. When addressing stereotypes and diversifying schools will help gain different perspectives and genuine experiences especially in a diverse city like New York.