Strategic Partnerships
Good Shepherd continually looks to identify new or growing needs in the communities in which we work Once a need has been identified, we investigate and pilot potential solutions to better serve our program participants.
Our use of partnerships is one way in which we are able to address gaps in service, advance our mission, and leverage resources to achieve successful outcomes. Our strategy, when possible, is to build on existing infrastructure rather than duplicate effort, using our core competencies to add value to those of others.
Our Partners
New York City Department of Education (DOE)
Good Shepherd’s philosophy of effective partnerships is best illustrated by our longtime partnership with the New York City Department of Education. Since 1973, we have worked together to provide school-based programs and services for vulnerable young people of all ages. Our programs include school-based preventative services, attendance improvement, college access and retention, and after-school programs. We help the young people we serve achieve success, not by teaching directly, but by helping to build a supportive community where students can learn. By collaborating in this fashion and contributing our expertise in youth development, we have been able build on existing infrastructure to address gaps in service rather than duplicate effort. We have demonstrated particular success with older adolescents, who have fallen through the cracks in traditional high school settings. The successful outcomes of our decades of experience with both the DOE and the overage and under-credited student population have propelled us to a position of leadership in the development of innovative service models for disconnected youth.
Common Ground Community
Prompted by concerns about youth aging out of foster care, we participated, with public/private representatives, in a trip to examine the successful Foyer transitional housing model in the UK. We then partnered with Common Ground Community, which has as strong background in housing and community development, to develop the Chelsea Foyer at The Christopher. First initiated in 2003 and opened to residents in April 2004, Good Shepherd has overall responsibility for the 40-bed Foyer, including provision of intake, case management, linkages to employment and training, healthcare, youth development, mentoring and other services. Common Ground provides facility management and building-wide security of the Foyer.
Corporate Partners
Numerous corporations provide volunteers to work with Good Shepherd in varying capacities throughout the year. Ernst & Young has been providing our students at Stevenson High School in the Bronx with mentors for more than a decade. The Bronx District Attorney’s Office has partnered with us to run a similar program for students at the Bronx High School of Law and Community Service. Credit Suisse, a particular champion of corporate volunteerism at Good Shepherd, sponsors the Youth Economic Success (YES) Conference each year to help adolescents develop financial literacy skills in addition to many other initiatives.
Other Community-Based Organizations
Over all, our work is strengthened by our extensive linkages and collaborations with other community-based institutions that provide medical, mental health, educational and economic services to the families with whom we work. We continue to maintain strong, ongoing relationships with numerous institutions and service providers throughout the City. In addition to our partnerships with the DOE and the many schools where have clustered our services, these relationships include local community boards, economic development organizations, health facilities, domestic violence organizations, local police precincts, and public housing tenant associations. In addition, we actively participate, and in many cases, facilitate, committees with other providers that are engaged in various components of social services to families and children.
