City College Drops "In Arms Reach" Program
Words by Haileny Pereira Carvalho
Image Courtesy of In Arms Reach Twitter page
The City College of New York (CCNY) has dropped the non-profit program “In Arms Reach” which brings resources to youth from communities of color. Members of the program are confused by the decision. The founder, Terrance Stevens, who was in prison for ten years for a non-violent drug charge, created the program after he was released on clemency back in 2001. His goal for the program was to aid low-income families with children between the ages of 7-21, whose parents are incarcerated. His mission is to help young people receive the proper resources they need that they are unable to receive at home. Some of these include providing mentorship, tutoring, college prep, and SAT prep. They also provide services that help the children maintain consistent communication with their incarcerated parents, with free prison visitations and letter writing programs.
The program runs for 35 weeks in the school year including thirteen holidays, summing up to 940 hours of after-school programming. Their summer program is open five days a week for five hours a day over the course of eight weeks, totaling 120 hours.
Many members of the organization have come forward and spoke about how the program has helped their children academically. One mother talks about how the program has helped her two daughters perform better in school. “They didn’t know how to do math well,” she said.
An anonymous student from the program shared that the program not only helped him academically, but provided emotional support as well. “In Arms Reach helped me with everything from family crisis, schoolwork, and making learning fun, to mentally coping with a missing parent. What I like best was the visitation and workshops. The tutors really care about us. They went the extra mile to help teach you,” he said.
“I think it’s important to have mentors and role models who look like you. I think it’s great because we break down difficult conversations so that children can understand,” one third-year medical student shared - a former volunteer of the program who spoke to NBC News.
Jean Fleuriscar, another former volunteer of the program, shared his experience on the In Arms Reach website. “Every week I would see their young minds working through and solving the problems we presented to them. Their enthusiasm and curiosity were incredible. In my opinion, In Arms Reach is an indispensable resource to the community.”
The organization planned to open up again for the first time this spring since the COVID-19 Pandemic. But instead, Stevens received a letter from the CCNY medical school dean, demanding a copy of a license agreement and liability insurance or he would be forced to leave by April 1. Stevens said that in all of the years of running the program, he never had a license agreement.
“I feel terrible. It’s not even about me feeling bad about loving the work that I do. I am worried about the children and families that I help,” he said.
The communications department at CCNY told NBC News that they will not be able to respond to any questions about Terrence Stevens or In Arms Reach at this time.
