Queens United Program
For Youth Development:
Broadening Horizons For Southeast Queens Children And Parents

By ANGELA MONTEFINISE

A Southeast Queens not-for-profit group is helping both kids and their parents explore new worlds through science, finance, and history and neighborhood beautification as part of a program that focuses on having fun, meeting friends, getting academic help and improving the neighborhood.

The Queens United Program for Youth Development (QUPYD), based in Hollis has been active in the community for eight years, helping children broaden their horizons and stay off the street.

The not-for-profit group meets on the second Saturday of every month, with tutoring, computer sessions, and counseling available. Children are taught typing, and have the opportunity to use the internet. Guest speakers, including police officers and teachers, are invited to discuss key neighborhood issues and inform the children of events happening in the area. Queens United is also a city service referral program, with staff helping kids get GEDs or Medicaid benefits by connecting them with city agencies.

The kids, in turn, clean up local parks and help with other neighborhood improvement activities. They participate in recreational activities, like basketball tournaments and relay races, and go on trips to various New York landmarks and educational institutions, including the New York Hall of Science, the New York Stock Exchange, Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium, and the Museum of Natural History. They have seen live games and stood on the floor of the stock exchange. The Department of Transportation provides Queens United with free public transportation anywhere in the City.

Sylvester Jefferys, the executive director of the organization, said, “There’s so much negative energy in parts of Southeast Queens for the kids to see. There can be such a negative environment. Our organization helps kids improve that negative environment and overcome the problems. In addition, we often times are their only ticket to seeing New York. We help kids venture out past Hollis and see that the world is much bigger than where they live. They were thrilled with the Hall of Science and actually enjoyed learning. They tried experiments on their own. We help them see culture. That’s the foundation my parents enstilled in me. It helped me appreciate the world, and I hope it helps them.”

There are only three people on the QUPYD staff, but the group has dozens of volunteers from around the neighborhood who pitch in to help out. About 11 local children between the ages of six and 16 participate in the program now, and Jefferys calls them “enthusiastic, hardcore kids who love what they’re doing.” The organization, however, is not just for children.

“The key to the group working is getting the parents involved,” Jefferys said. “In fact, it’s a requirement. One of the reasons we started this group was to ignite the family bonds in the area. Role models are important. We ask the parents or guardians to come on the trips and participate in our events. Many parents are reluctant to participate at first, not because they don’t want to, but because they’re tired, or into their own personal activities. Once they make the time, though, they end up enjoying it and spending important time with their children.”

The organization first started in 1993 through Jefferys’ neighborhood group, the 204th Street Block Improvement Association. In 1999, the Queens United Program for Youth Development became independently incorporated, and is now supported by several local groups, including Con Edison and the radio station KISS FM. Sylvester Jefferys’ sister, Deborah Jefferys, is the organization’s president, and Karen Gary, a woman whose daughter was in the program, is vice president.

For the past eight years Queens United has brought the community together through summer street fairs.

“We love working with the children,” Sylvester Jeffreys said. “They really look foward to the events and enjoy what they do.”

Although the organization is on vacation through July and August and there are no group meetings, the group got together to attend the 113th Police Precinct’s National Night Out Against Crime on August 7 to learn how to prevent crime.

They also get together regularly on the weekends to plant trees and flowers in local parks. The Parks Department awarded the group a $300 quarterly award in June for their work, and awarded them a Greenstreets strip of land in Hollis to take care of.     

Jefferys said, “The parks are so important. We clean them and try to beautify them so the people in the area can enjoy them. Parks have no monetary support in this City. When they are renovated, they are gorgeous, but most of them are left alone. Cleaning them isn’t even the problem. It’s mostly that there’s nothing in the parks for people to use.”

To fight for this cause, the organization is holding its eighth annual Queens United Street Fair on Saturday, Aug. 18 in Linden Junior High Park, located at 204th Street and Hollis Avenue. The event, which only attracted 40 people in 1993, attracted 350 people last year. Each year, the fair raises money for a different neighborhood cause - this year, it’s for the parks.

The fair will feature carnival rides, food, entertainment, arts and crafts, recreational tournaments, and a raffle. The Fire Department will bring a fire truck to the event and teach children about fire safety, while the Police Department will register bicycles through their “vehicle etching program” so they can be easily traced if stolen. The Queens Hospital Center will also perform diabetes screenings and present a health fair. Many local stores are sponsoring the event, including Home Depot, Hollis Convenience Deli, Pizza and Pasta Depot, and Bravo Supermarket.

Jefferys said, “We have gotten 100 percent support from the neighborhood and from the City. The police and the fire department help out as much as possible. We get permits to close the street and for the playground without problems. Community Board 12 and Yvonne Reddick are so supportive. We really appreciate it.”

The fair will have a political flavor this year, with eight elected officials running for higher office scheduled to attend. Jefferys said, “People can meet candidates and see what they’re going to do in office. They think we’re important. That means a lot.”

If children and parents want to join the group, they should attend one of the group’s monthly meetings and fill out a membership application. Once they join, a $10 monthly membership fee and positive attitude are all that is required.

The organization will resume meetings on September 8, after they spend the rest of August “regrouping and preparing for the upcoming year,” Jefferys said. “Kids are in camp now or on vacation. It’s better to take some time off in the summer.” Although the group used to meet at the South Hollis Branch of the Queensborough Public Library, located at 204-01 Hollis Avenue, it might meet in Jamaica Hospital Medical Center this coming year. “There’s a new wing there,” Jefferys said. “They’re going to rent it out to groups. We may meet there, but we’re not sure yet.”

For more information on the group, or their future plans or meetings, call Sylvester Jefferys at 465-3502.