SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – Summer plans have been derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Everything ranging from vacations, concerts and festivals have been postponed or cancelled entirely. Not exempt from that list are summer camps – an environment where children are often in close contact during events and activities.
Rather than sitting on the sidelines during this pandemic summer, the Allyn Family Foundation got creative. The organization designed a summer camp-like experience for local students filled with educational opportunities and even a financial incentive available to participants. Their efforts came together in the Bea Gonzalez Summer Fellows.
The fellowship program, named for longtime Syracuse University councilor and administrator Bea Gonzalez who retired in July, is the work of 15 local not-for-profits, led by the Allyn Family Foundation. Organizations involved include Boys and Girls Club, Northside Learning Center and Lemoyne College, according to Allyn Family Foundation Director for Women’s Health and Empowerment and head of Summer Fellows Tiff Lloyd.
Student participants were brought in from other youth-serving community organizations and word of mouth. Interest grew to the point that a waitlist was needed. Over 800 local youths are enrolled in the fellowship program.
Lloyd explained that each of the partner organizations were responsible for creating a unique program that fell into one of four benchmark categories: financial literacy, work and life skills, self care and reproductive health. Programs began in mid-July and ran for four weeks. The last round of programs began on Aug. 3 and will run until Aug. 31.
“There’s such a wide variety of programs, it’s beautiful,” Lloyd said. “We are very regularly surveying young people just so that we can keep our finger on the pulse in terms of what they’re thinking, and what they’re interested in and what is concerning them.”
What makes the Summer Fellows program stand out amongst other summer opportunities for students is the chance for participants to earn $599 at the completion of their program. The stipend is awarded to any student who completes 15 hours in their chosen course over the four week period.
The stipend not only assists young people with financial expenses incurred by the pandemic but it allows them to practice skills they’ve learned in their summer programs, such as opening a bank account and budgeting.”[The students] are super concerned about making money, they want money in their pocket so they can buy what they need, so they can save for college,” Lloyd said. She explained that this financial need was only exaggerated by COVID-19.
While this summer’s fellowship program has proven successful and beneficial for students who went through the courses, Lloyd is uncertain if the program will return next summer.
The Bea Gonzalez Summer Fellows was a direct response to the pandemic, with the Allyn Family Foundation realizing there was a safe way to deliver educational programming to students this summer. Because it is so tied to the pandemic, it may not return in the same format, or at all, next year.
Overall, Lloyd said this fellowship program was specifically designed to help Syracuse youth.
“We really [wanted] to do something for the young people because we know that the young people were particularly hard hit,” Lloyd said. “Everyone agreed that … this would be an awesome thing to do for young people, to bring them together, to get some skills, to take part in a meaningful program, to have some fun and to be paid while doing it.”
