"A Little Book"
I like to read a
Welcome to A Place for Kids! We appreciate you taking the time to visit our website and hope that during your visit you will learn something new about our organization and all the great things that we strive to accomplish.
In the News
World Journal News Coverage
Metro New York "Profiles in giving" features Minerva Chin
Our Mission
A Place for Kids (APFK) is a 41 year old not-for-profit, 501(C)(3) organization, which provides an after-school and summer program for a current capacity for over 100 children age's five to eleven. We serve families living or working in Lower Manhattan. The children under our care are predominantly recent immigrants from low-income families. The children's experiences are limited to within the immediate Chinatown community due to the fact that the parents work in menial jobs and for long hours. The parents also have limited English verbal and literacy abilities, and lack the resources and the time to help their children academically, recreationally and with extracurricular activities.
We want to develop the minds and bodies of our children to their highest potential and to instill a sense of pride in their own roots and heritage while learning and appreciating the cultures and languages of other nationalities. It is our goal to teach them to appreciate and respect all of the differences of our world and to recognize the similiarities. Over the years, we have strived to implement a multi-cultural curriculum, provide enrichment projects, and integrate literacy activities which support the NYC Department of Education's Balanced Literacy Program.
Organization History
A Place for Kids was founded by a group of community minded college students from the City College of New York, most who had grown up in Chinatown. These students wanted to do something for the children of the Chinatown community, who were underserved by the conventional programs. They realized the dire need for free and low cost year round childcare for the children of new immigrants and low-income families. Originally named The Asian Children's Underground, our organization was created in 1971 in the basement of a church through a vision of commitment and the spirit of volunteerism.
The on-going recruitment of volunteers, work study, fieldwork and service work students from colleges and high schools and utilizing students from the Summer Youth Employment Program enabled us to continue the childcare services to our families. In 1981, senior aides were assigned to work for us through the Department of Aging. Renamed A Place for Kids, we evolved into a non-profit community based educational center licensed by the Department of Health.
Board Members
P.S. 2, Manhattan Stella Ma, Program Director
122 Henry Street 111 Division Street
New York, NY 10002 New York, NY 10002
Fax: (212) 964-6003
