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OUR IMPACT

Southside Programs 

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POLLING PLACE

SPACE RENTAL

PARTNER PROGRAMS

SOUTHSIDE

COMMUNITY CENTER

Afterschool Program

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The Afterschool program is NYS licensed and designed to provide care for up to 30 children, 4-12 years of age. We provide a healthy environment that strengthens students knowledge of self and their academic skills through our Black Consciousness Curriculum that is based on the 7 principles of Kwanzaa.

Each day participants are served a healthy fruit and vegetable snack and dinner meal provided by Southside Community Center Staff. We collaborate with the YMCA, Ithaca College, Cornell, New Roots, The History Center, Tompkins County Public Library, etc.

AGES : 4-12 

HOURS : Monday-Friday, 2-5:30 pm 

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SUMMER CAMP

Our Summer Camp Program is focused on fun and safety for up to 30 children. Participants swim, read, garden, cook, ride bicycles, and do arts and crafts.

The Summer Camp works in collaboration with The Floating Classroom, Ithaca Children’s Garden, The Big Red Story Tent, The Tompkins County Public Library, Beechtree, The Fire Department, etc. Participants take trips to Alex Haley Pool, The Eight Square Schoolhouse, The Harriet Tubman House, Corning Glass Museum, The Plantations, Johnson Art Museum, The Youth Farm, and Seabreeze.

HOURS : Monday-Friday 12pm - 5pm

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BLACK GIRL ALCHEMY

The concept of BGA is a philosophy and programmatic approach created by Black Women from SSCC, which describes the experience of human beings creating and transforming through a seemingly magical process. BGA recognizes that when the community prioritizes the voices and creative works of Black Girls and Women, everybody benefits. The work is a curriculum of liberation designed to combat historical and current social conditions negatively impacting Black Girls and Women. Projects include the BGA mosaic mural, public art projects which are aligned with the BGA philosophy, a series of book clubs, poetry circles, and video projects, and explorations of dance and movement. The whole community enjoys the beauty of the publicly displayed art and projects created, while the young women involved help to create and honor a culture of creative Black Girl liberation in Ithaca.

HOURS : Wednesdays at 5:30PM in July & August

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UNITY STUDIO

The present Unity Studio is a collaboration between Southside Community Center and My Brother’s Keeper Initiative.

My Brother’s Keeper initiative was launched by President Obama to address persistent opportunity gaps faced by boys and young men of color and ensure that all young people can reach their full potential.

Currently Being Revamped

Stay tuned for details...

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JEMS
LITERACY MOVEMENT
SUMMER PROGRAM

The Jacqueline Elizabeth Melton Scott (JEMS) Literacy Movement is an initiative that was born in 2020 to interrupt the disproportionately low reading outcomes for Black children in Ithaca, New York. The late “Mama Scott” was a life-long teacher who centered literacy as the ultimate tool of freedom. Recognizing that a variety of children both marginalized and otherwise, suffer in many areas of literacy, the numbers both nationally and locally are striking for Black children. Between 2017-2019, Black children’s on-grade level of reading ability dropped by 30%!! Pre-pandemic! JEMS is led by a community of mothers, reading specialists, and educators who train literacy coaches and tutors for groups of children throughout the community.

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Formation

Black Girls grades 5th-12th will have the opportunity to build relationships with amazing women from Cornell University and learn how to conquer life as a woman of color.

Each student in grades 5th-12th will be paired with a student from Le Femme de Substance. Conversations and activities will be based on leadership, self-care, empowerment, overcoming personal struggles, educational success, and professional development! 

GRADES - 5 -12

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FOOD PANTRY/
NUTRITION PROGRAMMING

Our Food Pantry serves approximately 75 families a month and is made possible through our partners including GreenStar, Wegmans, local farmers, and the Food Bank of Southern Tier. As part of the food pantry experience, Southside offers community meals and direct links to CSA shares. 

HOURS:

Tuesdays & Thursdays,
3:30-5:30PM
First & last Saturdays, 12-2PM
Emergency Pantry: Call ahead

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RECYCLE ITHACA’S BICYCLES

Recycle Ithaca’s Bicycles (RIBs) is a program of Southside
and one of the oldest community bike shops in the
country. RIBs is committed to Southside’s larger mission of
promoting Black excellence while providing bicycle related
services to the larger Ithaca area. The goal of RIBs is to
affirm, empower, and foster Black leadership & liberation
through bicycling in our community.

HOURS : TBD

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ALL PROGRAMS

PET CLINIC

southsidecornell@gmail.com

COST : $25 per pet -
LIMIT ONE PET PER HOUSEHOLD

HOURS : 2nd & 4th Wednesdays of each month, 6PM

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Our Healthy Pet Clinic benefits our local community by taking care of pets and their human companions. Run by Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, we provide vaccinations, basic laboratory tests, preventative care, and physical exams at a reduced fee. The clinic takes 30 pets. To schedule an appointment, please email: 

FINANCIAL FREEDOM COLLECTIVE

The Financial Freedom Collective (FFC) encourages Black Women to access a series of local financial resources that are designed to “provide full financial support in the form of community programs and educational resources” at Alternatives Federal Credit Union (AFCU) and “programs dedicated to helping people of modest incomes find—and stay in—high-quality housing” at Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services (INHS). This is a longitudinal project designed to confront/interrupt displacement and the barriers faced by many Women of Color, particularly Black mothers parenting alone. It is critical to creatively address the limited number of Black Women accessing such resources. The project will continue to invite local financial experts to offer workshops and progress monitoring tools to FFC participants.

In Partnership with Alternatives Federal Credit Union and Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services

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CUMEP

The Community Unity Music Education Program (CUMEP) is an 18-year old multicultural performing arts and human rights educational experience that provides FREE music, poetry, performance, visual arts, literacy, math, and human rights education guided by a Black consciousness curriculum. The participants learn to develop self-esteem, academic and social skills, self-confidence, self-discipline, and public performance skills. Traditionally located at Southside Community Center, the 2021 experience will be based in West Village for a 16-day experience. The end of the season performance will take place at Southside on Friday, July 30th at 6PM.

CUMEP.org

July 5 - July 29, 8AM-12PM at West Village
Annual Performance July 30th, 6PM at Southside

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CUMEP.ORG

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UNITED DANCE TROUPE

UNITED is a youth performing dance troupe that creates strong intentional statements through the power of movement. Join this family made up of the community, for the community and by the community! The global pandemic hit our small family hard, yet we have still been able to meet the needs of our children and provide programming. Utilizing the tenets of Therapeutic Recreation, Ms. Harmony Malone constantly educates students on the power of their voices. Please check out the UNITED website for the Dancing in the Streets summer series.

VISIT SITE

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COMMUNITY PROGRAMS

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BLACK HANDS UNIVERSAL

Black Hands Universal is an organization formed in response to racial injustice in our country’s systems. We believe in rehabilitation rather than punishment, as well as creating and maintaining a platform for the disenfranchised. Our purpose is to create opportunities for those who are disenfranchised by the system by providing them with job placement and training, financial literacy, mental health resources, health and wellness, as well as cultural and educational resources for kids and adults. We offer opportunities in trades and access to other professions through external job services programs. Ultimately, we will expand our efforts towards housing programs and substance abuse aftercare.

VISIT SITE

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COMMUNITY PROGRAMS

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BALLET & BOOKS

Ballet & Books is a national, non-profit organization striving to reduce the literacy gap through the hybrid storytelling of dance and reading. In our extracurricular programming led by high school and college students, we provide 3-9 year olds with an opportunity to improve their literacy skills through a combination of dance instruction and dialogic reading.

VISIT SITE

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COMMUNITY PROGRAMS

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VILLAGE AT ITHACA

Our mission is to advocate for educational equity and excellence for all students, particularly Black/African American, Hispanic/ Latino/Latinx, low income, and any other underserved students within Tompkins County, through strategic community relationships, assessment of the local district’s practices and policies, and responsive programs and services.

VISIT SITE

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COMMUNITY PROGRAMS

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Thank you for choosing Southside Community Center.
We welcome the opportunity to host your party or event.
In our main floor we offer accommodations for up to 180 people. On the second floor we can accommodate up to 250 guests.

Southside Event Space

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Southside Building Tours

Since its incorporation in 1934, the Southside Community Center, Inc., continues to affirm, empower, and foster the development of self-pride among the African-American citizens of greater Ithaca. Through forums and activities in education, recreation, political and social awareness, the Southside Community Center is a community resource center. We serve as a vehicle to develop an appreciation for the contributions and presence of those peoples of African descent in the greater Ithaca community and in the larger world community.

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Since its incorporation in 1934, the Southside Community Center, Inc., continues to affirm, empower, and foster the development of self-pride among the African-American citizens of greater Ithaca. Through forums and activities in education, recreation, political and social awareness, the Southside Community Center is a community resource center. We serve as a vehicle to develop an appreciation for the contributions and presence of those peoples of African descent in the greater Ithaca community and in the larger world community.

Southside Polling Place

HOW IT ALL BEGAN...

The present Southside Community Center (SSCC) is the legacy of the work and ideals of the Francis Harper Women’s Club, a group of Black women leaders in the Ithaca community. In March of 1927, the Francis Harper Women’s Club organized the Serve-Us League to serve the residents of the historically Black Southside neighborhood of Ithaca, NY. Founded with just $220, raised by Mrs. Vera Irvin (president) and Mrs. Gessie Cooper, the SSCC was to be a non-sectarian and non-partisan organization for the “uplifting” of every individual. For the first seven years of its existence, the Center met in a house at 221 South Plain Street, and in 1932 purchased the property at 305 South Plain Street, the current home of the Center. In 1936 the structure was razed, and in 1937 the current facility was erected by the Works Progress Administration in cooperation with the Southside Corporation and the City of Ithaca. The building was dedicated in a ceremony attended by the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in 1938.

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