Neighborhoods
Building Strong Families
Family Leadership Academy
Family Leadership Academy
A Neighborhood Initiative
Through a unique, innovative program, we're helping families acquire the skills needed to achieve economic security.
Our focus on supporting Esperanza families’ personal hopes and dreams is expressed in a very direct way in the Family Leadership Academy (FLA). The FLA is a year-long, innovative program that helps low- and moderate-income families build the skills and access the resources necessary to achieve their goals and reach a greater degree of economic security and mobility.
In a very real way, we think of the mission of the FLA as the revitalization of the Esperanza neighborhood, one household at a time. NBT operates the FLA in partnership with PRAB, which has positioned this program as part of their robust suite of comprehensive services.
OUR IMPACT
volunteer residents participating
hours performed in community improvement activities
community clean-ups
residents satisfied with neighborhood
Citywide impacts due to resident advocacy:
workers gaining mandatory paid sick time
Municipal IDs issued
vacant properties rehabilitated
Completed cohort sessions
families graduated from FLA
collectively saved for future investment
personal goals completed
Within three years, NBT and our partners in the Housing Collaborative will have substantially impacted dynamics in New Brunswick’s housing market, particularly for LMI and immigrant families in Esperanza and Unity Square, by:
vacant properties registered by the City
of abandoned properties in Esperanza neighborhood rehabilitated or demolished
healthy home assessments conducted
NBT and its partners will have contributed to the growth of local entrepreneurs and small businesses by:
entrepreneur-participants in the Mercado Esperanza marketplace
graduates from the Community Business Academy
new community murals on the French Street corridor
ever French Street business directory and brochure
in funds committed to French Street façade grants
KEY ISSUES
The FLA program design includes five key elements:
- Assessment and goal-setting: FLA Family Coaches work with participating families to set personalized goals in five categories: family stability, well-being, education and training, financial management, and employment.
- Mentoring and case management: Family Coaches work intensively with participants over the year to measure and encourage progress toward their goals, and connect them to community resources.
- Structured curriculum: The program engages participants in twice-monthly group workshops tailored to the five categories of goal-setting, with a particular focus on financial capability.
- Peer support: Participating families progress together as a cohort, building a network of support and serving as a means of connecting to opportunities for personal advancement.
- Financial incentives: To reward completion of goals and building of assets, participants can invest in a matched savings account and receive small financial incentives as they progress.
PROGRAM
Partners
NBT partners with the following organizations to make this program available to the people of New Brunswick: PRAB and Magyar Bank.
Join the Conversation
