The programs that kept us off the street: late 90s- early 2000s

Boys and Girls Harbor

Upwardfund, Boys Harbor, and P.S 108 were key places that kept children in the East Harlem community, like myself off the streets. Upwardfund was a summer camp located on 119th street between 2nd and 3rd avenue in the early and mid 90s. My mother was a counselor at the camp and as soon as I turned six, she made sure I was admitted. The camp age groups ranged from 6 to 14. The camp had educational and recreational activities everyday and once a week, a camp trip. The trips ranged from places like the science hall in New Jersey to amusement parks like six flags. The camp shut down after my first summer but Upwardfund is what sparked my love for summer camps on the east side of Harlem. Next was Boys Harbor located on 104th street and 5th avenue. Boys Harbor is the place that kept children off the streets during school hours and after school hours. I attended Boys Harbor elementary school, after school program and summer camp for at least 5 years. Boys Harbor is still up and running and still keeping children off the streets in East Harlem. P.S 108 was my elementary school located on 108th street and madison avenue. The school is in between Lehman and Taft Houses. With that said, it was a safe place to be even with all the negativity going on in the neighborhood. PS 108 had a high population of hispanic students that did not speak english, ranging from Puerto Ricans to Mexicans. The school had a strong ESL program that assured that those students english would be strong by the time they graduated. All of these places kept me off the streets for the first 15 years of my life. Abyssinian, on the west side of Harlem on 143rd street and Lennox avenue was a football team I played for, for 6 years. All of the men that coached me had full-time jobs and were volunteering to coach the team.