White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett talks with Geoffrey Canada, the President and Chief Executive Officer for Harlem Children’s Zone.
(by Harlem Children's Zone)
Ed. note: The full text of the op-ed by Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett is printed below. The piece is published today on TheGrio.com and can be found HERE.
A child’s zip code should never determine her destiny. But today, a child’s health, educational outcomes, and lifetime economic opportunities are often negatively impacted when she grows up in a high poverty community.
Harlem Children’s Zone is working to change that. This week, I visited this neighborhood nonprofit, with its President and CEO, Geoffrey Canada. I took a tour of the health clinic and library inside their new school building. While I was impressed by the facilities, I was even more impressed by the passionate commitment and energy of Geoffrey and his team in truly transforming Harlem into an environment that allows children to achieve their dreams.
Since 1990, Harlem Children’s Zone has provided free support for the community through new schools, parenting workshops, a pre-school program, after-school programs and child-oriented health programs for thousands of families.