Rock Gate Community

Founded in 1979, Providence House is a nonprofit organization that serves homeless women and children. It offers transitional and permanent housing services. The organization also provides on-site case management and housing relocation solutions. Providence House offers training classes that focus on topics related to various independent living skills, such as cooking, cleaning and budgeting. It is a recipient of the Eleanor Roosevelt Community Service Award at the at the Governor's Mansion in Albany. The organization has partnerships with local schools, churches and civic groups to collect food and supplies for Thanksgiving and Christmas toys and gifts for the children and residents.

HistoryIn 1999, with support from Scenarios from the Sahel, Maura Minsky and Kristen Joiner started Scenarios USA in 2 high school classrooms, one in NYC and one in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. Students were asked to share their ideas & write stories about coming of age in the era of AIDS. Those stories would become Scenarios USA's first films. Scenarios USA grew from two classrooms of 50 students to engage over 100,000 students in our REAL DEAL program in our first decade. Students have responded with an outpouring of their stories - dramatic, comic, and sometimes tragic. Those stories have gone on to engage award-winning screenwriters and movie directors who have collaborated with the young writers to produce a growing library of films. The REAL DEAL films get seen by an estimated 15 - 20 million a year in classrooms with lesson plans in all 50 states; they have aired on Showtime, BET, mun2, MTV, Oxygen, NYC Media's Channel 25 and numerous cable access stations.SpecialtiesFounded in 1999, Scenarios USA is a national non-profit organization that uses writing and film to foster youth leadership, advocacy and self-expression in students across the country, with a focus on marginalized communities. Real Deal Education Professional Teaching Workshops Real Deal Common Core Aligned Curriculum Teaching Artist Program Real Deal Films Thousands of students who go through the Real Deal curriculum submit stories to the Real Deal writing contest. Stories are chosen, and the young writers are partnered with acclaimed Hollywood filmmakers to transform the stories into short films for national distribution. Showtime, bet, mtv, Mundos, hbo Real Deal Youth Leadership and Engagement Advocacy Projects Public Speaking Opportunities Youth Conferences Mentorships and Internships We believe that by valuing youth and their stories, we strengthen academic achievement, promote civic engagement and support young people in becoming engaged citizens and healthy individuals.