Sapna NYC (formerly known as Westchester Square Partnership) was founded in 2008 to address the social and health-related needs of South Asian immigrants with special emphasis to Bangladeshi women living in the Westchester Square and Parkchester neighborhoods of the Bronx. Initial programs included English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and health education classes. Through a participatory needs assessment, Sapna NYC identified a number of social and health priorities of Bangladeshi women including immigration issues, family stress, emotional distress and weight problems. Over the past year, Sapna NYC has sought to develop programs to address these priorities. The organization works closely with community members to develop, implement and evaluate its programs.
Sapna NYC Programs:
- English Language: ESOL (English as a second language) program is run to help members learn how to speak, read and write simple English. Aim of the program is to help women to communicate about their need as well as avail decent paying jobs.
- Depression Treatment: To address an epidemic of depression among Bangladeshi and South Asian, the organization run Depression Treatment program.
- Lending Circles: Lending Circles help low income individuals who have little access to credit, build a credit history and improve their credit scores.
- Health Program: Bangladeshi women have the highest levels of diabetes of any group in the city. To address this issue Sapna NYC runs Diabetes Prevention Program to help members how avoid, prevent and sick help with diabetes related health issues. Breast Health program are conducted for cancer screening.
- Financial Education: The program helps Bangladeshi women to learn how to open bank account, apply and use credit cards, build credit, keep track of expenses, knowledge of consumers rights etc.
- Child and Family Care: The program prepares women how to become an ideal nanny, baby nursing, execute first aid, maintain hygiene, etc.
- Mothers’ Club: The Mothers’ Club is a self-governing group that meets monthly to develop its own programming.
- Advocacy: To help members develop a collective voice for change, Sapna NYC woks with advocacy organizations such as CACF, SAALT, NYIC Urban Justice Center, the Asian American Foundation.
- Research: Participatory research are conducted to understand the holistic nature of social problems faced by immigrant women. The data and research help Sapna NYC to design programs that can work at multiple levels – individual, family, community, as well as policy level.