BronxWorks
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Abstract
BronxWorks is an organization that has impacted positively on the lives of the Bronx Community for many years. It has grown historically over the years through undergoing several changes to suit its purpose of formation and meet the economic and social well-being of the homeless population. The organization’s programs and services which are educative and helpful to the needs of individuals and families are tailored primarily to help all people from toddlers to elderly adults. Their services Range from homeless services, benefits, and other assistance, eviction and prevention services to workforce development.
This paper examines BronxWorks’: history, the hierarchical organizational structure, the available programs and services offered to Bronx residents, population composition, internal and external factors affecting the organization, SWOT analysis, needs assessment, problem statement, and Causality. Like any other organization, BronxWorks is faced with challenges that affect their daily operations and must be solved through intense analysis to identify the needs, problems, and the causing factors to continue operating efficiently.
Keywords: BronxWorks, Bronx Community, Organizational history and structure
BronxWorks
Organizational History
BronxWorks is an organization that was initially founded in 1972 by Mildred Zuker with the help of local clergy members, elected officials, and community advocates in Morris Heights as Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB). It was initially sponsored by the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies and Community Council of Greater New York but later became independent in 1985 (McLaughlin, 2019). The organization’s goal was to establish a network of information and assistance centers in New York City by offering advice to the citizens through walk-in information and referral services.
However, due to insufficient funds to become a citywide organization, CAB underwent a profound social change by helping West Bronx inhabitants with their housing, income issues, homelessness, and people impacted by HIV/AIDS. West Bronx community provided CAB with the perfect opportunity to grow through sponsorship of their programs as the community was being rebuilt and was contracting senior centers and homeless services.
In 1993, CAB became a settlement house by joining the United Neighborhood houses and sponsoring programs for children and the youth. In 1995, they obtained the community center building and expanded their board of directors due to their establishment of the Girls Club of Greater New York. Later on, with the passage of the Welfare Reform Act of 1995, CAB’s focus shifted from welfare advocacy to welfare development. In 2009, CAB changed its name to BronxWorks, known today for helping individuals and families improve their economic and social well-being. The name change was to fit their purpose and reflect on their actual provision of services and programs.
Mission and Vision
BronxWorks Mission is to help individuals and families from toddlers to seniors, feed, and shelter, teach and support Bronx Community to become stronger by improving their economic and social well-being. On the other hand, their vision is to lift individual and families’ lives and build their futures through their services and programs.
Mandates and Values
BronxWorks is mandated to help individuals and families improve their economic and social well-being through offering workforce development, senior services, homeless services, and eviction prevention assistance. The company values encourage diversity, innovation, employee satisfaction, customer happiness, and giving back to the community by striving for the highest ethical and performance standards and acknowledging that all people must be treated equally and respectfully regardless of their social status.
Stakeholders and Customers
BronxWorks is an organization that values an ongoing and robust collaboration with various community stakeholders to achieve its mandates. The company’s stakeholders are the board members, donors, partner organizations, and 900-plus employees. On the other hand, the organization’s clients are Bronx community individuals and families in need of advice, food, and shelter.
Organizational Structure
At BronxWorks, the organizational structure depicts a clear strategic hierarchy based on rules, roles, and responsibilities. It entails the way activities are carried out, including communication channels to enable the organization to work toward the common goal of improving the lives of Bronx Community residents. The organization’s leadership is hierarchical and comprises a board of directors, an executive team, senior leadership, and support staff members.
As an Assistant Executive Director in the organization, the assigned duties range from representing the executive director in agency events, handling all communications, and ensuring confidentiality. Also, carrying out Human resource responsibilities such as managing volunteers and tracking their work hours is a responsibility tasked with the position. The position requires carrying out event planning by helping with development events and assisting with fund-raising events (Norris-Tirrell, Rinella & Pham, 2018). Consequently, gathering compliance documents and maintaining an efficient filing system to ensure regulations are adhered to as expected.
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Services Rendered
BronxWorks offers a variety of services to the Bronx community to enable improved living conditions. The organization offers adult and family homeless services to individuals and families, such as providing safer living environments, beds, and social services to homeless adults (Freeman et al., 2020). Also, offering benefits and other services such as health insurance, food resources, legal assistance, and family shelters. Similarly, the organization provides patients with chronic illness with services like case management, medical-follows, counseling, housing, and education and offers support on education and youth development programs to young Bronx residents below 24 years.
Moreover, the staff helps low-income renters with eviction and other prevention services through programs that enable them to achieve housing stability and addressing food insecurity issues in the Bronx Community through health education, advocacy, and interventions. Correspondingly, the organization helps immigrants with preparation and submission for various U.S citizenship benefits. Also, offers free legal help, supportive housing and care management, and programs to young adults who are unemployed seeking help with first job applications.
Client Population
BronxWorks clients are the Bronx residents with a population estimation of 1,390,450 based on 2020 census reports ((Elliot et al., 2019). The city is situated at the northernmost of the city’s borough and separated from Manhattan by the Harlem River. It is bordered by Westchester County, Hudson River, East River, and Long Island Sound. The city enjoys racial diversity with African Americans, whites, Native Americans, Asians, and Hispanics, who make up the most significant part of the population. Bronx Community comprises low-income families and with the majority of people possessing lesser than a high school degree.
Internal and External Factors
Internal Factors
At BronxWorks, there are a variety of internal factors that affect the day-to-day operations. Being an organization concerned with the welfare of the people, the organization relies heavily on donations which sometimes may delay or fail to meet the needs of Bronx residents. However, the organization’s financial systems are structured to ensure changes in interest rates are met appropriately and avoidance of reliance on specific donors. Similarly, employees are an essential part of BronxWorks as they mingle with the clients daily, prompting the organization to ensure low staff turnovers and staff motivation to keep the business running effectively.
External Factors
Political and legal issues are mostly the ones affecting the operations of BronxWorks organization as it deals with the needs of Bronx citizens. Whenever new regulations are passed, the organization is faced with possibilities of operating limitations that may have adverse effects, primarily on housing services. Consequently, given the diverse nature of the population, the social and cultural values of the residents affect the operations of the organization due to resistance to changes (Felipe, Roldan & Leal-Rodriquez, 2017). Staff members encounter Group-oriented populations with high values of loyalty leading to misinterpretation and miscommunication of the organization’s mission.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
• A long-term presence on the Bronx community grounds has enabled the building of trust.
• Strong reputation among the Bronx Community residents due to networking and mobilization of resources.
• The organization’s good links with several donors ensure a steady flow of financial assistance.
Weaknesses
• Over-reliance on financial donations poses a challenge in the organization’s operations.
• The insufficiency of volunteers to help with field research costs the organization money to hire research experts.
• Poor external communication leads to miscommunication on essential aspects of the community issues.
Opportunities
• High rental rates make many people homeless in Bronx Community which ensures we have clients at all times.
• The organization’s reputation has earned it the chance to partner with other local nonprofit organizations with no basis for competition.
• Since the organization’s foundation, many people have been impacted, and their stories help to educate the community at large.
Threats
• It is sometimes challenging to measure the impact of specific programs.
• Some Elderly Adult clients find difficulties in trusting the pure intention of providing housing facilities, delaying the program’s progress.
• Covid-19 movement regulations hindermost of the organization’s operations, especially interaction with community members.
Needs Assessment, Problem Statement, and Causality
. Needs Assessment
BronxWorks is vulnerable due to donor and resource dependence. The supply-led tendency in the organization gives donors authority to create and implement programs of the organization. As a result, the autonomy and credibility of the organization may be interfered with if donors enjoy excess power where they can manipulate things to fit their agendas and demands. Also, there is a significant problem with the low volunteer turnouts in the organization fieldwork, which weighs heavily on the annual budget, thus interfering with the ability to provide housing needs effectively. Organizations need to educate the community on the importance of volunteering, especially for young people to gain relevant experience.
Problem Statement
The organization faces difficulties in overreliance on financial donations, which may sometimes delay the operations and interfere with staff working morale. Similarly, very few people volunteer to carry out fieldwork activities. As such, the organization is bound to lose lots of funds in hiring field experts to act on behalf of the organization, especially in locating the homeless population.
Causality
Insufficiency of research needs to identify reasons for a low volunteer turnout is a factor that has contributed to increased operating costs. Lack of research resource provision has been a significant cause of poor understanding of the community, especially with the changing technology. Also, BronxWorks program annual budgets cost millions leaving the organization with limited options for not relying on donors. Thus, for the organization to ensure its continued existence and success, it becomes necessary to rely extensively on donations
References
Elliott, D., Santos, R., Martin, S., & Runes, C. (2019). Assessing miscounts in the 2020 census. Washington, DC: Urban Institute. www. urban. org/research/publication/assessing-miscounts-2020-census.
Felipe, C. M., Roldán, J. L., & Leal-Rodríguez, A. L. (2017). Impact of organizational culture values on organizational agility. Sustainability, 9(12), 2354.
Freeman, A. L., Mohan, B., Lustgarten, H., Sekulic, D., Shepard, L., Fogarty, M., … & Doran, K. M. (2020). The development of health and housing consortia in New York City: an analysis of the development of health and housing consortia in New York City. Health Affairs, 39(4), 631-638.
McLaughlin, C. (2019). South Bronx Battles. University of California Press.
Norris-Tirrell, D., Rinella, J., & Pham, X. (2018). Examining the career trajectories of nonprofit executive leaders. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 47(1), 146-164.
