your weekend. >> buenos d^as y bienvenidos. good morning. welcome, once again, to i'm joe torres. the kaplan educational foundation's leadership program helps high-achieving, low-income students in our area transfer from community colleges to top four-year colleges. we'll let you know how you can also, look at this. the new york city health department is hosting community consultations in neighborhoods across the five boroughs. it's all part of the "take care new york 2020", and they really want latinos to participate. we'll talk this morning with the deputy health commissioner. right now, though, the campaign for fair latino representation, a city-wide coalition of latino leaders held its first of many community forums.

and they're here to talk about it. here to share some of the campaign's goals for the upcoming year, our good friend, javier nieves, who has been on the show before, and joining us this morning, reverend samuel cruz, tambien. good to see you, my friend. >> how are you? toma bien? thank you. >> you've had a few of these forums, so let me -- 'cause i want to get to a lot here -- run tackled. tell me where we stand in terms of the campaign and moving forward. affordable housing. >> well, we are certainly pretty much talking about a lot of the issues, not only affordable housing, but affordable housing in particular because that has direct connotations to the whole issue of gentrification in our neighborhood, and particularly the mayor's affordable housing plan, which we pretty much are set on looking at it, which is sort of like a back door to gentrifying our neighborhoods to some degree. >> all right. >> so that's where we're at, and every neighborhood is dealing with it differently, so we're getting feedback from every forum as to how they want to deal with that issue.

reverend, tackle one of those for me. >> well, unemployment is still a complicated issue in the latino community, and the mayor has made it worse in not including people in his administration. >> mm-hmm. >> but our greatest concern, or one of my greatest concerns and other clergy throughout the city is the gentrification and displacement of latinos has taken over and how the mayor is not responding or listening to the zoning boards in different communities who disagree with what he wants to do, and the hubris of his administration is out of control. >> all right, before we get into what you would like to see to sort of address those issues, let me just throw one more out at you, and we'll move from there. healthcare. where are we in the realm of healthcare for addressing the goals that you guys want to achieve? >> well, where we're at now is that each of these forums that have been taking place in our local neighborhoods -- >> yes. >> we've already had three. >> mm-hmm. >> we've had a citywide forum,

which -- in january, we are taking in that information. every neighborhood is dealing -- for example, the one in the bronx, for example, dealt with it -- has a high incident of asthma rates. the issue of -- also, the issue of development has a correlation to that whole asthma rate, the whole issue of fresh direct. so there's all of these components that come to bear on the health quality of our neighborhoods. >> and as you gather this information, what's the game plan? what do you hope to do with it? >> well, to organize our latino communities, to start challenging our elective officials. in this case, we are focusing on mayor de blasio because his approach in speaking during his campaign to bring inclusion into the city and to his administration is not happening, and in fact, most of the work he's doing is excluding poor people and working-class people. >> so when you talk about gentrification, and it sounds like that's a big issue that

that's not happening that you'd like to see happening? >> well, in turns of gentrification, what we're seeing is that his affordable housing plan is something that is giving impetus to not only in the real-estate sector to come in, develop properties in the name of so-called "affordable housing," and the question that we ask and is being asked is "affordable for who?" because, really, you have to have a medium income of close to $70,000, $80,000 now, a family of four, and so in our neighborhoods, they're not going to be able to afford this, so it just pushes out people. the more development happens in our neighborhood, the more the rents go up high, the more incidents of health issues are prevalent, and so we're being pushed out, in other words. >> but, reverend, as we often do on "tiempo", it's not just a matter of highlighting a problem, it's offering a solution. have you come together where you say, "mayor, not only is this is not what's happening, here's what i'd like you to be doing"?

>> i've told his commissioner of community affairs that what we need is low-income housing to be built. we don't need -- affordable housing is for those who are upper class. >> can afford it. >> can afford it. and it's not affordable to the majority of latinos living in this city. we don't need higher-density buildings in our communities, we don't need high-rise buildings in our community, and we don't need luxury condominiums in our community. >> all right, sit tight, 'cause there's something i specifically want to ask you about, about one of your forums and who wasn't there more than who was there. when we come back, more on the campaign for fair latino representation's community forums. about this? a program that helps high-achieving, low-income students transfer from community colleges to four-year colleges. very important information to

back on "tiempo". it's the holidays. which means a house full of people -- who all want to get online. so it's the perfect time for verizon fios.

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they had quite a bit to talk about. we've been discussing the campaign's goals with javier nieves and reverend samuel cruz. you also had a meeting with city leaders, correct? >> yes, we did. >> and if my understanding is correct, there was quite a bit of effort just to schedule and arrange that meeting. >> yes. >> you have the meeting -- when was it? already a few weeks ago, right? >> no, that particular meeting with the city was several months ago. >> several months ago. didn't go so well. >> did not go so well. >> what happened? >> basically, what we did -- we decided to use the opportunity since we didn't know until the very end of the night before who was going to be there. we had asked for the deputy mayors and latino deputy major, lilliam paoli, gladys carri_n, buery, and so forth, to be there, people with the decision-making power that needed to be there. and so to that end, what we ended up doing was preparing a letter with our recommendations directed to the mayor himself. >> that you wanted to present at the meeting.

the meeting. so, given the lack of respect that they have shown towards our campaign and the lack of dealing with our campaign, we used the opportunity rather than canceling the meeting, since we didn't know who was going to be there or not, to give them at least that respect and show up there and at that meeting, when they showed up, and you had certain -- i think the highest-ranking person in the administration was maya wiley, i think, the general counsel to the mayor, and you had dcas, and you had the office of appointments, and, you know, it's nothing personal, but the reality was that we at least gave them the respect that we were not afforded in -- >> but let me fill in the missing blank. up. were there. >> none of them. talk to. >> we wanted to them and we wanted people who can make these decisions, you know? >> reverend, do you get the impression, because none of the deputy mayors showed up, that

>> they're not taking us seriously, and worse than that, no tiene respeto. they have no respect for the latino community. the administration is very arrogant. in fact, recently, his aide said that if the zoning boards who advise the mayor on issues of zoning issues don't agree with the mayor, they don't really care because the council has the last word. >> well, if they weren't treating you with the respect that you think you deserve, or they weren't taking you seriously in the past, what makes you think that's gonna change down the road? >> well, we're not going away. >> mm-hmm. >> we're here. they expected us to go away from the very onset. we had several hundred people march over a year-and-a-half ago, over a year ago. we had a march at the steps of city hall on a rainy day. they expected us to go away back then. they expected us to go away with some of the press stuff that we've been doing. at the same time, they expected us to go away after the citywide forum that we had, which was extremely successful. we did not.

now we're having our local forums, and -- >> speaking of that, i want to put up the next one, 'cause you have another one coming up already, i think, at the end of this month. i think we've prepared a graphic to show folks. here we go. december 29th at trinity lutheran church. that's at 411 46th street in brooklyn. it goes from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. that's your church, reverend, is it not? >> yes. >> make the sales pitch. i mean, you want -- the more people show up, the better, correct? >> absolutely. this is really sort of to put our finger on the pulse of our community and get some feedback, very indigenous feedback from that local flavor, and we want to thank the reverend to certainly have helped us in facilitating this. he's not an executive member of the campaign, but certainly he is with us in what we're trying to achieve out there, which is to make certain that our community's getting heard, that we develop a policy, a progressive latino policy agenda, which is our goal at the end of these forums. >> you got the final 30 seconds. go ahead.

things are happening. more people are getting together and in fact, we just started the first sunset park clergy association for justice by latino pastors who will there at this meeting. >> mm-hmm. the numbers are growing. >> yes. >> and i think you'll probably see that at that meeting. how big is your church? how many can you hold? >> oh, we could hold 400. >> well, i'm sure you'd like to see it filled to the rafters. >> oh, absolutely. much. update. continued success, and keep us posted with the campaign and how things move forward. coming up next on "tiempo", the health department is hosting community consultations in neighborhoods across new york city. there's a major push to make sure latinos participate. the details from the

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>> the new york city health department is hosting community consultations in neighborhoods across the five boroughs. it's all part of "take care new york 2020." they'd love to have latinos who live in these areas to please come out and participate. new york city first deputy health commissioner dr. oxiris barbot is here with us this morning. thank you so much for being here on "tiempo". tcny 2020.

grand scale is...? >> so the big picture is to make sure that we provide a framework so that all communities in new york city can be as healthy as possible. >> that's the big picture. >> big picture. >> the community consultations, the goal and the focus of those, on a lower scale, would be...? >> so, the reality is that even though new yorkers have gotten healthier in the last 10 years, those benefits haven't been equally realized along all communities. so this version of tcny 2020 is level. >> mm-hmm. >> share data with community members, but most importantly, get them to tell us their priorities so that we can work together to make stuff happen. >> so you're there more to listen than to talk, correct? i know it works both ways, but you want feedback. >> yeah, so we're sharing data in a way that we want people to give us a reality check. how well do these data reflect everyday life?

>> and beyond that, tell us -- what are your priorities so that we can jointly plan. that's key. >> you've had nine of these already out of how many are scheduled? >> 28. >> so you're about a third of the way there. are the needs different, say, in bushwick, brooklyn, than they might be in mott haven, the bronx, or in kew gardens, queens? >> so, what we're seeing is that we have different health outcomes for the same general areas, right? so, for example, life expectancy. in general, latinos have a longer life expectancy than the average new yorker, which sounds great. but if we look at individual communities, we see washington heights on one end, at 83.2 years. >> okay. >> and then we see mott haven on the other end at 76.1. and we see that variability for a number of different issues. >> so armed with that information and the feedback that you would get from those communities allows you to do

>> allows us to jointly plan with communities. i think, historically, you know, there has been the approach of a one-size-fits-all. >> yes. >> and "we know what's best for communities." and that really doesn't work. >> so give me something to chew on. what would be a typical example of what might work better for this community while this else? >> right, so for example, one of our major priorities is to reduce smoking. >> mm-hmm. >> and another priority that we have is to improve asthma rates, right? two things that are really impacting the latino community. one community may look at the community health profiles and say, "oh, wow, you know, our air quality is not what we would like it to be. our housing quality is not what we would like it to be." those are the ways in which we want to tackle reducing asthma. a different community might say, "you know what? our asthma hospitalizations aren't what they would be. our access to healthcare, our insurance rates -- we want to go at it from a different perspective." >> okay. >> both sides are appropriate. >> equally valid. >> exactly.

minutes, and i want to get to two quick questions that are really important. number one, we got into this by saying you really want latinos to participate. am i reading into it too much that you haven't had the latino participation that you'd like to see, or is this just a blanket call to say, "make sure latinos come out"? >> so, part of the priorities in tcny is to reduce the equity gaps, right? meaning that we want all groups to realize their full health potential, and so we need their input in prioritizing health issues for their communities. >> how are the health needs of latinos any different than the health needs of african-americans, asian-americans, et cetera? >> well, that's a key point. we are all dying from the same things. >> yes. >> some of us die earlier than we would like to or that we would like them to, for those issues, and so latinos, like everybody else, are dying from heart disease, cancer... >> diabetes. >> ...diabetes, exactly. and so the issue is, how do we work with communities so that, "i'm the most motivated individual to improve my

access to fresh fruits and vegetables, i can't do it, right?" >> you have another one coming up -- in fact, you have two coming up in this coming week. i just want to put them up on the screen so people are fully aware and knowledgeable about where to go for the next one. community consultation scheduled for tuesday, coming up quickly. 16 brighton road in brooklyn from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. more information, you can go to your website, nyc.gov/health, and and then there's another one, i think, on thursday. here we go. thursday, 360 irving avenue in brooklyn, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and again, as many people come as possible because the more input and the more information you get, the better you can serve. >> right. and we're gonna have simultaneous translation at these events, so we want all latinos to come out. >> espaol, tambien. >> tambien. >> que bueno. un plase. thank you very much. >> much^simas gracias. >> felicidades, okay? >> [ speaks spanish ] >> coming up next on "tiempo", a program designed to help high-achieving, low-income students in our area transfer from community colleges to four-year colleges.

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>> the kaplan educational foundation's mission -- it wants to help high-achieving, low-income minority college students -- community college students -- complete their associate's degree, but don't stop there -- proceed on to get their bachelor's degree at a top four-year college of their choosing. here to talk more about the program, how a student is chosen, nancy s*nchez, executive director the kaplan educational foundation's leadership program, and nolvia delgado. she is a former, an alumnus of >> yes. >> all right. we'll get to you in a second. i think this is fabulous because it sounds like you're plugging a hole in the educational career of many people. is there a general impression among many latinos, "okay, i i'm good to go"? >> absolutely. i think that there is an assumption by many people. "i've made it.

i'm able to get a job." but we really urge our students, and we urge both four-year institutions and colleges to go to community colleges and recruit students from there, because these are hardworking individuals and the students themselves should see a two-year associate's degree as just the beginning. >> yes. >> that is just the beginning. >> how do you go about the sales pitch to the students? how do you tell it to them? "two years is good, but four years is better." >> absolutely. you know, at the kaplan educational foundation, we like to think about barriers, and one of the barriers is convincing a student that says, "two years from now, i can get a job. why do i need to transfer to a four-year institution and then wait?" so we really work with them in saying, "look, the earning potential that you will have out of four-year -- if you get a bachelor's degree -- will be much higher over a longer term of time. >> so in the end, it's better for you. >> absolutely. >> i see you nodding your head, nolvia. were you at that stage after you got your associate's degree from -- where'd you get your associate's? >> borough of manhattan community college. >> okay, so you get it -- i

and what's your thinking after you get your diploma? >> my thinking at the time was, "i'm gonna transfer to another cuny. i'm going away to school with something that i saw on tv. i didn't think it was a reality for me." >> mm-hmm. >> but the foundation really opened the doors for me. >> yeah, let me cut to the chase. what did they do for you that helped make this reality possible? >> they did everything. i think -- >> like what? >> one of the things the foundation did was that it taught me what i needed to be a successful transfer student. they didn't tell us what we needed to do. >> mm-hmm. >> they helped us with selecting our schools, they provided us with resources, whether it's books, metrocards, financial assistance, so everything you can think of that you need to go to school, the foundation covered. >> let me go back to you for the details. i mean, you've been doing it 10 years now, so you've probably got it down. what are some of the physical, tangible things that you help provide to the students to make this happen? >> sure. if you think of a student like nolvia delgado and like many of our scholars, they're working many hours. these are hardworking students.

focus in your studies to really develop your writing skills, to develop your math skills so that you can actually transfer to a four-year institution and be successful? >> okay. >> and keep in mind, joe, that we're looking for students to have as many opportunities and transfer to highly selective institutions, as well. >> so if i hear what you're saying, say she has a job, will you guys help -- >> we provide them with a stipend. >> aha. >> and that stipend allows them to work less hours. we don't want our students to work more than 15 hours a week. we provide them with a laptop. we also provide them, as nolvia mentioned, a metrocard so that they can have access to the city. we cover all of the fees related to transfer. transfer is a very expensive process. you think of an application fee being $60, $70. by the way, we do ask for waivers for those. but we also provide transportation to go and see these schools. >> mm-hmm. >> and i'm proud to say that we >> okay. you ultimately got your four-year degree from where? >> smith college. >> smith college.

>> yeah, that's not local. >> no, all-women's college up in massachusetts. >> okay, and you graduated with a degree in...? >> government and third-world development. >> and now you are...? >> now i am director of partnerships for cypress hills local development corporation. i work for their community schools initiative. >> congratulations. and do you think that would have been possible without a four-year degree? >> no, definitely not. >> no. so your education at smith certainly helped you, for sure. >> yes, it definitely helped me. >> i want to quickly have you mention -- there's an application process, correct, for you guys, as well. what is it, and how do kids go about it, and where do they go for information? >> our application process is very similar to you applying to any four-year institution. there is an essay, and there is a series of interviews that a student has to go to. our deadline will be may 17th of the coming year. application will open up at some >> okay. >> we're very excited. we are looking for high-potential, high-achieving students. >> give me gpas. >> sure.

>> we need them to demonstrate leadership. again, recognizing that our students are leaders in their communities. so, for example, a single parent can apply. that's a person who's working very hard. they don't need to actually say, "oh, i volunteered here or done this." actually displaying leadership in their own family is good. >> give me the website real quick. >> kaplanedfoundation.org. >> okay, and all the information is there. okay. >> absolutely. >> continued success. thank you. >> thank you. >> very much. way to go. felicidades. thank you, guys, for being here. >> gracias. >> before we go, we want to take a quick look at the community calendar for this week. two free events to bring to your attention. this coming thursday in manhattan, enjoy a free concert from the camerata washington heights. i hope i'm saying that correctly. camerata washington heights. that's at aaron davis hall, 160 convent avenue, 7:00 p.m. dominican classical music artists. don't want to miss that. next saturday, super s*bado at el museo del barrio. every third saturday of the month, el museo offers free admission to all. how great is that?

5:00 p.m. museum is located at 1230 5th avenue in manhattan. that's between 104th street and 105th street. always a good time at el museo. more information, elmuseo.org. much^simas gracias. thank you so much for spending part of your sunday with us. if you missed any part of our show, don't worry. you can watch it abc7ny on the web, on your tablet, even on your smartphone. watch it two or three times. i'm joe torres. thanks for watching. we will see you next time on "tiempo".