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A Better Jamaica

Engaged in activities designed to strengthen a set of southeast Queens communities known collectively as Jamaica!

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Cinema En Español
Classic Film Fridays
Family Movies in the Park
JAC’s Holiday Music
Jamaica Reads
Jamaica Solutions
The AirTrain Jazz Festival
The Jamaica Ball

Family Movies in the Park

Strong communities provide ample opportunity for children and families to gather collectively to share experiences. These opportunities usually present themselves in the form of activities with few, if any, barriers to participate. These shared experiences are what knit the fabric of a community together. Since the summer of 2007, A Better Jamaica's Family Movies in the Park has addressed the shortage of these community building opportunities by exhibiting free family-friendly movies across four local parks. In doing so, we strengthen the community by providing an inexpensive opportunity for the renewal of community/family ties. The films are exhibited on a 25' inflatable screen and begin at dusk -- between 8:00 pm and 8:30 pm.

Jamaica311.com

Strong communities provide multiple means by which information can be disseminated in and throughout them. Increasingly key to the information dissemination mix, is the internet. Jamaica has heretofore lacked a community wide internet based means by which information can be disseminated in and throughout it. Phase 1 of the site was a relatively static site that required that entries be manually added and deleted. Phase 2 of Jamaica311's web site -- found at http://www.Jamaica311.com -- is dynamic and database driven. A weekly e-blast of events -- e-mailed to 650+ subscribers -- complements the web site and is key to keeping Jamaica311 at the top of user’s mind. We're currently in the process of developing Phase 3 of Jamaica311.com. It will incorporate news items and have other useful features.

Classic Film Fridays

Strong communities provide ample opportunity for individuals to gather collectively to share experiences. These opportunities usually present themselves in the form of activities with few, if any, barriers to participate. Family Movies in the Park was A Better Jamaica's first effort to create more of these shared experiences. In the summer of 2009, A Better Jamaica launched a second film series — Classic Film Fridays. This series presents five classic films curated around a theme. Last year’s theme was Classic “Monster” Film Fridays. The films are exhibited on a 25' inflatable screen and begin at dusk -- between 8:00 pm and 8:30 pm.

Jamaica Reads

Strong communities provide ample opportunity for non-related adults to support the educational needs of neighborhood children. These solutions are particularly efficient when they tap the underutilized adult resource of neighborhood senior-citizens. These solutions not only provide needed supplemental educational resources to children, but they also provide an opportunity for seniors to add another meaningful dimension to their lives. Jamaica Reads pairs senior reading buddies with first graders struggling with the acquisition of their reading skills.

Jamaica Solutions

Strong communities provide the opportunity for local organizations to share best practices. On Wednesday, November 17th, 2010, A Better Jamaica hosted Jamaica Solutions — a first conference designed to give the leadership of locally based/focused non-profits the opportunity to discuss their efforts and share best practices so that we can individually and collectively better serve our organizational constituents and the community. The first Jamaica Solutions featured youth sports; health; and arts roundtables. A second Jamaica Solutions — featuring local workforce development organizations — was held in 2013.

The Jamaica Ball

Strong communities provide the opportunity for local non-profits to support each other. On May 14th, 2016, A Better Jamaica will host the 5th annual Jamaica Ball. The occasion will mark the fifth year in a row that A Better Jamaica will help local non-profits in Jamaica – particularly small ones – help themselves. Tickets for the Jamaica Ball are $60 each. Participating organizations keep $54 of the $60 ticket price. Generous corporations — like founding sponsor jetBlue — allow us to pass on the bulk of the ticket sale price by underwriting the cost of the event.

JAC’s Holiday Music

Strong communities understand that the arts play a critical role in the health and well being of any community. A Better Jamaica’s “Jamaica Arts Council” (JAC) is a grass-roots arts service effort dedicated to supporting the growth of the arts in Jamaica. JAC maintains a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/JamaicaArtsCouncil. The first of JAC’s programs was “JAC’s Holiday Music” – an eight night live music performance series that took place on the token booth level of the Jamaica Center subway station. JAC's Holiday Music premiered in December of 2013 and returned in December of 2014. JAC’s second program — the AirTrain Jazz Festival (see below) — is a partnership with the Sutphin Boulevard Business Improvement District.

Jamaica Shoots!

Strong communities not only understand that much of what teenagers do is designed to get attention, but they encourage positive attention-getting behavior by celebrating it. In the summer of 2014, A Better Jamaica piloted Jamaica Shoots! by putting high-end digital cameras in the hands of teens and charging them with "shooting" their peers engaged in positive activities like sports/dance. In documenting and sharing positive teen behavior, we are endeavoring to encourage as many youth as possible to engage in positive behavior.

The AirTrain Jazz Festival

Strong communities celebrate their legacies by paying homage to their past. Jamaica has a rich legacy of jazz. In the Fall of 2014, A Better Jamaica joined forces with the Sutphin Boulevard Business Improvement District to pay tribute to Jamaica’s rich jazz history by launching The AirTrain Jazz Festival. The festival presents live jazz on Thursday evenings on the concourse level of Jamaica’s AirTrain Station – the transfer point between the JFK AirTrain and the Jamaica transportation hub that features the Long Island Railroad’s Jamaica station and the New York City subway system’s Sutphin Boulevard station. The 2015-2016 season is presenting twenty-eight performances on Thursday afternoons/evenings from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Support for this New York City Department of Cultural Affairs administered program is provided by New York Council Members Rory Lancman and I. Daneek Miller. Additional support is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

The Delightful Festival

Strong communities celebrate the cultural contributions of its immigrant communities. Join us as we celebrate Jamaica’s vibrant immigrant communities by presenting a series of free evenings of ethnic, music, food and film. The Delightful Festival maintains a website at http://thedelightfulfestival.com and a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TheDelightfulFestival/. The 2016 Delightful Festival is likely to begin in February of 2016. Support for this New York City Department of Cultural Affairs administered program is provided by New York Council Members Rory Lancman and I. Daneek Miller.

ABJ’s CASA

Strong communities understand that participation in the arts is critically important to the growth and development of young people in particular. A Better Jamaica is proud to play a role in providing arts training to the young people of P.S. 40 via the CASA program that we run there. Key to the program's success is the fabulously talented Kerri Edge and her team of dance instructors. Support for this New York City Department of Cultural Affairs administered program is provided by New York Council Member Ruben Wills.

The Carver Scholars Program

Strong communities understand that scholarly pursuits begin in the earliest of grades. A Better Jamaica is proud to conduct The Carver Scholars Program at P.S. 48. The program – designed to encourage a love of science, technology, engineering and math among kindergarten students – is presented In partnership with the NASA MUREP Aerospace Academy (MAA, formerly SEMAA) Program at York College. Key to the program's success is Ms. Kyshia Lawrie and her team of STEM teachers.

The Jamaica Dance Festival

Strong communities celebrate the arts in all its forms! A Better Jamaica is pleased to announce that it has received funding from the New York City Department of Small Business Services' Avenue NYC Program, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, and Partnership for Parks to present “The Jamaica Dance Festival” in the Summer of 2016. We’re pleased to be adding to the arts mix by bringing more dance to southeast Queens. Our festival will complement the Jamaica Performing Arts Center’s Making Moves Dance Festival. Stay tuned for additional information.

Inclusion Partnership

A Better Jamaica is pleased to serve as a local partner with Inclusion — a six week introduction to HTML, CSS and JavaScript that includes field trips to — among other offices — Google, BuzzFeed and Facebook. The first cohort ran from October to November of 2015. The second cohort ran from February to March of 2016. A third cohort is planned for the Spring of 2016. To learn more about the Inclusion effort — or to apply for the next cohort — visit http://www.incl.us. Saeed Jabbar — born and raised in Jamaica — is the genius behind Inclusion.

Thank you!

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As a non-profit, A Better Jamaica survives on donations. If you are so inclined, please click on the “Donate” button above to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!