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Service Based Project Spring 2026

HARLEM, NY — In NYC, our youth are exposed to danger every single day. Harlem alone experienced a 44% increase in crime in 2022. In 2021, murders made up 7% of crimes reported in the Harlem area. In 2022, it was 10%. Gun activity increased from 16% to 21%. But those who lived in NYCHA housing ( short for New York City Housing Authority) were the most affected. In 2024, The Gothamist reported shocking NYPD data. The same neighborhoods were being consistently hit with gun violence. East Harlem was consistently mentioned as a hotbed of violence. Locals and professionals alike can associate the violence with the environment. In January 2020, there was a total of 32 shootings in East Harlem public housing  

But, someone’s environment shouldn't determine who they become or their life expectancy. In East Harlem public housing, gun violence went down 30% between 2023 and 2024 after the crime spike during COVID-19. The citywide drop was 7%. In 2025, Harlem native and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced that homicides have gone down 41% and shootings had gone down 67% since 2021. And this is all possible through Harlem locals taking care of one another and non-profits leading the charge. Non-profits like Street Corner Resources and activists like its founder, Dr. Iesha Sekou, are working to fight back against the ongoing violence

Street Corner Resources has been providing a more holistic and intimate approach to uplifting the community since 2005. But Dr. Sekou has been helping her community for much longer. They serve 335 members of the community daily and 150 daily through street outreach. To put an end to the violence, they provide services for young adults to keep them off the streets. Their after-school program provides valuable life lessons to the youth through chess games and one-to-one talks with elders in the community. They even have a music studio where teens can record positive music to distance themselves from the violence outside. “When we talk about young people pulling the trigger,” said Dr. Sekou, “We’re also looking at what are the set of issues, problems, what’s the mental health status before the trigger gets pulled.” As of now, they are working to expand into helping the adult members of the community. 

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Excerise 4 || Week 12 Assignment

An airplane made an emergency landing on a busy interstate, stalling Disney World traffic for hours Friday. Amateur pilot Rodney Berwalden was flying with his girlfriend, Joan Eldishay, and her two children. They were heading to Lakeland, Florida, when the two-thousand-and-eleven model Cessna Skylane began to fail. The pilot was following Interstate Four from Daytona Beach to Lakeland when he decided to use the road as a landing. 

In Berwalden's words, quote “the plane was already on its last leg” and quote “I knew we didn’t have much time left in the air, so the interstate seemed like the best option.” On Saturday, Berwalden said, “I saw some open lanes, so I went for it”. 

Berwalden landed the plane in the rightmost two lanes of westbound I-four, just east of Apopka (Apah-Pkuh)-Vineland Road exit, near the Disney World exit. The highway was backed up for four miles with weekend drivers headed for the theme park. 

Orange County Sheriff’s deputies and Florida State Highway Patrol troopers responded to check on the safety of the aircraft’s occupants and return traffic to its normal state. Cpl Alice Lowellian of the Florida State Highway Patrol said, “This was a first for all of us,” and “Seeing an airplane right in the middle of the road takes some getting used to.” 

Officers were able to keep the two leftmost lanes of the highway under control while professionals came to remove the airplane from the road. It took two hours to remove the aircraft from the premises. But the plain wasn’t the only thing slowing traffic. Onlookers also had a hand in the traffic debacle. 

Berwalden said, “I’m sorry to cause so many people to be late for their Disney World plans, but I had three people on this plane I had to protect,” and quote.

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News Narrative Flip!

At the dead of night in Pearl Harbor, five masked figures stalk the neighborhood. A getaway driver and her four accomplices searched the perfect house to rob. 

To quote our local Sheriff’s Sgt, Greg Tita, “They were very well prepared to do burglaries, especially with the guidance they were given. We recovered thousands of dollars in stolen items. Anything that could be carried out was.”

Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputies arrested the ragtag group of criminals on Wednesday after a string of break-ins and burglaries. But the burglary ring was busted on Tuesday. According to Tita, a Palm Harbor woman saw a large, yellow truck driven by a woman drop off three boys. 

The boys went of the back of her house and pried open one of her windows with a screwdriver. When the witness tapped on the window, the boys ran off. But, this woman wasn't the only witness. Several other residents of the Palm Harbor area saw the boys running through a nearby neighborhood carrying bags after 911 was called. When deputies arrived on the scene, the boys ran from the authorities until two of them were caught while the other jumped back into the yellow truck. 

They wore backpacks to carry their prize, they had screwdrivers to force windows open. They even wore latex gloves.These criminals seemed so professional. But they weren’t. They were students following their teacher. A task they knew all too well. Why? They were high schoolers. Well, not all of them. One of them was giving them all the guidance they could ask for. By who? 38-year-old Rovana Sipe, a local resident and mother of two. 

“She was the driver. She pointed out the houses. She was the one who said, ‘Do these’”

 Sipe, the leader of the operation, was charged with two counts of being a principal in burglary and was given a $20,000 bail. Her 16-year-old daughter, Jackie Shifflet, was charged with grand theft. Her 15-year-old son, Ryan Shifflet, was charged with two counts of burglary. The two other accomplices, Charles Ruhe and Charles Taylor, were both charged with four counts of burglary each. 

But Palm Harbor and Pearl Harbor weren't the only neighborhoods targeted. According to Tita, Ruhe and Taylor told detectives about other burglaries in Clearwater and Dunedin when police took them in.

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Lede-ing the way: An Analysis

For my most recent homework assignment, I picked three different articles, all of them ‌from different publications. One from LoHud, one from the Washington Post, and one from the New York Times. Why? To analyze the different types of ledes used for each article. The lede can draw a reader in or deter them from the article entirely. Before I dive any deeper into this assignment, there is a question I need to answer. What is a lead/lede?

A lead or lede is the first paragraph or paragraphs of an article. It can also refer to a tip or the cover story on a news website or newspaper. But for this assignment, I’ll be using the first definition. Although this definition seems straightforward, there aren't many hard and fast rules outside of the core definition. There are different types of ledes, and there are mistakes to avoid when you’re writing a lede. But a bad lede doesn’t suddenly stop being a lede due to its lack of quality.  Now that this explanation is out of the way, let’s actually analyze the articles. 

The first article comes from LoHud, a news publication that focuses on Westchester and the  Lower Hudson Valley area of New York. As a result, the articles from this website directly affect the lives of the people who live in these areas. So, a lede would have to directly tell a reader what is important and why it’s potentially important. So, a “you lede” would be ideal. But does this article use a you lede? Yes, and it is used effectively. It directly tells the reader what is happening. “Rural emergency medical service agencies across New York are in need of funding and systemic changes to continue helping save lives, a newly released report about the state's EMS system reveals.” It tells residents what is happening, where it’s happening, and why it's happening in a short and digestible format. This is ideal for readers on the go. However, it doesn’t give us a clear idea of when or time frame for how long this problem will affect the locals. It’s an effective and easy lede for the everyday reader. 

The second article is from the Washington Post and discusses the ever-growing number of young and disappointed Trump voters. However, the lede leaves much to be desired. It's not ideal for readers on the go. If you were to remove the title of the article, a reader may not realize the subject until the third paragraph of the article. Because of the content of the story being so delayed, it's easy to identify this lede as the “Delayed Identification Lede”. “CHARLOTTE — Joshua Byers was hopeful when he voted for Donald Trump in 2024. The 26-year-old document clerk believed the former and future president when he said he would lower prices and improve the lives of the working class.” One good thing about this lede is that the reader will have a clear who and where for the story. However, the how and why aren't explained until much later. The "what" is also unclear. Because of the nature of the lede, this article may appeal to readers who have the time to read the news during their downtime or listen to this as a podcast. As a result, its effectiveness heavily depends on a person’s lifestyle. Which isn't ideal if the story affects the wider population.  The final article is from the New York Times and follows the current state of Iran’s new leader and the world oil market.“Iran’s new supreme leader struck a defiant tone on Thursday in his first public comments since succeeding his dead father, vowing to continue blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point for the world’s oil supply, on a day when multiple vessels came under attack in the Persian Gulf.” The lede successfully tells you who, what, where, and when. The why and the how aren't clear. But 4 out of 5 of the official “Five Ws” are answered. The lede also gives the reader a clear idea of what the story is about and what happened. It doesn't delay sharing any important details either. As a result, it's easy to identify this lede as a “Summary Lede”. It’s also ideal for busy readers who want to stay abreast of current events. The lede effectively summarized the article, without being too long or too short. 

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A Warming Planet Makes Nor’easters & Other Storms More Intense: Climate Scientist Michael Mann

As the Northeast United States contends with the aftermath of a historic bomb cyclone blizzard that blanketed the region, we speak to climat

With the back to back storms happening lately, this feels appropriate.

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Not-So-Money-Earnin': Mount Vernon and it's money problems.

Mount Vernon, NY, is known for two things. One, being the hometown of DMX, Heavy D and Denzel Washington. And two, it's corruption. On multiple occasions, local public officials have been involved in questionable activities.

In 2018, former mayor Richard Thomas was arrested for stealing $12,000 from his campaign committee and then lying about it. One year later, former Counsel Lawrence Pocari would be found guilty of taking $365,000 from public funds to pay for Thomas's legal fees. And in 2021, 900,00 dollars would be reported as "missing" from the Mount Vernon public library. Only for the charges to be dropped by the Westchester DA's office in 2023. Leaving residents and local activists shocked by the outcome of the case.

But that's only the beginning. Schools can't make essential repairs because school taxes are not being transferred. How much is owed? 11.7 million dollars. In 2021-22, the New York State Comptroller's Fiscal Stress Monitoring System listed Mount Vernon as the only district under significant fiscal stress. There used to be an active YMCA building. But now? The building hasn't been active in the last decade, and all efforts to restore it have fallen short. There were mentions of the building getting torn down, with hopes of it becoming a new community center. However, the city decided to sell the building for 1.5 million dollars. But it's now 2026, and the building is still standing.

"I remember there being a lot more funding than there is now. There were a lot more programs, you know, available. There was a community theater. I remember used to go the YMCA."

I was able to speak with a close friend of mine (a long-time resident of Mount Vernon) to gain a better understanding of the situation and gain a more local perspective. For the privacy of the resident, they will remain anonymous.

How has the lack of funding and services affected you and your loved ones?

"Theres not alot to do in Mount Vernon. At least there's not as much to do in comparison to when I was a kid. I have family that would be able to join gymnastics programs in the past. There were sports that were not readily available in Mount Vernon's school systems. Especially for a younger demographic. But currently thats not an option. So they have to outsource it and go to other district's sports teams or pay out of pocket for those things."

If Mount Vernon had access to more funding, what would you improve first?

"The roads, the schooling. Alot of it is not up to date. Alot of it is falling apart. And within the programs, maybe rebuilding the theater program, rebuilding the Y. Having the option for parents within Mount Vernon to have their children to have these spaces to go to. Its a real shame. Kids especially deserve places for them to go."

For the future of the city, maybe one day Mount Vernon, NY will live up to its namesake.

[helenvaughans]

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