Grants/Gifts Profile: Helen Gurley Brown
BridgeUp: Changing Life Trajectories for Youth of Color
While many know Helen Gurley Brown as the founder of Cosmopolitan Magazine, her lifelong commitment to economic equality and anti-poverty programming is particularly relevant. This passion stemmed from early childhood experiences. Ms. Brown was born in Green Forest, Arkansas to a very poor family – her father passed away when she was just 10, and her sister contracted polio. Her family relocated to Los Angeles, and Ms. Brown had to serve as the breadwinner of her entire family at times. She worked her way up, beginning as a secretary in a variety of talent and advertising agencies, to eventually becoming the highest paid female copywriter job on the West Coast. From 1965-1997, she served as the U.S. Editor for Cosmopolitan Magazine, and then stayed on as the International Editor until her death 2012.
When Ms. Brown relocated to New York City, she often visited New York Public Library branches to write and viewed them as “a sanctuary and oasis from the urban chaos.” The Helen Gurley Brown Trust was created to provide, among other things, educational programming for low-income youth to overcome the cycle of poverty that Ms. Brown experienced in her youth. Specifically, in collaboration with the New York Public Library, the BridgeUP initiative was established in the Fall of 2013 to: “Bridge the Divide, Close the Gap, Transform Lives." Essentially, BridgeUP is an academic enrichment program for youth attending middle-schools in vulnerable communities throughout New York City. Several days a week at ten New York Public Library sites in Northeast Bronx, Harlem and lower Manhattan, BU students (known as “Scholars) receive educational tutoring, and work on developing skills in critical thinking, delivered by staff (known as “Fellows” and “Mentors”). The program’s overarching goal is to help young people navigate the various educational and community obstacles that may hinder prospects for college and future employment.
“You know, you can’t hope yourself to a better life, you must take yourself there.” — Helen Gurley Brown
To help young people “hang in” and reap the benefits of all the wonderful academic and youth development programming integrated into BU, a three year $1-million-dollar award was provided by the Helen Gurley Brown Trust to the Harlem Health Promotion Center in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health to develop complementary Health and Wellness services.
Under the leadership of Alwyn Cohall, MD and Renee Cohall LCSW, the “BeWell” initiative seeks to identify and address health and mental health issues which may affect academic performance among the BU cohort. As Co-Directors of BeWell, the Cohall’s have had over 25 years of experience in working with high-risk youth throughout New York City, and have developed a variety of educational and clinical initiatives for this population.
The initial focus of activities will center on issues identified through formative research with BU scholars and fellows which
suggest that stress management, unhealthy eating and sedentary lifestyles are key areas of concern.
Utilizing the resources of Columbia University and various community partners, an array of health educational and health promotion projects will be developed for BU scholars, parents and staff. Faculty and staff from the Harlem Health Promotion Center (HHPC) — Drs. Christel Hyden and Carly Hutchinson, along with Nydia Rodriguez — will assist in program implementation. Further, 2 “Health Coaches” have also been recruited to assist in developing content and providing health education. Ann Elizabeth Waldman-Newman and Jennifer Meyer are dual degree students in the Schools of Public Health and Social Work.
Further, “BeWell” will provide additional practicum opportunities in interdisciplinary collaboration and community-academic engagement for students from Public Health, social work, nursing, nutrition and other fields to assist in developing, implementing and evaluating programming.
By providing academic, social, health and mental health support, we look forward to helping young people achieve the full potential, while furthering the legacy of Helen Gurley Brown.
Read more about the BridgeUp program here.