Up2Us Sports coaches are leaders in the field of sports-based youth development (SBYD), but they often don't receive the recognition they deserve. Coaches' Corner is our way to show our appreciation for our incredible coaches who make positive change in their communities every day!
This month, we spoke with Alfonso, a coach at Harold Hunter Foundation.
87%.
That was the percentage of our Up2Us Sports coaches last year who were from the same or similar community as the youth they coached — a vast majority.
Here at Up2Us Sports, we value community. We believe community is powerful, and that communities are made even more powerful when members of communities themselves are the ones creating positive change where they live.
Alfonso, an Up2Us Sports coach at Harold Hunter Foundation (HHF) is one of those community changemakers.
“I knew that it was people like me that can ultimately do the most change, so I got my friends and family involved, [which] eventually… [led] to the growing community we have today.”
When he’s not serving as a coach and mentor to youth skateboarders at HHF, Alfonso is the CEO of Environmental Hood Restoration (EHR), a nonprofit he founded in August 2021 that serves the 90z Community of East Flatbush in Brooklyn — the neighborhood where he was born and raised, and where he still lives today.
“Growing up as a skater, I had the opportunity to skate through different neighborhoods in the 90z and meet the people and families of my community. Witnessing their struggle gave me the motivation as an adult to support the 90z,” Alfonso said. “I knew that it was people like me that can ultimately do the most change, so I got my friends and family involved, [which] eventually… [led] to the growing community we have today.”
And what a growing community it is. After only about one year in existence, EHR has already obtained a fiscal sponsor and is in the IRS’s system to officially obtain 501(c)(3) status in the coming weeks. And already, EHR has led numerous events and programs throughout East Flatbush, all designed to achieve the organization’s mission: to “feed, repair, clean, restore and give back to [the] neighborhood.”
“We are a community-driven organization [created] for the betterment of our community,” Alfonso said. “Ultimately, we aim for a systematic and sustainable change created by a self-sufficient community through [the] development and public safety of the neighborhood.”
“ It will be us, the people, that will be drivers of change within our community. The faces in our community, faces like mine, empower and reflect the determination, success, and a moral obligation needed for positive and necessary impact.””
EHR’s programs are wide-ranging, but are mainly centered around youth development. Over the past few months, EHR has focused on outdoor youth sports and has worked with HHF on hosting summer skate clinics that take place three times per week, with plans to shift programming indoors during the winter months. EHR was also involved in hosting youth basketball tournaments that ran every Saturday and Sunday throughout the summer.
In addition to its youth-serving programs, EHR also runs a weekly food drive that benefits the entire community.
“[W]e aim to find numerous ways to solve [the problem of] the food deserts in the neighborhood,” Alfonso said. “[So] to feed the 90z, we’ve also set up a food drive every Thursday [at] 1:00 PM on the corner of East 93rd and Rutland Road. With the support of multiple vendors and volunteers, this giveaway has proven successful!”
But even with the success EHR has had so far, operating a nonprofit hasn't always been easy. Alfonso has found over the past year that funding has been one of the biggest challenges his organization has faced.
“EHR needs to be run sustainably,” he said. “[C]urrently, we are using our personal funding and have been throwing fundraisers to support the organization.” Looking ahead, EHR will need to obtain new sources of funding to ensure the organization’s growth.
“As an Up2Us [Sports] coach, we truly put the wellbeing and betterment of the kids as a priority. We go through training to develop skills for coaching children such as understanding their needs, deescalating tense situations, [and] reciting affirmations.”
Despite the challenges that arise, though, for Alfonso, it always comes back to the idea of supporting and bettering his community — a value that he has seen emphasized at Up2Us Sports too.
“As an Up2Us [Sports] coach, we truly put the wellbeing and betterment of the kids as a priority. We go through training to develop skills for coaching children such as understanding their needs, deescalating tense situations, [and] reciting affirmations,” Alfonso said. “One of [the] values [at Up2Us Sports] is that we use sports-based youth development to impact the health and wellbeing of [the children] we serve, to strengthen the communities where we serve them… Having come [from] the 90z and helping people in Brownsville [through EHR] reflects that value [too]. This is the core of EHR: we have a firm belief that a sustainable community gets the best results.”
Moving forward, Alfonso aims to continue his work in creating that sustainable community. “My goal for the future is to create generational wealth for my community and more,” he said. “I have a vision where people who look like me can actually have something that is sustainable & beneficial for all our futures… It will be us, the people, that will be drivers of change within our community. The faces in our community, faces like mine, empower and reflect the determination, success, and a moral obligation needed for positive and necessary impact.”
We can’t wait to see how Alfonso continues to drive change throughout his community, both through his service as an Up2Us Sports coach at HHF and through his work at EHR. We know he is going to do great things!
EHR always welcomes all volunteers and efforts! You can learn more about all the new and exciting projects EHR has coming up by checking out Instagram and Facebook, and you can get involved with programming by emailing environmentalhoodrestoration@gmail.com.
Alfonso has served as an Up2Us Sports coach at Harold Hunter Foundation in Brooklyn, New York since February 2022 thanks to support from AmeriCorps.
