NYC Department of Education

Empowering Shelter-Based Community Coordinators to Support Students in Temporary Housing

The NYC Department of Education’s Office of Community Schools sought to strengthen the ability of Shelter-Based Community Coordinators (SBCCs) to effectively support students and families experiencing homelessness or foster care placement. SBCCs play a critical role in coordinating services - ranging from education and healthcare to social supports - but often lack the training and tools needed to navigate complex environments, build partnerships, and advocate effectively across systems. There was a pressing need to enhance their leadership, communication, and influence to improve outcomes for vulnerable students.

Challenge

In collaboration with gothamCulture, Cora Group designed and facilitated a multi-module learning and development program tailored to the needs of SBCCs. The goal was to equip these frontline professionals with practical tools, frameworks, and communication strategies to strengthen their leadership capacity and professional presence.

The training series included the following workshops:

  • Building Your Personal Brand and Professional Network – Elevating self-awareness and visibility to advance impact and collaboration

  • Confronting Conflict to Save Relationships – Developing skills to navigate interpersonal and institutional conflict constructively

  • Leading Effective Meetings | Becoming a Meeting Master – Enhancing facilitation and time management to make meetings more productive

  • Negotiation Essentials | Collaborating for Win-Win Outcomes – Building collaborative negotiation skills for multi-stakeholder coordination

  • Influencing Without Authority – Strengthening the ability to drive change in systems where formal power is limited

Each session emphasized experiential learning, peer exchange, and real-world application, ensuring that the skills were immediately relevant to the SBCCs' daily responsibilities.

Solution

The initiative significantly enhanced the confidence, communication skills, and professional agility of participating SBCCs, positioning them to be more effective advocates and coordinators within schools and communities.

Key results included:

  • Improved interpersonal effectiveness and ability to influence school and community stakeholders

  • Strengthened professional networks and collaboration strategies across city agencies and service providers

  • Increased engagement and motivation among SBCCs to support students in temporary housing

  • Expanded capacity for problem-solving and leadership in challenging, resource-constrained environments

This initiative helped SBCCs more confidently fulfill their mission of supporting educational equity and well-being for some of NYC’s most vulnerable students.

Outcome