The New York Public Library’s $10,000 Brooke Russell Astor Award Presented to Sister Simone Ponnet, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Abraham House in the South Bronx

NYPL’s Astor Award Recognizes Sister Simone Ponnet for Work with the Incarcerated to Break the Cycle of Crime

New York, October 19, 2004 -- The New York Public Library’s Brooke Russell Astor Award for 2004 has been awarded to Sister Simone Ponnet, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Abraham House, a non-denominational alternative to prison, with a residential program that offers the incarcerated and their families a place of hope and community where lives can be rebuilt, families mended, and lessons learned. The $10,000 annual award, established in 1987 by a generous gift to the Library from David Rockefeller, recognizes unsung heroes who have substantially contributed to improving the quality of life in New York City. The award, which carries no restrictions, and is to be used at the sole discretion of the recipient, was presented to Sister Simone Ponnet by Library President Dr. Paul LeClerc at a ceremony in the Trustees Room of The New York Public Library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street.

Sister Simone Ponnet co-founded Abraham House in the Mott Haven section of the South Bronx in 1993 along with Rikers Island chaplains and Department of Corrections personnel. The initial goal of Abraham House was to break the cycle of recidivism (which is a disheartening 70% in New York State) with a demanding residential program. Inmates were required to finish their high school education, be counseled intensively for their problems, learn to take social and personal responsibility, and get a job and keep it. Abraham House has subsequently expanded its goal: to break the cycle of crime in families, from grandparent to parent to child. Abraham House currently serves more than 650 families annually. In addition to the Alternative to Prison Program, Abraham House offers programs through its Family Center and After School Program. The center provides advocacy, counseling, housing referrals, legal advice, language and computer classes, homework help, and seminars on effective parenting.

“It is a great honor to receive this award,” said Sister Simone in her acceptance speech. “But it is not my work that should be recognized. Instead, I would like to accept this award on behalf of the prisoners and the families that Abraham House serves. The offenders, ex-offenders and their loved ones face enormous hurdles when trying to rebuild their lives. They empower themselves as they learn, step by step, how to be productive people in our society and how to break the cycle of crime. I warmly thank the Library and Mrs. Astor, who herself is a great gift to New York City and an example for us all to follow.”

Special Mentions ($2,500 each) were awarded to:
Ana Martinez, Advocate and New York City Coordinator, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST ) Robotics Program. FIRST is a non-profit organization that seeks to inspire young people to pursue careers in engineering and technical fields. The program partners teams of students with practicing engineers, who teach them how to solve challenging engineering problems. Through Ms. Martinez’s dedication, FIRST has become a vital part of the New York City Public Schools, and the program has been successful in finding funding and the support of the community.

Ron Tabano, Principal, Wildcat John V. Lindsay Academy Charter School. The Academy is rich, diverse, and demanding, offering students a holistic approach that engages them in their educational and social development, college preparation, and employment training. Wildcat students arrive through referrals from guidance counselors, district attorneys, and judges. Most have been suspended, and one third have criminal cases pending. This past June, the school held its annual graduation ceremony and had the largest graduating class to date, due to the leadership of Mr. Tabano, who was recently appointed by the Chancellor of the City’s Department of Education to serve in the new Chancellor’s Principal Advisory Committee.

The Brooke Russell Astor Award
The Brooke Russell Astor Award was established in 1987 as part of a generous endowment gift to The New York Public Library from David Rockefeller. Mr. Rockefeller’s gift is a tribute to Mrs. Astor’s continued commitment to supporting the role of individuals who improve the quality of life in New York City. Given annually, the Brooke Russell Astor Award honors an unsung hero or heroine, someone whose unrelenting efforts and tireless dedication to this city have contributed substantially to its betterment. Nominations for the 2004 Brooke Russell Astor Award were solicited from over 400 individuals and organizations, including cultural groups, universities, foundations, elected officials, community groups, and social service agencies. The selection committee included representatives from the cultural, academic, government, and social service communities of New York.


Previous Astor Award Recipients (past 6 winners)
2003 -- Le Lieu Browne, the Founder and Chair of the Refugee Women Council (RWC), a nonprofit Bronx-based self-help group. The RWC was founded in 1986 by a group of women, many of them also refugees, to help other refugee women in the New York metropolitan area with acculturation and integration into their new environment.

2002 -- Miriam Lubling, the Founder and President of the Rivka Laufer Bikur Cholim. An advocate for patients and their families, she is involved in numerous organizations that provide aid to children, holocaust survivors, and the poor and disadvantaged.

2001 -- Bryan Pu-Folkes, Founder and President of New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE). His response to an anti-immigrant billboard led to the founding of NICE, which is now recognized as a leading immigrant advocacy organization in New York City.

2000 -- Yolanda Sanchez, Executive Director of the Puerto Rican Association for Community Affairs, is a life-long community advocate and activist whose work on behalf of Puerto Rican and Latino children and women spans more than four decades.

1999 -- Yvonne Stennett, Executive Director of the Community League of West 159th Street, has devoted extraordinary energy and commitment to improving living conditions for the people in the Southern Washington Heights area

1998 -- James Gilmore, a New York City police detective in Washington Heights and co-founder of One Hundred Blacks in Law Enforcement, a fraternal organization dedicated to working for social justice.

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Contact: Jennifer Bertrand, 212-704-8600.