October's W&W10 Partner: NYC Salt

We are really excited about October's W&W10 partner, NYC Salt. I met Alicia, the founder and director in 2006 while I was a student in New York City. I could immediately tell her and her camera would have a profound impact on those around her. Little had I known the seeds for NYC Salt were already growing. I'll let her share more about NYC Salt.

What is NYCSALT?

It's a nonprofit photo program for inner city teens in NYC. We work with mostly Latino teenagers from public high schools in NYC. They can stay in the program year to year while in high school and once our students graduate, we have a mentor system to help them succeed in college. The program became a nonprofit in April 2008. It was inspired by the movie Born into Brothels.

What are NYC Salt's values & passions?As professional photographers, our driving value is the desire to give back to the community using our talents and craft to help kids by inspiring, engaging and empowering them through photography. We choose a different neighborhood each year to focus the students photography on and create a book. Last year we did Washington heights. This year it is the High Line.

What challenges do you face?

Our biggest challenge is funding. We have 18 kids this year and 16 on a waiting list. We don't have enough funding currently to pay for cameras, computers or staff.

How can people get involved in what NYC Salt is doing?

People can get involved by coming to our gallery shows, getting to know us through events, joining our mailing list to hear news about the program but also about volunteering opportunities as they come up. Those are the best ways other than donating that people can initially get involved.

Our next open house is November 10th!
{So check them out! You might even spot W&W there.}

To learn more about NYC Salt, please visit their website or check out this video and hear from some of their students.

photo via nycsalt.org