Reciprocity Foundation

Reciprocity Student Emerges as Formidable Poet

The student in our program known as “Hollywood” has penned a poem that is worthy of publication.

It has already garnered countless views on the site, The Good Men Project and can be found by clicking on this link.

Or you can read the poem below and feel free to comment on CC Moses’ talent with words.

Beauty within Solitude: A Poem

I have to stay away from soul music
and delicious food
and people kissing

or anything that reminds me of everything that I don’t have

I keep going back to that bridge
the bridge in my mind called misery,
and the pain in my heart that keeps telling me to jump;
God keeps calling me back from the edge.

Every time I’m there,
Jesus whispers in my ear:
beauty is not sexiness, beauty is completeness;

then I’m happy again.

I’m a firm believer in the walls talking because
I often have conversations with them in my spare time.
We usually talk about death and suicide.

Then I hear Jesus whisper in my ear:
“Practice being present.”

then I’m happy again.

There are those days that I wake up; I go take a shower and look in the mirror and see the walls that are blocking me from the love that was already present.

I say to myself “I’m ugly”
and that’s why I’m alone.

Then Jesus whispers to me and says:
“Even in your ugliness you cannot erase the beauty that is already there;
you can only erase your realization of it.”
He goes on to say, “Until the end of your journey
I’ll be there to remind you
You’re not alone.”
I was beautiful again.

—C.C. Moses

Ari Gold, Billboard Chart-Topper coaches Reciprocity youth on Music Industry

Last night, Ari led an intimate conversation with Reciprocity students in which he shared his life lessons, insights about the music industry and his transformation from a quiet Orthodox Jewish boy to pop star.  He shared beautiful and inspiring stories of how he discovered his calling and found the courage to follow it.

The Reciprocity students in attendance were mostly comprised of aspiring singers and performers who took notes and asked intelligent questions.  The exchange was powerful and the students walked away with real industry knowledge that they will apply to their career and life plans.

Guest Post by Chris Bilal

When Chris Bilal isn’t discovering new music while eating dumplings in the LES, he devotes his time to writing about issues that affect America’s
most vulnerable and invisible populations. Researching and articulating viewpoints excluded from traditional forms of media is
his greatest pleasure.

Absent from the still-evolving coverage of the Occupy Wall Street movement and lost amongst clouds of pepper spray are the stories of millions of people who have become collateral damage of the recession. The daunting reality of long-term unemployment, regressive austerity measures and political platforms based on slashing safety nets is not just an increase in crime numbers, or pieces in the New York Times about kids moving back home with their parents.

Trickling census data is beggining to confirm once anecdotal evidence that many, having lost their jobs, unemployment benefits and subsequently, missed mortgage payments,  might have to turn to a homeless shelter for help. Though our deep rooted American pride wont let us admit it, many are on that precipice and it won’t take much of a push to fall off the cliff of stability.

The latest census statistics show that the average household income fell by 6.4 % since 2007 and the percentage of Americans living in
poverty jumped to 15.1% of the population. There is also a growing trend of people moving in with friends or family members. Whats unique
about this phenomenon of “doubling down” is that its no longer undergrads returning to the nest to drop off laundry, but adults
moving back in with parents or children as a stop gap before economic ruin.

The most recent census data confirms that 18% of respondents did so because of employment trouble, a 10% increase over last year. In 2010, a record
number of 2.9 million foreclosures were filed, 1 million homes were repossessed and that number is expected to be much higher at year’s
end. Americans are also grappling with the meteoric rise in cost of living expenses on all fronts. The price of gas, banking, food, clothing, and
healthcare are on the rise, even as income and spending falls.
With well paying jobs scarce, full time hours scant, and unemployment becoming less of a stigma and more of a reality- its no
wonder that homelessness is on the rise. In 2007, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force found that 20 to 40%
of 1.6 million homeless youth identified as gay. They were forced into homelessness by a destructive mix of institutionalized violence,
criminalization and discrimination that marks the gay experience in America.
In 2009, 170,000 families were considered homeless. The HUD found that in 2010 144,842 veterans spent at least 1 day in an
emergency shelter and that 76,239 were living in shelters. As more troops are scheduled to come home from war, I can only hope that
figure doesn’t soon balloon.

Instead of wasting energy debating the obviousness of a double dip recession or worse, depression- we would do well to accept our
precarious economic fate and propose effective policy that keeps the middle class off the street in the interim. As we approach a new year,
the rate of homelessness continues to climb categorically. We must stop the ensuing downfall.

Reciprocity Holiday Party 2011

Reciprocity leads DYCD workshops for National Runaway & Homeless Youth Month

Taz Tagore and Adam Bucko, co-founders of the Reciprocity Foundation, presented to Jeanne B. Mullgrav, commissioner of the DYCD, along with her staff of nearly 50 senior leaders on the Reciprocity approach to working with homeless youth.  Named the “whole person approach,” the Reciprocity Foundation’s unique, integrative and holistic model is now being examined by public sector leaders, in NY state and beyond, to help homeless, formerly incarcerated and youth aging out of foster care.  Taz & Adam screened the youth produced, and Emmy nominated film, INVISIBLE and led an interactive discussion with DYCD staff about the methods, costs and outcomes of Whole Person-based programs. 

Grand Opening Event at Reciprocity’s Holistic Center

 It was a beautiful evening in which Reciprocity graduates, staff, volunteers,    donors and community gathered to celebrate the historic milestone of opening the first-ever holistic center for homeless youth. The photos tell the whole story–smiles, joy, hope and inspiration prevailed. Attendees received a massage, screened a film, sat in meditation, ate vegetarian appetizers and spent time getting to know each other. What a night!

Taz Tagore presents Reciprocity model at Nat’l Homelessness Conference

On November 5th, Taz Tagore, co-founder of the Reciprocity Foundation presented to a full house of educators working with homeless children and youth.

Taz presented on the Reciprocity model–called the Whole Person approach.  She showed part of the film co-created by our students (INVISIBLE: Diaries of New York’s Homeless Youth) and also screened a video from one of the wilderness retreats hosted by the Reciprocity Foundation in 2011.  There were many questions and a great deal of interest in Reciprocity’s model of working with the body, mind and spirit of every homeless young person who comes into our center.  Many attendees wanted to be trained in the Reciprocity model and others sought to organize a tour of the new center.

New Reciprocity Holistic Center: Watch the Pre-Launch Party

Reciprocity Student Isis King Kicks Off New Season of America’s Next Top Model

Founded by Taz Tagore and Adam Bucko in 2004, the Reciprocity Foundation (www.reciprocityfoundation.org) has helped countless homeless youth from all five boroughs of New York City to transcend poverty, isolation and a lack of direction. Through intensive counseling, yoga, meditation, media training, college preparation and career coaching, the organization helps homeless youth like Isis King start careers in creative sectors such as film, television, fashion and design.

“Isis was a charismatic, intelligent student who is passionate about fashion design and modeling,” says Adam Bucko, co-founder of the Reciprocity Foundation. “But as a transgendered woman who lived in a homeless shelter, she faced more obstacles than other aspiring designers and models. That’s where we came in. We helped train Isis to handle the challenges of success while retaining her integrity.”

This season of America’s Next Top Model will be more challenging than ever. The contestants are not about to let Isis steal the spotlight—and Isis, who is beloved as the first transgender model to achieve fame after RuPaul, is not willing to be defeated.

“Isis is back on America’s Next Top Model to do more than model,” said Taz Tagore, co-founder of the Reciprocity Foundation. “She wants to knock down barriers for people with a different sexual orientation. She’s become a leader to thousands of young women of all sexual orientations.”

During her time as a student at the Reciprocity Foundation, Isis honed her knowledge of the fashion industry and her design skills. She also learned how to network with fashion industry leaders and to compete in a hyper-competitive industry.

Reciprocity co-founder Adam Bucko said, “At the outset, Isis was like many of our students—passionate about fashion but unable to translate her vision into a career. We helped her develop the skills to become a leader and a role model in America. By the time we introduced Isis to Tyra Banks and Jay Manuel, she was prepared to take advantage of the opportunity.”

For more information about the show, click here.

For an exclusive video about Isis and her time at Reciprocity, click here.