Flowers With Care

Flowers With Care offers three educational programs, following an integrated service delivery approach.

First, our G.E.D. program provides students with more than just G.E.D. classes.  We believe that education in the core courses (English, Math, Science and Social Studies) alone will not fully prepare our students for future jobs and or future education.  By providing our students with counseling, substance abuse education, conflict resolution skills and vocational, college or job preparation skills, in addition to the core courses, we have found that students are more likely to successfully complete the G.E.D. program and move on to the next step in their life.

Every student enrolled in our program is also enrolled in a counseling group.  This group is led by a professional counselor or a counseling intern and will include other students.  Students may choose an Art Therapy group, a regular counseling group, a group for Young Parents or a Women and Power group.  All students are involved in some form of group counseling throughout their stay in our program.  Individual counseling may be requested by a student or required by the program at any time.

Students also have access to our computer lab.  Open lab hours are Monday through Friday from 2pm to 5 pm.  Our lab may be used to help the student to learn Microsoft word or excel, conduct job and school searches and to write a resume. 

Students between the ages of 16 and 21 are eligible to join the G.E.D. program.  The program is taught by New York State Licensed teachers who are provided to us by the Board of Education.  Classes are held Monday through Friday from 9 am to 2 pm, with one hour for lunch, from noon to 1pm.  Free and low cost lunches are available to students.  Students may also choose to bring lunch or go out to lunch.  Students may also qualify for free Metro cards while attending school.

Our second educational program is Adult Basic Education (ABE) which is open to students over the age of 18.  This class meets Mondays through Thursdays from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm.  Students receive basic instruction in English reading and writing skills.  Those students under age 21 who have not received a high school diploma and who would like to join the G.E.D. program are eligible to do so, when their reading and math scores reach 6th grade level. However, many of the students in this program are immigrants who have completed their education in their country of origin and are simply interested in improving their English reading and writing skills.

Our third educational program is English as a Second Language (ESOL).  In these classes students over age 18 are taught basic English speaking language skills and basic English writing skills.  Students in our ESOL program often graduate up to our ABE class.

All Flowers With Care programs operate in the same building as the Catholic Charities Community Center.  This center offers students and community members many free services, including:

• Food Pantry
• Rent Assistance
• Medicaid and Health Coverage Assistance
• Immigration Services
• Assistance Finding Housing
• Spanish G.E.D. program
• Employment Programs
• Case Management Services

Students or family members may ask their counselor or any staff member to refer them for services provided through our Catholic Family Center.

Contact:
Cathy Nicolini, Progam Director
Catholic Community Center
23-40 Astoria Blvd
Astoria, NY 11423
718 726-9790
CNicolini@ccbq.org