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2008-2009 Annual Report

"Strengthening the bonds that unite a community."

Organization + Education = Emancipation
----------------------------------------------- Rocco Crisalli



CURE was founded by community activist and organizer Mary Crisalli Sansone, who has devoted her life to bringing people together regardless of race, ethnicity, color, gender, sexual orientation or religion.

Interested in joining us?
Fill out our Member Profile form and fax it to (718) 686-7090.

CURE’s Mission

CURE was started years ago by bringing diverse people together to initiate dialogue, learn more about one another and to assist our respective communities – where needed and requested. CURE’s community leader network has grown to include cultural and religious leaders as well as community activists and educators from around New York City. As the group continues to grow, the proliferation of opinions on the direction of the group and what it should or should not be doing is a natural and healthy occurrence. At our last few meetings, it is evident that interest in CURE is intense and our opinions varied, yet our mutual passion to make the world a better place is a universal commonality. The only way in which we differ right now is how to go about making things better, and in what order to proceed.

CURE’s mission of bringing people together in a complex and diverse society can only be accomplished through communication and education, which will hopefully lead to tolerance and understanding. The best way that CURE can help communities grapple with ethnic and religious tensions is to create a neutral and trusting environment where the leaders of those communities seek guidance, participate in a forum to vent and explore solutions, or just utilize a trusted and objective group of people to commence dialogue with others where communication did not previously exist (or where dialogue was dysfunctional). These tasks are what CURE does best, and our organization should continue to focus on these activities.

Whether CURE uses a symposium, focus group or community leader forum to accomplish a particular result, depends on the people, the issues and what approach would be most effective. The victory for CURE can sometimes be clearing-up a misunderstanding between communities or within a community, or simply facilitating communication between parties who were not talking at all. In life, most disputes are either exacerbated or exist only because there are communication problems between parties. CURE stands ready to listen, assist, learn and help others learn that through understanding, respect and tolerance, we can achieve peace.

In order to accomplish some of CURE’s long-term objectives – including the education of children and exploration of broader societal issues – we must first continue to build trust and expand our network of community leaders. We need to understand each other, our communities and our issues better before we can assist one another in tackling problems. CURE can only accomplish its mission if it continues to serve as a neutral or objective party. CURE’s purpose is not to enter a community to solve all of its social, housing and other problems, nor does it exist to takes sides or positions on specific political, social or religious issues. CURE is here to help those who wish to help themselves – but not to do the work of the leaders of various communities. We are here to facilitate dialogue among leaders so that we can share advice, build relationships that may lead to mutual assistance and work together on appropriate joint initiatives to educate people about the cultures and religions of their neighbors so we can be more tolerant tomorrow than we are today.

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