Our Voice

Join The Rockaways Community for a Peace March and Summit on February 24

Because Enough Is Enough

The whole nation, it seems, has been in mourning these past few weeks due to gun violence. Here in our own community of the Rockaways, the heartbreak has been intensely personal, as we have lost two 15-year-old boys, Trevor Rhudd and Youssef Soliman, in the past two months to senseless gun violence.

Parents, young people, and community members of all ages are coming together to say enough is enough. Continue reading

Preventing Copycat Suicide in the Wake of Jonghyun’s Death

By Anderson Sungmin Yoon, DSW, LCSW-R, CASAC, RPT-S
Vice President, Integrated and Value-Based Care

On December 18, 27-year-old Korean “K-pop” artist Jonghyun, lead singer of global boy band SHINee, was found unconscious in an apartment in Seoul. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, where he was immediately taken. The cause was suicide.

Like most, it was a tragedy that didn’t need to happen. Continue reading

Northwell Pediatric Residents and The Child Center of NY Collaborate

By Traci Donnelly
Chief Executive Officer

Last Wednesday, pediatric residents of the prestigious Cohen Children’s Medical Center, Northwell Health came to The Child Center’s Corona Head Start location to provide primary medical services, including physical examinations; medical histories; height and weight measurements; vision, hearing, and nutritional screenings; and parental guidance to low-income families. Through our partnership with Northwell, residents will provide this service to our clients once a month for a year at our Corona and Flushing locations, for clients across our programs. This service is absolutely free. Continue reading

Trump’s Opioid Declaration: Spotlighting the Crisis, But Also the Stigma

Trump declares the opioid epidemic a public health emergency

Trump declares the opioid epidemic a public health emergencyBy Elaine Schechtel
Director, Asian Outreach Substance Abuse Program

Drug overdoses, fueled by opioids, are the leading cause of accidental death for working-age Americans, killing more than 64,000 last year, and the rate of deaths continues to increase. So it’s good, and about time, that our president declared the opioid epidemic a national public health emergency last week. I’m in favor of any move that gets opioid addiction, and substance abuse in general, in the news and on people’s minds. But there were two missed opportunities in the declaration: one, which is rightfully getting a lot of press, is that the announcement did not include any requests for funding; and the other is the way Trump chose to frame the issue of addiction — as a moral failing and weakness of will power, instead of the disease that it is. Continue reading

13 Reasons Why Not

By Renée Riebling

A victim of bullying wants, above all, for the torture to just stop; most victims also would like to see their tormentors pay, or at least understand the agony they caused. Netflix’s hit series 13 Reasons Why, a binge-worthy, suspenseful drama that chronicles the final months of a troubled teen who ends up taking her own life, offers suicide as a satisfying way to achieve both — and a new study indicates it might be having devastating consequences. Continue reading

Hamilton Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda’s New Video Gets It Right on Immigration

Vice President Mike Pence unwittingly made the Broadway show Hamilton even more famous than it already was when he got a personal message from the cast about representing all Americans — including immigrants. As an agency that serves one of the most ethnically diverse communities in the nation, we at The Child Center were grateful that the episode brought attention to the plight of immigrants, especially at this pivotal time in politics. But, as expected, the attention was short-lived. That’s why we’re so glad Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and filmmaker Robert Rodriguez have teamed up to create a music video set to the show’s unforgettable song, “Immigrants (We Get the Job Done).” Continue reading

Three Ways Schools Can Counter the Rise in Teen Suicide

And an Offer to Help Schools Implement One of Them

Just in time for Mental Health Awareness Month, CNN reported last weekend on an alarming rise in children hospitalized with suicidal thoughts or actions. To those of us in the mental health field, the news was troubling and disheartening, but not surprising. At The Child Center of NY, which has been providing mental health services to children and families for more than 60 years, we’ve seen the increase firsthand across our clinics and other behavioral health programs. Thankfully, we’ve also seen what works to counter it: more mental health services in the place where kids spend most of their day — their schools — offered early, and on every level. Continue reading

Join the Sustain Our Sanctuary Campaign

Our organization is a vital partner with government in providing services in the community; government relies on our expertise in creating and delivering programs, and we in turn rely on government contracts for many of the services we offer. Through this partnership, government obligations are met and our mission is moved forward.

In fact, New York City outsources almost all human services to nonprofits, investing about $4 billion annually in programs that serve 1.5 million New Yorkers each year Continue reading


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