Tag Archives: team spotlight

Special Team Spotlight! Kwan Wong, Associate Vice President of Youth Development, Celebrates 30 Years at The Child Center

September 25, 2024 | Leave a reply

We are excited to share an impressive team milestone at The Child Center: Kwan Wong, Associate Vice President of Youth Development, celebrated his 30-year anniversary with us this month. Kwan currently oversees our School-Based Mental Health (SBMH) program, which provides vital mental health counseling to students right where they are every day.

To honor this incredible achievement, we sat down with Kwan for a brief interview to reflect on his decades with us and the impact he’s made.

The Child Center of NY: Can you share a bit about how you started your career here and what attracted you to The Child Center of NY?

Kwan Wong, LCSW-R: I started with The Child Center of NY, formerly known as the Queens Child Guidance Center, on September 6, 1994, with the Asian Outreach Program in Elmhurst, Queens. Previously, I was completing my master of social work internship at the immunology clinic at Elmhurst Hospital [now NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst], where I provided mental health counseling to HIV-infected children while they underwent medical treatment. It was a rewarding experience supporting these children and their families. Around that time, The Child Center received the Ryan White grant to establish a mental health program aimed at supporting the emotional and mental health needs of Asian clients and families infected or affected by HIV. When the opportunity was presented to me, I was excited to join the agency and knew I wanted to continue this important work.

What are some of the most memorable moments, valuable lessons, or milestones from your time with us?

Over my years at The Child Center, I have worked in five different programs. I feel all the experiences and lessons learned at each of my positions helped to better prepare me for the next program. I have worked in the mental health clinics; Parsons Beacon, which was the first Beacon center of TCCNY; and for the past nine years with School-Based Mental Health. All of these roles helped to expand my skills and knowledge. The time spent with the clients, families, as well as colleagues at each program helped my growth as a clinician and later as a supervisor.

Teammates from the original Asian Outreach Program in Elmhurst, Queens, c. 1997.

How has the organization changed over the years, and what are the most significant transformations you’ve witnessed? What do you think is in the future for TCCNY?

The agency has changed greatly over the years that I have been working here. I believe there are only a handful of staff who have been here over 30 years. Significant changes that occurred were all related to the growth and expansion of services we provide to families. One change was the rebranding of the agency. The agency was known as the Queens Child Guidance Center when I was hired, then later rebranded to The Child Center of NY. The name change was needed to more accurately reflect our breadth of services and our expansion beyond the borough of Queens. Another significant change was the relocation of the central administration office. When I started, I believe the administrative offices were located within the Flushing clinic. It then moved to the same building as the Jamaica clinic, the Firehouse. Afterwards, we relocated to the basement at the Big Six Plaza in Woodside, Queens, and finally to the current location at Forest Hills.

Through the years, The Child Center has provided important and impactful services that communities need. I know this agency will continue to serve our clients and families through our current programs and services, and grow with new initiatives in the future.

What has been the most rewarding aspect of working here for so long?

The most rewarding experience working here so long is knowing that you were able to help some of the clients and families that you provided treatment to. Changes the clients made to improve their mental health and family relationships, knowing they reported feeling better after their time with you versus when they started with you is the true reward.

Currently, I supervise some of the staff at School-Based Mental Health. Knowing the difference that this incredible team is making with the students they see every day, as well as supporting the school communities they serve, brings the same feeling and reward I felt when I first started with the agency.

The School-Based Mental Health Team at Gantry Park in 2021. The team had just completed professional development presentations that were developed to be used at school sites.

A Special Team Spotlight: Jean Coppola Celebrates 35 Years at The Child Center of NY

September 5, 2024 | Leave a reply

We’re thrilled to celebrate an incredible milestone—Jean M. Coppola, Billing System Administrator, has reached her 35th work anniversary at The Child Center! Her dedication, expertise, and passion have been instrumental to our organization’s success over the decades.

To honor this remarkable achievement, we sat down with Jean for a brief interview to reflect on her journey and the impact she’s made. Here’s to many more years of excellence and inspiration!

Can you share a bit about how you started your career here and what attracted you to TCCNY?

I had been working in the city and was planning on going back to school in the evenings, so I started looking for a job locally. I was interested in studying child psychology and I felt like this agency would be a good fit. I loved the idea of working for an agency that was doing such admirable work and providing mental health services to children. I began my career here as a secretary at the administrative office, which was in Flushing at the time. I was known as the “baby” of the agency. A year later, I became the administrative assistant and a couple years after that, the events manager. When patient billing was becoming electronic, I worked on the implementation of our first electronic billing software (in the ’90s), and my job took a different path. I became the billing supervisor. It was in that capacity that I navigated the Y2K panic and the eventual implementation of three subsequent billing systems, the current one being a total client electronic health record.

What are some of the most memorable moments, valuable lessons, or milestones from your time with us?

The most memorable moments for me were the fundraisers that I worked—the Golf Outing, the Dinner Dance, the Kids Run for Kids in Fresh Meadows Park.

Also, we would use staff members’ children for photoshoots to represent clients, and both my boys, from around ages 2 to 6, were “models” for our Dinner Dance journals and Golf Outing brochures.

A page from an event journal from the 1990s.

How has the company changed over the years? What do you think is in the future for TCCNY?

When I started at The Child Center of NY in 1989, it was known as Queens Child Guidance Center. I think we only had five clinics, one preventive program, and providers in a couple schools. I don’t remember how many social workers we had, but it was only five or six per clinic, and I knew them all personally. Our clients were only children, and we only provided mental health services at the time (I remember working on the application paperwork for the Substance Abuse Program). All billing for client services was done on paper, including Medicaid billing. The agency had only one computer. There was less than a dozen staff in the administrative office.

During my years at the agency, the administrative office moved from Flushing, to Jamaica, to Woodside and then to its current location in Forest Hills. I’ve been with the organization through so many ups and downs over the years, but I’ve also experienced vast expansion, new programs, new locations, in line with our mission to touch, help, and improve as many lives as possible. With so many dedicated staff and the ever-increasing need for services that we provide, I see TCCNY continuing to grow and positively impact the communities we serve.

The agency and I have grown and expanded together. When I started, I was in my early 20s, married only a few years, with no children. I am now older, still married to my wonderful husband and have four grown, wonderful children—my greatest accomplishment and most treasured blessings.

What has been the most rewarding aspect of working here for so long?

It has been the most rewarding to work at a place where I believe in the work that we do. I have dedicated myself to this agency and have never wavered from that dedication. I’ve met and worked with so many people over the years, some who have become lifelong friends. The people that I work with directly on a daily basis have become my work family. I feel recognized and appreciated and valued for what I do. When you love where you work and what you do, it just becomes a part of you, a part of your life. I thank TCCNY and the people here who have made it possible for me to commit myself so fully to this agency for the last 35 years and hopefully for many more years to come.

Team Spotlight: Dr. Justin R. Smith

July 19, 2024 | Leave a reply

The Child Center of NY is thrilled to announce our new Director of Behavioral Health Medical Services, Dr. Justin R. Smith.

Justin Reynard Smith, M.D., MBA, is originally from Nashville, Tennessee, and completed his undergraduate and medical school education at Vanderbilt University. After experiencing the limitations in delivering person-centered care within the United States health care system, he decided to take an academic leave of absence from medical school to obtain a master’s degree in business administration at Harvard Business School, with the goal of obtaining more skills and knowledge to help improve health care delivery systems.

After returning to medical school and finishing his last year, Dr. Smith continued his training through the psychiatry residency program at Columbia University (New York-Presbyterian and New York State Psychiatric Institute). Following his residency, he completed the Public Psychiatry Fellowship of New York State Psychiatric Institute at Columbia University while working part-time at The Child Center of NY. In addition to his ongoing supervisory support with the Youth ACT team and provision of direct care, Dr. Smith will use his new role to help our team enhance its delivery of medical and psychiatric services so that we can be sure we serve clients in the best way possible.

Upon beginning his new position, Dr. Smith said, “My professional passion is to help people live their most fulfilled lives in a comprehensive and holistic way. I am very excited for the opportunity to work with everyone at TCCNY, and I look forward to us continuing to enrich the amazing care and services that we provide to our communities.”

Team Spotlight: 2024 Russell L. Carson Visionary Award Winner Simeon Pollydore

June 14, 2024 | Leave a reply

Listen to Simeon’s thank you speech upon receiving the Russell L. Carson Visionary Award.

Since 2015, the Russell L. Carson Visionary Award has been awarded every year to a Child Center of NY employee who performs above and beyond expectations, initiates creative solutions despite limited resources, and demonstrates entrepreneurship in increasing the accessibility to services and opportunities for children and families. The award recognizes employees who propel The Child Center forward—much like the contributions of Mr. Carson, a steadfast supporter of The Child Center, have advanced our work. Candidates are nominated by their colleagues, and any member of the Child Center team can nominate an employee for the honor.

This year’s award went to Simeon Pollydore, program director of Redfern Cornerstone Community Center.

Cornerstone Community Centers, supported by the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development and operated by community-based organizations like The Child Center, are located in public housing developments and offer community members of all ages a place where they can engage in dynamic, enriching activities, including high-quality afterschool programs, so everyone can rise together.

Redfern Cornerstone Community Center epitomizes this concept, and it’s in no small measure because of Simeon’s deep dedication and hands-on leadership. Watch the above video to hear Simeon talk about what the Carson Award means to him, and read on for more about Simeon’s amazing story!

The Child Center of NY: Tell us about the journey that led you to The Child Center.

Simeon Pollydore: My literal journey began in a small town called Buxton in the country of Guyana in South America. I was 18 when I immigrated here. I came with my mother, straight to New York and lived right here in Far Rockaway. We already had some family living here.

My career journey started when I was a child. I always had a strong drawing to children and was doing this work even when I was a child myself! I played with my cousins after school in Guyana, and one of our favorite games was “school.” It was literally an afterschool program! We would come home and play school, and they would push me to be the teacher. I guess I had a natural knack for that, so I would always be the one teaching the class, and they were the students. It was so educational and fun, and we loved learning. Since I was blessed to go to a better school, I got more information than they would. It was a wonderful way I could share with them, and they shared with me what they learned and knew.

What did you study in college that prepared you for this work?

I double majored in dance and theater at Queensborough Community College. A year after graduating from QCC in 2012, I began working at Redfern, which was run by a different organization at the time. I started as an activity specialist for dance, so this position was a perfect melding of my two passions, dance and working with young people. I worked in various positions for the organization that previously ran Redfern before I became Redfern’s program coordinator, which is an assistant director position. That’s the position I held when The Child Center took over the operation of Redfern. I became program director in 2019.

Can you describe for us what you do as Program Director of Redfern Cornerstone Community Center—both big picture and day to day?

Big picture, I help provide quality, life-sustaining programs to the entire community. We serve from twinkles to wrinkles, from 5 years to if you’re 99, 109, we have something for you!

Adults gather at Redfern Cornerstone Community Center for a Sit and Paint event.

A Sit and Paint event at Redfern (see below)

Day to day, it’s about quality programming for elementary, middle, and high school participants during the week and teens and adults on evenings and weekends. We also have a senior program where older adults share food, play cards. … It’s just the place where seniors come to fellowship and have a really good time!

Parents come in, stakeholders come in, and we partner with other community organizations who bring in workshops. We’ve had turkey giveaways, coat drives for the entire family, GED classes, and fun things, like during the winter holidays we have a sit and paint where participants create artwork. We have Saturday Night Lights, which focuses on our teens and offers sports programming from 5 o’clock to 9 o’clock weekly. A few weeks ago, we went on a trip to Dave and Busters. We’re open six days a week throughout the school year and seven days a week in the summer.

Can you describe a particularly memorable experience as Program Director of Redfern?

One of the most memorable that I still hold onto was in 2020, literally months after I was ordained as director, being able to give children of this community iPads. That was one of the biggest highlights of my career. I’ll never forget that. Through DYCD, we offered YMI [Youth Mentoring Initiative] every year. We had 12 middle school participants. The program focused on mentoring, who they want to be when they’re a little older, and preparing them for high school and life. They also got to do special things like cook and go on trips. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, one of the things we felt a lot of participants did not have was advanced technology in their home. A lot of them were still waiting for Chromebooks from the school. I got the OK to use funding for iPads to give to the participants to continue their schooling and also as a token of the work they’d been doing in YMI because even after the pandemic hit, we were still meeting with them online and they were continuing to do the work. I remember personally when I was their age, I was so into computers, and that helped me because everything we do now is on computers. It’s how we navigate the world. They had never received such a gift like that. They were stunned. The fact that a program was giving them something so exceptional, it was really an abundant blessing for them and made them feel valued.

Simeon poses with two Redfern Cornerstone Community Center YMI participants upon receiving their iPads.

Simeon (center) with YMI participants Samira (left) and Samir (right) upon receiving their iPads

It was also memorable for the staff. Only I knew about it at first, and the higher-ups who had to approve it. But on the day of the event… oh, they were blown away. It’s something we all held onto for a long time in such gratitude. It’s something I still hold so dear and memorable just because of the impact, both personally and professionally.

What would you like to say about your team at Redfern?

I definitely have to talk about my team because God blessed me with them! I still have three staff members I inherited from my early days. I have an amazing team, both people I inherited and those I found on my own … people who really want to do the work and care so much about the children and people in general. There’s Keith, our evening/weekend program coordinator, who is so invested in the well-being of our teens. Hunter, who works with middle schoolers, created an amazing vision board activity with them recently, and does workouts with K-2 participants. Shakia, who is now our office manager, started out as an arts specialist; she still does art and decorates the center so beautifully. Shakia worked diligently through the pandemic, even with the introduction of learning labs: For that year, we were this full-fledged school from 8 a.m. to 10:00 at night, Monday to Friday, and 10 to 5 on Saturdays, still serving twinkles to wrinkles, serving food and meals, distributing cleaning supplies and PPE [personal protective equipment], while still helping children, afterschool programming … all possible by my entire team. It took a huge team effort, even the people that are not here with us right now. I’m so thankful and appreciative of the time they spent with us, especially during that time. We are still doing amazing work!

One of our most dedicated staff members, Miss Loretta, passed away in December. She contributed so much to the center and to the lives of everyone who passed through our doors. She is dearly missed and still lives on in those who knew her.

I just count my blessings from God and know how blessed I am to be in a position to serve others and leave my mark on the world and make my corner of the world a better place. I’m very much grateful to God to be chosen as the vessel to do all that I do.

Team Spotlight: Abraham Santana, MSW, on Creating a Safe Space for LGBTQ+ Youth

June 24, 2023 | Leave a reply

Child Center of NY Social Worker Abraham Santana works with LGBTQ+ youth at the Cohen Family Wellness Center in Woodside, Queens

Abraham, a social worker at The Child Center of NY

The Child Center began in 1953 as a single children’s counseling center, based on ideas that were ahead of their time: that children could need mental health services; that serving whole families is a critical component of serving children; and that serving the larger community is at the crux of it all. Seventy years later, we remain as committed as ever to serving the communities—geographic and social—that need us.

Right now, the LGBTQ+ community needs us. Continue reading →