News Archive: January 2010

January 31, 2010: “Friends” Volunteer with Residents of Mt. Vernon Care Facility

Volunteer with a Mt. Vernon resident

A group of nine young adult volunteers from the JBFCS Friends program spent an afternoon doing crafts projects with the residents of our Mount Vernon Intermediate Care Facility, a residence for severely developmentally disabled adults. After traveling to Westchester by train and being greeted by the facility’s wonderful staff, the Friends were ready to roll up their sleeves and start interacting with the residents. The volunteers brought along all the necessary art supplies that were needed to decorate wooden boxes and picture frames. The residents were delighted that they were going to be able to keep the crafts for themselves, or, as one client chose to do, share it with his visiting family. Needless to say, his mother was thrilled with his brightly colored picture frame!

The Friends Program has two volunteer events each year at the Mt. Vernon facility; the winter crafts project and another in the spring when they spend an afternoon with residents gardening and planting. Over the years, Mt. Vernon has become a favorite destination for the Friends volunteers. It has been especially enjoyable and meaningful for the volunteers to see familiar faces each time they return and to witness the wonderful care our clients are receiving.

January 29, 2010: JBFCS Participates in HOPE 2010 NYC Street Survey of Homeless

JBFCS recruited volunteers, including staff members, clients, relatives and friends, for the 2010 street count of NYC homeless.

JBFCS Volunteer Group at Hunter College	JBFCS Volunteer Group at 68 Street Subway Station

HOPE stands for Homeless Outreach Population Estimate. Coordinated by the NYC Department of Homeless Services and conducted once a year, HOPE is a point-in-time estimate of the unsheltered homeless population. Its purpose is to measure the success of efforts to overcome street homelessness.

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires localities to conduct an annual survey as a condition of receiving funds for homeless service programs. The NYC Coalition for the Continuum of Care, which consists of government agencies, service providers, and consumers, is charged with coordinating homeless service planning and program evaluation in New York City. Most of the non-governmental members have HUD grants. Members of the Coalition commit to recruiting at least 10 volunteers to participate in the annual HOPE survey. JBFCS is a member of the Coalition because it is committed to helping the homeless, operates supportive housing for the homeless, and is a recipient of HUD funding.

January 27, 2010: Sanctuary Stitchers 7th Annual Blanket Presentation Ceremony

Sanctuary Stitcher Volunteers with a blanket recipient

The JBFCS Sanctuary Stitchers project held its 7th Annual Blanket Presentation Ceremony on January 27th. A “Sanctuary blanket” is pieced together from squares created by a range of volunteers, and once assembled, each blankets becomes a vibrant compilation of the work of many caring individuals. Every blanket includes a label bearing Ralph Waldo Emerson’s quote: “What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.”

Since the program’s inception in 2004 — through the generous participation of more than 500 volunteers and 60 groups — over 300 hand-made blankets have been created for adolescents in residential treatment programs at JBFCS’ Westchester Campus.

This year nearly 100 volunteers gathered at Temple Israel of the City of New York and presented more than 30 blankets they had created to youngsters from the Jerome M. Goldsmith Center for Adolescent Treatment and Hawthorne Cedar Knolls Residential Treatment Center. Over the course of the gathering, volunteers and recipients shared many thank you’s and hugs. By evening’s end, many recipients were wrapped up in the warmth of their new blankets.

January 18, 2010: The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund Supports a JBFCS Client

Once again, the annual New York Times Neediest Cases Fund has generously supported JBFCS in its programmatic work, this time with financial assistance to a young client at our Break-Free clinic in Midwood, Brooklyn. Read the full story in Life-Changing Moments Where Land Meets Water.

Photo: Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times In treatment for drug abuse, Alejandro Vasquez, 18, has repaired relationships with his family and hopes to attend college.