Eric Adams visits Life’s WORC’s group home
for people with disabilities in Little Neck
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
Brooklyn Borough President
Eric Adams, the frontrunning
candidate for mayor
of New York City, visited
Life’s WORC group home in
Little Neck to learn more
about the life changing services
the nonprofit provides
for individuals with disabilities
and their families.
On Saturday, Oct. 23, Adams
joined Life’s WORC’s
Founder and Honorary
Board Member Victoria
Schneps, Life’s WORC CEO
Janet Koch, Board Chairperson
Lynne Koufakis and
staff to tour the organization’s
first group home, located
at 251-40 Gaskell Rd. in
Little Neck.
The group home is named
the “Geraldo Rivera Home”
in honor of the noted journalist
who played an important
role alongside Schneps and
other activists in exposing
abuses at the Willowbrook
State School on Staten Island.
Rivera’s reports of Willowbrook’s
infamous history
of mistreating and neglecting
thousands of disabled
residents brought about public
outrage, and eventually
led to the facility’s closure,
with its residents relocated
to smaller group homes.
In fact, the first residents
at the Geraldo Rivera Home
were former Willowbrook
residents.
Life’s WORC is dedicated
to supporting people with intellectual
and developmental
disabilities as well as autism,
and has group homes
throughout New York City.
Adams recently received
criticism after he said that
closing Willowbrook was a
“mistake” during an interview
on “Morning Joe” on
MSNBC.
“A few employees harmed
those who were patients at
Willowbrook on Staten Island.
There was a reaction
from the advocates to close
down Willowbrook, deinstitutionalize
those who needed
around-the-clock services,
but we didn’t balance
that with real programs to
give it to them,” Adams said
in that interview.
Adams later clarified
through a spokesperson that
while he was “disturbed by
the mistreatment at Willowbrook
Democratic mayoral candidate and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams listens to the concerns of advocates and representatives for
the intellectually and developmentally disabled at a Life’s WORC’s round table hosted by Victoria Schneps. Photos by Gabriele Holtermann
decades ago,” he
meant that “since then, New
York has systematically
eliminated mental health
beds that can be greatly
beneficial to those who need
constant care, leaving our
city unable to provide for
them,” according to amNew
York Metro.
Schneps, whose daughter
Lara had been a patient
at Willowbrook, invited the
Brooklyn borough president
to learn more about Willowbrook
and Life’s WORC.
During his visit Saturday,
Adams again referred
to his comments about Willowbrook,
saying that he
felt that after the institution
closed, the city and state
“did not give support to the
families.”
“I just really felt as
though the city, the state just
abandoned those families
with children with special
needs, because behind every
child with special needs is a
special parent,” Adams said.
“The challenge of what it
takes — that love and nurturing
and you just want your
child to have the dignity and
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.10 COM | OCT. 29 - NOV. 4, 2021
respect that they deserve,
and that’s what every parent
wants. And I believe in it.”
During his visit at the Rivera
home, which included
a tour of the inside and outdoor
facilities, Adams met
with residents of the home
and spoke with staff about
the many services they offer
beyond their residential
group home, including behavioral
analysis services,
community habilitation,
customized employment
services, day habilitation,
school-based services, respite
and family support
services, and trust and financial
services, as well as
the programs and services
offered by its Family Center
for Autism.
The Life’s WORC team
spoke with Adams about the
challenges they face, particularly
relating to workforce
shortages.
Adams offered to set up
an advisory committee to
help address some of these
challenges at the city level,
if elected mayor.
“If we could put together
a group like this, a cross section
… and just say, ‘Eric,
here are the low hanging
fruits that we can do now,
here are some of the things
that we can do later,’ and
just start putting us on a
pathway,” Adams said. “We
need to be pouring our resources
into those who have
barriers.”
Along with representatives
from Life’s WORC,
the event was attended by
InterAgency Council of Developmental
Disabilities
Agencies Inc. (IAC) Executive
Director Thomas McAlvanah;
AHRC New York City
CEO Marco R. Damiani; and
Quality Services for the Autism
Community (QSAC) NY
Chairperson Yvette Watts.
Disclosure: Victoria
Schneps is publisher of QNS
and Schneps Media.
Reach reporter Angélica
Acevedo by e-mail at
aacevedo@schnepsmedia.
com
Victoria Schneps (r.) with Democratic mayoral candidate Eric
Adams (second from r.) as he tours the Geraldo Rivera Home.
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