STRENGTH, STABILITY &
SERVICE
SINCE 1859
COURIER L 24 IFE, MAY 22-28, 2020
ADVERTORIAL
Families devastated by
pandemic fi nd support
at local agency
As the coronavirus swept through
New York City in March, April, and
May, creating loss and hardship in all
communities, low-income families experienced
an unequal impact from the
crisis. Around the country, there is a
growing patchwork of evidence that
low-income communities, particularly
those with a high minority population,
are disproportionately suffering from
the outbreak.
In NYC, LA, and Chicago, the
country’s largest cities, released fi gures
show the virus is having a disproportionate
impact on racial minorities,
particularly those who are
poor. NYC data confi rms that residents
in the immigrant-rich Jackson
Heights, Elmhurst, and Corona sections
of Queens have tested positive
for the virus in far greater numbers
and at higher rates per capita than in
wealthy, mostly white parts of Manhattan
and Brooklyn. Many of these
families have found assistance at family
support agencies across the city —
like Forestdale, a non-profi t that families
have counted on in since 1854. The
agency, which is already expanding
services in Brooklyn and Queens this
year, transformed how it provides services
to families in some of the hardest
hit communities in Queens during
this pandemic.
A network of community partners
sprang into action to donate food,
clothing, household, and medical supplies
to Forestdale for distribution,
including the City of New York, the
Queens Borough President, GOOD+
Foundation, the White Lotus Collective,
FreshDirect, and Ikea. Forestdale’s
funders and individual donors
also contributed to the cause. Forestdale
staff volunteered to take on a new
role as delivery workers (equipped
with personal protective equipment)
to ensure families have access to everyday
necessities that they most urgently
need.
Forestdale’s Board of Trustees and
staff established a limited funding
pool that supports a material, food,
and cash assistance program to help
more families as needed. Some of the
funding is allocated to a short-term
employment program, which is still
in the planning phase, for hardworking
families who have lost loved ones
and much-needed income. Also, funds
are designated to expand Forestdale’s
teen internship program in light of
the city’s elimination of its longstanding
Summer Youth Employment Program.
Forestdale, along with the rest of
NYC, took steps to conduct work remotely
to reduce the spread of the
virus, including conducting its Preventive
Services, parenting, anger
management, and domestic violence
classes via videoconference, and individual
therapy sessions via telehealth
services.
Preventive Services are needed
now more than ever, and Forestdale is
in the process of expanding its reach
to more families in Queens and now to
Brooklyn. Prior to the pandemic, Forestdale
was awarded $29 million by the
NYC Administration for Children’s
Services to fund this expansion. Forestdale’s
return to Brooklyn is exciting,
a homecoming of sorts, as it was
founded there in 1854 before establishing
its main campus in Forest Hills,
Queens, in 1940. These services will
help keep families remain together
safely through a rigorous assessment
process, counseling, employment, and
housing resources, and family engagement.
This expansion in Preventive Services
is part of a positive shift in the
fi eld to invest in large-scale preventive
efforts as the fi rst line of defense for
families in unstable situations, with
child removal from the home occurring
in only the most dangerous circumstances.
This shift contributed to
a signifi cant reduction of 50,000 NYC
in foster care in the 1990s, to less than
8,000 in the most recent count.
“New York City has been devastated
by this pandemic, with some of
the ramifi cations to be felt for years to
come,” said Forestdale Executive Director
William Weisberg. “But we are
also warmed by the selfl ess acts of kindness
around us, from nurses coming to
NYC from around the country to work
closely with very ill, isolated patients,
to musicians giving spontaneous concerts
from their apartment windows.
Here at Forestdale, staff members
have stepped forward to make sure
that children get medical care, tech devices
(i.e., tablet or iPad) for education,
and therapy for teens struggling with
depression. The low-income communities
hit hardest by this crisis are full of
families with tremendous depths, who
are working hard to care for their children
in the face of systemic inequity.
All they need is true justice, an equal
voice, and support to address their basic
needs. With crisis relief services,
expanded Prevention Services, and advocacy,.”
For more information, call (877) 786-6560
or visit myNYCB.com
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