Lifelong Hunts Point resident gives back to community
BY JASON COHEN
Lifelong Hunts Point resident
Jamine Williams grew
up wanting to be a construction
worker or teacher, but everything
changed when her
mom got sick.
Williams, 44, who has done
outreach for Urban Health
Plan for the past seven years,
spoke with the Bronx Times
about her path to where she is
today.
She worked for the Department
of Education briefl y, but
was caught off guard in 2009
when her mom, Dorothy Williams,
a retired nurse, was
diagnosed with stage 4 colon
cancer.
“It was just bewildering to
me that someone who worked
in the medical fi eld got such
late diagnosis and ignored
a lot of different signs,” Williams
said.
Williams explained that
her mom always made sure
she and her siblings went to
the doctor, yet didn’t look after
herself. So, she quit her job
and took care of her mom.
Things did not get better
as her dad, James Williams, a
construction worker, suffered
a stroke the same year. They
both recovered, but he eventually
passed away in 2012.
“It was a really hard time
for me and I realized then I
wanted to do something so
families didn’t go through
what me and my family went
through,” she stated. “I know
that a lot of folks in my community
don’t get preventive
medicine.”
According to Williams, it
is not common for people in
her community to go to a doctor
unless it is an emergency.
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Whether it was lack of insurance
or money, it just wasn’t
done.
So, a year after her mom
recovered and her dad passed,
she joined Urban Health and
began doing outreach throughout
the borough. She quickly
learned that many people, especially
in Hunts Point, lack
quality food and medical care.
She pointed out that on the
peninsula there is only one supermarket
as well.
“Your health is determined
by your zip code,” she explained.
Today, she works exclusively
in Hunts Point and the
problems the neighborhood
faced have been exacerbated
by COVID-19. She informs
people about doctors, helps
them fi nd insurance and distributes
food.
Since the pandemic arrived
she and her colleagues have
been giving out donated food
from restaurants and produce
three days a week along with
hand sanitizer, gloves and
masks.
Williams recalled that
growing up there was a lot of
open drug use and prostitution,
but her parents always
kept she and her siblings on
the right path.
Her dad and mom taught
her the value of hard work.
“They instilled in us anything
you want to have in life
you can have,” she remarked.
While she is 44, Williams
shows that age does not matter
when it comes to education.
In June 2020 she obtained
her bachelor’s in public health
from Fordham University and
is planning to go for her master’s
in public health from
CUNY.
Williams is proud to work
for Urban Health and is doing
as much as possible to help her
community.
“Growing up I had a lot of
friends’ parents who were on
drugs,” she explained. “There
were a lot of times I could have
went another route, but having
my parents in my head
and seeing how they were able
to make success out of their
lives there was no way I was
going to let that happen.”
Jamine Williams of Urban Health Photo by Jason Cohen
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