Retired teacher helps families
deal with abusive situations
Dr. Olga Jimenez (l) and Elizabeth Tronconi, volunteer in the Jacobi Medical
Center Hospital Family Advocacy Center, which handles allegations of
abuse. Photo courtesy of Jacobi Hospital
2173 White Plains Road 718-931-4335
Just South of Pelham Pkwy.
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BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
A local volunteer is using
her decades of experiences as
an educator to help children
and families in need.
Recently retired veteran
educator Elizabeth Tronconi
of Morris Park started volunteering
her time in September
at Jacobi Medical Center’s
Family Advocacy Center,
which handles intake for children
and families who are
suffering from abusive situations.
Tronconi said that when
she retired in July 2018 from
the NYC Department of Education,
where she was a teacher
for 38 years including 26 years
at P.S. 83, she wanted to volunteer
at the hospital because
she had a fondness for the care
her family received there and
because it is in walking distance.
She was paired with Jacobi’s
Family Advocacy Center,
where she is assigned to the
waiting room where children
and families in physically
or sexually abusive predicaments
come in to meet with
doctors and social workers.
Tronconi said that she is
often tasked with putting the
youngsters and their parents
at ease in what is usually an
emotionally trying time in
their lives.
Oftentimes the children
may be upset as they and their
parents are interviewed and
physically examined. She provides
comfort and a dose of
kindness to children, playing
games to put them at ease.
“I have absolutely no responsibility
but fun – I’m in
charge of fun,” said Tronconi,
adding that she has to be very
delicate, and if the conversation
steers into anything that
is therapeutic, she tells the
child, teenager or adult in the
waiting room to save the information
for the doctor.
“People are here for a variety
of situations, but it is usually
a very angst-fi lled situation,”
said Tronconi.
When parents are waiting
for their children, she often offers
to get them a drink of water
or a snack or shows them
where the bathroom is located,
as well as having light-hearted
conversations, she said.
“The kids are nervous and
the parents are often nervous
or sometimes angry or even
hostile when they come to the
center,” said Tronconi. “Just
talking, in general, kind of releases
the tension.”
Dr. Olga Jimenez, who is
chairperson of the Family Advocacy
Center, said that greeting
families as they attend
appointments at the center is
challenging because they are
under a lot of stress.
“They have experienced
some kind of traumatic
event that has affected the
whole family and extended
family,” Jimenez said of the
people the center serves.
“The abuser is usually a
close friend of the family or
a family member.”
Tronconi said she is getting
a great sense of fulfi llment
from her volunteer
work, and is going to encourage
her friends to volunteer
somewhere where they can be
of service. She feels she is giving
back to her local community.
She said she loves her Morris
Park community because
everything from shops to the
Morris Park Library to Jacobi
Medical Center are all within
walking distance, and the
community has strong community
advocates in the Morris
Park Community Association.
Jacobi Medical Center has
276 volunteers, according to
the hospital.
To learn more about volunteer
opportunities at Jacobi,
call their volunteer department
at (718) 918-4881.