BW05032020 - Page 6

6 BROOKLYN WEEKLY, MAY 3, 2020 Staff members at group homes need masks and other supplies to interact with residents. Eden II Jehovah’s Witness tower to house the formerly homeless �� This newspaper is not responsible for typographical errors in ads beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2020 by Brooklyn Courier Life LLC. The content of this newspaper is protected by Federal copyright law. This newspaper, its advertisements, articles, and photographs may not be reproduced, either in whole or part, without permission in writing from the publisher except brief portions for purposes of review or commentary consistent with the law. Postmaster, send address changes to Courier Life, One MetroTech Center North, Third Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201. BY BEN VERDE A Staten Island group home is soliciting donations for its staffers, who have had to transform into frontline medical workers almost overnight, management said. “Our staff has been unbelievably amazing,” said Joanne Gerenser, Executive Director of Eden II programs, which runs a network of support services for people with autism on Staten Island. According to Gerenser, the pandemic has overturned the daily tasks of the direct service providers that care for the residents of the group homes. Eight of Eden II’s residents have tested positive for the coronavirus, Gerenser said, but all have managed �� to stay out of the hospital — which has turned the residential facilities into aroundthe clock care centers. “Our nurses need to receive some kind of medals of honor,” Gerenser said. Staff are tasked with looking after restless participants and providing them with structure for hours on end while they are unable to go outside — a nearly herculean task, according to Gerenser, a speech pathologist. “I used to do these 30-minute sessions, and making sure that your session provided structure so that your session went well, sometimes was really challenging,” she said. “I sit there sometimes at my desk and I think about these direct care workers, who have to now provide structure 16 hours in a row, in a house, often not able to go anywhere — it just boggles my mind.” Direct service providers in group homes make little more than minimum wage due to a decade of budget cuts from the state that have left most homes treading water even before the pandemic hit. “They’re not paid for the pandemic,” said Sarah Collins, a Brooklyn native whose brother Joey lives in an Eden II home. “They’re basically working as health care providers but have not been given any formal training prior to this.” The staff at Eden II have had to dip into their own bank accounts to replace clothing destroyed by bleach after disinfecting them, Collins. said. The fundraiser, which has netted roughly $16,000 towards its goal of $20,000 as of April 29, aims to soften that blow, and provide the workers with the hazard pay their employers are unable to give them. They have also received support from Fare it Forward, a fundraising effort that aims to provide frontline workers with free transit fares. “Most of our direct care workers are making just above minimum wage, and the idea that we’ve now asked them to become healthcare workers and put them in really complicated situations, it just doesn’t feel right that we’re not able to provide them with some type of increased money,” said Gerenser. With the state budget full of austerity measures, group homes can only expect more funding cuts, Gerenser said, so fundraising may be the only route workers have to an increase in pay. “The only way we’re going to be able to get money in the hands of our workers and thank them for what they are doing is through fundraisers like this, so it’s been very rewarding seeing how many people are stepping up,” she said. As pandemic rages, group homes seek donations for staff BY KEVIN DUGGAN The City Council voted unanimously on April 22 to allow a non-profi t developer to convert a Downtown Brooklyn tower previously owned by the Jehovah’s Witnesses into housing for the formerly homeless. The Council’s approval of the tower’s rezoning paves the way for a renovation that would add more than 500 affordable apartment units to the 29-story tower at 90 Sands St, said the building’s developer. “We’re on our way to bringing approximately 500 much-needed affordable units to DUMBO, one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the borough,” said Brenda Rosen, the chief executive of Breaking Ground. “We are especially grateful for the leadership of Speaker Corey Johnson and Council Members Stephen Levin and Rafael Salamanca in championing the development of new supportive housing for the most vulnerable New Yorkers.” The Council’s vote is the last step in the land use review process before the rezoning application moves to Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is expected to back the Council’s approval. Breaking Ground — a nonprofi t that already hosts some 4,000 units across the city — plans refurbish the 1992-built tower between Jay and Pearl streets that once housed volunteers for the Christian evangelist group, adding 305 “supportive units” for recently homeless people and 202 below-marketrate rentals. The “supportive units” will come equipped with social services to help residents fi nd jobs, treat their medical needs, and transition into the housing, while the 202 other units will be open to households that make 30- 100 percent of the area’s median income, which is currently set at $96,100 for a family of three. The 202 affordable units will range from $504 for a studio to $2,000 for a one-bedroom. Breaking Ground bought the tower from Big Apple developer RFR Realty for $170 million in August 2018, one year after the Jehovah’s Witnesses sold the building for $135 million. All other land use review applications are temporarily suspended since Mayor de Blasio issued an executive order on March 16 halting the review process in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. The City Council approved a plan to use the tower in Downtown Brooklyn house the formerly homless. File Photo