4 wellness s THE QUEENS COURIER • WELLNESS • MARCH 20, 2014 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com SALUTING SOCIAL WORKERS Making a difference in children’s lives BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO aaltamirano@queenscourier.com @aaltamirano28 Two Queens social workers say the best part of their job is knowing they have made a difference in someone’s life. Linda Brizel and Joan Harley are social workers at Apple Pre-School, part of the non-profi t Queens Centers for Progress, located in Jamaica. The school offers learning and enrichment, serving special needs preschoolers ages 3-5 with special education and therapy services. Both social workers began with an interest in education and after some internships and classes, they saw that another door was opening for them. Brizel, who grew up in Connecticut and lives in Kew Gardens Hills, said she found she was more interested in the background of children and noticed the large impact family had on how they performed at school. She went on to work at the United Cerebral Palsy of New York City and in 1992 joined the Apple Pre-School team. “I realized that I was really more interested not so much in techniques on how to teach reading, but in terms of the whole child and how they fi t into their family and community,” Brizel said. It was the same experience for Harley, originally from Queens Village but now living in Nassau County, as she majored in elementary education and while studying did some student teaching in what she describes as “deprived” areas. “I found that children couldn’t learn if they didn’t eat, if there were home problems and you really had to get to the root of the problem before they could learn,” said Harley, who went on to work for the Department of Social Services, specializing in foster care, and then Schneider Children’s Hospital before starting at her current position in 1990. Both women not only deal with the educational aspect of the children, but are also concerned with each unique family situation. In Brizel’s case, she is also the intake coordinator, meaning she helps families arrange an evaluation at the pre-school for their child and ensures family members that the team at the school will help them throughout the whole process. Harley and Brizel also help provide guidance, shortterm counseling and crisis intervention for families. Once the child is identifi ed and places within the pre-school program, the families also get referrals to resources in the community such as medical and hospital services, supplies, equipment and benefi ts, such as food stamps and Medicaid. Each of the social workers also gets together with a “team,” including psychologists, teachers, therapists, classroom assistants and school administrators to analyze individual cases. Both women say it is very rewarding to be in a place where all staff members come to work to help the children and do what they can to make each day great. They said the holidays are a lot of fun, as Apple Pre-School holds events for the children, including numerous Santa visits. The school also hosts fundraisers for the children and has made various submissions to the Make-A-Wish foundation, granting some children the chance to go to Disney World. “At the end of the day you come home and you feel like you really touched somebody’s life,” Brizel said. “In the end, you really feel like you made a difference.” THE COURIER/ Photo by Angy Altamirano Linda Brizel and Joan Harley have been social workers at Apple Pre-School, part of Queens Centers for Progress, for the past two decades. I WILL HEAR BETTER THIS YEAR Gloria Boms, Au.D. Doctor of Audiology Helping people improve the quality of their lives through better hearing for over 25 years. 516.708.4844 107 Northern Blvd, Ste 309 Great Neck, NY 11021 gbaudiology.com PLLC JOIN US Better Hearing Event March 25–27 Attend our event and receive: • Complimentary consultation and hearing screening • In-office demonstration of the latest hearing technology • Free clean and check of your current hearing technology • Special savings, and much, much more st $500 OFF of the 2013 THE QUEENS QueensCourier.com Place a two-device AGX Hearing™ system Cannot be combined with any other offer. Applicable with AGX5, 7, or 9 technology. Expires 4/4/2014.
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