FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM MAY 3, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 21
‘Jamaica Together’ brings street cleanings and
employment opportunities to formerly homeless
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
Th e latest in a series of revitalization
eff orts in downtown Jamaica brings cleaner
streets and some new jobs for those in need.
On May 1, Queens Borough President
Melinda Katz and local leaders announced
the launch of the “Jamaica Together” cleaning
initiative. Th e pilot program will bring
cleaning services to the Guy R. Brewer
Boulevard corridor between Tuskegee
Airmen Way and 109th Avenue and will
run until Oct. 30.
Th e cleaning services will be provided by
full-time workers paid by the Association
of Community Employment Programs
(ACE), a nonprofi t organization that works
to provide the city’s recovering homeless
individuals with work experience, support
services and motivation. Th e workers will
focus on cleaning sidewalks and tree pits
and removing unwanted graffi ti from walls
and public areas, according to Katz.
Th e program is also co-sponsored by the
Jamaica NOW Leadership Council, community
leaders charged with implementing
the Jamaica NOW Action Plan. Developed
by Katz and the de Blasio administration,
the $153 million plan seeks to revitalize
the neighborhood by bringing in additional
housing, commercial space and other
improvements.
Th e press conference took place outside
of the Th omas White Jr. Foundation’s
headquarters on Tuskegee Airmen Way,
where cleaning supplies for the program
will be stored.
The initiative is also co-sponsored
by Councilman I. Daneek Miller,
Councilwoman Adrienne Adams,
Community Board 12 and the city’s
Department of Sanitation, who will make
additional visits to the neighborhood to
pick up the excess trash.
Jamaica, a “community on the move,”
will be well-served by the cleanup program,
Katz said.
“It’s an exciting time here in Jamaica,
Queens,” Katz said. “Th is is what happens
when you have a community working
together.”
“We’re just thrilled to have an opportunity
to help more folks,” said James
Martin, executive director of ACE.
“Neighborhoods are defi ned by the cleanliness
Photo by Suzanne Monteverdi/The Courier
of their streets. We hope to make this
a place where folks want to visit and live,
continue to live, and work and play, and at
the same time, give folks a second chance
to work and live independently.”
Jamaica was also recently awarded an
additional $10 million grant from the state
as part of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s
Downtown Revitalization Initiative.
Queens Borough President Melinda Katz and Jamaica leaders at the launch
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in F.H. honored for helping homeless
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com/@jen_bagcal
For the past 15 years, St. Luke’s
Episcopal Church in Forest Hills has partnered
with Queens Community House to
tackle homelessness in the area.
Aft er almost two decades of dedication,
the church was recognized at QCH’s
Annual Celebrating Local Champions
Reception on Wednesday, May 2, at the
historical West Side Tennis Club.
“We always have someone in mind
for the award and Saint Luke’s was an
obvious candidate,” said Jennifer Weil,
the communications coordinator for the
Queens Community House.
Weil added that St. Luke’s mission is
unique in that it aims to be an interfaith
organization that is extremely involved
in the community, which was one of the
deciding factors for the organization to
honor the church.
Reverend Th omas R. Reese, rector for
Saint Luke’s for the past 19 years, attended
the reception on behalf of the church,
and said he is both “honored and humbled”
that Saint Luke’s was recognized.
Father Reese said that the church has
partnered with Queens Community
House by donating to their food pantries
and providing gift s to families with children
during the holidays.
Th e donated food goes to one of two
pantries: one is dedicated to emergency use
and is open to people in special cases, such
as those who have suff ered domestic abuse.
Th e purpose of this is “so that women and
children can have access on a short-term
basis,” according to Father Reese.
Th e other food pantry is open every
Wednesday during “regular hours” and is
open to anyone who needs it.
Father Reese estimates that about 50
to 60 people in the congregation make
donations to QCH during the year, but
the number of contributors can reach up
to 100 during the holiday season.
Another aspect of the work that St.
Luke’s does is the holiday toy drive,
during which the church and QCH gives
wrapped and labeled gift s to children
whose families are in need.
“A lot of feedback I get is that it takes
the burden off of families during a
stressful time of year,” Weil said. She adds
that the donations from the toy drive is
“huge for parents” and takes away their
fi nancial stress, since the money they save
can be used for other necessities.
When the church started running the
toy drive, Weil estimated that it helped
about 30 families. Currently, Father Reese
said that gift s are donated to about 100 to
115 children yearly.
Queens Community House also awarded
Adolfo Steve Vasquez the Queens
Community Builder Award. Vasquez is
the founder of Queenscapes, a community
based organization that works to provide
photography programs for schools,
businesses and other organizations.
Photo courtesy of Queens Community House
Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church was honored for their work with homelessness
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