The Mosaic | Fall 2024 Edition

Message from the President and CEO

Home is where the heart is. Nowhere is that truer than at Samaritan Daytop Village.

When a client completes treatment for a behavioral health disorder, our work does not end there. The next step is to consider the client’s housing needs – whether a place where others like them are seeking jobs, reuniting with families, or starting over in their golden years. If needed, we support their search for permanent housing where they can continue their lifelong path of recovery.

Our history with shelters and housing continues to evolve and grow. We are emerging into a new era as both a builder of affordable homes and a landlord. This is part of our long-term commitment to offering sustainable, healthy homes to our clients in need of housing stability.

We are about to break ground on the Highbridge, an award-winning high-rise building design by Magnusson Architecture and Planning, PC. – a first in the agency’s history that will include supportive, transitional, and affordable units.

Highbridge’s green design has become a model for future affordable housing. We are proud of this distinction, and the same is true for the renovations currently underway at the Wakefield Apartments and a series of building renovations in Harlem and the Bronx – all of them permanent housing programs. We profile the Director of Permanent Supportive Housing in this edition of the Mosaic.

As we celebrate the upcoming launch of new housing projects, we also celebrate a few first anniversaries, namely the Tompkins Avenue Men’s Shelter on Staten Island and the Northern Boulevard Shelter for Women in Douglaston, Queens.

We also applaud Antoine Johnson's one-year success as our Education Coordinator. His newly created position, funded by New York City Public Schools, has reduced chronic absenteeism among students in our family transitional programs.

We have also been thrilled to see the accomplishments of some special programs we have set up at a few of our shelters. Increased efforts to expand harm reduction education and Narcan training at the Forbell Men’s Shelter are saving lives.

And a pilot mental health program, Project STAR, is making a difference for women at two shelters.

As you review this edition of the Mosaic, we hope you will see how integral housing programs are to Samaritan Daytop Village’s services and its continuum of care. After all, home has been at the heart of our services for decades now.

As always, thank you to everyone who continues to support and champion the agency! I hope to see you at our Annual Gala tomorrow.

Best to you and yours,

Mitchell Netburn

President & CEO

Highbridge to Break Ground in the Bronx

Bringing more than 300 affordable apartments to the Bronx, the Highbridge will break ground in December. The new environmentally friendly building will become a model for supportive, transitional, and affordable housing in the future.

GET THE SCOOP

Renovations Continue in Harlem and the Bronx

Samaritan Daytop Village is continuing its comprehensive renovations of the Wakefield Apartments in the Bronx in addition to a cluster of buildings in Harlem. When completed, they will provide energy-efficient permanently affordable housing, and for the first time, we will serve triple duty as owner, operator, and landlord.

FIND OUT MORE

Older Women's Shelter Celebrates First Year

One year after opening its doors in Douglaston, Queens, the Program Director of the Northern Boulevard Women's Shelter reflects on the tremendous success and how an open line of communications with the community made the difference.

TAKE A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

Staten Island Men's Shelter Approaches Anniversary

The Tompkins Avenue Men's Shelter made history last year when it became the first shelter to open on Staten Island. As the program nears its first anniversary this December, the Program Director talks about the shelter's special purpose and the strong sense of community in the borough.

GET TO KNOW TOMPKINS AVENUE

Increased Harm Reduction Efforts at Forbell Saves Lives

Deaths from opiate overdoses was a daily occurrence in homeless shelters. That soon changed with the introduction of a series of harm reduction initiatives: Narcan training, strategic community partnerships, and peer recovery staff. Every day, the Forbell Men's Shelter is a powerful case study for harm reduction, with numbers to prove its worth as a life-saving strategy for the shelter system and beyond.

HOW HARM REDUCTION SAVES LIVES AT FORBELL

NEWS BRIEFS / FALL 2024

Over the last three months we have generated some great news across our housing programs. Here are a few news stories from the Boulevard Family Residence, Forbell Men's Shelter, and Bridge Haven Family Residence.

GET UP TO DATE

Project STAR: An Overview

A federal grant funded a team of clinical mental health and creative art therapists to screen, assess, and treat women in two shelters for previously undiagnosed substance use and mental health disorders. Project STAR's behavioral health services are an exception rather than a rule in the shelter system. We spoke with Program Director Taina Delaney about the pilot program.

CHECK OUT THE Q&A

PROFILE: Director's Call to Service Leads to Career in

Permanent Supportive Housing

Amy Greco has spent her entire career working for only two nonprofits. Yet, it took almost 20 years before she was introduced to the world of supportive housing. Today, she is the Director of Permanent Supportive Housing, an exciting and growing housing category at Samaritan Daytop Village that includes the Wakefield Apartments and, in the future, Highbridge.

GET THE STORY

Education Champion Reduces Student Absenteeism

When a child in a family residence is absent from school for multiple days, Education Coordinator Antoine Johnson steps in. In one year, his unique position has helped reduce chronic absenteeism and boosted academic performance across Samaritan Daytop Village's transitional housing programs.

LEARN MORE

Grant and Legislative Appropriations Round-Up

Thanks to a number of Federal, State, and private funds, Samaritan Daytop Village has been making some exciting enhancements to its programs and services.

FIND OUT MORE

Ahead in 2024: Calendar of Events

Join Samaritan Daytop Village and Samaritan Daytop Foundation at upcoming events and trainings this Fall.

OCTOBER - DECEMBER

Upcoming Events

9th Annual Samaritan Daytop Foundation Gala "Stronger With You"

benefiting the programs and services of Samaritan Daytop Village

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Reception: 6:30 p.m.

Dinner & Program: 7:30 p.m.

Guastavino's

409 E. 59th Street | New York City

Festive Attire

Honorees:

Constance Marks, Filmmaker
Fernando Villa, FAIA, Principal and Lead Designer of Magnusson Architecture and Planning, PC

Tickets, Sponsorships, and Donations.

Woodside Older Adult Center

Haunted House

October 14-18, 21-25, 28-31, 2024

Time: 2-6 p.m.

Admission: $3 (ages 12 and over) / $1 (ages 11 and under)

Note: Children 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult.

Woodside Senior Center

50-37 Newtown Road

Woodside, NY 11377

Download flyer

10th Annual Veteran Alumni Elite Black Tie Dinner and Award Ceremony

A celebration of the Veterans Programs' alumni elite with The Herd, The Hooch, and The Haven.

October 23, 2024

Time: 5-9 p.m.

By Invitation Only

2024 New York City Veterans Day Parade (Produced by the United War Veterans Council)

November 11, 2024

Look for the Samaritan Daytop Village Veterans Programs staff and clients as we proudly march again in the nation's largest Veteran's Day parade celebration.

Ongoing Trainings

Question, Persuade, and Refer (QPR) Suicide Prevention Training (Zoom)

PARC (Peer Alliance Recovery Centers)

Second Tuesday of the month

October 28, 2024

Time: 12-1:30 p.m.

Cost: Free

QPR stands for "Question, Persuade, and Refer." Attendees learn how to be gatekeepers and take citizen action to potentially save lives and deter suicides.

To register, contact Jessica Feliciano, Patricia Benecke, or call 929-244-1445 (Queens) or 929-244-1500 (Bronx).

Virtual Narcan Training (Zoom)

PARC (Peer Alliance Recovery Centers)

2nd and 4th Fridays of the month

October 11 or 25, 2024

November 8 or 22, 2024

December 13 or 27, 2024

Time: 12-1:30 p.m.

Cost: Free

Learn the signs of an opioid overdose, what Narcan is, and how to administer it. Classes are online but in-person, group sessions can be arranged. Upon completion, students receive a free Narcan rescue kit.

To register, contact Jessica Feliciano, Patricia Benecke, or call 929-244-1445 (Queens) or 929-244-1500 (Bronx).