Good Things

TECH GRANT TO EXPAND UNIVERSITY’S LEARNING EXPERIENCE

NEW LEADERSHIP FOR HUDSON VALLEY’S FAMILY SERVICES PROGRAM

Leah Feldman has been selected as CEO for Family Services, headquartered in Poughkeepsie. Prior to her appointment, she served as the nonprofit’s chief program officer and was the driving force for seven program areas in a dozen locations covering Dutchess, Ulster and Orange counties.

Feldman now leads more than 220 employees and oversees a $25 million-plus organization that serves nearly 17,000 children, adults and families annually to bring people together to find the support they need. It also oversees the Family Partnership Center, a 100,000-plus-square-foot campus that acts as a central hub for nonprofits and related organizations to come together to exchange ideas, engage in community activities and offer enhanced services.

Feldman’s passion to empower women is what led her to become both a local and nationwide visionary and domestic violence (DV) expert, establishing a DV court monitoring program with the American Association of University Women. She is the co-author of the 2010 Citizens Advisory Committee on Domestic Violence System-wide Review and Recommendations, which assessed local systems and provided state recommendations for homicide prevention. Her statewide advocacy efforts, including writing and presenting New York state legislation to enhance safety measures for victims resulted in the addition of two laws to the NYS Criminal Procedure Law.

Dominican University New York, which was elevated to university status in May 2022, was recently awarded a $1.98 million grant to provide the campus community with enhanced technology, increased broadband access and additional IT training and support. The grant is part of the U.S. Dept. of Commerce National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) Internet for All initiative.

During the first week of March, the NTIA announced 61 minority-serving colleges and universities across the country received grants through the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program. Dominican University in Orangeburg was the only institution of higher education in New York to receive the grant, which will help improve wireless access on the campus, allow it to purchase hotspot access equipment,

DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR APPOINTED

Wi-Fi extenders and headphones to be lent to students for long-term use. Additional IT staff members will also be hired to offer technological training and support.

“We are so grateful for this, which will enable us to fund technological improvements on the campus and will greatly enhance the education experience of our students, “said Sr. Mary Eileen O’Brien, OP, Ph.D., president.

PARTNERS PROVIDE SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL SUPPORT FOR CHILDREN

Westchester Jewish Community Services (WJCS) and the Youth Community Outreach Program (Y-COP) recently announced their partnership to provide men-tal health support, case and re-ferral management and pro-gramming for social-emotional development for children, from kindergarten through high school, in Y-COP’s after-school programs.

WJCS is the county’s largest provider of outpatient mental health services and Y-COP is a leading provider of youth-focused programs to the Mount Vernon community. Under the partner-ship, WJCS will provide staff on-site at Y-COP’s programs. The onsite staff will provide mental health counseling for young peo-ple in Y-COP’s programs who are identified as needing support, provide support for parents in dealing with their children’s needs and train Y-COP’s staff to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health strug-gles.

“By bringing our services to Y-COP’s programs we can make accessing support easier for young people and do it in envi-ronment where they feel com-fortable. The pandemic, social media and academic and peer pressure have all combined to create tremendous stress for families in Mount Vernon and throughout the country,” said Seth Diamond, CEO, Westches-ter Jewish Community Services.

This partnership between WJCS and Y-COP will only strengthen commitment to our youth and their families and their overall mental health well-being,” said Henry Wilson, executive director, of Y-COP The Youth-Community Outreach Program Inc. (Y-COP), is a year-round, licensed child care pro-gram providing after school, out of school, summer day camp, basketball instruction, counse-lorsin-training, girls empower-ment group, volunteer communi-ty service, teen mentoring and more for youth 5 – 15 years of age.

Westchester Jewish Community Services has been serving those most vulnerable in Westchester county since its founding in 1943. It is a nonsectarian, not-for-profit, trauma-informed human service agency and its mission is to help people of all ages and back-grounds cope with emotional, cognitive, environmental, physi-cal, interpersonal, social and ed-ucational challenges.

Support Connection Inc. recently announced that Debbie Campbell has been appointed to the position of director of development and communications. She will be the lead staff member, working closely with the executive director, responsible for directing and managing the development and communications functions of the organization. Also, Campbell will be responsible for managing the communications and media outreach particularly in promoting and increasing awareness about Support Connection’s free breast, ovarian and gynecological cancer support services.

After earning her Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University and an MBA from Fordham University Campbell entered the financial industry. Her interest in working for nonprofit causes was sparked when she took a hiatus from working in finance to raise her four children. She was inspired to work in roles that are deeply immersed in relationship building and have a genuine and impactful effect on both the organizations she has worked for as well as the communities and audiences they serve.

Support Connection, a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit organization that provides free, confidential support services was founded in 1996. Though based in Yorktown Heights, New York, through their toll-free services they help people across the country. Learn more at supportconnection.org.