Our WJCS programs and staff are having a great start to the summer! Here are some highlights.
Opening day of our Summer Fun in Hartley Park program in Mount Vernon was filled with smiling faces of children and parents who are eager to engage in fun, entertaining, and educational activities.
Deloitte volunteers dedicated their Impact Day to making care packages filled with family summer activities for children in WJCS programs and did some spring cleaning at the WJCS ParentChild+ Summer Fun in Hartley Park program in Mount Vernon.
WJCS launched a Mobile Crisis Response Team in partnership with the Peekskill Police Department and the Westchester County Department of Community Mental Health. We are excited about this innovative initiative which will provide an effective response and follow-up to crises which involve individuals with mental health and substance use challenges.
Members of our POINT (Pursuing Our INdependence Together) community have been enjoying the warm weather with activities that included a hike along the Peekskill Riverwalk (above) and an outdoor movie night in the backyard of WJCS headquarters (below).
WJCS Center Lane’s annual LGBTQ+ Prom was a huge success, as were our many Pride Month activities, including participation in Westchester Pride and Yonkers Pride, Pride Outdoor Movie Night, and special Center Lane photo sessions.
We are thrilled to share the news that WJCS has received a $2 million federal grant ($400,000 a year for five years). The grant is from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and is for our trauma program. It will allow us to expand services at the WJCS Trager Lemp Center for Treating Trauma & Promoting Resilience for those ages 8-21, with a focus on those impacted by Covid, black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), including those who are undocumented, LGBTQ+ youth, and youth with intensive mental health needs resulting from multiple traumas.
Congratulations to our 2022 WJCS Staff Award winners who were recognized at our Annual Meeting at Westchester Reform Temple. You make us #WJCSProud!
The Batkin Award
Residence Manager, Claremont House
Clinician of the Year Award
Ana Rodgers
Leonard Rohmer Award
Tamara Robinson
Program Coordinator, Infant-Toddler Center
Bernie Kimberg
Employee of the Year Award
Aaron Teplitsky
Welcome to our new WJCS Board President Bruce M. Freyer! And thank you to our outgoing Board President Mariquita Blumberg. We are so grateful to both of you and all of our WJCS Board Members for your hard work and dedication to WJCS’s mission to helping people who are struggling in Westchester County.
After a two-year hiatus due to the Covid pandemic, attendees at our Annual WJCS Picnic were especially appreciative.
