#dohmh

Cool Culture is partnering with Department of Homeless Services (DHS)/ Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to provide Cool Culture Family Passes to participating child care programs in family shelters. 

This program provides DHS staff members training on family engagement and encourages the use of the Cool Culture Family Passes for families. 

Malliotakis calls on city to look into DOE spending; City Study Shows Bicycle Ridership Soaring Amid Continued Safety Planning; Activists, officials stand with parents of man shot and killed by police in Brooklyn

Malliotakis calls on city to look into DOE spending –Republican mayoral candidate Nicole Malliotakis on Tuesday demand­ed that the Department of Investigation look into tens of millions in spending by the school system on leadership training. Pointing to an audit by Comptroller Scott Stringer, the Staten Island assemblywoman slammed as “outrageous” the de Blasio administration’s inability to…

STD Rates Spike And NYC Gov't Couldn't Care Less

Today I visited the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, in Long Island City. There is so much important work happening there, but I am particularly interested in their efforts  around early childhood and mental health.

Here is an excerpt from my remarks:

My interest in mental health also springs from personal experience. And because we’re celebrating Black History Month, I’d like to tell  you a little bit about my own family, and how their experience inspired me to  join you in this work.

My maternal great-grandmother was a remarkable woman named Louisa Parris Edwards. Louisa was born and raised in Barbados and got a job  working on a mail ship that traveled between the islands of the Caribbean.  

A wealthy family took a liking to her and invited her to work  for their family in Claremont, New Hampshire. She accepted the offer and brought her children. And eventually she saved up enough money to buy the little house on Mulberry Street that my mother was born in.  

It’s tempting to frame Louisa’s story as another American Dream fulfilled. And in many ways, that rings true –my great-grandmother was able to achieve things in this country that would not have been possible in Barbados.

But the full story is much more complicated than that. Like so many African Americans, she spent much of her life struggling to make a better life for herself and her family and fighting racism.

And because she was not made of steel, I’m sure that sometimes Louisa felt like giving up. I’m sure there were days when she wondered if all her sacrifices were worth it.

My parents also worked really hard for everything they achieved – a struggle that took a toll on them.  

My mom worked in an electronics factory, and my dad was a World War II veteran who worked at a military base. They were also landlords.  And through hard work and perseverance, they built a loving, stable home for my siblings and me.

These achievements are all the more impressive when you consider  the fact that at times, they both suffered from depression, although neither of  them would have called it that.

New York City is going global (and local!); in 2011, 15 New Yorkers were named Brooklyn, 15 were named Dakota, 10 were named Kenya, and 129 were named London. Though none of these names made the top twenty for either boys or girls, this graphic shows the baby names that dominated both the City and New York State.