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F a l l 2 018
The magazine of Community Access
A CHAMPION FOR NEW YORKERS By John Turturro
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John Turturro on a Life Transformed A New Building in the Bronx A Look Inside the Crisis Respite Center
It was a startling realization, and it’s exactly what happened. When our mother died, I became Ralph’s legal guardian. Since then, I’ve tried to provide him with some comfort and stability in his life. As anyone who’s been in my position knows, there’s only so much one person can do. The journey has been difficult, bewildering, and emotionally draining. Then, something happened. I met Steve Coe, and I discovered Community Access. Life has been different ever since – for me, and, more importantly, for Ralph.
ommunity Access has launched the biggest fundraising effort in the agency’s history: The Coe Campaign to Raise $4 Million, named in honor of visionary CEO Steve Coe, who will be retiring next June after 40 years of service.
Inside this issue…
When we got there that day, all the lights went out. It was the day of the blackout that affected 50 million people. Still, we were allowed to take him out on his pass, which he had been very much looking forward to. We drove around and ate pizza together and had some laughs. But as I looked over at my mother, another thought occurred to me: My mother wouldn’t be here forever, and, one day, caring for Ralph would be my sole responsibility.
This is my Community Access story.
In the years since I found Community Access, the mystifying landscape of mental health and housing has become much more manageable. And I no longer worry whether people like Ralph have a champion in New York City. Community Access is that champion, a fact obvious to anyone who’s seen Community Access’ work up close.
When my older brother Ralph first started showing signs of a serious mental health condition, he was still a young man, living in our parents’ basement.
A few years ago, Ralph became a Community Access tenant, and his life has been transformed.
Over the course of his life, Ralph has been labeled with every diagnosis you can think of. He’s been through therapy and endured shock treatments. He’s been medicated, and suffered the side effects of being medicated – weight gain, tremors, diabetes. He has struggled to live independently, and has been in and out of institutions and different places all his adult life.
In his building, as a participant at East Village Access, and as an artist in the Art Collective program, Ralph is regarded as a human being in full – not as a diagnosis, or a problem to be solved. He still has struggles, but he knows he has a supportive, loving community to lift him up through it all, and to help him make informed decisions about his own life.
I agreed to chair this campaign because I know just how important Community Access is in the lives of so many of our fellow New Yorkers. I know this, because I’ve seen it in my own life.
While our father was dying of cancer, and losing his booming voice, Ralph’s voice was becoming louder, and more anguished. It was a sign of what was to come. I vividly remember, one hot August afternoon in 2003, driving with my mother to visit Ralph in Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens. Growing up in the Rosedale neighborhood, I never would’ve imagined that I’d be visiting my brother in this psychiatric hospital. Kids in the neighborhood often joked about ending up at Creedmoor. It had been a childish punchline; but now it had become my brother’s reality. He lived there for 11 years.
Ralph (left) and John Turturro in baseball uniforms and equipment Ralph bought with his savings
“A few years ago, Ralph became a Community Access tenant, and his life has been transformed. “ have been improved during his tenure as CEO – including me. But his work will be far from finished. That’s why I’m so honored to chair The Coe Campaign. I hope you will join me in this effort, to help ensure that our NYC neighbors like Ralph continue to have a champion they deserve. Every dollar counts, and I hope you will contribute whatever amount you can to help us celebrate Steve Coe.
THE COE CAMPAIGN TO RAISE $4 MILLION
Ultimately, the promise Community Access makes to people with mental health concerns and their families throughout New York City is this: You don’t need to travel this road alone.
Please help Community Access reach our most important fundraising goal ever and join us in recognizing our visionary leader Steve Coe.
When Steve Coe retires next June, he will leave behind a powerful legacy filled with caring neighbors, and a community of tenants, participants, staff and board members who are ready to carry Community Access’ mission on to new generations. And he will have the gratitude of thousands of people whose lives
Make your 100% tax-deductible donation online today, or call John Williams, Chief Development & Communications Officer: 212-780-1400, ext. 7772 www.communityaccess.org/donate
CEO Steve Coe and Advocacy Coordinator Carla Rabinowitz have been named to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s NYC Crisis Prevention and Response Task Force, where they will lend their expertise to the important issue of police encounters with New Yorkers in crisis. This task force was formed in response to the relentless advocacy of a Community Access-led coalition – and with Steve and Carla onboard, we’re going to make sure it delivers results on this life-or-death issue.
Changing THE
Landscape For too long, the default destination for New Yorkers in emotional distress has been either the emergency room or a jail cell. But we’re working hard to establish a new paradigm – replacing locked doors and isolation with empathy and selfdetermination. Community Access’ Crisis Respite Center is a haven for New Yorkers during their most vulnerable times, as a cost-effective alternative to emergency hospitalization for adults in emotional distress. Staffed round-the-clock with peer professionals (people with lived experience of receiving mental health services who are trained to provide support to others), the Respite Center provides a safe, supportive, home-like environment where guests can exhale, recharge, and be reminded of their inherent worth and dignity. People leave the Respite Center with greater peace of mind, and a plan for facing the days ahead with composure and confidence. In light of recent high profile suicides, The New York Times and amNewYork highlighted Community Access’ Crisis Respite Center as an essential resource.
Community Access, Inc. | 17 Battery Place, Suite 1326 | New York, NY 10004 | Phone: 212-780-1400
www.communityaccess.org
Marcia Richard, a proud peer training graduate, recently represented Community Access at the United Nations at an international forum addressing political and civic leaders and several UN general assembly members from around the world. Marcia eloquently described her own experience in the criminal justice system, and called for more humane alternatives to incarceration for people living with mental concerns.
The Respite Center is staffed 24/7 by trained peer workers whose life experiences have motivated them to help guests on their paths to recovery. Tim Nugent is one such team member, and he knows how to meet people exactly where they are, exactly as they are. “The Respite is a safe place for people to catch their breath and get back on track,” Tim says. “Working there, I can bring my whole self to the job. I can tell people that I’ve felt exactly the same way they feel, and that it won’t be forever. I can be completely myself as I help others find a fresh start.” His favorite part of the job is when former guests check back in with him, letting him know about their continued growth and progress. “There’s nothing better than that.”
Our Health and Wellness Division recently released the first edition of “From Our Kitchens,” a Community Access cookbook consisting of delicious and healthy recipes from tenants, participants, and staff. Inspired by the work of Community Access Food Coordinator Ana Morán, who has spent hours growing crops with participants around town, the cookbook also includes information about New York City food resources, strategies for buying food on a budget, and helpful culinary tips. More than just tasty dishes, these recipes represent stories, traditions, and memories – and most importantly, they bring people together.
A delegation of legislators, policy makers and supportive housing advocates from three California cities spent two days visiting our programs and learning about our supportive housing model, our Crisis Respite Center, and our peer advocacy and training programs. They were highly motivated to learn from Community Access’ 40+ years of experience and to implement best practices in their own communities. Our Changing Minds Young Filmmaker Competition is among the inaugural grantees of The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund’s Arts in Health Initiative. Through sharing and discussing short films made by young people ages 15-25, Changing Minds aims to positively change how we think and talk about youth mental health issues. More than 1,000 young people have submitted films, and screenings are happening all around town at libraries, film festivals, clubs, schools, and colleges.
BRINGING HOMES AND HOPE TO THE BRONX This fall, we will open our newest housing development in New York City, located on 172nd Street in the Mount Eden neighborhood in the Bronx. With 126 apartments, the development invests in the Bronx community and its residents by addressing priority housing needs for New Yorkers who live with mental health concerns, as well as low-income families.
playground and exercise stations to encourage physical fitness; a computer lab; free Wi-Fi; and pet-friendly leases, with opportunities to adopt pets through our Pet Access program. More than putting roofs over people’s heads, this new building will provide our tenants with the keys to building healthier, happier lives.
The building will feature an urban farm with raised growing beds and a hoop house that will enable year-round growing of vegetables; a collaborative commercial kitchen; an outdoor
Beyond the physical walls of the building, the tenants will be welcomed into the larger Community Access family, where they’ll find support and encouragement at every turn.
BE THE CHANGE Ten years ago, Community Access handed Phyllis Fisher a set of keys to her own apartment – a place where she felt truly safe for the first time in her life. With this new home as her foundation, Phyllis set out to make New York a better place for all of us. As member of Community Access’ Program Participant Advisory Group, she never misses an opportunity to make her voice heard, and to advocate for the needs of her fellow tenants.
Moreover, she is very active in Community Access’ broader advocacy efforts – whether traveling to Albany to push the state for more supportive housing funding, or sharing her experience with the NYPD, in hopes that officers will learn to de-escalate encounters with New Yorkers in crisis.
Phyllis is proof of what is possible when you have a place to call your own. She is a change-maker, and we’re lucky to have her as part of our community.