Bill Text: NY J01208 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Commending Brooklyn Community Housing and Services upon the occasion of hosting its 40th Anniversary Gala "Feels Like Home" on May 15, 2019

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-04-30 - ADOPTED [J01208 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-J01208-Introduced.html

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Senate Resolution No. 1208

BY: Senator MONTGOMERY

        COMMENDING Brooklyn Community Housing and Services
        upon  the  occasion  of hosting its 40th Anniversary
        Gala "Feels Like Home" on May 15, 2019

  WHEREAS, It is the custom of this Legislative Body to recognize that
the quality and character of life in the  communities  across  New  York
State  are  reflective  of  the concerned and dedicated efforts of those
organizations and individuals who would devote themselves to the welfare
of the community and its citizenry; and

  WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is justly proud to  commend  Brooklyn
Community  Housing  and  Services  upon the occasion of hosting its 40th
Anniversary "Feels Like Home" Gala to be celebrated  on  Wednesday,  May
15, 2019, at BKLYN Studios in Brooklyn, New York; and

  WHEREAS,  Founded  in  1978,  as  Pastoral  and Educational Services
(PAES) by a group of clergy and concerned  citizens  from  the  Downtown
Brooklyn  community  who  were concerned about the number of people with
mental illness who were sleeping on the street  and  seeking  help  from
local  churches;  they  later  changed  their name to Brooklyn Community
Housing and Services (BCHS); and

  WHEREAS, Brooklyn Community Housing and Services (BCHS) is committed
to ending homelessness in Brooklyn and empowering all the  residents  of
its  home  community  of  Fort  Greene and the surrounding neighborhoods
through   innovative   and   comprehensive   social,   educational   and
job-training   programs   that   enable  residents  to  achieve  maximum
independence; and

  WHEREAS, Every year, BCHS provides clean and safe supportive housing
and services to more than 1,000 formerly homeless  families  and  single
adults and helps them to learn how to live independently; and

  WHEREAS,   BCHS'   programs  provide  short-term,  transitional  and
permanent   housing,   homelessness   prevention,   personalized    case
management,  mental  health  care, on-site nursing, vocational training,
substance abuse counselling, recreational  activities  and  other  vital
services; and

  WHEREAS,  In  1980,  BCHS  began  one  of  the  first Scattered-Site
Apartment Programs for homeless mentally ill adults in the country,  and
then  embarked  upon  an ambitious construction project, called Brooklyn
Gardens (BG), which opened in 1991; located in  Fort  Greene,  BG  is  a
180-bed  complex  serving formerly homeless families, adults with severe
psychiatric disorders, and adults with a chronic mental illness; and

  WHEREAS, Most recently, BCHS was part of a  team  that  opened  Navy
Green, a 97-bed award-winning supportive housing building on the site of
the  former  Navy  jail,  and  has  created  innovative  programming for
low-income  households  facing  eviction,  military  veterans,  formerly
homeless  seniors,  and  individuals with histories of incarceration who
are returning to the community; and

  WHEREAS, The success of BCHS is in direct correlation to the efforts
of its Executive Director Jeff Nemetsky, Board of Directors, and  staff,
whose   involvement  is,  and  always  has  been,  characterized  by  an
impressive commitment, an unbridled enthusiasm,  and  an  uncompromising
standard of excellence in all endeavors on behalf of the institution and
the community it serves; and

  WHEREAS,  It  is  the  sense  of  this  Legislative  Body  that when
organizations of such noble aims and accomplishments are brought to  our
attention,  they should be celebrated and recognized by all the citizens
of this great Empire State; now, therefore, be it

  RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its  deliberations  to
commend  Brooklyn  Community  Housing  and Services upon the occasion of
hosting its 40th Anniversary Gala "Feels Like Home" on May 15, 2019; and
be it further

  RESOLVED, That a copy of this  Resolution,  suitably  engrossed,  be
transmitted  to  Jeff  Nemetsky,  Executive Director, Brooklyn Community
Housing and Services.