On Saturday, October 23, 2021, the first day of voting in New York City for the upcoming Mayoral Election, Brooklyn Borough President and Mayoral Candidate Eric Adams spent his morning at the Rivera House in Little Neck.
Joined by Life’s WORC Founder Victoria Schneps Yunis, CEO Janet Koch and Board Chair Lynne Koufakis, Adams was given a tour and sat down to meet with the residents, some of them former Willowbrook residents who were among the first to live in a Life’s WORC home after the institution was shut down. Mr. Adams listened intently to the stories and challenges that both the Life’s WORC representatives and the people living in the home shared about Willowbrook and their life since in the Rivera house.
Janet Koch provided Mr. Adams with a more complete understanding of Life’s WORC’s offerings as well as the challenges it now faces, particularly relating to workforce shortages. He immediately offered assistance, and intends to create an advisory committee to help address some of these challenges at the city level.
Along with representatives from Life’s WORC, the event was attended by InterAgency Council of Developmental Disabilities Agencies, Inc. (IAC) Executive Director Thomas McAlvanah, AHRC New York City CEO Marco R. Damiani, Mercury LLC Co-Chairman Jeffrey D. Klein, Pitta LLP Senior Government Relations Specialist Branford J. Gonzalez-Sussman, Esq,, and Quality Services for the Autism Community (QSAC) NY Chairperson Yvette Watts. The group joined together in speaking about the issues and challenges facing the special needs community and sharing their concerns with the Mayoral Candidate.
We would like to thank Eric Adams for taking the time to learn more about Life’s WORC and the people we support, and for the initiatives he is taking on to help us ensure we can continue to meet our mission moving forward.
To hear more of Eric Adam’s conversation with the industry executives, please watch the video below.