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.