We caught up with Andrea Cimino––known to all as Drea––about her work with JCCA's Westchester Day Treatment program and supporting LGBTQ clients. How did you find yourself in this field? Life hasn’t always been kind. Like many of the youth I work with, I’ve had my own...
I had a difficult adolescence and by the time I reached adulthood I was deeply addicted to drugs. I lost a son to medical complications as a result. Thankfully my other children were born healthy, but I continued to use all the same. While pregnant with my youngest...
We caught up with Leonard Leveille, Director of JCCA’s Helping Hands for Families program, to learn more about his unexpected career in social work. Where does your professional story begin? I grew up in Brooklyn, in a family of hardworking Haitian immigrants who...
When Anthony Robinson last appeared on JCCA’s blog, in 2015, he was a 19-year-old college freshman described as “charming, motivated, ambitious.” A strong student and accomplished track athlete who spoke of a career in law enforcement, Anthony was clearly a young man...
(Click here to read Part 1: Growing Out of the Orphanage) It was the turn of the century and Samuel Levy, President of the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society, knew that “the glorious work of individualizing children” was due for a modernizing leap forward. A lawyer...
(Click here to read Part 2: A New Paradigm for Care) The age of the orphanage lives on in the popular imagination in works like Oliver Twist and Annie. We envision crowded mess halls and tightly packed beds lining cold, institutional rooms, where lonely children eked...
We sat down with Sarah Goldstein, a clinician and supervisor in JCCA's Child-Parent Psychotherapy program, to learn more about her career and a connection to JCCA that dates back to before she was born. I was raised in Westchester and aware of JCCA as a child. The...
On the occasion of her recognition by the 67th Precinct Clergy Council and a slew of NYC elected officials for her work in the community, JCCA sat down with Lamacca Holmes, Director of the East Flatbush Community Partnership, to talk about her life and career. What...
After nearly two decades working with grieving families, followed by a period of hardship in her own life, Yessenia Gomez began a career at JCCA. We sat down with her to learn more. Tell us about your role. I’m a Family Support Specialist on the Pleasantville campus....
On the occasion of her retirement we spoke to beloved Pleasantville Cottage Campus veteran Liticia McKnight about her career and the inspiration behind it. What led you to working with youth and to JCCA? I’ve been in the field pretty much my whole career. Right away I...