NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health Launches SBH CARES
SBH Cares is a joint vocational program between the hospital and local high schools, with a goal of improving job-readiness skills for young people in South Brooklyn and surrounding communities
Jun 28, 2024
Today NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health announced the launch of the South Brooklyn Health Collaborative Action for Resilience + Empowerment = Success (SBH C.A.R+E=S), which is a first-of-its-kind joint vocational program between South Brooklyn Health and local high schools, with a goal of improving job-readiness skills for young people in South Brooklyn and surrounding communities. The 2023-2024 academic school year pilot program focused on students and alumni of Liberation Diploma Plus High School – a transfer high school for “at-risk” students in Coney Island. South Brooklyn Health Public Affairs and Human Resources staff developed an educational series and selected administrative and clinical leaders to instruct students on a monthly basis at the high school on the following topics: substance use disorder, gun violence, teen pregnancy, health & wellness, financial literacy, job readiness, and exploring career options in: nursing, radiology, laboratory, finance, medicine, and medical informatics. In addition to the educational series, currently enrolled Liberation Diploma + High School students and alumni were screened and selected by the high school and placed at South Brooklyn Health for paid-internships in select departments, including nursing, laboratory, radiology, and the finance departments. Students were supervised by South Brooklyn Health staff preceptors to support and guide them through work assignments.
“I am incredibly proud of the SBH C.A.R+E=S initiative, which allows South Brooklyn Health to live up to its social responsibility and provide career opportunities for our young people,” said South Brooklyn Health Chief Executive Officer Svetlana Lipyanskaya. “We have a duty to be good citizens of our community and to build support networks and pathways to prosperity for our young people. I am so pleased that we will now expand the program beyond Liberation Diploma + High School to additional high schools in the coming years.”
“Co-leading the development and implementation of SBH C.A.R+E=S has been amongst the most impactful work I’ve done in my decades long experience in health care, said South Brooklyn Health Director of Strategic Initiatives and Public Affairs Bridgette Ingraham-Roberts. “Our young people should be afforded opportunities that allow them to realize the American dream. They should be valued and nurtured to take advantage of the infinite possibilities that will come their way.”
“This has been an incredible experience assisting with the advancement of SBH C.A.R+E=S and working with young adults to help shape a better future,” said South Brooklyn Health Director of Recruitment Bonny Williams. “It is not only an investment in their potential but also a commitment to creating a more dynamic and progressive society.”
“South Brooklyn Health gave my students the opportunity to explore new possibilities for careers, for a future that they may not have envisioned for themselves before,” said Liberation Diploma Plus High School Principal April Leong. “For that I am grateful. The belief that all things are possible is what I have fought for since I opened Liberation 17 years ago.”
“The opportunity to collaborate with South Brooklyn Health is hugely impactful for our students. Most of the youth we serve are overlooked when it comes to esteemed mentorship,” said Director of Secondary and Post-Secondary Initiatives, JCCA Lisa DeCastillo. “This partnership is one step towards the direction of equity. It has allowed our students to move from those that receive care, to those that can give care. This transition is integral in the progression of our young people and the greater Coney Island community.”
In 2022, NYC Health + Hospitals issued its triennial Community Health Needs Assessment, where violence emerged as a pressing public health issue that impacts residents’ health and quality of life. In response, South Brooklyn Health hosted a Community Conversation on Gun Violence: A Public Health Issue in South Brooklyn with representatives from the NYPD, the Mayor’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention Taskforce, community leaders, and South Brooklyn Health providers.
The community forum crystallized South Brooklyn Health’s moral imperative to support young people in our community by providing an alternative path to violence. This call to action was further supported by our community residents sharing in the needs assessment that the community lacks resources for young people, as there are no youth centers or activities available for this population. Residents also believed it would also be helpful to have more education and vocational training resources for young people to set them up for success in the future in a number of ways.
South Brooklyn Health heard the community’s call and partnered with Liberation Diploma Plus High School, and in the coming years will add more high schools to the program.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Bridgette Ingraham-Roberts, NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health, 646-937-2945
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About NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health
NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health and its 341-bed Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hospital and Health & Wellness Institute is one of the public health system’s 10 acute care health care campuses that offers general and acute medical care to adults and children. The Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hospital offers modern trauma and emergency care, inpatient services for primary and acute care in general medicine, adult medicine, pediatrics, general surgery, medical and surgical sub-specialties, coronary care, intensive care, obstetrics and gynecology, midwifery, neonatology, critical care, rehabilitation medicine, psychiatry, and behavioral health. Its Health & Wellness Institute with over 40 ambulatory care practices provides patient and caregiver centered primary and specialty care to residents of South Brooklyn and the surrounding communities. The hospital has designations as a Certified Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) Center, an Advanced Primary Stroke Center, an accredited Baby-Friendly Hospital, a U.S. News & World Report high performing hospital, a SAFE Center of Excellence under the Sexual Assault Reform Act, Designated AIDS Center (DACs), and Level 2 Perinatal Center.
About NYC Health + Hospitals
NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest municipal health care system in the nation. We are a network of 11 hospitals, trauma centers, neighborhood health centers, nursing homes, and post-acute care centers. We are a home care agency and a health plan, MetroPlus. Our health system provides essential services to more than one million New Yorkers every year in more than 70 locations across the city’s five boroughs. Our diverse workforce of more than 43,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.