When temperatures drop below freezing, the New York City Department of Homeless Services calls a Code Blue. Should you see anyone at risk, especially a homeless individual, please call 311. The BronxWorks Homeless Outreach Team will be dispatched to offer assistance.
Notice
With the exception of 24-hour facilities, all BronxWorks offices will be closed on Tuesday, November 11 in observance of Veterans Day.
When it comes to youth workforce programming, you would be hard pressed to find a more experienced and understanding provider than ShaQuanna Cody-McGrew. ShaQuanna’s advantage comes not only from her many years providing direct services to vulnerable members of New York City communities, but also from her own lived experiences.
I got my GED. I attended community college and went on to complete my Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology. My experience connects me to the participants in our programs.”
ShaQuanna grew up in Brooklyn. After receiving her Bachelor’s Degree from Medgar Evers College, she started her career in social services at the Bowery Residents Committee. In 2010, ShaQuanna moved to the Bronx, and in 2015 she started at BronxWorks.
I was looking for larger organizations to grow and develop professionally. I feel like when I came to BronxWorks, I found my home.”
ShaQuanna started in the Young Adult Internship Program (YAIP) as a Case Manager. In 2017, she began her journey to leadership in the role of Senior Resource Coordinator for the inception of the Jobs Plus program. She was later promoted to Assistant Program Director, and finally as the Program Director in 2021. In October 2022, ShaQuanna became the Program Director of BronxWorks Youth Workforce Programs, which includes three adult literacy programs, the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), and the corresponding Work, Learn, and Grow (WLG) program.
To ShaQuanna, workforce programming is about shaping legacies for families. Just like how she was afforded opportunities to succeed through social programs, ShaQuanna is creating those same opportunities for her participants by motivating them to strive for greater heights while developing a mindset for community support.
I feel like social services chose me. I saw how the work I did would affect the loves of others, and being a part of that became my drive and motivation. I was afforded opportunities because of agencies in my community, so being able to pay it forward is part of my life’s mission.”
Outside of work, ShaQuanna is a devoted mother. She loves to spend time with her daughter, playing basketball, swimming, traveling, gaining new experiences and trying new restaurants.
When it comes to youth workforce programming, you would be hard pressed to find a more experienced and understanding provider than ShaQuanna Cody-McGrew. ShaQuanna’s advantage comes not only from her many years providing direct services to vulnerable members of New York City communities, but also from her own lived experiences.
I got my GED. I attended community college and went on to complete my Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology. My experience connects me to the participants in our programs.”
ShaQuanna grew up in Brooklyn. After receiving her Bachelor’s Degree from Medgar Evers College, she started her career in social services at the Bowery Residents Committee. In 2010, ShaQuanna moved to the Bronx, and in 2015 she started at BronxWorks.
I was looking for larger organizations to grow and develop professionally. I feel like when I came to BronxWorks, I found my home.”
ShaQuanna started in the Young Adult Internship Program (YAIP) as a Case Manager. In 2017, she began her journey to leadership in the role of Senior Resource Coordinator for the inception of the Jobs Plus program. She was later promoted to Assistant Program Director, and finally as the Program Director in 2021. In October 2022, ShaQuanna became the Program Director of BronxWorks Youth Workforce Programs, which includes three adult literacy programs, the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), and the corresponding Work, Learn, and Grow (WLG) program.
To ShaQuanna, workforce programming is about shaping legacies for families. Just like how she was afforded opportunities to succeed through social programs, ShaQuanna is creating those same opportunities for her participants by motivating them to strive for greater heights while developing a mindset for community support.
I feel like social services chose me. I saw how the work I did would affect the loves of others, and being a part of that became my drive and motivation. I was afforded opportunities because of agencies in my community, so being able to pay it forward is part of my life’s mission.”
Outside of work, ShaQuanna is a devoted mother. She loves to spend time with her daughter, playing basketball, swimming, traveling, gaining new experiences and trying new restaurants.
BronxWorks is proud of our staff who are dedicated to not only providing critical services to our clients and the communities of the Bronx, but also to helping ensure that our diverse identities and backgrounds are represented throughout the organization. In talking to staff, we are always fascinated by their stories, how they each found their way to BronxWorks, and how so many of them find a kindred purpose in the mission of BronxWorks. Dylan’s story exemplifies why these aspects of our staff are so important.
Dylan grew up in Rhode Island. He attended Hofstra University, earning his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science, Global Studies, and Italian. After graduating in 2015, Dylan joined AmeriCorps for a year. In 2016, Dylan joined the Peace Corps and spent the following two years teaching English in Morocco. He joined BronxWorks in February 2020 as a Housing Coordinator for the Emergency Department Outreach Team (EDOT) at Lincoln Hospital. The program stationed BronxWorks staff within the emergency departments of partner hospitals to engage homeless individuals and patients in need of housing resources.
In March 2020 after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lincoln Hospital temporarily suspended the EDOT program, restricting access to the hospital for all non-essential programs and services. Dylan and the other team members moved to the Pyramid Safe Haven as stand-in Case Managers for three months until Lincoln Hospital allowed the EDOT program to resume. As one of the original team members, Dylan was pivotal in helping hospital staff and patients better understand the resources that the EDOT program and BronxWorks could provide to the homeless population at Lincoln Hospital.
It was a lot of outreach, interjecting myself into conversations, explaining the program to staff, and eventually people would start to remember, oh yeah there’s that guy from BronxWorks to help with the homeless patients.”
In June 2021, Dylan moved into a different role as the Program Developer for the BronxWorks Supportive Housing and Care Coordination Department. He also enrolled at Hunter College for his Master’s Degree in Social Work. In June 2022 Dylan started his social work internship as a Case Manager at the BronxWorks Park Haven Supportive Housing Program. He continues to work as a Program Developer for the Department, and is expecting to graduate with his MSW in August.
Since joining BronxWorks, Dylan has been a member of the agency-wide LGBTQ+ Committee, helping the staff-led group create a space within the organization for staff to safely discuss LGBTQ+ issues and encourage each other to share experiences.
It’s a way to feel more connected to my colleagues who share a part of my identity. BronxWorks is such a large organization, it can feel sometimes that stuff can get lost in the shuffle, but with the Committee, we know there is a mechanism in place to make sure that the LGBTQ community is represented.”
At the moment, Dylan’s schedule is packed between his job, his social work internship, and working toward completing his MSW. He’s looking forward to having time once he graduates to explore new hobbies. He loves to play volleyball recreationally, and is always trying to learn a new language. Dylan shared that he can speak some degree of Arabic, Italian, Spanish, French, German, and Swedish.
BronxWorks is proud of our staff who are dedicated to not only providing critical services to our clients and the communities of the Bronx, but also to helping ensure that our diverse identities and backgrounds are represented throughout the organization. In talking to staff, we are always fascinated by their stories, how they each found their way to BronxWorks, and how so many of them find a kindred purpose in the mission of BronxWorks. Dylan’s story exemplifies why these aspects of our staff are so important.
Dylan grew up in Rhode Island. He attended Hofstra University, earning his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science, Global Studies, and Italian. After graduating in 2015, Dylan joined AmeriCorps for a year. In 2016, Dylan joined the Peace Corps and spent the following two years teaching English in Morocco. He joined BronxWorks in February 2020 as a Housing Coordinator for the Emergency Department Outreach Team (EDOT) at Lincoln Hospital. The program stationed BronxWorks staff within the emergency departments of partner hospitals to engage homeless individuals and patients in need of housing resources.
In March 2020 after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lincoln Hospital temporarily suspended the EDOT program, restricting access to the hospital for all non-essential programs and services. Dylan and the other team members moved to the Pyramid Safe Haven as stand-in Case Managers for three months until Lincoln Hospital allowed the EDOT program to resume. As one of the original team members, Dylan was pivotal in helping hospital staff and patients better understand the resources that the EDOT program and BronxWorks could provide to the homeless population at Lincoln Hospital.
It was a lot of outreach, interjecting myself into conversations, explaining the program to staff, and eventually people would start to remember, oh yeah there’s that guy from BronxWorks to help with the homeless patients.”
In June 2021, Dylan moved into a different role as the Program Developer for the BronxWorks Supportive Housing and Care Coordination Department. He also enrolled at Hunter College for his Master’s Degree in Social Work. In June 2022 Dylan started his social work internship as a Case Manager at the BronxWorks Park Haven Supportive Housing Program. He continues to work as a Program Developer for the Department, and is expecting to graduate with his MSW in August.
Since joining BronxWorks, Dylan has been a member of the agency-wide LGBTQ+ Committee, helping the staff-led group create a space within the organization for staff to safely discuss LGBTQ+ issues and encourage each other to share experiences.
It’s a way to feel more connected to my colleagues who share a part of my identity. BronxWorks is such a large organization, it can feel sometimes that stuff can get lost in the shuffle, but with the Committee, we know there is a mechanism in place to make sure that the LGBTQ community is represented.”
At the moment, Dylan’s schedule is packed between his job, his social work internship, and working toward completing his MSW. He’s looking forward to having time once he graduates to explore new hobbies. He loves to play volleyball recreationally, and is always trying to learn a new language. Dylan shared that he can speak some degree of Arabic, Italian, Spanish, French, German, and Swedish.
For twenty years, early in her life Marisol lived in a building on St. Ann’s Boulevard when the building was a part of the New York City Housing Authority. Years later, Marisol finds that her story has come full circle, as the Assistant Department Director for Access to Benefits and Homelessness Prevention Programs at BronxWorks, the organization now providing transformative services in that same building on St. Ann’s.
Marisol was born in Puerto Rico, came with her family to the Bronx when she was four years old, and has been living in the Bronx ever since. She attended the Theodore Roosevelt High School, earned her Associate’s Degree from the Bronx Community College, her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Lehman College, and her Master’s in Public Administration from the Metropolitan College of New York.
As I started working at BronxWorks, I saw the huge need for walk-in services and assistance. I saw seniors who had difficulty completing paperwork or re-certifications to stay in their own apartments. It inspired me to continue on in this field.”
Marisol started working at BronxWorks in 1998 as a Family Childcare Specialist. Her job at that time was to enroll family childcare providers into a program to ensure that they were adequately resourced, trained, and had the necessary licenses and support to provide high-quality childcare to their communities. Shortly after joining the program, Marisol was promoted to Program Coordinator to build a cohesive network of family childcare providers. She would conduct home visits to the childcare providers, approve their home childcare setup, ensure they had the proper resources, and help make referrals to members of the network.
After two years, Marisol was promoted to Program Director of the Avenue St. John and Townsend Walk-in Offices, and a few years after that, she was again promoted to the Assistant Department Director overseeing all four of the walk-in and referral offices at the time. Since then, Marisol has helped oversee the growth of the department for over twenty years.
As BronxWorks has grown and added so many different programs, the department has grown with it. Because BronxWorks is so broad and offers so many services, we are able to make a lot of referrals within the agency, and getting people assistance quickly and efficiently.”
Outside of work, Marisol loves to spend time with her family and watch movies with her husband and her daughter. She and her eight sisters and five brothers love to get together at the park and spend holidays together as a family.
For twenty years, early in her life Marisol lived in a building on St. Ann’s Boulevard when the building was a part of the New York City Housing Authority. Years later, Marisol finds that her story has come full circle, as the Assistant Department Director for Access to Benefits and Homelessness Prevention Programs at BronxWorks, the organization now providing transformative services in that same building on St. Ann’s.
Marisol was born in Puerto Rico, came with her family to the Bronx when she was four years old, and has been living in the Bronx ever since. She attended the Theodore Roosevelt High School, earned her Associate’s Degree from the Bronx Community College, her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Lehman College, and her Master’s in Public Administration from the Metropolitan College of New York.
As I started working at BronxWorks, I saw the huge need for walk-in services and assistance. I saw seniors who had difficulty completing paperwork or re-certifications to stay in their own apartments. It inspired me to continue on in this field.”
Marisol started working at BronxWorks in 1998 as a Family Childcare Specialist. Her job at that time was to enroll family childcare providers into a program to ensure that they were adequately resourced, trained, and had the necessary licenses and support to provide high-quality childcare to their communities. Shortly after joining the program, Marisol was promoted to Program Coordinator to build a cohesive network of family childcare providers. She would conduct home visits to the childcare providers, approve their home childcare setup, ensure they had the proper resources, and help make referrals to members of the network.
After two years, Marisol was promoted to Program Director of the Avenue St. John and Townsend Walk-in Offices, and a few years after that, she was again promoted to the Assistant Department Director overseeing all four of the walk-in and referral offices at the time. Since then, Marisol has helped oversee the growth of the department for over twenty years.
As BronxWorks has grown and added so many different programs, the department has grown with it. Because BronxWorks is so broad and offers so many services, we are able to make a lot of referrals within the agency, and getting people assistance quickly and efficiently.”
Outside of work, Marisol loves to spend time with her family and watch movies with her husband and her daughter. She and her eight sisters and five brothers love to get together at the park and spend holidays together as a family.
If you’ve ever joined a meeting with Gianna just a few minutes early, you’ll soon find that you know a thing or two about Gianna’s life that you didn’t know before. Over time, the more minutes you get to spend talking with Gianna, the more you’ll come to know about who she is, about her family, and about her commitment to her hometown, The Bronx. Gianna is that type of person you hear so much about, but you rarely encounter in genuine form – the type of person who wears their heart on their sleeve. In her line of work as Director of Advancement and Communications, that is a quality of the utmost significance. With everything that Gianna shares comes a generous dose of sincerity and friendship.
Gianna was born and raised in the West Farms/Morris Park section of the Bronx. She lived in the Bronx until her early 30s. Gianna remembers growing up in a neighborhood that was incredibly diverse with families from different backgrounds and cultures.
I remember it was the quintessential Bronx, tightknit neighborhood where everybody knew everybody.”
After graduating high school, Gianna attended St. John’s University, graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications. She worked for many years in sales, marketing and advertising, before making a career change to Development. When the opportunity came in 2015, she joined BronxWorks as the Director of Communications and Advancement. Leading a team of fundraisers and communications professionals, Gianna oversees all of the public relations, marketing, and promotional operations for the entire organization. Every year, she organizes annual fundraisers, including a formal gala, the #TeamBronxWorks NYC Marathon runners, Giving Tuesday, Year End Appeal, and so much more.
I see the other departments as internal clients. We support their work, we amplify their work, we help get the message out about the incredible need and the incredible accomplishments.”
In all things, Gianna is singularly focused on advancing the impact of BronxWorks programs. “I wanted the mission-driven work,” she says, “In the department, Ken Small and his team support the public funding side and we support the individual, corporation, and communications side.”
Outside of work, Gianna is all about her family. She is a mother of two, a 14-year-old daughter who has a passion for performance art, and an 11-year-old son, who has a significant following on his YouTube channel. Whenever she has time, Gianna loves to camp with her family, work on home improvement projects, and thrift.
If you’ve ever joined a meeting with Gianna just a few minutes early, you’ll soon find that you know a thing or two about Gianna’s life that you didn’t know before. Over time, the more minutes you get to spend talking with Gianna, the more you’ll come to know about who she is, about her family, and about her commitment to her hometown, The Bronx. Gianna is that type of person you hear so much about, but you rarely encounter in genuine form – the type of person who wears their heart on their sleeve. In her line of work as Director of Advancement and Communications, that is a quality of the utmost significance. With everything that Gianna shares comes a generous dose of sincerity and friendship.
Gianna was born and raised in the West Farms/Morris Park section of the Bronx. She lived in the Bronx until her early 30s. Gianna remembers growing up in a neighborhood that was incredibly diverse with families from different backgrounds and cultures.
I remember it was the quintessential Bronx, tightknit neighborhood where everybody knew everybody.”
After graduating high school, Gianna attended St. John’s University, graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications. She worked for many years in sales, marketing and advertising, before making a career change to Development. When the opportunity came in 2015, she joined BronxWorks as the Director of Communications and Advancement. Leading a team of fundraisers and communications professionals, Gianna oversees all of the public relations, marketing, and promotional operations for the entire organization. Every year, she organizes annual fundraisers, including a formal gala, the #TeamBronxWorks NYC Marathon runners, Giving Tuesday, Year End Appeal, and so much more.
I see the other departments as internal clients. We support their work, we amplify their work, we help get the message out about the incredible need and the incredible accomplishments.”
In all things, Gianna is singularly focused on advancing the impact of BronxWorks programs. “I wanted the mission-driven work,” she says, “In the department, Ken Small and his team support the public funding side and we support the individual, corporation, and communications side.”
Outside of work, Gianna is all about her family. She is a mother of two, a 14-year-old daughter who has a passion for performance art, and an 11-year-old son, who has a significant following on his YouTube channel. Whenever she has time, Gianna loves to camp with her family, work on home improvement projects, and thrift.
In 2021, BronxWorks added an Adult Protective Services (APS) Program funded through the NYC Human Resources Administration (HRA). The objective of the program is to provide protective services to vulnerable adults and put structures in place to assist them to live independently. According to the Independent Budget Office (IBO) of New York City, a growing number of NYC residents are in need of adult protective services. Between 2014 to 2018, the average number of APS cases grew over 37%, largely due to demographic shifts affecting the entire city. In 2020, a major crisis struck New York City and the entire globe in the form of COVID-19, and while data is still being collected from the ongoing pandemic, the crisis has pushed a continued expansion of services to meet the growing and novel needs of the city’s vulnerable populations.
APS accepts referrals through NYC HRA. Eligible clients must be 18 years or older, have a physical or mental impairment, are unable to manage activities of daily living or protect themselves from neglect or hazardous conditions, and have no one willing or able to assist them responsibly. Upon receiving a referral, APS will conduct a home visit and intake, assessing the client’s needs, developing a service plan, and assigning the client to a Case Manager. APS will provide ongoing case management services, advocacy, financial management assistance, and connection to resources to stabilize a client’s situation and provide a framework for independence.
BronxWorks APS Team has a total of 17 Case Managers and is able to accept over 500 cases annually. If you or anyone you know suspects a case of adult neglect or abuse, please call APS Central Intake Unit at 212.630.1853, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., or call 311.
The BronxWorks Family Enrichment Program (FEP) is a long standing foster care prevention program contracted through the NYC Administration for Children’s Services (ACS). The purpose of the program is to provide abuse and neglect prevention services to families of the South Bronx, with the primary goal of keeping children safe and assisting parents to meet their children’s needs. The BronxWorks FEP team is made up of 15 staff, including eight Case Planners, two Family Conference Workers, and leadership and administrative support. The team provides services to over 155 families and over 380 children every year.
A large part of the program is empowering parents to take control of their lives in a positive way that will affect their children,” says Loretta Edwards, Program Director. “What could look like neglect can be due to other core problems stemming from poverty and lack of resources, including time or money. “
BronxWorks FEP accepts referrals from ACS, internal BronxWorks programs, from other community-based services providers and prevention programs, as well as walk-in clients. Upon accepting a referral, the FEP team will conduct an intake and assessment to determine the family and children’s primary needs. The family will be assigned to a dedicated Case Manager for ongoing engagement, including home visits, family counseling, parental support resources, advocacy, education resources, emergency services and crisis intervention such as eviction prevention, as well as connections to other community-based services.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the FEP program continued to provide both in-person and virtual services to families. Home visits never stopped, with each case requiring one in-person home visit, followed by a second virtual visit, and additional home visits as needed. The COVID-19 crisis meant that vigilance in areas of abuse and neglect, particularly in educational neglect stemming from new remote learning models, was and remains more important than ever.
In 2021, BronxWorks added an Adult Protective Services (APS) Program funded through the NYC Human Resources Administration (HRA). The objective of the program is to provide protective services to vulnerable adults and put structures in place to assist them to live independently. According to the Independent Budget Office (IBO) of New York City, a growing number of NYC residents are in need of adult protective services. Between 2014 to 2018, the average number of APS cases grew over 37%, largely due to demographic shifts affecting the entire city. In 2020, a major crisis struck New York City and the entire globe in the form of COVID-19, and while data is still being collected from the ongoing pandemic, the crisis has pushed a continued expansion of services to meet the growing and novel needs of the city’s vulnerable populations.
APS accepts referrals through NYC HRA. Eligible clients must be 18 years or older, have a physical or mental impairment, are unable to manage activities of daily living or protect themselves from neglect or hazardous conditions, and have no one willing or able to assist them responsibly. Upon receiving a referral, APS will conduct a home visit and intake, assessing the client’s needs, developing a service plan, and assigning the client to a Case Manager. APS will provide ongoing case management services, advocacy, financial management assistance, and connection to resources to stabilize a client’s situation and provide a framework for independence.
BronxWorks APS Team has a total of 17 Case Managers and is able to accept over 500 cases annually. If you or anyone you know suspects a case of adult neglect or abuse, please call APS Central Intake Unit at 212.630.1853, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., or call 311.
The BronxWorks Family Enrichment Program (FEP) is a long standing foster care prevention program contracted through the NYC Administration for Children’s Services (ACS). The purpose of the program is to provide abuse and neglect prevention services to families of the South Bronx, with the primary goal of keeping children safe and assisting parents to meet their children’s needs. The BronxWorks FEP team is made up of 15 staff, including eight Case Planners, two Family Conference Workers, and leadership and administrative support. The team provides services to over 155 families and over 380 children every year.
A large part of the program is empowering parents to take control of their lives in a positive way that will affect their children,” says Loretta Edwards, Program Director. “What could look like neglect can be due to other core problems stemming from poverty and lack of resources, including time or money. “
BronxWorks FEP accepts referrals from ACS, internal BronxWorks programs, from other community-based services providers and prevention programs, as well as walk-in clients. Upon accepting a referral, the FEP team will conduct an intake and assessment to determine the family and children’s primary needs. The family will be assigned to a dedicated Case Manager for ongoing engagement, including home visits, family counseling, parental support resources, advocacy, education resources, emergency services and crisis intervention such as eviction prevention, as well as connections to other community-based services.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the FEP program continued to provide both in-person and virtual services to families. Home visits never stopped, with each case requiring one in-person home visit, followed by a second virtual visit, and additional home visits as needed. The COVID-19 crisis meant that vigilance in areas of abuse and neglect, particularly in educational neglect stemming from new remote learning models, was and remains more important than ever.
