The Queens Health Coalition (QHC) recently participated in a community dialogue entitled “Creating an Inclusive Society – Revisiting the American Dream.”
The event was sponsored by The Queens Forum – a partnership of LaGuardia Community College and CAUSE-NY/Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) NY ¬– dedicated to community engagement in social issues.
QHC’s executive director, Phyllis Shafran, was on the panel of distinguished speakers that included Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott and the Commissioner and Chair of the Human Rights Commission, Patricia Gatling.
The panel also included Bishop Mitchell Taylor, founder and president, East River Development Alliance; LaRay Brown, senior vice president, NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation.; John Park, president, Korean American Community Empowerment Council; Antoinette Hamilton, director of Diversity and Inclusion, L’Oreal USA; Marva Kalish, outreach coordinator, Queens Chamber of Commerce; David Banks, president, Eagle Academy Foundation; Dr. Peter Katopes, vice president for Academic Affairs, LaGuardia Community College; Maura Bluestone, president and CEO, Affinity Health Plan; Assemblymember Rory Lancman; Councilmember-elect Daniel Dromm; and Jessie Sligh, executive assistant, office of Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
“Community-based non-profits should be the catalyst to achieving the ‘American Dream,’ ” said Shafran. “We are mission-driven and dedicated to helping the most vulnerable, at-risk underserved, marginalized segments of our society, usually voiceless-often forgotten. At QHC we help to navigate the barriers to health and social services so that the ‘Dream’ does not become a nightmare.”
To learn more about the Queens Health Coalition, located at 163-13 Depot Road in Flushing, call 718-762-0346.
