By Bill Parry
One of the city’s best-respected community-based health and housing service providers opened their first facility in Queens Tuesday to fight the rising tide of teen suicide in the borough’s Latina community.
Comunilife held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for staff, students and their parents at its new Long Island City offices, located at 32-45 Hunters Point Ave., which will be home to its Life Is Precious program.
“I am proud to celebrate the opening of our new offices that will help so many across the borough,” said Dr. Rosa Gil,Comunifile’s chief executive officer. “The statistics have never been more staggering and the time has never been more pertinent to act when it comes to saving the lives of Latina teens. In Queens, more than one in five Latina teens contemplates and more than one in eight attempt suicide.”
Gil added that across the city, Latina teens who seriously consider suicide rose 3 percent in just the past two years, but that rate is nearly double that in Queens over the same time period.
“We look forward to working with them along with parents, teachers and community leaders to help our girls survive, thrive and strive,” Gil said.
Although long in the planning, the expansion of Life is Precious into Queens was made more urgent by survey results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which showed that in 2013, 20.3 percent of Latina teens in the borough seriously considered suicide and 12.8 percent attempted suicide.
“The Life Is Precious program works with Latinas and their families to provide much needed counseling and mentorship to those who are contemplating or have attempted suicide,” City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (D-East Elmhurst) said. “Comunilife’s new office in Queens will bring culturally focused bilingual help to save so many in our community.”
Lis Precious provides culturally and linguistically appropriate academic support, creative arts therapy and wellness activities to participants from low-income families.
“Harnessing the arts, Comunilife continues to provide a lifeline to teens in need throughout New York City,” City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) said. “With the new Long Island City facility and the new Life Is Precious program, more Queens families will have direct access to quality supportive services in a safe haven where young women can truly thrive.”
Each year, Comunilife meets the need of more than 3,000 low-income and vulnerable New Yorkers. Roughly 90 percent of the clients fall below the federal poverty line, while 90 percent are African-American or Latino; 50 percent have Spanish as their primary or sole, language. All struggle with profound challenges, including chronic hopelessness, HIV/AID, and other major medical issues, serious and persistent mental illness and other major medical issues, serious and persistent mental illness and substance abuse.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr
