By Naeisha Rose
Community Board 13 is hosting its inaugural Healthy Community Day at Queens Village Veterans Plaza Saturday.
The plaza is located near the Long Island Rail Road station at Springfield Boulevard and Jamaica Avenue. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“We selected the location because it is central to the community board area with easy accessibility by car, bus and on foot,” said Community Board 13 Chairman Mark McMillan. “There will be a DJ playing all types of music and some face painting for the children.”
The event will be a chance for members of the communities within CB13 to learn about the resources in safety, mental health, substance abuse and services for people of all ages in the area, according to McMillan.
“CB13 is a diverse area — many of its residents are immigrants or from immigrant families,” McMillan said. “They come from the Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad, Guyana, India and Pakistan. Many other residents have lived here for 30-plus years and do not take advantage of what is readily available to them.”
Representatives of the Parks Department, the NYPD, FDNY and Sanitation Department will be present to discuss matters related to safety, according to McMillan.
Arms Acres, Creedmoor Addiction Services, and the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services will be on board to help people with addiction, according to the chairman.
Catholic Charities, Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Families on the Move, the Federation of Organizations, ACMH, NAMI, the city’s Children’s Center, OMNI Well Life, Transitional Services Inc., and Zucker Hillside Hospital will aid those who need advice on mental health, according to the community day flier.
Organizations for people young and old include AARP, Emblem Health Care, LIJ Medical Center, Medicaid and Medicare Long Term Care, city Department for the Aging, PSS Home Care, Services for Adult Persons, SNAP, the Visiting Nurse Service, Weight Watchers and the Boy and Girl Scouts.
“Health-related issues from food and diet to indications of mental health problems are not always known – and the information about resources locally sometimes does not get to folks,” McMillan said. “Older people, developmentally disabled people and having a safe and clean environment and how the city has so much in place to help its citizens to enjoy their lives sometimes this has to be put right in front of them.”
At least 23 other civic organizations are going to be represented at the event. State Sen. Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) and Councilman I. Daneek Miller (D.-St. Albans) are expected to make an appearance, according to President Ramgarib Nagassar of the Queens Village Civic Association.
Reach reporter Naeisha Rose by e-mail at nrose
