good morning. It’s Tuesday. Find out about a pilot project that will bring a team to Brooklyn’s Prospect Park to address mental health issues. We will also learn more about the progress of the case against Donald Trump in New York.
“We’re trying to understand what’s going on in someone’s life,” said Jonathan Timaru, one half of the team, halfway through an eight-hour shift in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. .
He and Jared Grant, a teammate at the Brooklyn nonprofit Neighborhood Housing Services, have a simple mission. It’s about walking up to people in the park (anyone, not just people showing signs of stress or instability) and asking questions to start a conversation. Something like “How are you feeling today?”
“They have a lot on their plate and no one to talk to,” Grant said. “Just allowing people to express themselves helps.”
Timaru and Grant are the faces of a pilot project called Open Air Connections, which is now in its fourth week. It was advertised as trying to eliminate stigma against mental health care through community outreach. The two men were trained to assess the concerns of people they approached, assess the seriousness of those concerns, and refer them to agencies that could provide support.
“Most people are struggling to make ends meet and just need a little something extra,” said Shola Thompson, an official with the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene who designed the program.
But, added Morgan Monaco, president of the nonprofit Prospect Park Alliance, which operates the park, “you won’t know until you ask.”
“Normally, things like this don’t happen in parks,” Monaco said as Timaru and Grant spoke with two men near the park’s skating rink. “This represents a new way of thinking about how parks contribute to public health outcomes.”
It’s an idea that gained popularity during the pandemic, when parks became a haven for many New Yorkers. At a time when bars and restaurants were essentially no-go areas and theaters and museums were closed, parks offered a respite from the stress of being cooped up in an apartment.
For many, the pandemic has also brought stress due to sudden and unexpected hardships, such as job loss and financial uncertainty. No wonder the health department found that about 25 percent of New Yorkers questioned in an informal survey experience anxiety and about 18 percent experience depression. Almost half of those who said they felt they needed mental health support did not know where to go to get it.
Join the team through Open Air Connections. But Timaru and Grant said they heard more about the everyday struggles of city life than serious mental health issues.
One woman from Brazil said she was concerned about the unfairness of the criminal justice system everywhere. Later, a woman who said she was a university professor spoke about crimes on the subway. “She thought she should buy a car because she didn’t feel safe,” Grant said.
They spoke with a man in his late 20s who lives near the park and said he was angry that his landlord wanted to double his rent to $3,000. They called a representative from Neighborhood Housing Services, who referred the man to an expert on landlord-tenant disputes and rent regulations.
Health Commissioner Dr. Jay Varma said in an interview that the program “reflects the idea that mental health is not something that can be provided in traditional settings, especially clinical settings.” That’s what we have to deliver to people. ”
That’s why the health department was “leaning” toward the modest model behind the pilot project, he said.
He said it was important that the team worked for community organizations, not the health department, and that they did not wear white coats that screamed “mental health professionals.”
“That’s not someone in a DOH hoodie,” Varma said, using a shortened version of his agency’s initials. “Or not a branded mayoral initiative. This is a community organization that exists in the community, has a history of serving the community, and is staffed by people who live in the community.”
Varma said each team is expected to play about 750 “light touch matches” lasting five to 15 minutes and 500 “medium to high touch matches” lasting about 30 minutes.
Timaru and Grant said their encounters tend to be at the long end of that range. They may not be able to stop the conversation, but they have learned to move the conversation in a direction that the person leads. “We could talk for hours,” Grant said.
weather
The day will be mostly cloudy with temperatures reaching the mid-40s and winds gusting up to 15 mph. Light rain is possible overnight and temperatures will drop into the low 30s.
Alternate parking lot
Valid until Thursday (Maundy Thursday).
New York latest news
Trump’s trial date has been set. His bond is low.
metropolitan diary
fresh rye bread
Dear diary:
My sister was planning to get married in a small town in Maine. Both she and her groom were immigrants from Brooklyn.
My sister asked me to bring two large loaves of freshly baked rye bread as a special treat for her wedding. The day before, after finishing classes at Brooklyn College, I stopped by Rose Bakery at Nostrand and Flatbush streets.
I told the woman at the counter that I was going to buy bread to take to my sister’s wedding in Maine the next day.
I asked if I should have the bread sliced. Women may be able to keep their bread fresher on long journeys by not slicing it, she said.
It turned out that the groom had asked his younger brother to bring two large, fresh pieces of rye bread. The brothers also went to Lowe’s and asked the same woman for two large rye loaves, explaining that they were taking them to a wedding in Maine the next day.
“Are you holding me back?” said the woman. “A woman came in here earlier and asked for two loaves of rye bread for her sister’s wedding tomorrow in Maine. I’m on Candid Camera? ?”
The groom’s younger brother showed complete ignorance.
“She brought it unsliced,” the woman said, pointing to me. “Should she have it sliced?”
Illustrations by Agnes Lee. Submit your submission here and Click here to read more Metropolitan Diary.
I’m glad to be able to gather here. see you tomorrow. — J.B.
PS Today is here mini crossword and spelling contest. All puzzles can be found here.
