New Community Collaborations Program Aims to Strengthen VNSNY’s Connection to the Community

Teresa Lin has been “embedding VNSNY in New York’s Chinese community” for 11 years.

As Director of Cultural Market Development Initiatives, Teresa oversees VNSNY Community Centers in Chinatown and Flushing. Before COVID-19, they were open to everyone and bustling with free activities, seven days a week. Bilingual staffers answered questions about VNSNY and worked closely with CHOICE, VNSNY Hospice, Partners in Care, CMHS and other VNSNY departments to host events to increase the awareness of VNSNY’s wide range of services available to the communities at large. The Centers also hosted representatives from the city government and community-based organizations (CBOs) who helped people enroll for benefits like SNAP (food stamps), reduced MTA fares for the elderly, free legal services and more. And there were English, tai chi, arts-and-crafts classes as well as many health education workshops provided by the community- and hospital-based providers.

“All our efforts—the Community Centers, our outreach to physicians in growing Chinese communities in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens, and our collaborations with so many VNSNY departments and the CBOs—build trust with a largely immigrant community,” says Teresa.

These many linkages between VNSNY and the community are why Teresa is so excited about VNSNY’s new Community Collaborations program. The program was developed by VNSNY’s recently launched Community Engagement Workgroup, which includes community-oriented staff from across the organization and is being led by VNSNY’s Government Affairs Department under the executive sponsorship of EVP and Chief Administrative Officer Michael Bernstein. The goal of Community Collaborations is to help VNSNY establish and cultivate its relationships with traditionally marginalized communities and the CBOs that serve them, from our community centers in Chinatown to our outreach effort to LGBT older adults, to Black and Brown communities throughout New York, and make it easier for different VNSNY departments to join forces in working with our community partners on programs and events.

Chinatown Community Center Mask and Recycled Tote Bag Distribution Event

“Strengthening community support and awareness is one of our key strategic goals. VNSNY’s relationships in the communities we serve are central to our mission of improving the health and well-being of our patients and members,” explains Michael. “They also create positive perceptions of VNSNY, which help us grow.”

“Leveraging the strengths and assets of communities through engagement strengthens VNSNY’s mission and focus,” agrees Michelle Drayton, Director of VNSNY Hospice and Palliative Care Outreach.

To help strengthen these relationships, Community Collaborations has brought together information and resources to support VNSNY’s community engagement in a single location on the VNSNY Intranet, which you can see by clicking here. This easy-to-use online hub features:

• A calendar of all community events that VNSNY’s business lines and programs are participating in or hosting, plus a form for staff to propose new events for VNSNY to participate in.
• VNSNY in the Community—an update on VNSNY’s participation in community events.
• Presentations and workshops that VNSNY currently offers to the community, plus ways VNSNY subject-matter experts can submit community presentations for consideration.

Community Collaborations will also send out regular updates, highlighting recent and upcoming VNSNY community news and activities.

VNSNY CHOICE Back in the Streets

By boosting VNSNY’s involvement with the community, Community Collaborations will provide long-term strategic benefits for the organization, notes Community Relations Manager Melissa Henry, who is leading the effort for Government Affairs. “Community Collaborations will let us better share and leverage all the valuable knowledge and relationships we have across VNSNY,” says Melissa. “This, in turn, will help us collaborate and build relationships not only externally, but internally across VNSNY’s business lines and programs and, looking ahead, develop new relationships and sources of business for the future.”

“When it comes to engaging with the community, we each have different parts of the puzzle at VNSNY,” adds Teresa. “Community Collaborations will help us put all the pieces together.”