VNSNY Welcomes Board Member Simone-Marie Meeks

VNSNY’s newest Board member, Simone-Marie Meeks, is accustomed to wearing many hats. In her everyday life, Simone-Marie is Assistant Commissioner and Bureau Chief for the New York State Office of Rent Administration/ETPA (Emergency Tenant Protection Act) Bureau, which is part of the state’s Homes and Community Renewal agency. She’s also the wife of U.S. Congressman Gregory W. Meeks (who represents New York’s 5th District, covering southern Queens and part of Nassau County), the mother of three grown daughters, a brand-new grandmother, and a tennis and swimming enthusiast. And she leads the Queens branch of GirlTrek, a national Black women’s walking organization, which means that early on any given morning, she and a group of 8 to 14 fellow trekkers can be spotted traversing miles of trails and neighborhood sidewalks.

Health care and advocacy for health issues have always been passions of hers, says Simone-Marie. “I was very good in biology and other sciences in high school,” she recalls. “Then, after I got my master’s degree in urban public policy and management, I went to work as Chief of Staff for a New York State Assembly member. In that job, the health concerns of the people in our district just slapped you in the face every day.”

This passion is what led Simone-Marie to join VNSNY’s Board of Directors. “I’ve always worked on the social determinants of health, which involve a combination of health, education, economics and politics,” she says. “Lots of the people who have the greatest health and housing concerns and basic needs of life are from the African diaspora. That’s always been of paramount importance to me, and it’s one of the reasons I was so interested in sitting on the Board of VNSNY, which is a premier organization that takes care of New York’s most vulnerable populations.”

Simone-Marie’s first reaction was pleasant surprise when another VNSNY Director reached out to her recently, asking if she’d consider becoming a Board member. “I’ve been in a ton of meetings throughout my career in which I’m the only person in the room who looks like me, yet we’re discussing disparities that affect primarily people of color,” she notes. “So the idea that an agency doing as great a job as VNSNY is doing is interested in hearing points of view from the people they’re servicing, I thought that was wonderful. I’m really looking forward to being part of a conversation in which people are strategizing about what’s best for VNSNY, and I hope I can bring a little clarity to any questions that other members of the Board might have. I believe that hearing their thoughts—and them hearing mine—will allow us to create strategies that are of service to the greatest number of people possible.”

While she has a distinguished history in health and housing advocacy and “a lot of opinions,” says Simone-Marie, “I view my role on the Board as firstly to come in and listen. I want to observe the workings of the Board and see where it is that my voice would matter most, and how I can make the biggest contribution.” Her ultimate goal as a Board member, she adds, is to help ensure that VNSNY continues to do the best work possible in servicing the most vulnerable populations.

“The desire to help can be sincere and heartfelt, but it’s critical to understand the cultural norms of the clients you’re serving,” she explains. “Many African Americans, for instance, are very much aware of historical wrongs like the Tuskegee experiment, and how they were (not) treated during the 1918 flu epidemic—so even in this day, many are suspicious of health care that’s being offered. I’m concerned that many people of color are reluctant to take the COVID-19 vaccine. I belong to an organization called Choose Healthy Life that’s engaging trusted people and places like pastors and churches to give the shots. I think it requires health messengers who look like the people that are hesitant in order to save lives. My mission is to be one of those trusted messengers.”