Community the Desmond Center way
The Desmond Center for Community Engagement and Wellness goes hand-in-hand with the Mount’s commitment to service and community, providing wellness and educational services for underserved individuals and families since its inception in 2021. Deeply rooted in the legacy of the college’s founding Dominican Sisters, the center offers accessible and equitable health, wellness, and educational services for local community members and families.
The following are just a few of the Desmond Center’s recent community-based activities. For more information about the center, including a calendar of free, public events, visit www.msmc.edu/wellness
Keeping our community warm in the winter
Photos provided
Thanks to a well-timed coat drive, the Desmond Center made winter a lot warmer for more than a dozen people from the Newburgh community.
Participants left with bags full of coats and other winter necessities such as gloves, scarves, socks, and shoes. For example, a local woman who had lost her belongings in a fire two weeks prior received several bags of jackets, clothing, and other items, noted Anita Kapiti, Project Support Coordinator for the Desmond Center.
“She expressed heartfelt appreciation for this event,” Kapiti added.
Robert Rolison, a New York State Senator, donated a coat and enjoyed a short tour of the Desmond Center space.
Members of the Mount’s Student Athlete Association lent their aid to the project as well, helping to set it up and assist attendees.
Any leftover food was packaged in to-go containers and distributed on Broadway in Newburgh.
Black Poster Project mourns those lost to opioid overdose
Photo by Lee Ferris
Hundreds of black posters lined the Aquinas Atrium, each telling the story of a life lost too early to opioid abuse. As members of the local and Mount communities silently viewed the faces of the departed, there was a pervading sense of sorrow.
But also, hope.
More than 150 people attended Black Poster Project, hosted by the Desmond Center at the Mount, including more than 50 teens from the Boys and Girls Club of Newburgh, local leaders, students, and more. Approximately 200 portraits of individuals who passed away from drug overdoses and related events were on display. Some posters had QR codes that, when scanned, would link to interviews with the family members.
When Dee Gillen’s son, Scott, passed away from an opioid overdose, she vowed to use her experience to spare other families from the same heartache. She spearheaded the Black Poster Project, wherein photos of those who overdosed would be paired with their stories, each one affixed to a black poster. Now about five years in, the aim of the program is simple: to raise awareness of the dangers of opioid use and, hopefully, save lives.
The poignant memorial exhibit tours New Jersey and New York with the goal of educating viewers about the dangers of opioid abuse. According to the Black Poster Project, about 275 people lose their lives to addiction every day.
This event was the first of its kind hosted at the Mount and was a collaboration with the Desmond Center, The Black Poster Project, Keep It Moving! Inc., and Team Newburgh.
Keep It Moving! Inc. was founded by a mother, Lauren Mandel, who like Gillen, also lost her son to an overdose. The organization is active throughout the community, including the Mount campus, providing free Narcan Training and Kits.
Team Newburgh is a local coalition that focuses on Substance Abuse Awareness in the local area.
Spotlight on mental health for Black History Month
Photos by Lee Ferris
The Desmond Center closed out Black History Month with a Healing and Mental Health Arts Showcase.
The event featured works by local Black artists, including a visual art presentation by Emmanuel Ofori, a mixed media artist from Poughkeepsie, N.Y.; poetry readings by Ahmad Cohen, Mariah Henry, and Curtis Walker; as well as a mental health presentation by Dr. Dana E. Crawford, a pediatric and clinical psychologist.
Crawford, who was also the keynote speaker at the Desmond Center’s recent “Healthy Communities: A Shared Responsibility Towards Wellness” conference, developed the Crawford Bias Reduction Theory and Training (CBRT), a systematic approach to reducing bias, prejudice, and racism.
In recent years, she has worked with the National Black Caucus to create legislation for Black maternal health equity and conducted hundreds of trainings and presentations in private, non-profit, public, and government sectors.
