Dear friends,

This summer has reminded us of the importance of being firmly grounded in our communities to be agents of healing and change in a way that responds to their complex and ever evolving needs, while respecting their right to be the masters of their own destinies. 

Self-determination is a privilege of which low-income communities of color –including undocumented immigrants, individuals living in chronic poverty, those struggling with debilitating health conditions or addiction, and those who have experienced incarceration– have often been deprived. We see this every day in our work; many of us have experienced it in one way or another in our own personal lives. At Acacia Network, we firmly believe that every individual and community has a right to autonomy, respect, and dignity. Our role is to serve as a catalyst for empowerment.

That is why, at Acacia, we believe in creating purposeful partnerships with those we serve so we can, together, draw plans for the future: from the students and families in our education programs and the tenants who live in our buildings, to the patients in our residential treatment facilities. 

And what a better way to feel the pulse of our communities than through creative placemaking initiatives that uplift and rebuild, from the creative mindfulness program at our residential addiction treatment facilities and the visual arts & language enrichment curriculum at our homeless shelters, to our multi-cultural older adults conference and massive street celebrations such as the Loisaida Festival and the Puerto Rican and Dominican Day parades!

Like the arts, we know that our work must come from the heart in order to make a meaningful impact.

And as the summer draws to a close and we prepare to welcome new and returning students to our preK-12 programs, we cannot help but be excited about what the future holds: It is the promise of being there for generations of families, from the youngest to the oldest, providing high-quality, culturally competent services that respond to their needs, whatever they may be, with our hearts in our hands.

Please read on for exciting updates on our work across key programmatic areas. As always, we appreciate your support and partnership.

Gracias,

Lymaris Albors

CEO

P.S. Please support our 2023 Annual Gala, which will be dedicated this year to our youth development work and our impact in housing. CLICK HERE to join us on Tuesday, October 3rd at the historic Ziegfeld Ballroom!

Acacia Network was proud to host our 2023 Bronx Opioid Collective Impact Project Harm Reduction Fair on June 30th at 147th Street (btw Willis Ave & Bergen Ave), where we provided free health resources, community activities, giveaways, recreational activities, and more to the local community.

Through this event, which was held in collaboration with our Bronx Opioid Collective project partners, we engaged with local providers to spread awareness about available resources & services in the community and spearhead discussions around health care. 

Acacia Network launched the Bronx Opioid Collective Impact Project in 2018 in collaboration with the New York City Council and the Office of Councilmember Rafael Salamanca Jr. It is comprised of a robust network of community-based partners and harm reduction agencies from various sectors, including health care, business, public safety, government, managed care, labs and pharmacies, and others. For more info, CLICK HERE!

Acacia Network and our primary care arm, La Casa de Salud, operate an HIV Prevention Program that promotes access to PrEP to those at high risk of contracting HIV to help keep them HIV-negative. PrEP is short for "Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis". It consists of taking medication to prevent infection with HIV, combined with other practices to reduce risk. Our program uses an integrated approach to ensure that patients with high-risk behaviors are informed, screened, and receive services to be effectively managed on PrEP.

This year, we were pleased to once again participate in National HIV Testing Week by hosting free testing events across our health centers as a means to encourage our patients and community members to take an important first step in choosing options to stay healthy regardless of their test result.

Across our participating sites this year, we were proud to outreach 76 clients in total, 50 of whom got tested for HIV, and 14 of whom were then scheduled for follow-up clinical assessments and/or PrEP.

CLICK HERE to learn more about our HIV Prevention Program. 

This summer, Acacia Network's Promesa Supportive Housing and Social Services teams have been active in the community! Our Sendero Verde program was thrilled to participate in a Harlem Community Event on June 24th, in partnership with Union Settlement, where we engaged with community members and provided information + resources.

We were also honored to participate in the 2023 Supportive Housing Network of New York (SHNNY) Conference — a day packed with learning, networking and inspiration that gathered leaders and workers from the supportive housing field. 

Acacia Network and our affiliates serve more than 1,100 individuals through our Supportive Housing and Social Services division in New York City. Our portfolio includes: Individual Residential Alternatives (IRAs) under the NYS Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), Community Residences and Apartment Treatment Programs under the NYS Office of Mental Health (OMH), Congregate Supportive Housing under the NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), NYC HIV/AIDS Services Administration (HASA) Supportive Housing Programs, as well as diverse supportive housing programs for single adults and/or families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in which either the individual or the head of household requires support for a substance use disorder, a serious mental illness (SMI), a disabling medical condition or HIV/AIDS, among others.

Acacia Network is proud to continue supporting individuals and families who are new to this country, many of whom have arrived in New York City with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. Through our affiliates –such as Acacia Network Housing (ANH) and La Casa de Salud– we have been able to provide culturally competent, trauma-informed services to more than 2,000 migrants through our transitional housing portfolio and federally qualified health centers. 

Some of them, like the Calcurian family, have found a new lease on life. The Calcurian family arrived in New York City from Venezuela in July of 2022, when they were placed in one of the homeless shelters operated by Acacia Network in The Bronx. The family has five children between the ages of 2-17, and they were in desperate need of support services. Acacia Network referred them to our Ramon Velez Health Center, where they received medical care through our incredible providers at La Casa de Salud. Our case managers and social workers also connected the Calcurians with resources and donations, support with immigrations services, and assistance enrolling children in school. After approximately a year in shelter, they moved into a more permanent form of housing, where they look forward to continued stability.

“Thank you for the tremendous help you have given to our family, for your attention, your understanding, your compassion, your professionalism, and your kindness. Our kids feel happy, stable, and excited, and we are now focusing on continuing to find work in the cleaning and maintenance industries. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” says Michellys Calcurian.

On August 4th, Acacia Network and our affiliate, the Institute for the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Elderly (IPRHE), held a successful Older Adults Conference in which more than 400 older adults from around the City gathered at Columbia University’s Alfred Lerner Hall for a full day of learning, socializing, dancing, and community-building.

Our 2023 theme, Healthy Living: Active, Happy & Vibrant (Vida Sana...Activa, Feliz, Vibrante), highlighted the importance of leading an active and healthy lifestyle to ensure physical and social-emotional health, especially in the older adult population. The event opened with a plenary and general presentation, followed by workshops throughout the day and other activities, including Zumba dancing and musical presentations.

We thank New York City Mayor Eric Adams and NYC Aging Commissioner Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez for attending our event and offering thoughtful remarks, as well as our incredible partners from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. 

CLICK HERE to get the full scoop from Spectrum NY1 Noticias!

Acacia Network was thrilled to join our affiliate, the Community Association of Progressive Dominicans (ACDP), in commemorating Dominican pride during the National Dominican Day Parade on Sunday, August 13th. 

What an amazing and inspiring day in which our staff, students, and families came together to honor and celebrate Dominican culture and the important contributions of Dominicans in York City. 



Our arts & culture affiliate –the Loisaida, Inc. Center– kicked off their Summer Youth Internship Program in July, welcoming full-time interns from the Ladders for Leaders program at the NYC Department of Youth & Community Development (DYCD) as well as Summer Youth Employment interns from the Cooper Union School of Engineering, St. Johns University, Scholars Academy High School, and LaGuardia High School.

A group of interns has been busy working with Loisaida community partners such as the Listening Lab, Lynkable, the Institute for the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Elderly (IPRHE), and the New Museum. Another cohort has been dedicated to our environmental justice initiative titled ECOLIBRIUM, where they were broken up into groups depending on their areas of interest and research projects. The teams include: 

• IoT/Tech Team: Working on creating environmental sensors that will measure indoor and outdoor air quality;
• Media Team: Tasked with documenting the progress and producing short video clips and social media posts; 
• Environment & Data Team: Working on an emissions inventory, incorporating existing public data and past work of previous teams, while engaging in guided self-learning to improve coding skills and data visualizations.

We are proud of these young creators, makers and designers who are leading us to a brighter, greener and more equitable future!

Acacia Network’s affiliate in Albany, Capital District LATINOS (CDL), has been active (and proactive) in its efforts to serve newly arrived migrants in the Capital Region. Because we are one of few Latino organizations in the area, many migrants have come to us seeking assistance, and we have served them as best we can with the limited resources we have. 

Among other efforts, CDL has opened the doors of its Cultural Empowerment Center to provide free food and groceries from our culturally competent food pantry and help connect migrants with local resources and services. We have also provided goods and clothes donations, English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, health fairs with free vaccinations, and more. 

Reporter Jasmine Garsd from National Public Radio (NPR) visited CDL over the summer to get the scoop. CLICK HERE for the story on NPR!

Acacia Network’s affiliate in Syracuse – the Spanish Action League of Onondaga County (La Liga) – has launched an Older Adult Program titled “Café con Leche” (CCL), through which they are hosting weekly engagement sessions for seniors in the community to provide them with resources, information, and a safe space for relaxation, connection, and recreations.

Participants enjoy a “Cafecito” with pastries and lunch, and take part in discussions and brainstorming activities, workshops, trainings, and wellness initiatives. 

This program has been made possible through the Hispanic Federation NYS COVID-Related and Health Care grant.

Acacia Network President Raul Russi and our Chief Administrative Officer Maria del Carmen Arroyo recently visited our colleagues at the Mid-South Regional Office of our workforce development affiliate, Seedco. It was wonderful to engage with the team and spend some quality time at our Tennessee offices. 

Seedco operates programs across six states –New York, Maryland, Connecticut, Georgia, Arkansas, and Tennessee – with their work concentrating around four (4) primary core service areas: Benefits and Health Insurance Enrollment, Job Placement and Advancing, Financial Coaching, and Case Management.

Since 2004, Seedco’s Mid-South Regional Office in Memphis, Tennessee has served thousands of residents to enhance opportunity for low-income Tennesseans by addressing their challenges and forging connections with skill development and employment. Kudos to the Seedco team in Memphis and across the Mid-South on all the great work they do, day in and day out!

Acacia Network and our primary care arm, La Casa de Salud, were proud to host our annual Workforce Summit for the “Promoting Resilience and Mental Health Among Health Professional Workforce (PRMHW)” Program, an initiative funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) as part of the U.S. Administration’s efforts to reduce burnout among healthcare workers.

Through this program, Acacia and La Casa de Salud have served thousands of healthcare workers throughout the Bronx and Puerto Rico by implementing evidence-based preventive strategies, self-care routines and brief psychological interventions, and providing access to professional clinical support and technical assistance to partner organizations. To date, we have reached over 5,000 workers through this program, with more than 1,300 enrolling to participate over the last year (July 2022 – June 2023). Our analysis of pre- and post-assessment data shows that program participants have experienced considerable improvements in their mental health upon participation.

In Puerto Rico, La Casa de Salud has partnered with CIMA Mennonite Hospital to offer burnout prevention and mental wellness services to workers in several local healthcare agencies, mainly: Sistema de Salud Menonita, Corporación SANOS, Salud Integral de la Montana (SIM), Migrant Health Center, Casa la Providencia, Equality Clinic, and Estancia Serena. During our recent summit, we gathered with our participating agencies in Puerto Rico to celebrate program successes, discuss milestones, and look toward the future.

Thank you to our tireless staff and leaders for their commitment and dedication to the mission, and to our partners in Puerto Rico for their passion and dedication. Special thank you to HRSA for allowing us to expand the PRMHW Program to Puerto Rico, through which we’ve been able to make a true impact in communities where it’s desperately needed.

Join Acacia Network at our 2023 Annual Gala, as we celebrate another year of transformative work, highlight some of our incredible programs, and honor key players who have made important contributions to the housing, education, public health, and policy fields.

This year’s event, titled “A New Era”, will be held on Tuesday, October 3rd at the historic Ziegfeld Ballroom, located at 141 W 54th Street in New York City.