Series of Appropriations Measures Includes Over $5.8 Million for Bronx, Rockland, Westchester and New York City Groups

Washington, D.C.--Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY) voted on Thursday for the Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 3288) which passed the House by a vote of 221-202, and includes $5,833,000 in funds for 17th Congressional District and New York City-wide organizations. Once the Senate passes the bill it is expected to be signed by President Obama.

Rep. Engel said, “It is imperative that Congress act in order to keep these agencies and departments, and the millions of people who depend on their services, up and running. There is a wide range of services in this package – ranging from care for veterans, health care facilities, law enforcement, and infrastructure improvements and many others – and we must make sure the agencies are constantly able to do their jobs.”

Included in the “omnibus” package is funding which Rep. Engel secured for groups based in the Bronx, Rockland and Westchester Counties, along with several for New York City-based organizations:

• Bronx Cluster of Settlement Homes (Commerce, Justice, Science) – $350,000 for youth development and delinquency prevention.
• Ohel Children (Commerce, Justice, Science) - $350,000 to bring counselors and social workers to schools and homes in the Bronx and Rockland to provide screenings for children experiencing behavioral or emotional difficulties, or subjected to trauma.
• Bronx RHIO (Regional Health Info Organizations) (Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations) – $310,000 to improve low-income patient care through the creation of a county-wide interoperable medical record.
• Ohel Children (Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations) - $550,000 to support personnel coordinating the Adult Mental Health program. It permits home visits in the Bronx and Rockland, allows participants and staff to train in job preparedness, managing mental health and patient rehabilitation.
• Friends of Van Cortlandt Park (Transportation-HUD) - $180,000 to restore 6.7 miles of trails in Van Cortlandt Park for safe recreational trail usage for hikers, bikers and horseback riders.
• Refuah Health Center (Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations) - $390,000 for expansion of the dental services and an additional exam rooms
• Jawonio (Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations) - $118,000 for educational, recreational and supportive services for children in Rockland and Westchester with disabilities and their families.
• Pearl River Chamber of Commerce (Transportation-HUD) - $200,000 for removal of overhead power lines and utility poles, improvement of sidewalks, planting of trees in an urban setting, and installation of receptacles and benches.
• Friends Helping Friends (Transportation-HUD) - $135,000 for purchase of customized vans for transporting frail and sick passengers to medical appointments and outpatient treatments
• City of Yonkers (Commerce, Justice, Science) – $300,000 to conduct drug sweeps and intensive patrols on the west side of the city as part of the Westside Anti-Violence Effort (WAVE).
• City of Yonkers (Transportation-HUD) - $900,000 to widen the Ashburton Avenue corridor.
• Mt. Vernon Chamber of Commerce (Financial Services) - $150,000 to create a renewable energy incubator center for workforce training and to attract small businesses.
• City Parks Foundation (Commerce, Justice, Science) – $200,000 to use local parks to educate children and adults, provide recreational activities for youth and seniors, offer inexpensive cultural experiences for children and families, and to promote the utilization of local parks.
• Boys Town NY (Commerce, Justice, Science) - $100,000 to expand the Treatment Home program and In-Home Family Services program to serve more at-risk boys and girls already in the juvenile justice system.
• John Jay College (Commerce, Justice, Science) - $100,000 to establish a national research clearinghouse on re-entry issues, and to foster the structural and sustained contributions of non-criminal justice disciplines.
• Gay Men’s Health Crisis (Commerce, Justice, Science) – $1,500,000 to decrease the rate of HIV infection among at-risk youth communities in New York City.

“All of these organizations are doing a fantastic job for the Bronx, Rockland, Westchester and all throughout the New York City metropolitan area. There is such a wide range of people helped by them and I believe all of them deserve this and much more. I applaud their efforts and look forward to seeing firsthand the community improvements which will result from this influx of funding,” added Rep. Engel.

In addition, some key aspects to the “omnibus” package are:

• Investing $1.4 billion in training and support services for workers impacted by mass layoffs and plant closures. $824 million, $212 million above 2009 to allow the SBA to help small businesses compete and succeed, including support for $28 billion in new lending to small businesses
• Investing $4.6 billion for mental health care to treat the psychological wounds of returning combat veterans, including post-traumatic stress disorder.
• Providing Community Health Centers with $2.2 billion to provide primary health care to 17 million patients, of whom 40 percent are uninsured. These centers provide high quality care in both urban and rural underserved areas across the country.
• Providing Head Start with $7.2 billion to sustain high-quality, comprehensive early childhood services, including educational, health, nutritional, and social services, for approximately 978,000 low-income children before they enter school.
• Supporting Pell Grants with $17.495 billion to maintain the discretionary portion of the maximum Pell Grant award at $4,860, which, combined with a mandatory supplement of $690, will support a $5,550 maximum Pell Grant in 2010. Pell Grants are the foundation of the Federal commitment to ensure access to higher educational opportunities for low- and middle-income students by providing need-based financial assistance that helps them pay for college costs. The bill will provide more than eight million students with financial assistance under the Pell Grant program.
• Including $5.1 billion for Low Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) to ensure that approximately 7.5 million low-income households continue to receive the home energy assistance they need in a volatile energy market
• Combating Illegal Drugs, And Federal Law Enforcement with $11 billion to federal law enforcement agencies to combat illegal drugs, firearm and explosive trafficking, address national security needs, and safeguard our financial system from crime and terrorism financiers.

“We’d like to thank to Representative Engel, Chairman Rangel and other Members of the New York Delegation for their support of this important initiative. This critical funding will help insure that national visibility is given to the extraordinary work of John Jay’s Prisoner Reentry Institute, in collaboration with the Fortune Society and its Fortune Academy located in Harlem. We are grateful for the opportunity to share the lessons learned by the Prisoner Reentry Institute and the Fortune Academy with communities around the country seeking to address the challenges of prisoner reentry," said Jeremy Travis, President of John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

“This support will dramatically impact GMHC’s ability to serve New York City youth that are at disproportionate risk for HIV infection,” said Janet Weinberg, GMHC Senior Managing Director of Development and Legislative Funding. “GMHC commends Congressman Engel, and the other Members of Congress who supported this appropriation, for their commitment to the fight against HIV/AIDS,” added Weinberg.

“On behalf of our dental staff and patients, I would like to thank Congressman Engel for his tireless support of the 2010 appropriations request,” said Chanie Sternberg, Refuah Health Center’s executive director. “These additional operatories, coupled with Refuah’s outstanding dentists, our comprehensive team of specialists, and our superior delivery of care, will enable us to treat so many in need.”

“By securing this appropriation for Jawonio it sends a significant message that people with disabilities matter. Rockland and Westchester Counties are so lucky to have Congressman Engel work tirelessly on their behalf each and every day. We are proud to be constituents and even prouder to call them our friends. Today, we are again reminded that our own Congressman Eliot Engel cares deeply for children with special needs by providing Jawonio with the resources necessary to give our families a brighter and more hopeful future,” said Jawonio CEO Jill Warner.

Charles Scaglione, Executive Director of Bronx RHIO, said, “Our organization collects health care data from throughout the Bronx into Clinical Data Repositories. That allows any patients being treated almost anywhere in the Bronx to have his or her medical care information available as a means to speed diagnosis while cutting out needless repetitions of tests to cut costs. I want to thank Congressman Engel for his efforts to get us this funding.”

Rep. Engel added, “I look forward to the Senate approving the Consolidated Appropriations Act, and for President Obama’s signature on the measure.”