New Visions Blog

Barrier Free Living’s Freedom House domestic violence shelter celebrated it’s 11th year anniversary by honoring staff and celebrating the program’s mission. Staff members were presented with awards during the event as the agency honored the program’s past decade working with survivors of domestic violence with disabilities, and their families. View the ten year anniversary celebration video highlights.… read more

This past April 3-5, two staff members from Barrier Free Living's Secret Garden domestic violence program attended the End Violence Against Women International Conference On Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, and Gender Bias in Chicago, IL. The annual conference focuses on sexual assault, intimate partner violence, stalking, human trafficking and elder abuse. The conference brought together international members of law enforcement, prosecutors, victim advocates, judges, and health care professionals to collaborate on… read more

BFL Apartments' tenant Niasia signed on for the Assurant Financial Empowerment Scholarship program last year with a clear goal in mind: attend beauty school. Niasia, who completed the BFL Apartments' 8-week workshop and was awarded a financial scholarship, began classes at American Beauty School in the Bronx this month (photo above). Niasia is one of 8 workshop graduates who secured scholarships to pursue a career or educational goal… read more

Barrier Free Living's Secret Garden domestic violence (DV) program is launching a new support group for DV Survivors to be conducted in Spanish. Potential participants should identify as immigrant women from Latinx countries, be over 18 years old, and speak Spanish. The group will be running from April 9-June 25, once a week, Mondays from 4:30pm-6pm at the Brooklyn Legal Services office, 105 Court Street in downtown Brooklyn. Service providers should refer clients to… read more

Blog contributor Julia Alberino. Julia retired in 2011 after more than thirty years as a health care administrator in both the public and private sectors. She was a frequent speaker at professional conferences, and co-founder of an advocacy group that worked to maintain and improve services for Medicaid beneficiaries, including elderly and disabled individuals. It’s been a little over a week since Apple announced that it has developed a series of accessibility Emojis to… read more

The 33rd Annual New York Crime Victims Vigil is scheduled for this Sunday, April 8, 2-4pm at West End Collegiate Church, 245 West 77th St. NYC The event honors survivors from all types of crimes, along with family members of homicide victims. There are speakers, musical performances, and lighting of candles to remember loved ones affected by violence. Families may also bring photos to display during the ceremony. The event is sponsored by : The Office of the New York State… read more

Barrier Free Living is dedicated to helping people with disabilities thrive in their communities, at our programs and shelters in the New York area. We address the issues facing survivors of domestic violence with disabilities across our programs (Secret Garden, Freedom House and Barrier Free Living Apartments) through safe shelter and housing, trauma-informed counseling, and advocacy. In this three part article, we will explore: why people with disabilities are at a higher risk of abuse;  the likelihood of negative trauma reactions to… read more

Barrier Free Living is dedicated to helping people with disabilities thrive in their communities, at our programs and shelters in the New York area. We address the issues facing survivors of domestic violence with disabilities across our programs (Secret Garden, Freedom House and Barrier Free Living Apartments) through safe shelter and housing, trauma-informed counseling, and advocacy. At our Transitional Housing program, we provide shelter to adults with disabilities. In this three part article, we will… read more

Trauma Disables and Disability Traumatizes A three-part article exploring the insidious intersection of disability and domestic abuse (originally published in BFL's Breaking Barriers in Domestic Violence April 2018 E-newsletter).  Barrier Free Living is dedicated to helping people with disabilities thrive in their communities, at our programs and shelters in the New York area. We address the issues facing survivors of domestic violence with disabilities across our programs (Secret Garden, Freedom House and … read more

LeShan Gaulman, program director at Barrier Free Living's Transitional Housing shelter, will be a panelist on the “Homelessness and Housing Insecurity: Challenges and Solutions” presentation Friday, March 23 at Lehman College. The conference addresses the challenges and solutions related to homelessness  and has been coordinated by the Department of Social Work through a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration. LeShan received the 9th Annual Emerging Social Work Leader Award of the National… read more

High school students are bringing the magic of chess to the young residents at Freedom House this spring. Marco Ramdas, a junior at Brooklyn Technical HS, and Andreas Ramdas, a senior at Beacon HS, are offering a chess workshop at Freedom House, a place for the kids to learn and also to engender a sense of community. Their goal is to "teach chess to as many children as possible and hope to impart their… read more

Myra Ricard, Program Director at Barrier Free Living's Freedom House emergency domestic violence shelter was one of the women honored at the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agency's (FPWA) Women in Human Services Hall of Fame ceremony on March 13, 2018 in Albany. "I am very honored," says Myra. "I have been doing this work for many years. It's a passion for me and I will continue to do work with domestic violence survivors for years to come,." FPWA… read more

Aeilushi Mistry, HR Manager at Barrier Free Living, will be on hand today at the Lehman College Career and Internship Fair from 11am-3pm. Lehman College is located at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West - Bronx, NY. Learn more about the fair here.  Learn about Barrier Free Living job openings here. Lehman College students and alumni interested in exploring internships, career and post-graduate opportunities in diverse industries can connect with Barrier Free… read more

A young tenant of Barrier Free Living Apartments received a scholarship grant to attend the Scout Focus Elite 80 basketball camp this March. BFL Apartments offers permanent homes with support services to survivors of domestic violence with disabilities and their families. ScoutsFocus is dedicated to identifying and providing a platform for underexposed players across the United States. Justin was awarded the funds, part of an Assurant sustainable living financial empowerment… read more

Guest Blogger Julia Alberino retired in 2011 after more than thirty years as a health care administrator in both the public and private sectors. She was a frequent speaker at professional conferences, and co-founder of an advocacy group that worked to maintain and improve services for Medicaid beneficiaries, including elderly and disabled individuals. The first time I signed onto my search engine on Monday March 9, 2018, it thrilled me to see the… read more

Students from New York City's Convent of the Sacred Heart school have chosen Barrier Free Living Apartments for a school wide community service project competition. BFL Apartments offers permanent housing with support services to survivors of domestic violence with disabilities. The students were drawn to the program's mission and are competing with other classmates in the school's project for a $5000 grant. The students toured BFL Apartments this March, meeting a few young residents.… read more

The ReelAbilities film festival will open on March 8 at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Avenue at 76th Street, with the previously announced 2017 Tribeca Film Festival-winner Keep the Change and will close with the New York Premiere of Matan Yair’s Scaffolding, which took the Best Israeli Feature and Best Actor awards at the 2017 Jerusalem Film Festival. Other film highlights include Mad to Be Normal starring Elisabeth Moss, David… read more

Blog contributor Kaylen is a social worker and the assistant program director at Barrier Free Living’s Secret Garden program. She has been with the agency for over 5 years. During a recent Special Topics workshop held at the Secret Garden, Jerome Greco, an attorney from the Digital Forensics Unit at the Legal Aid Society presented on suggestions for preventing cyberstalking. Some of his suggestions included: If possible, set up two factor… read more

BFL has launched a Domestic Violence and Disabilities Resources page specific to facts and information around its expertise on the topics of Domestic Violence and Disability.  Click link below to view the BFL team's culling of reports to create a critical 'Do You Know' sheet, with items like: Do you know: The number one issue of Women with Disabilities nationwide is Domestic Abuse. 80% of women with disabilities have been sexually assaulted. Increased rates of abuse by both men and women with disabilities… read more

Barrier Free Living (BFL) Apartments celebrated Black History Month at its supportive housing complex in the Bronx with an event featuring legendary DJ Kool Herc and Hip Hop Producer/DJ Spazecraft One. BFL Apartments offers permanent homes to survivors of domestic violence with disabilities and their families, as well as to veterans with disabilities. The community event featured food, music… read more

Blog contributor Jules is a social worker and the program director at Barrier Free Living's Secret Garden program. She has been practicing trauma-informed therapy with the agency for nearly 7 years. In a recent Special Topics workshop hosted at the Secret Garden, criminal defense and immigration attorneys from New York County Defenders Services provided a rich discussion around what it means to Know Your Rights around arrest and immigration. Discussion highlights and… read more

Approximately 94-99% of domestic violence survivors experience economic abuse (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence). Economic abuse occurs when an abuser controls a victim’s access to economic resources, forcing the victim to rely on the abuser for financial support. This includes interfering with a victim’s ability to obtain or keep a job, stealing paychecks or benefit checks, refusing to provide a victim with access to cash or credit cards, or opening bank accounts… read more

Barrier Free Living's Nicolyn Plummer will be on hand March 3 at the Mayor's Office for People With Disabilities' presentation on "How to Access and Utilize" that office. Nicolyn is a senior social worker and coordinator of outreach and advocacy of the Deaf Services Initiative, in conjunction with Secret Garden and Freedom House to enhance accessibility in serving Deaf victims. View event flyer here.… read more

Barrier Free Living's Secret Garden domestic violence program will be on hand at the Feb. 20 Community Resource Fair. The event is from 6pm-8pm at the LGBT Center, 2018 West 13th St. NYC.… read more

In January 2004, the National Center for Victims of Crime launched National Stalking Awareness Month (NSAM) to increase the public's understanding of the crime of stalking. Barrier Free Living team members Nicolyn Plummer and Michelle Reyes take a look at stalking as it relates to Deaf individuals. Nicolyn Plummer is a senior social worker and coordinator of outreach and advocacy of the Deaf Services Initiative, in conjunction with Secret Garden and Freedom House… read more

On January 10, 2018, the Barrier Free Living New Visions Blog posted about the launch of “The Uncomfortable Conversation” video series on youtube. These videos grew out of a TEDx talk given by Sarah Beaulieu, herself a survivor of sexual violence as a college student, and sexual molestation as a child. https://youtu.be/ZqL56Ly7sFE Sarah is founder of The Uncomfortable Conversation, Inc., an organization dedicated to normalizing conversations about sexual violence, especially for young men. She also manages the Uncomfortable Conversation… read more

Residents in BFL’s Freedom House Emergency Shelter are often uncertain about their legal rights. Victims of domestic violence can find the legal system confusing and scary. Our team can advocate for shelter residents, ensuring that all their needs are being met while protecting everyone’s rights involved. Following is a story where our advocacy was crucial in a very difficult case. Survivor’s Story Jean is the mother of two children, Robin (4 years old) and Alexis (2 years old). Jean came… read more

As Olympic fever heats up in Pyeonchang South Korea this month, in March the focus will be on the 2018 Winter Paralympics. Barrier Free Living will post regular game updates. Competition includes sled hockey, snowboarding and noridic skiing. NBC Olympics will present coverage of the Paralympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 this March, including 94 hours on television, which nearly doubles coverage of Sochi 2014. In all, NBC Olympics will present… read more

For persons involved in abusive relationships, many steps must be taken to ensure their security. Developing a safety plan for residents at both Barrier Free Living's Freedom House Domestic Violence Shelter for People with Disabilities, and our Secret Garden domestic violence counseling program, is an essential component of this process. Traditionally persons received a handout of safety guidelines upon receiving services at a domestic violence agency. The safety guidelines include information for de-escalating potential incidents of violence… read more

Domestic violence victims often face the highest level of danger when they take action to leave an abusive relationship. Carolyn Block’s “How can practitioners help an abused woman lower her risk of death?”* indicates that for 45% of women who were murdered by an abuser, the precipitating factor was her attempt to leave that abuser. Deciding to leave an abusive relationship is a difficult choice and can bring up new and serious risks. At times, it can be in the best… read more