New Visions Blog

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

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

Studies reveal that 80 to 90% of children who live in violent homes are keenly aware of the violence. ("Effects of Domestic Violence on Children," Mediation Quarterly)* The fact is, children often come to programs like Barrier Free Living’s Freedom House Emergency Shelter and understand more than we may think. The key is finding and developing safe ways for the children to speak about, and heal after experiencing the violence. Children’s exposure to violence can occur in various ways. Some… read more

Pink's moving performance of her song "Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken" at the Grammy's this month featured an American Sign Language interpreter delivering the lyrics. Pink was the only performer to do this during the show. The choice was a step toward having those in the deaf and hard of hearing community be a part of understanding each important line from the song. Later in the show, singer Kesha performed "Praying" and her  triumphant… read more

Five Key Areas of Safety: A special follow up to An Innovative New Method for Measuring Safety.  The team responds to insights from the initial article on An Innovative New Method for Measuring Safety. The response to the last article was tremendous—ranging from a request for training from The Guam Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Family Violence, to an invitation to present at the Upper Manhattan Domestic Violence Coalition meeting. What we heard repeatedly from readers and colleagues is that: domestic violence safety planning… read more

In this article, Freedom House team members explore methods for measuring safety. Individuals and families fleeing domestic violence can find safety and support at BFL’s Freedom House Emergency Shelter—but their life-long journey to living a ‘safe’ life free of abuse only begins there. A key component of the overall healing experience at Freedom House involves comprehensive safety planning. Whether it’s developing a preparedness plan (always know where vital identification information and important phone numbers are); or building an inner knowledge… read more

In part two of this article, BFL’s Secret Garden program, looks at ways advocates working with victims of interpersonal violence can maneuver the sometimes stressful family court system. As Discussed in part one of this article, going to Family Court can be part of the healing journey for victims of domestic violence, but court proceedings can also be very stressful. Victims of domestic violence who have a mental health diagnoses face even more hurdles when navigating this daunting system. Following are… read more

In part one of a two part article, Barrier Free Living's  Secret Garden domestic violence program looks at ways advocates working with victims of interpersonal violence can maneuver the sometimes stressful family court system. Going to Family Court can be part of the healing journey for victims of domestic violence. Orders of protection, child support, and custody are often part of the process of separating from an abusive partner. Final determination on these topics must often be resolved in… read more

Blog contributor Sara Eldridge, LMSW,  is a Senior Social Worker at Barrier Free Living’s Freedom House domestic violence shelter. Sara is a licensed social worker who received a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College in 2015.  Sara has been a social worker at Freedom House since 2015, where she provides individual and group counseling to adults, children and adolescents. Prior to Freedom House she worked with… read more

Student Tutors from Stuyvesant High School and Bronx Science High School are working with both children and adults this winter at Barrier Free Living apartments, a complex in the Bronx offering permanent homes to survivors of domestic violence with disabilities. The tutors meet weekly with elementary school kids, offering one on one work in areas like math and science. They also work with adults who are pursuing their high school equivalency… read more