Category: Current Events
Barrier Free Living Featured In CNBC Article On Domestic Violence & Coronavirus
Barrier Free Living is featured in an article this week on the CNBC site.
“Our concern at this point is that with shelter in place, with the kind of economic tensions that people are under, that domestic violence tends to go up threefold in these kinds of situations,” said Paul Feuerstein, BFL CEO. “We’re trying to find a balance between being safe, helping people get stabilized and at the same time… read more
Structure & Goal Setting Tips During Challenging Times
Anne Markowitz, L.C.S.W., is a consultant for Barrier Free Living providing workshops around the topic of anger. She shares a few tips about maintaining balance during this challenging period.
I hope everyone is well and taking care of yourselves and each other.
We are living in extraordinary times, and have to act extraordinarily. With this in mind, I wanted to share a few ideas about getting through this experience, whether we are staying in… read more
Exhale To Inhale Free Yoga
Barrier Free Living is working with our Occupational Therapy Team to develop online video resources, from yoga to guided meditation, which will be available on our website soon.
Barrier Free Living is a collaborator with Exhale to Inhale which is offering remote Yoga! Starting on Monday, March 23rd they will offer one daily practice streamed two times per day over the course of six weeks. This free practice will air at 7:15am and… read more
Vagina Monologue Performance Benefits Barrier Free Living
Deaf Women of New York City will present Eve Ensler's iconic play The Vagina Monologues at the Wow Black Box Theater Thursday March 5 at 8PM.
The show will benefit Barrier Free Living, and begins with a cocktail hour at 6:30PM… read more
Donated Coats & Scarves Bring Warmth To Barrier Free Living Programs
Donated coats and scarves warmed the hearts of residents and tenants at our programs for survivors of domestic violence with disabilities this past week.
New York Cares Coat Drive delivered 200 coats to adults and kids, and the Bryant Park Corp. donated just as many hand-knitted scarves to the people we serve.
Learn how to make a difference and… read more
Barrier Free Living’s Clothesline Project 2019
Barrier Free Living’s 2nd Annual Clothesline Project kicked off a rich roster of Domestic Violence Awareness month events, outreach and advocacy for our program teams (Freedom House, Secret Garden, BFL Apartments).
View a short video from the Clothesline Project here.
The BFL Clothesline project* -- the brainchild of team member Irma Williams -- is our agency centerpiece, bringing together our supporters and the… read more
Victim To Victor: Author Interview
Hoping to help break the cycle of violence and to provide a “voice for the voiceless” author Samantha Taylor shares her hopes and goals around her searing new book “Victim to Victor.”*
When and why did you decide to write the book?
ST: I decided to write Victim to Victor in 2017. I was encouraged to write a book after I explained the complications, mindsets, perspectives, misunderstandings, and parts of my experience as it… read more
Domestic Violence Awareness Month Supporter Spotlight: Spread The Sparkle!
It was five years ago that I first connected with Abbey Levine (at far left above). We were dishing fashion and love at a Chelsea café when she revealed her new dream project: Spread the Sparkle.
She wanted to redefine the concept of holiday celebration, for people that were searching for renewal and hope. She was looking for a non-profit to work with.
A firm believer in kismet, I told Abbey about… read more
BFL Deaf Services Team Member Featured In City Limits Article
Barrier Free Living team member Nicolyn Plummer is feature in an article (see below) about a lack of Sign Language Interpreters in City Courts in this week's Citylimits.
New York State’s Uniformed Court System (UCS) employs more than 300 staff interpreters in more than 20 languages, in addition to hundreds of additional freelance interpreters who work in the system each year. But just a handful of the court’s staff interpreters work in American Sign Language (ASL)—in fact, just seven… read more
Barrier Free Living’s 2nd Annual Clothesline Project October 11
Barrier Free Living is holding it's 2nd annual Clothesline project community event on October 11 from 10AM-3PM at our supportive housing program in the Bronx.
The event, held during domestic violence awareness month, spotlights the issue of violence against women men and children. For those who have been affected by violence, it is a means of expressing their emotions by decorating a t-shirt. The clothesline project will be held on the… read more
BFL Team Member Aeilushi Mistry Presents Aarti Hindu Lamp Ceremony
Barrier Free Living team member Aeilushi Mistry will be fostering community and encouraging harmony at a special event on August 3 at Brooklyn's Pebble Beach.
Aeilushi is the Founder of the Hindu Lamp Ceremony, which will be held on August 3 from 4-8pm at Pebble Beach in Brooklyn Bridge Park.
The ceremony encourages participants to decorate their own palm leaf lamp and release it in the East River as part of the traditional… read more
BFL Honors LGBTQ+ Pride Month
June is Pride Month nationwide, which is an opportunity for the world and for members of the LGBTQ+ community to celebrate their identity and their relationships.
Barrier Free Living is proud to provide services to members of the LGBTQ+ community. (view our BFLMinute honoring pride here.)
Sexual orientation and gender identity are not barriers to accessing any of our programs, including our emergency domestic violence shelter … read more
Barrier Free Living Apartment’s Celebrates Father’s Day
The staff and tenants at Barrier Free Living apartments came together for a celebratory Father's Day celebration this month.
The event included a BBQ, photo booth and a chance for community to gather and honor Fathers.
BFL Apartments provides permanent homes with support services to survivors of domestic violence with disabilities and veterans with disabilities.… read more
Ali Stroker First Wheelchair User To Win A Tony Award
Ali Stroker became the first person who uses a wheelchair to win a Tony Award at this year's ceremony in New York City.
Her historical win was for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in the acclaimed Broadway revival of “Oklahoma!”
There was one glitch. No ramp had been built to connect the audience seating area to the main stage. In one instance, Ali had to wait in the wings on stage in case… read more
BFL’s Secret Garden Opens New Space, Unveils Historical Timeline
Barrier Free Living's (BFL) Secret Garden domestic violence program welcomed staff and supporters to the grand opening of its new healing space this May.
A historical timeline was unveiled (photo above) mapping the program's decades of providing services to survivors of domestic violence with disabilities.
"This is a great new home where we can focus on our comprehensive services. We welcome all agency staff to attend our regular workshops and trainings, or… read more
Barrier Free Living Presents: Exploring the Intersection of Domestic Violence, Disability & Trauma
Cynthia Amodeo, Chief Program Officer at Barrier Free Living and Jules Perkel, Program Director at Barrier Free Living's Secret Garden, will co-present this presentation at this year's conference.
According to the Office on Women's Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, research suggests that women with disabilities are more likely to suffer domestic violence and sexual assault than women without disabilities, and women with disabilities report abuse that lasts longer… read more
Barrier Free Living Celebrates Mother’s Day
Barrier Free Living celebrated Mother's Day with staff, tenants, residents and participants at our BFL Apartments, Secret Garden and Freedom House programs this May.
"We honor the mother's at our program every day. We are taking this opportunity to serve lunch featuring poetry and unity (photo above)," says Irma Williams, Director of Social… read more
BFL Featured In Patch News
Barrier Free Living is featured in Patch, an East Village news source this May.
The Patch story focuses on the progress of the agency's new project at the site of the former Transitional Housing program in Manhattan's East Village.
Read the article here… read more
Barrier Free Living’s Cynthia Amodeo On Panel: Enhancing and Building New Approaches for Serving Survivors of Crime
Barrier Free Living's Chief Program Officer Cynthia Amodeo participated on a panel as part of the Criminal Justice Investment Initiative (CJII) Grantee Conference on March 22.
Cynthia spoke on a panel of grantees about the Deaf Services Initiative, funded by the Manhattan District Attorneys Office (DANY).
The conference was sponsored by DANY and the CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance, which is an administrator and technical assistance partner of the CJII grant program.
Cynthia’s panel… read more
ReelAbilities Film Festival New York Tickets On Sale
Tickets for the ReelAbilities Film Festival New York are on sale, and Barrier Free Living is proud to be an outreach partner of this dynamic event again this year.
The Oscar® nominated and Emmy Award®-winning filmmaker Irene Taylor Brodsky’s film “Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements,” which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, will open the 11th annual festival on April 2. The festival continues until April… read more
BFL’s Cynthia Amodeo Inducted Into Women In Human Services Hall of Fame
Barrier Free Living's Chief Program Officer Cynthia Amodeo was inducted this March into the Women in Human Services Hall of Fame.
An event inside the Legislative Office Building near the state Capitol recognized more than 60 women. It was noted that the human services workforce is 81% women.
Read about the honorees here. … read more
Butler Street Coop Donates Toys & Books To Barrier Free Living Learning Center
The volunteer-led Butler Street Coop had to close its Brooklyn based playground/pre-school this winter, but the silver lining came in the form of donations to the new Learning Center for kids at Barrier Free Living apartments in the South Bronx.
The Coop donated books, toys and musical instruments to the center. Barrier Free Living apartments offers permanent homes to survivors of domestic… read more
Barrier Free Living’s Freedom House Featured In We Make For Good Show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB8T8HJATNw&feature=youtu.be… read more
February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month
Contributor Sara Eldridge, LMSW, is the Assisstant Director of Social Services 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… read more
V-Day February 14
V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls that occurs in February.
Learn more about V-Day here.
V-Day is a catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money, and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM), and sex slavery.
Through V-Day campaigns, local volunteers… read more
Inclusion Advocacy Training Series: Free Training For Women and Girls with Disabilities and their Allies
NYC Women & Teen Girls with Disabilities: Upskilling Training Program
Training program for women and teen girls with disabilities in NYC to advance skills in preparation for civic engagement
RespectAbility is on the front lines of advancing the empowerment of women and girls with disabilities. We are passionate about bringing intersectionality into our work, and into the nonprofit sector at-large.
We are excited to announce a new effort to raise the voices, lives and experiences of New York City’s almost 500,000 women and… read more
JCJ Architecture Tapped to Design New Building for Barrier Free Living
The new housing facility will be located in the heart of Manhattan and is designed to support survivors of domestic abuse
NEW YORK, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- JCJ Architecture today announces the firm will design a groundbreaking new project for Barrier Free Living (BFL), a leading NYC community nonprofit that provides services and support for survivors of domestic violence with disabilities. The $30 million project is anticipated to break ground in Fall… read more
PopGym Self Defense Workshop At Barrier Free Living’s Freedom House Domestic Violence Shelter
Working from a philosophy that takes both a physical and an emotional approach to self defense, PopGym held a workshop for the residents of Barrier Free Living's Freedom House domestic violence shelter this October. (Take a short virtual tour of Freedom House here.)
We caught up with PopGym team member Grey to find out a bit more about this innovative organization in New York City.
BFL: How did you get… read more
No Barriers Summit: Innovation For People With Disabilities
Blog contributor 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.
“What’s within you is stronger than what’s in your way.”
That’s the motto printed on the tee shirt given to all participants in… read more
Spread The Sparkle Fund Raiser Benefits Barrier Free Living Domestic Violence Programs
Spread the Sparkle hosted an event this November, raising funds to produce an annual holiday party for the families at Barrier Free Living's domestic violence programs.
Below is a message from the Spread the Sparkle team, and information on how to volunteer to support this incredible annual event.
Spread the Sparkle Writes:
To all of our talented practitioners, dedicated donors, interested and inspired ticket buyers… read more