"Having grown up in a small town in rural Pennsylvania, I never thought the sense of community that defined my upbringing could be replicated in a city like New York.
"I’m a 5th generation Forest Hills resident and Chair of Rego-Forest Preservation Council, which takes great pride in documenting the neighborhood’s architectural and cultural history.
"I just completed my freshman year at the High School for Arts & Business. During the early part of the school year, I kept hearing great things about the impact of QCH’s Access for Young Women program on adolescents and young adults, so I decided to join.
“I was with QCH Queens Center for Gay Seniors when it began, back when it was in Astoria. I’ve been coming outside to celebrate lgbtq+ pride since the first parade in Queens. This might be my last one, hopefully not, but here I am.”
"Having lived in Queens, 'the world’s borough' for a long time, as an immigrant, I really enjoy spending my time at QCH, where I've been able to take language classes and play table tennis.
“Prior to learning about QCH, I was a provider at another childcare network, At the time, I thought it was good that the providers were left to their own devices. We didn’t have much oversight, there wasn’t much direction, and we didn’t get much information.
“When I was a little girl, I wanted to be an artist, but I didn’t pursue those interests as an adult. When I retired from full-time work in 2017, I decided to find a way to reawaken some of that creative energy.
"About 15 years ago, I really got into painting. I always wanted to as a child, but my parents were very strict. They'd tell me: 'you're going to starve if you become an artist', so I became a chemist. Now that I'm retired, I do a lot of painting. I really enjoy it so much.
“I started working at QCH when I was 24 years old. At first, I figured I’d probably be here for about a week or two. It turned into 42 years and counting. It’s been such a pleasure working with everybody at QCH.
"At first, I thought I was never going to graduate from college. When I connected with QCH’s College Access and Success Program (CASP), they introduced me to important college programs and gave me guidance on helpful resources that I didn’t know about.
