Governor and Elected Officials Tour Programs
Last Summer, we received several special visitors to our treatment programs. Governor Kathy Hochul, who was still serving as New York State’s Lt. Governor, toured two of our programs. She was joined by local elected officials and the then NYS Office of Addiction Services and Supports Commissioner Arlene González-Sánchez.
On July 20, Hochul visited our Young Mothers Program in Manhattan with Lt. Governor Brian Benjamin who at the time was State Senator. Hochul appointed Benjamin her Lt. Governor the following month.
Our Young Mothers Program, a specialized residential treatment program in Manhattan, hosted a visit by Governor Kathy Hochul (then Lt. Governor), Lt. Governor Brian Benjamin (then State Senator), and the previous Commissioner of the Office of Addiction Services and Supports Arlene González-Sánchez.
(Left) Hochul and Benjamin talk with a staff member.
(Right) AVP of Residential Treatment Harry Scott, Jr. discusses YMP's treatment protocols and positive outcomes with González-Sánchez, Hochul, and Benjamin.
AVP Scott shows off a two-person dormitory-style bedroom with cribs for each of the clients' babies.
Hochul also traveled that day to our Highbridge Residential Treatment Program in the Bronx. For that visit, City Council Member Vanessa Gibson joined in the tour. Since, Gibson has been elected to Bronx Borough President.
At our Highbridge Residential Treatment Program in the Bronx, Samaritan Daytop Village was paid a visit by Hochul, González-Sánchez, and Bronx Borough President (then a City Council Member) Vanessa Gibson.
(Left) President & CEO Mitchell Netburn talk with Hochul and Gibson.
(Right) VP of Residential Treatment James Hollywood discusses the treatment protocols at Highbridge and the building's place in the historic neighborhood of Highbridge.
The tours of the treatment programs provided Hochul, Benjamin, Gibson, and González-Sánchez an opportunity to learn more about the challenges met during the pandemic and opioid crisis.
On August 26, Hochul recalled her visit to our programs in a speech that was broadcast live on TV, radio, and the Internet. She restated her commitment to ending the opioid epidemic and extending funds to the behavioral health field. At the end of the speech, she named Benjamin as her Lt. Governor. Click to watch the excerpt of the speech when Governor Hochul mentions Samaritan Daytop Village.
