Representatives from Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow community service agencies and schools met Wednesday morning for a coalition meeting at Phelps Hospital.

Organized in April, 2009 by three local service providers and activists — Abby Schneider, Ana Lopez and Yolanda Infante — the coalition strives to unite area health and social service providers and keep each other abreast of agencies’ current goals and concerns.

“Before the coalition, we were all separate entities working to achieve similar goals,” said Lopez, coordinator of the Westchester Hispanic Coalition in Sleepy Hollow.

Although the original objective on this morning’s agenda was to decide on a speaker for next month’s coalition meeting, the full hour and a half was filled by introductions and announcements—with each member’s update garnering extensive and knowledgeable feedback from her peers. 

"Sharing information about what the service provider agencies are doing in the community helps each of us increase our understanding of the challenges our clients are facing and our knowledge about the pool of resources and services to which we can refer them," said Kathy Howard, district administrator of mental health for Family Services of Westchester.

Since Lopez, Schneider (program director of Phelps’ counseling services) and Infante (parent coordinator for the Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow schools) started the coalition last year, numerous other organizations have joined, helping to create a cohesive network of clinicians, counselors, government officials and educators.

Agencies represented at today’s meeting included: Family Ties of Westchester, Phelps Hospital Mental Health Services, Family Services of Westchester, Hudson Health Plan, Jewish Community Center on the Hudson and Westchester Hispanic Coalition.  There were 10 representatives; all were female.

“The movers and shakers in this community are the women,” Lopez said. “We would love representation from the police and fire departments, but so far they have not joined.”

Because of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow’s largely Latino population, this Wednesday's conversation centered on obtaining health care for Spanish-speaking individuals. 

Vivian Sebastian, who is the predominant organizer of Hispanic Health Day on May 1, was vocal in her desire to secure funds and volunteers for this year’s event.

“We saved at least one life as a result of last year’s Health Day,” Sebastian said. “I want to make sure we can be as successful this year.”

Hudson Health Plan, a local nonprofit managed care organization, segued seamlessly from Hispanic Health Day to a discussion of area families who live precariously without health insurance.

“Our main goal is to educate people to enroll in inexpensive health plans rather than go to the emergency room,” said Margot Velez, marketing field manager for Hudson health. “Every emergency room visit for the uninsured costs tax-payers a lot of money.” 

Although all agencies present targeted different aspects of the population’s well-being, the women unanimously agreed that there were deep-rooted cultural issues to rectify in this community.

“It is very important to stress the idea of enlightened self interest in a community like ours. People should know about affordable health plans so that they can both keep themselves healthier and save taxpayers money,” Howard said.

The final key issue discussed was the upcoming census, something which will be very important to all agencies’ represented. 

“That everyone be counted is crucial,” said Lopez, who has organized a full-out campaign to raise awareness of the importance of responding to the census. “The census numbers help determine the amount of government funds social service agencies and schools receive. That is why we are all so concerned”

Coalition members are confident their efforts at collaboration have already made a tangible difference in the Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow Community, and look hopefully to the future for more success.

“I honestly believe you will see real changes in the next five years,” Lopez said.