City of New York, NY
04/30/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/30/2024 17:42
Transcript: Mayor Adams Hosts Reception Celebrating Non-Profit and Faith-Based Organizations
April 30, 2024
Pastor Gilford Monrose, Director, Mayor's Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships: Good afternoon, lovely people. You all look so great. Welcome to the People's House. We are so grateful to have all of you here today.Today, we are celebrating very special individuals. Those of you who do your work unselfishly, without recognition, we want to pause today, as much is going on in the City of New York, to say thank you. Thank you from the depths of our hearts for all of the work that you have done. We are grateful for your partnership in the city and we are grateful that you are here too as well. I will call up Rev. Dr. Eaton to give the invocation.
Rev. Dr. Kanyere Eaton, Senior Pastor, Fellowship Covenant Church:Good afternoon, friends. Would you join mejust for a moment of prayer? Let's bow our heads if you're comfortable.
Seeing God, Omniscient One, we direct our prayers to you this afternoon because all eyes are on us and we don't know what to do. We have well thought out business plans, but we don't always know what to do. We have board members who are smart and capable, but we don't always know what to do with what we see and what we experience and what is happening in our great city. Lord, on top of that, all eyes are on us. We've sat in one vision casting retreat after the next and still we're not sure what to do.
The eyes of the whole world are on New York City, on our students as they demonstrate, on our courts as unprecedented cases are tried, on our housing crisis, on our handling of the immigration situation, on our mayor. They are watching us and as they do, we ask you, seeing God, to bless us. Bless us as we assemble this afternoon. Bless every woman who leads and every man who serves. We ask you to grant us vision and to share with us your insight for the living of these strange days. We pray, God, that you would share with us your insights for the handling of these difficult times unlike any times we've ever seen. God, your eyes are in every place, so please keep your eyes on us both in Gracie Mansion this afternoon and in every non-profit across this great city. Make the Big Apple the apple of your eye.
These are our prayers today. Amen.
It's my pleasure, friends, and it's my honor, really, to introduce one of the most extraordinary, talented, committed women I have ever met in my life. That is the Rev. Dr. Valerie Oliver Durrah. Dr. Durrah is the founder and the principal of the Neighborhood Technical Assistance Clinic. She has strengthened the arms and increased the capacity of New York City non-profits across every borough. I met her 24 years ago as a new leader of a small foundation in New York City and she taught me more than the tens of thousands of dollars that I paid to Columbia University School of Social Work. She took me under her wing and she has been a singular force for good in our great city. The Neighborhood Technical Assistance Clinic is a small organization that has made a mighty impact over the decades of this service. Will you put your hands together and join me in welcoming the Rev. Dr. Valerie Oliver Durrah.
Rev. Dr. Valerie Oliver Durrah, Founder, President and CEO, Neighborhood Technical Assistance Clinic: Hello, everyone. Always so happy. I'm so happy to see you and I cannot believe that this mayor, Eric Adams, is the first mayor who has designated the Clergy and Non-Profit Dayhere at Gracie Mansion. That's a hand right there. Oh, my God, that's a hand right there.
I add my greetings to each of you by welcoming you to the People's House. Now, don't get it twisted. This place is called Gracie Mansion. It's truly a pleasure to have each and every one of you here today for what we are proudly calling Clergy and Non-Profit Day in New York City. First ever, first ever. While it might be the first for many of you to receive an invitation from the mayor to this beautiful location, I am thrilled to see the diversity among the boroughs.
Let me see who's here from Staten Island. Let me see your hand. We got three people. Let me see who's here from Queens. Okay, let me see who's here from the Bronx. Oh, I hear you. What's that? Pastor Kanyere says, what is that? The down and under. There you go. Yes, that's right. Yes, I like that. Who's here from Manhattan? All right, y'all. You didn't have to come far. You was okay. I just want to introduce and see the hands of those from the best, the biggest, and the boldest. Brooklyn in the house.
We have all gathered here to showcase the incredible work of the non-profit sector and the impact this sector has had on improving the quality of life all over New York City. Now, I need your help because I have three points that I want to make about non-profits. I could talk all along, but they said I have to keep it short. When I say non-profit, I need you to say matters, okay? Let's try it out. Non-profit.
Audience: Matters.
Rev. Dr. Durrah: All right now. Here's my first point. In a time when the division seems to deepen from borough to borough and our nation grapples with challenges, it's the thousands of dedicated New Yorkers like yourself who strike a match to light up the darkness each day. Non-profit…
Audience: Matters.
Rev. Dr. Durrah: Faith-based institutions and non-profit organizations embody the very essence of our nation's spirit and values. They're the ones who provide essential support, housing, nourishment, healing, shelter, education, and care to millions of individuals and families day after day. Non-profit…
Audience: Matters.
Rev. Dr. Durrah: I, like many of you, have dedicated my life's work to enhancing the quality of life through non-profit endeavors. Today, we are privileged, so privileged, to witness the vital role that faith communities play in this noble because. Non-profit…
Audience: Matters.
Rev. Dr. Durrah: You got it. I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge the unsung heroes behind every non-profit, the board members. If you serve on the board or volunteer with a specific non-profit or a faith-based institution, let me see your hands. Thank you so much. I always say in my trainings over the 40-some-odd years that I have worked in the non-profit sector that a strong non-profit begins with a strong board. Those of you who are working with a weak board, you need to get them out of here. Start all over and build a bigger and a better board. Now, that's not the mayor's comment. That's just coming from me.
I'd also like to thank our sponsors. I saw Athena Moore with Municipal Credit Union. Where are you, Athena? Thank you so much. At the last minute, we came together and we did not have a sponsor. You rose to the occasion. It's always good to have a sister in the house. Thank you so much. Our other sponsor, and I'm looking for him. He's the tallest guy I know. Where is Mr. Nelson? Oh, well, I'm glad I got my check first. Give him my regards and to thank him for sending our check in soon. I would have been a little upset and distracted if I had gotten my check. Oh, Lord.
I also want to thank Robin Bell-Stevens, who I have known for nearly 50 years. When we said we were coming here to Gracie Mansion, to the People's House, I wondered what music were we going to hear? She said to me, guess what? This is Jazz Appreciation Month. Not only that, she didn't stop with that. She said, this is international jazz. Where are you, Robin? You're going to help me. Where are you, Robin? What do you say? This is international jazz day? Around the world. They're around the world, but we at Gracie Mansion celebrating. Thank you so much, Robin, for the work that you provide and for allowing us to benefit from Danny Nixon on the piano and Bryce Sebastien. I also want to thank Ken, the photographer. I know at these high-end events that we have at Gracie Mansion, we don't always get a chance to thank even the people who provide these essential services. Everybody wants their pictures when you finish a party. Somebody asked me one time, why are you always in the paper? I said, because I hire a photographer to go with me. Simple answer. I want to recognize Ken, the photographer, for the great work that you do.
Lastly, I want to express my deepest gratitude again to each of you. I want to also recognize my own board of directors, too. I only have three board members. I don't know how y'all getting around with 10 and 15 and 20 board members. I have three. Two of them are here. That's the Rev. Sylvia Kinard. Where are you, Sylvia? I can't see you. She's my board chair, Esquire. You've already heard from the Rev. Dr. Kanyere Eaton, who heads up the congregation in Castle Hill. It's called Fellowship Covenant Church. If y'all looking for a church in the Bronx, we got one for you. Don't y'all get mad at me, because I know y'all have other churches, too. I have to mention her, because she's on the board. That's another tip, by the way. When you're doing this type of work in non-profit, you want to make sure of what you can do to help your board out. Because when you help your board out, the board helps you out. Okay? It's like taking two hands to clap. I apologize if I'm off of script, but that's what I do.
Are we ready? Are we ready? We're not ready? Oh, so I can just talk for another, what, 20 minutes? I'm good at that. While I have this opportunity to ad-lib a little bit before the mayor comes in, I understand he was already in the building. I don't know what's taking him so long. He's here. He's here. Give me one more second, since you're late. All right. I want… Okay. I know they probably won't invite me back, so I better say what I want to say right now.
I do want to recognize the deputy borough president of Brooklyn, who didn't consider it robbery to be with us, Deputy Kim. The head of the Medgar Evers College is here. Dr. Ramsey, thank you so very much. I would be remiss if I did not recognize, I can't even remember everybody's name, but I would be remiss if I did not mention the Daughtries. Dr. Herbert Daughtry and Dr. Karen Daughtry, you are our role models and we love you. Do you need a chair? You need a chair to sit? You Okay? All right, then.
Now, now is the time. Without further ado, allow me to introduce a man who needs no introduction. In his neighborhood where he grew up, you might hear people calling him. That's Dorothy's boy. To us, he is the history-making mayor of New York City who did not consider it robbery to set aside a day in this beautiful facility to honor the work of nonprofits and clergies around the city. Please help me in welcoming our mayor, Mayor Eric Adams.
Mayor Eric Adams: That's my thing. Stay focused, no distractions, and grind. The staff was, trying to signal Dr. Durrah, you better let her talk.
Non-profits, I often tell the story. NTAC has been amazing throughout the years of the Neighborhood Technical Assistance Unit, understanding the power of nonprofit. If Rev. wants to sit down, there's a seat in the back. Non-profits are crucial.
I'll often talk about the story, the two-part story of, and we all know it, when a man walks on the beach, and there's two sets of footprint during the easy times, and then during the difficult times, he tells God, how come during difficult times, there's only one set of footprints? God responded, that's when I'm carrying you.
The biggest mistake I believe we make in life is that we don't realize that we're not who we are because of who we are, it's because people have been carrying us for so long. You may have passed the examination to be the lawyer, but look how many times you were carried to make sure you were able to sit in that law school in the first place. You may be a surgeon and doing very well because you attended Howard University, but don't forget the soothing voice of Lou Rawls saying the mind is a terrible thing to waste, and Black grandmothers and grandfathers kept jars of pennies on countertops and sent it in.
We have been carried. I know how much I am carried. It's just stories after stories of how much I have been carried to get here. One in general, particularly why there's this intersectionality of the faith-based institution and nonprofits, because you are the original nonprofit. before people were talking about getting a 501(c)(3), you were already the 501(c)(3). You already were doing the work. You were doing it so long. As a child, we used to go to this old church, and I just remember this so clearly. We used to go to this church. We used to go to the Cheers Church. Everyone knew your name and everyone was glad you came. You go during the morning, take the break, then come back at night. It was like [inaudible] Baptist sometime, right, deputy?
Mommy didn't have anything on that break. It was about scrapping together whatever she had. She was a food service worker at Amistad Daycare Center. I knew what the students ate during the week because she would bring recycled aluminum foil and Tupperware bowls and take the leftovers, but it would run out by the time you got to Saturday and most definitely by Sunday. Then a car caravan of women came after the evening services. They started unloading boxes of groceries. I remember watching them carry these boxes in, singing and just rejoicing as they came in and placed those boxes on our countertops. We prayed over the food.
Later that night, around 1, 2 a.m. in the morning, I went downstairs and I looked in the boxes, and the boxes were open. Half a box of spaghetti, half a jar of mayonnaise, half a box of pancake mix. Those women could not buy us groceries. They gave us half of what they had to make sure that mommy was just able to get through the week because the goal there was week by week by week. Someone will always show up. We never worried about when we got to the cliff that if the bridge was going to be there or not. God told mommy, just get to the cliff. Let me worry about the bridge. That bridge has been the faith-based institutions. You've always been the bridge.
People don't acknowledge you, and in this administration under the leadership of Pastor Gilford Monrose, he understood it clearly. He understood how we needed to connect the dots with our faith-based community on all levels. From building, you should be building on these vacant lots. You should be able to use your air rights to build the senior housing, to build housing for our domestic violence victims. You're already doing a food pantry. We should make sure you have the food to do the food pantry.
Many of our mosques opened their doors to our West African brothers and sisters as they came in. If you go to the Sikh temples during Covid, they fed three meals a day to everyone who showed up at their doorstep if you were from the Sikh community or not. You look at Pastor Salgado, what he did during Covid. Many of you, I'm just telling your story. Based on what you did, some third grade Eric Adams is going to have that memory and is going to give him a trajectory of say what the possibilities are because you were there for them. When you feel as though no one believes in you, no one wants to be there, and you have these faith-based communities who are the modern day weathermen and women before the inclement storms hit our shores. You knew there was domestic violence in our community because you were there ministering to the family members. You knew we had gun violence in our community because you were at the funerals. You knew there was a fentanyl and drug problem because you saw the devastation of how it hurt families.
If government would just shut up and listen to you, we wouldn't have half the problems we're having right now. When I hear people talk about why do you put faith into government, faith is not a Sunday thing or Saturday thing or Friday thing. It is all of you. There was a day when people used to see you and say, there's something different about you. We used to be proud to sit down at our offices and have our faith material and read it. We used to hand out pamphlets to people. We used to enjoy the power of our faith. I don't know what happened that all of a sudden we want to whisper our faith. I want to be on the top mountain and yell that I'm a child of God. I'm a child of God. Because if you know where he has taken me from, if my journey, don't get caught up being a mayor, the borough president, a state senator, captain of the Police Department. That's my glory. You don't want to know my story. Only God can take this perfectly imperfect person and say you will be elevated to be the mayor of the most important city on the globe.
We need you right now. We need you so much. When I get in the morning and I do my scripture reading and I pray and my meditation, I think about our faith-based institutions so much. Thinking of that old Negro ballad, if you take a close look at my face, you'll see my smile is out of place and the tracks of my tears. People are hurting. They are hurting and we're walking past them. They're saying, I'm hurting and we're saying, have a nice day. There is so much pain in our city. You can't… And let me correct that, there's so much pain in our globe. There is a demonic energy that has engulfed our globe. People want to see how much can I hurt you? How do I feel better by giving you pain? I see it every day. In this role as mayor, it allows me to be in the crevices of all of these communities and I'm walking away with a universal belief that the pain has not escaped one of our communities.
I don't know, I'm sure there is a similar text in every religious book, but if my people would turn to me and pray and turn from their wicked ways, I will heal the land. Yes. We have to turn. I don't care if you're a monk. I don't care if you're a Buddhist, if you're a Sikh, you're a Christian, if you are a Muslim, if you are Jewish, we have allowed people to exploit religion for their own dastardly deeds instead of for what they were intended to be about.
Let me conclude with this because this is so significant. I went to Gorée Island in Senegal, off the coast of Senegal in Africa to the Door of No Return. When I got there, thousands of Africans, that was their last pathway. Many of them didn't make it over. For those of you of African ancestry, there's something special about us because millions didn't make it. In order to get here, you had to have some real good DNA to withstand that journey. When I went to Gorée Island and I made my way to the Door of No Return, I had to pause for a moment because down in the dungeon, they were, they were killing, raping, destroying the lives of people. The unforeseen and unspeakable horrors that people experience was down in that dungeon. You can even still see the remnants of the blood and all that they went through.
But on top of the dungeon was a church. They were worshiping while people were being destroyed below. Now one could have easily become anti-Christian. They could have attached the deeds of those who were there as the behavior. They would become anti-Christian. You have to separate the horrors of man from the beliefs and principles of our faith. That's playing out all together.
There was nothing Islam or Muslim about what Hamas did. Nothing. We cannot allow what is happening across the globe to get in the way of the principles of religion and faith. That's the power of the nonprofits. You are the original nonprofits. It's important that we continue to elevate you so you can do what you are doing because you're not doing it just to go through the motion but because it's a calling. Your faith and belief calls you to do the work. Deputy Mayor Wright, I had Pastor Morose give me the numbers, but when we first came into office, many of our nonprofits were being held up in their cash for the services they provided. In 12 weeks, we cleaned up close to $4 billion in backlogged money. Because we need you to be able to do your job.
I'm proud here. We're honoring some of your honorees that's here that we want to acknowledge. I just want to tell you from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you for what you are doing, what you have done, and what you will continue to do for the great City of New York. There's no place like it. It's the greatest city on the globe. Those who don't live here wish they did. We're the lucky ones. Why don't we bring on the honorees?
Monrose: Okay. Thank you so much, Mr. Mayor. Thank you so much, Dr. Durrah. Our first honoree in the nonprofit field is from Elmcor Youth and Adult Activities, Inc. we will represent with a citation. Thank you so much for your work. Next, we will have the African Refuge, Inc. with another citation. Thank you for your work. Then, were you very pleased with the music today? That is the JazzMobile, Inc. We also have the Brooklyn FAM, a nonprofit organization. Last but not least, BronxConnect.
Rev. Dr. Durrah: That concludes our awards presentation. We will now invite one person to stay as Wendy for benediction. We will dismiss ourselves after that. Watch for the final song. I think you're going to like it. Will the Jazzmobile persons make your way back up to the piano and what is the name of that instrument? The bass. Yes.
Rev. Wendy Calderón-Payne, Executive Director, BronxConnect : Good evening, everyone. I just want, I know everybody's got amazing staff, but my staff actually came out today. Can I see the BronxConnect staff? Can you raise your hand? I thank you guys, because nobody does anything on their own. Am I right? Someone say amen.
Hey, we're in a faith based initiative. You have to be able to say amen. You cannot be shy. Okay. If the mayor says there's something wrong that we cannot bring faith into the public square, I agree. Because anyway, I know where the government, I know on whose shoulders the government lands. I'm going to read to you from the Holy Scriptures. Psalms 146. This shall be our benediction.
Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul. While I live, I will praise the Lord. I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to the earth. In that very day, his plans perish. Happy is he who has God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord, his God, who made heaven and earth by word, the sea and all that is in them, who keeps truth forever, who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry - even if you're in third grade - and the Lord gives freedom to the prisoners.
The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord raises those who are bowed down. The Lord loves the righteous, and the Lord watches over the strangers. He relieves the fatherless and the widow. The way of the wicked, he turns upside down. The Lord shall reign forever. Your God, O Zion, to all generations, praise the Lord.
Today we pray for the peace of Jerusalem because we are commanded to do so. In the name that is above all names, we thank you for today and we do ask a blessing over the non-profits and the faith communities of New York. I'm so excited. You guys are like amazing. Jazzmobile is going to be with us for the rest of the event. Please enjoy. Thank you.
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