NYN Media Buzz: Jan. 19, 2018

Destination Tomorrow, a Bronx-based organization that promotes the rights of transgender people, announced plans to construct a community center in the Bronx for LGBTQ people. Various partners have joined the effort, which plans to begin construction in the second quarter of this year at a location in the Melrose section of the South Bronx, according to a press release.

The Cayuga Home for Children in Auburn received a $4.6 million foster care contract from the New York City Administration for Children’s Services on Jan. 19, according to a post in the City Record. Another organization closer to home, MARC Academy and Family Center in the Bronx, received a $1.67 million contract from the city for child care services.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a branch of the federal Department of Health and Human Services, is accepting applications from organizations that work with homeless individuals struggling with mental illness. Up to 16 organizations will share up to $10.93 million in available funding. A 92-page guide to the program is available here. The deadline for applications is March 9, with a funding start date of Sept. 30, 2018.

Doug Wirth, president and CEO of Amida Care, New York’s largest not-for-profit Medicaid Special Needs Health Plan, and New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson both expressed their outrage at a move from the Trump administration promoting “religious freedom.” The Department of Health and Human Services will establish a new “conscience and religious freedom division” that would allow medical professionals to opt out of serving people when they have religious or moral objections.

Wirth wrote in a press release: “It is hard enough for too many Americans to get their health needs met. Allowing health care workers who are biased, racist, homophobic, transphobic, or against women's reproductive rights to withhold health services will hurt our neighbors. It could even kill them. The impact of such a rule will affect us all.”

For his part, Johnson said he took the announcement personally as an HIV-positive gay man: “This dangerous and downright un-American act is unsurprising from President Trump and Vice President Pence, the sexists and homophobes-in-chief.”