Co-authored by Maryanne Kelleher, Director, Partnership for a HealthierJC & Mike McLean, Immigrant Affairs Division Director The Covid-19 pandemic is an historic threat to public health, and Jersey City Health & Human Services has worked tirelessly to defend the most vulnerable and ensure equitable access to services for all. We are forever indebted to the City employees and community partners who sacrificed, saved lives, and worked for a Healthier Jersey City. Let’s take a look back at the first 100 days of response, made possible with strong partnerships and a resilient Jersey City community. Evidenced Commitment to Test and Eliminate Spread In the first 100 days, Jersey City acted quickly to launch its own testing, resulting in more than 31,000 free nasal swab and antibody tests conducted at a variety of sites throughout the city. With seven-days-a-week testing for twelve weeks, HHS staff from the City Clinic, Bureau of Healthy [...]

by Mayra Episcopo, Guest Columnist When my phone rings at the Division of Immigrant Affairs, the person on the other end of the line is likely an immigrant with a question. I help immigrants every day with employment, housing, food, lawyers, schooling—whatever is needed. I connect them with our local services network, our HealthierJC partners, and our own human services team. But what would happen if my phone stopped ringing? If immigrants stopped trusting local government? In a city where two of every five residents were born in another country, the health of immigrants is a barometer of the city’s public health at large. If immigrants stop calling my phone, that signals a deficiency in the health of our entire City. This month the federal government will use a new “public charge” immigration rule to restrict admission of immigrants who are poor, undereducated, underemployed, and who depend on public assistance [...]

Thursday, August 8th was Military Appreciation Day when the PGA Tour made a stop at Jersey City's Liberty National Golf Course. The tour's sponsors showed their appreciation for veterans by giving them access to a private lounge, and had a special surprise for Jersey City's local veteran community. Northern Trust President of Wealth Management in the East Region, Henry Johnson, surprised Purple Heart recipient, Vietnam War hero and Commander of VFW Post 2294 Tony Goodson with the keys to a brand new 15-passenger van that is going to be outfitted to be wheelchair accessible and will help transport veterans to and from their medical appointments. VFW Post 2294 was one of the HealthierJC 2018 mini-grantees. They described in great detail what their needs were, and how they would use our grant to assist local veterans. However, it was obvious from their grant application that one of the greatest needs for [...]