This could have been the week of Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to back down from the KSM trials in Manhattan.
Or the week Congresswoman Velazquez was quoted again, criticizing Obama’s SBA Express plan, as “giveaways to big banks.”
But it was a week that the NYDailyNews reported on an issue that got very little attention. An issue that concerns a very large community in New York—and the largest community in Congressional District 12.
It’s about a new project but a very old epidemic and for some reason it’s under-reported and ignored in Congress.
Last month, a new center for suicide prevention for Latina teenagers opened in Bushwick. The program, ‘Life is Precious,’ started in the Bronx in 2008, and helps 41 Latina teenage girls and their families. According to research, Latina girls in New York are at the highest risk of attempting suicide.
A Bill co-sponsored by Velazquez in 2000, the `Latina Adolescent Suicide Prevention Act’ to promote awareness and allocate money for programs such as this. The bill was re-introduced in 2003, but never passed, according to Velazquez’s office.
A 2007 study, conducted by the ‘Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,’ found that one out of every seven Latina teens, or 14 percent, attempts suicide.
This number, although down in the last decade, is still higher than black non-Hispanic girls (9.9 percent) girls and is almost double the rate of white non-Hispanic girls (7.7percent). Nationally, Latina girls in New York City are at the highest risk in the country.
“When Nydia Velázquez heard about the program in the Bronx, she said: ‘I need this in my district too’,” the creator of the program, Dr. Rosa Gil said.
In Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood, Velázquez’s Congressional District 12, there is a 67 percent Hispanic population majority.
Dr. Gil explained that poverty, low-wage jobs, inadequate housing and domestic violence all contribute to high rate of mental illness in Hispanic communities.
Last summer, the Congresswoman worked to secure $3.5 million from federal funding, to support local initiatives. Of this, $167,000 was dedicated for the opening of the “Life is Precious” program.
“I think her commitment to her constituents is real and she gets involved in many issues that affect their quality of life such as domestic violence, the suicide prevention center, immigration, etc,” said Albor Ruiz, the NYDailyNews reporter.
Although there’s a tremendous need for this program, ‘LIP’ is only open Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, supporting four girls and their families. “If I get more funding I can open every day,” said Gil. Also, they’re hoping at some point to receive more funding to open one in Queens.
Expanding the successful project to other neighborhoods, raise awareness and to help immigrants deal with cultural, social daily difficulties is obviously a priority. Furthermore, efforts should focus on the larger epidemic—the source of depression and distress.
This is one small business the congresswoman should keep promoting, in Washington, and in Congressional District 12.