Elected officials and CABS Health Network celebrated the opening of the licensed home care service and care management agency’s new quarters in the Pfizer Building in Bedford-Stuyvesant with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 25. The event was followed by a Health and Resource Fair, featuring various partners and tenants from the Pfizer Building who provided valuable information and services.
Since 1979, CABS has delivered essential home care and care management services to the elderly, disabled, and other underserved populations in New York City and Nassau County. Beyond providing critical services, CABS creates employment opportunities for neighborhood residents, employing nearly 1,000 caretakers.
The milestone event highlighted not only CABS’s significant growth but also the organization’s commitment to expanding its community engagement and addressing New Yorkers’ healthcare needs.
Sherly Demosthenes-Atkinson, CEO of CABS Health Network, told Brooklyn Paper that the organization required a larger space to accommodate all CABS departments under one roof.
“We were growing with different programs, and we needed enough space to house everybody within the same location,” Demosthenes-Atkinson said. “When we talk about integrated services, we want different departments to interact with the other departments to strategize on how best to deliver the care for our clients.”
The community-owned and controlled nonprofit enterprise distinguishes itself through innovation and collaboration with partners who support CABS’s clients’ needs, including client monitoring, specialist visits and preventive care.
“It is important to have collaboration through partnerships as a resource to connect our clients to,” Demosthenes-Atkinson said.
CABS aids the most vulnerable populations, such as seniors, individuals with mobility issues, children with asthma, and New Yorkers with mental health disorders or substance abuse challenges, helping them access services necessary for staying safely in their homes.
“It’s complex enough for them to navigate the different aspects of services. What we do is tailor the services for them, provide ways to screen them, and identify the type of services and care they need while in their home,” Demosthenes-Atkinson said.
Several prominent Brooklynites attended the celebration, including William Andrews, CABS co-founder and chairman of the CABS Board of Directors, State Sen. Jabari Brisport (D-Brooklyn), Assembly Members Phara Souffrant Forrest (D-Brooklyn) and Stefani Zinerman (D-Brooklyn), Brooklyn Deputy Borough President Kimberly Council and Council Member Mercedes Narcisse (D-Brooklyn).
Andrews shared that when CABS was founded, one of its guiding principles was that they were family, evoking the late Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress.
“Chisholm was a trailblazer for the underprivileged and the underserved, and she adopted CABS. With her support and help, we are able to be here today,” he said.
Addressing Demosthenes-Atkinson, Andrews said, “I always said, when we passed the torch to you, that was the best thing we did. Because you have to have someone to carry your dreams, and [Demosthenes-Atkinson] carries our dreams.”
Brisport noted that the state legislature has fought hard for fair pay for home care workers and cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) for human services workers. However, “One of our biggest fights is to join the rest of the developed world and fight for universal health care by passing the New York Health Act and guaranteeing health care to every single person in New York state, regardless of background and income,” Brisport said.
Council, representing Brooklyn Beep Antonio Reynoso, expressed enthusiasm for CABS’s expansion.
“I join with my brother Jabari in echoing that we have to make sure that we are fighting for healthcare justice for everybody across the board,” Council said.
Souffrant Forrest, a former nurse and daughter of a home care worker who worked for CABS, said it was “amazing” to see excellence at play.
“When I come to an organization that does the work, and makes no apologies about it, and does it in such an exemplary way, I’m very proud,” she said.
Zinerman highlighted that most of the state’s $237 billion budget is spent on healthcare, the leading industry in New York.
“We need to make sure that not only are patients taken care of, but that our workforce is taken care of as well,” Zinerman said. “This is just going to be a beautiful marriage of making sure that we let the public know that you are here and open for business and that we need good quality health care workers.”
Narcisse, a registered nurse and chair of the NYC Council Committee on Hospitals, thanked CABS for delivering quality care.
“We have to offer a top-notch health care system in New York City,” she said. “We cannot call ourselves the leader of the world, and yet we cannot address the health of our constituents.”
