Adelphi University’s Quill Awards 2021 First Prize for Best News Story
By MADISON GRADY
This past summer, the Jericho community became divided over Nassau County’s plan to contract with the non-profit organization Community Housing Innovations in order to convert the Hampton Inn on Jericho Turnpike into the Jericho Family Support Center which would house homeless families in Jericho.
The Nassau County Department of Social Services and the Jericho School District have been in contact about the Jericho Family Support Center since January of 2020, after Jericho Schools Superintendent Mr. Henry Grishman met with Nassau County Commissioner of Social Services Nancy Nunziata about rumors concerning the sale of the Hampton Inn. “The Commissioner of Social Services told us that there were several plans in place to find better housing for the homeless families in Jericho,” said Superintendent Grishman.
Superintendent Grishman explained that at the time, about 40 homeless students were living in Jericho motels, in unfit living situations with little to no access to much needed social services. This led to the plan of converting the Hampton Inn in order to improve living conditions for homeless families. According to Mr. Grishman, Commissioner Nunziata assured him that if the plan became definite, the school district and community would be officially informed, and public hearings would be held to deliberate over the conversion.
However, in the spring of 2020, construction began at the Hampton Inn. Superintendent Grishman relayed that Commissioner Nunziata explained to him that the Hampton Inn had been sold, and an agreement to use the Hampton Inn as the Jericho Family Support Center was underway. She claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic caused the County to move ahead with this plan without taking all of the steps they had promised to the Jericho School District and local residents.
At the July 23rd, 2020, Jericho school board meeting the community was first informed about the plans to convert the Hampton Inn.
In August of 2020, the group Concerned Jericho Parents was formed in opposition to the Hampton Inn transition. According to their website, Concerned Jericho Parents’ goal is to stop what they consider to be an illegal shelter from being placed in Nassau County that would supersede all local zoning laws. Their website states, “This Shelter was agreed to in secrecy and with complete lack of transparency, without the appropriate impact studies and public input hearings.”
The Jericho school district staff was disappointed to see that opponents to the Jericho Family Support Center used a jayhawk mascot on their lawn sign.
The group created a petition on Change.org, and started a GoFundMe page to put a stop to the conversion. In August of 2020, they held a rally outside Oyster Bay Town Hall and a protest at the Nassau County Legislature in Mineola. Numerous attempts to reach members of Concerned Jericho Parents for comment on this report went unanswered.
After experiencing this negativity in the Jericho community, Jericho moms Fran O’Connor, Orit Swickle, Thaina Pierre, Joyce Granville, and Diana Saunders started the group Jericho Cares. According to Orit Swickle, Jericho Cares is in the process of becoming a nonprofit organization in the hopes of expanding their efforts to help families in need throughout Long Island. Their main goal is to provide food, clothes, and other necessities for needy families, and eventually to lead activities for kids to spread kindness themselves.
Jericho Cares’ first fundraiser was a backpack drive for homeless Jericho students. “We have received an overwhelming donations in such a short time,” said Orit Swickle. “They’ve come in as food, toiletries, clothing, gift cards, and cash for special events,” she added.
Once a week, Jericho Cares members visit the motels that homeless students currently reside in so families can select necessities. Any remaining items are donated to MOMMAS House and the Saint Edward’s pantry.
In August of 2020, disappointment about the negative reactions to the transitional housing center led Jericho High School alumnus Sivan Komatsu to found the group Support Jericho Families. She said, “Our goal is to educate the Jericho Community about the realities of the Jericho Family Support Center.”
The group attended an open hearing at the Nassau County Legislature, allowing them to voice opinions in support of the Jericho Family Support Center to elected officials.
In September, Support Jericho Families held a “Day of Kindness,” which included a car parade around Jericho neighborhoods and an outdoor, socially distanced “Kindness Festival” at Cantiague Park in order to raise awareness of the issue and spread kindness to all, no matter their living situation. The event featured numerous speakers of all ages, including teachers, administrators, students and Nassau County Legislator Arnold Drucker. In front of about 100 supporters, Jericho High School junior Emily G. spoke about her experience without secure housing.
In her speech, Emily explained that she was homeless once too, as her house burnt down in 2016. The Jericho community rushed to support her family by starting clothing drives and collecting other necessities. She said, “But why is it that our community rushes to help one of its own, but not people who don’t have those kinds of resources?”
The Jericho Family Support Center would provide homeless families with social services unavailable to them in previous housing, and which the local government is required by the state government to supply. Nassau County Legislator Arnold Drucker who supports the effort said, “This was a project that was designed to help the most vulnerable population in our society, the homeless.”
According to the minutes of the September 9, 2020 meeting of the Nassau County Legislature Health and Social Services Committee, families currently living in Jericho motels have been there an average of 2 years, while families living in facilities run by Community Housing Innovations live there for an average of 6 to 9 months before finding permanent housing.
Drucker doesn’t believe the objection to the transitional housing facility is valid because the homeless students are already living in the community. “We’re trying to give them the basic necessities that human beings are entitled to. Where is the human compassion?” he asked.
In September 2020, an injunction was issued to block plans for the conversion. Commissioner Nunziata was unable to grant an interview because of this pending litigation. Nassau County Legislator Arnold Drucker said that he has been in contact with representatives of the developer, attorneys for the developer, and representatives in the county government, and will try to reach out and inform the community every chance he gets. “I’m hopeful and optimistic that this gets straightened out, and we can provide these essential, humane services to these people who so desperately need it,” Legislator Drucker said.
Jericho High School students agree. Junior Sydney L. said, “We’re lucky enough to have access to these wonderful opportunities, and I think that if other people are able to have access to them, it should be their right.”
Freshman Samara M. thinks the conversion to the Jericho Family Support Center is a good idea. “They’re not affecting me in any way, and it’s good to have more people in the community,” she said.
Jericho Schools Superintendent Grishman is most disappointed by personal attacks that have been made by those defending their opinions. “I am very concerned and upset to see the division within our community,” said Superintendent Grishman.
Vice President and Trustee of the Jericho School Board Jill Citron feels similarly. She said, “It is a big problem that the community is so divided over this issue.” She hopes that the community can come together to overcome this division.
Mr. Grishman remains steadfastly optimistic. “I hope that our school community will embrace all of the students who attend the Jericho School District, whether those students live in a house, apartment, condominium, or in a hotel,” he said.