Dorothy Kartashevitch Consumer Award: Awardee and Nominees

Awardee

Monique Dennis-Farrington, Parent Advocate/Consumer Board Member, Metro Community Health Center

Monique Dennis-Farrington is a Parent Advocate and Consumer Board Member who has demonstrated outstanding dedication to the mission and goals of Metro Community Health Centers, Inc.  The center’s mission is to enable access to and provide high quality, well-coordinated, primary and specialty medical, dental, behavioral, and ancillary health services. Metro Community Health focuses on patients who are underserved, with a special commitment to the needs of people with developmental, intellectual, and physical disabilities.

Having a child with intellectual and developmental disabilities herself, Ms. Dennis-Farrington has worked tirelessly to learn about all the services that would help enhance the quality of her son’s life.  She has made herself available to participate in health center quality and improvement committees to make sure that the unique needs both medically and socially of all intellectual and developmentally disabled patients and their care team are understood, appreciated, and addressed. Her insight into the challenges faced by both the patient and the caregiver have improved the center’s ability to provide care that is full of both quality and compassion.

As a long-standing member of the Bronx community, Ms. Dennis-Farrington has been at the forefront of efforts to ensure that there is equity in not only healthcare, but also in meeting the needs of the larger geographic community. She is an active member of her local Community Board 9 in the Bronx and was named as a community advocate in the Hunts Point Community Partnership. She is present at events with a smile and a flyer sharing information about local services, meals, educational opportunities, and employment.  

2022 Nominees:

Soraya Alvarez, Board Member, Union Community Health Center

Soraya Alvarez is the epitome of what it means to be a daughter of the Bronx; a true “Bronxite.” Since 2004, for over eighteen years, Ms. Soraya Alvarez has dedicated her time and commitment to the Union Community Health Center Board of Trustees, serving as a steadfast advocate for her community and a passionate voice for patients. However, Ms. Alvarez’s activism with the community and Union started many years prior – some 37 years ago following the birth of her first child, which took place at Union.

Ms. Alvarez’s life has paralleled that of Union’s community and, as such, she has experienced the ever-changing tides of one of NYC’s most renowned boroughs. As part of the early migration of Puerto Rican citizens whose families made their way to the “mainland,” Ms. Alvarez had a front row seat to the history and needs of her community. From bearing witness to the rampant arsons of the 70’s to the more recent pandemic that has disproportionally impacted the health and wellbeing of its majority Black and Latinx resident, Ms. Alvarez understands the need to speak up against health inequities. For these reasons amongst others, she has decided early on that her life’s purpose would be to become the “eyes, ears and voice” of her community.  
 

Dolores R. McCray, Ph.D., Board Chair & Chair of the Executive Committee, Gotham Health FQHC

As one of the original creators of Gotham Health, FQHC, Dr. McCray works tirelessly within the Harlem community listening to the needs of the people, while working to ensure those needs are addressed.  She has also served as chair of the Renaissance Diagnostics and Treatment Center’s Community Advisory Board, Council of Municipal Hospital Community Advisory Boards, and a former member of the Board of Columbia University’s School of Dental and Oral Surgery, Community DentCare Network.

Named one of the 25 Influential Black Women in Business by The Network Journal in 2000, Dr. McCray held a career in banking that spanned over 25 years, which includes serving as Vice President and Branch Manager at Banco Popular. Dr. MCray earned her doctorate in banking and finance from Arizona University, and her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Business Administration from Pace University.
 

Lisa Perfetti, President Board of Directors, Family Health Network of Central New York, Inc.

Lisa Perfetti has been a dedicated and passionate board member for Family Health Network since 2010. In May of 2019, Ms. Perfetti was nominated to be President of the Family Health Network Board of Directors, and since that time, has been a dynamic leader who has consistently been committed, supportive, and a strong community health center advocate in a challenging and constantly changing healthcare environment.

As the current Director of Community Health Services at the Cortland County Health Department, and a prior RN, Ms. Perfetti has significant experience in health and brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the Board of Directors. Ms. Perfetti represents the consumers of our Community Health Center, and continually keeps them in the forefront of her decision making, while advocating on their behalf. She has been instrumental in navigating the current Coronavirus pandemic and has been a true collaborative partner between Family Health Network and the Cortland County Health Department. Ms. Perfetti constantly ensures and takes the time to remind all that Family Health Network is a community-based primary and preventive care provider who will see any individual, regardless of income level or insurance status.
 

Francesca Petrone, Community Advisory Board Member, Callen Lorde

Francesca Petrone has been a member of the Community Advisory Board (CAB) of Callen-Lorde for the past four years.  Ms. Petrone is deaf, and in her time on the CAB has been instrumental in improving services for patients who are living with a disability. Under her advisement, Callen-Lorde created a Disability Operations Committee that provides input regarding the center’s physical and operational space.  She helped to organized (and participated in) a photo shoot to ensure representation of patients living with a disability to use in the center’s social media.  Ms. Petrone is an out and proud transgender woman who advocates for transgender health care. She has volunteered many times to be the center’s first patient for many services (telehealth, surgery patient navigation). Due to her contributions, hundreds of Callen-Lorde patients who are living with a disability and/or are transgender receive better health care.