NEW YORK, NY, November 16, 2017 – On Monday, November 20, 2017 the New York
Children’s Health Project marks its 30th year providing high-quality health care to children and
opens the expanded Deerfield Child & Family Health Clinic serving homeless children and families
in the South Bronx.
The New York Children’s Health Project was the first program of the Children’s Health Fund,
established thirty years ago with the mission of bringing high-quality health care to homeless
children in New York City. What began as a single mobile unit in New York has grown into a robust
national network of programs serving approximately 100,000 children and their families across 16
states and the District of Columbia each year. The New York Program provides care to 11,000 of
those children and their families annually, and with the addition of the newly expanded Deerfield
Clinic, the program will help the Children’s Health Fund provide even more services to more
families nationwide. The expanded Deerfield Clinic is a welcome addition to the Community
Pediatric Programs at Montefiore which encompasses the New York Children’s Health Project, the
Center for Child Health and Resiliency, the South Bronx Health Center, and the Starr Center for
Preventive Health and Special Initiatives.
The expansion of the Deerfield Clinic will help alleviate barriers to accessing health care for many
disadvantaged children. “When parents bring their children to one of our clinics, they know their
family will be receiving high quality care regardless of their ability to pay,” said Deborah Snider,
Executive Director of Community Pediatric Programs at Montefiore Health System. “Since we
began providing care to families and children in the South Bronx 30 years ago, our team has been
a critical community resource.” Thanks to the generous support of Deerfield and other donors, the
New York Children’s Health Project will now be able to provide even more children access to the
health care they need and deserve.
Since its inception, the New York Children’s Health Project has been increasing access to care,
combating disparities, and training health professionals to work with the most high-risk,
underserved, and underrepresented populations. “The expansion of the Deerfield Clinic will allow
us to provide more services to substantially more homeless children and their families,” said
Dennis Walto, CEO of Children’s Health Fund. “And while today we recognize 30 years of service,
we also recognize that there is more work to be done and recommit to ensuring high quality health
care for New York’s most vulnerable children in the years to come.”
About Children’s Health Fund
Founded in 1987 by Dr. Irwin Redlener, singer/song-writer Paul Simon and program designer
Karen Redlener, Children’s Health Fund’s mission is to bring health care directly to homeless and
low-income children and their families. CHF accomplishes this mission by expanding access to
comprehensive and innovative primary care; reducing “health barriers to learning” that interfere
with child development and school performance; responding to the needs of vulnerable children
impacted by major public health crises; and improving the health and well-being of children through
advocacy and public education efforts. Over the past 30 years, CHF has provided more than 4
million health care encounters, often in places where doctors and health care providers are in short
supply.
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PRESS CONTACTS:
Meredith Shapiro, Media Relations Manager
Children’s Health Fund
646-708-7435
mshapiro@chfund.org
Rebecca Spitz
Dan Klores Communications
212-981-5137
Rebecca_Spitz@dkcnews.com
