In 2016, a five-year federal Drug-Free Communities grant enabling the creation of the position of Greater New Paltz Community Partnership coordinator ran out. “Once we lose her, we’ll never get her back,” said town supervisor Neil Bettez said of Phoenix Kawamoto, “Someone’s going to snap her up somewhere else.” Although the town government did figure out a way to keep Kawamoto (who prefers “they/them” to “her”) on staff as community education coordinator, Bettez’s glowing endorsement proved prophetic. While they aren’t leaving that post, Kawamoto has indeed been “snapped up” as one of two newly appointed interim co-presidents of the Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Community Center.
An Ulster County native and SUNY New Paltz graduate, Kawamoto earned a master’s degree in social work degree SUNY Albany in 1995 and set up a practice in the New Paltz/Highland area, helping to build the nascent GNPCP from the ground floor, circa 2004-05. The coalition’s original name was Community Partnership for a Safer New Paltz, its primary mandate to combat substance use and abuse among youth. The Drug-Free Communities grant was focused on providing services to people under 18. While Kawamoto admits to a “passion for youth empowerment,” they quickly discovered in the coordinator role that “You can’t just work with youth and not work with families.”
One of the partnership’s most visible projects is the annual New Paltz Eve celebration, designed to provide families a range of appealing alcohol-free activities to do, together or separately, on New Year’s Eve. Another, a drop box for surplus medications designed to reduce easy access to opioids, is a handy resource for residents of all ages.
Broadening the scope
The 2015 suicide of New Paltz High School student Maya Gold, linked to experimentation with over-the-counter medication, severely tested the partnership’s ability to bring an anguished community together. But Kawamoto, who has a particular skill for coalition-building, had already laid strong groundwork for coping with such an emergency. Representatives of municipal and county governments, social-service agencies, law enforcement and probation officers, schoolteachers and administrators, SUNY-New Paltz, health and mental-health professionals, community organizations and concerned parents came together in a series of public forums to offer mutual solace and share prevention strategies and resource information. Together they brainstormed programming that addressed hot-button issues such as peer pressure, bullying, and the effects of dependence on electronic devices and social media in the lives of contemporary youth. They also put pressure on local retailers to change their display policies for potentially dangerous substances, including some popular cold remedies, making them less tempting for teens to pocket.
No longer restricted by the terms of a grant, Kawamoto is now able to broaden the scope of work defined as community education, including “identifying emerging areas of need.” “Wellness, recovery and hope,” the town office’s stated mission, are manifested in many forms: parent information programs, youth development activities (including plenty of opportunities for volunteerism), wellness activities and events for all ages, suicide prevention and intervention training, mental-health first aid training and an annual recovery month celebration. “We are meeting needs across all age demographics, working to enhance the safety net, and guide people to resources,” explains the coordinator.
Active outreach to a broader group
Among those most in need of a safety net are members of the LGBTQ+ community – transgender and nonbinary people in particular. “Trans people are at exponentially greater risk for suicide,” Kawamoto notes. “The rate of violence against trans people of color is horrible.” And the deadly advent of Covid 19 has trained a spotlight on the difficulty of access to appropriate healthcare for trans and gender-nonconforming people. Addressing these threats is high on the agenda of the Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Community Center, where Kawamoto has served as a directors since September 2018. The wellness workshops offered under the aegis of the Well-being Institute, with a creative arts therapist newly added to the staff, are a particular area of enthusiasm.
In their role as co-president, Kawamoto brings to the table considerable expertise in such best-practice methods as conducting an assessment of community needs. “It’s easy to make assumptions of what people want without talking to them.”
There’s a particular need for those skills at this time, as the LGBTQ+ Center undergoes a period of soul-searching on the subject of how best to heal and serve its diverse constituency. The previous board president, Norman Miller, resigned after his use of the words “All lives matter” at the opening reception of this year’s virtual Pride Week on June 6 sparked an outcry. While Kawamoto believes that Miller was sincere in trying to apply the phrase as an expression of inclusivity, it was widely viewed – especially among people of color – as racist at worst and tone-deaf at best, and its use at the event proved “upsetting to the community.”
Miller swiftly issued a letter of apology. “What I meant is that the lives of all who are oppressed have meaning and that the Black Lives Matter movement has shed more light on this issue,” he said. “What I now understand is the negative connotation that phrase carries with respect to the violence behind the words.”
With Miller stepping down, Kawamoto and another board member – James Walker, a black man and first vice-president of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, who runs the company’s National Diversity Council, ave taken up the reins while the center undertakes a search to fill some vacant board seats, after which a more permanent president will be appointed. Active outreach to a broader group, including people with disabilities as well as people of color, is on their minds.
“There’s tremendous diversity within the community. We’re trying to increase not only representation, but participation,” says Kawamoto. A well=attended community listening panel held via Zoom on June 26 to solicit ideas for future directions attracted a “really diverse group.”
“We want to create a space that feels positive, affirming and safe for all,” Kawamoto avers. “I’m really excited about what the future holds, even if we don’t know what the future looks like. The heart and commitment are very strong, and the staff is incredibly talented and dedicated.”
The application form to become a board member at the Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Center is currently being redesigned and is expected to be posted on the organization’s website by early August. To learn more about the Center’s programs and services, visit https://lgbtqcenter.org.
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