Smalls and Bray on borough-specific partnerships and outreach
Donnie Smalls highlights strong housing partnerships in Queens and the Bronx, and work with Councilmember Yusef-Salaam in Manhattan. Noah Bray praises the Vallone Initiative, library community, VFW, and American Legion as key claims-side partners across boroughs.
Sure.
A few questions.
Please, do you want to add something?
Yeah, if I just can add to that, I think we've also been super intentional about our staff because our staff,
We know at the end of the day, it's those who are in the boroughs who are going to be able to forge those relationships.
When I started as an intern six years ago, I was the only one in the office from Staten Island.
So we're really excited to see that that has been growing as well as we have many different staff members from now showing every single borough.
So that's something that we've been really empowering to to our staff members to be able to represent their borough and really have those connections locally.
We're taking over the city.
And I'm going to have Donnie and Noah elaborate also what they're doing in each borough and their staff in each borough is doing.
Morning, Chair.
Donnie Smalls, Associate Commissioner for the Department of Veteran Services.
So the housing team.
And Hall of Famer.
The housing team go out to all boroughs.
Their boroughs, Queens and the Bronx, are very strong.
Both borough presidents are very strong on a veteran housing aspect and veteran issues across the board.
I wanted to point that out, but it's a lot of Manhattan is getting there.
It's getting there as far as the support that's needed.
Councilmember Yusef-Salaam, I've worked with him to help self-identify veterans in his district, which I live in.
So I'm in very close partnership with him and his staff to help identify veterans in the Manhattan area.
as well.
Noah?
Thank you for that.
Hall of Fame status, please, Noah.
What's that?
Hall of Fame status.
Pending, aspiring.
Gotcha.
All right.
We, I have to say the Valone Initiative has been great for us too when you talk about referrals and just partnerships in general because they are, as you know, everywhere in all the boroughs and all the nooks and crannies with us.
So they've been a fantastic partner for us.
Also, the library community has been amazing and very like open arms with programs and things like that and partnership opportunities.
But really, yeah, Valone, the VFW, the American Legion, they've been amazing for us as far as the claims side goes.