Fern Gillespie
When Monae Priolenau-Jones was appointed to a top leadership role at Brooklyn Community Services (BCS), it was like destiny. Her family have been Brooklyn residents for over 100 years, and she had a passion for community outreach. Now, she is Interim Co-President & Executive Director and Chief of Staff for one of the oldest social service non-profits in the U.S., established in 1866 after the Civil War.
“There has been some aspect of community service in my life in one way or another,” she told Our Time Press. “I was working for the City of New York for a while and for organizations that are service oriented. I love the Brooklyn community that I live in and wanting to help is just second nature to me.”
At BCS, Priolenau-Jones works with her colleague Jodi Querbach, Interim Co-President & Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, in directing over 50 award-winning programs. Spread in over 28 locations across Brooklyn, BCS serves over 20,000 individuals annually.
It empowers low-income Brooklyn residents of all ages: from early childhood to adults in their senior years. Programs span education, youth development, family services, community building, workforce development, healthcare, homeless shelters, mental health, developmental disabilities and job placement.
One of the organization’s most unique programs is the BCS Shower Bus. The mobile bus has two private bathrooms that are fully equipped with a hot shower, sink and toilet. “We have a mobile shower bus that goes around Brooklyn and serves people who might be unhoused and or even if they’re not unhoused, maybe they live in a building where the water isn’t working.
It has counselors and basic healthcare like signing up for Medicaid, HIV testing and referrals to other resources. People deserve to have the dignity of a shower regardless of who you are or what situation you’re in,” explained Priolenau-Jones. “
It is the only legally operating shower bus in the entire state of New York. The state saw our program and supported us with allocating some funding to support the operation of that bus. In last year’s state budget, the state allocated $2,000,000 to see if this shower bus was something that could be replicated in other parts of the state.”
The BCS education outreach ranges from day care at the Laurie A. Cumbo Children’s Enrichment Center to after school at Gary Klinsky Children’s Centers to the Brooklyn High School for Leadership and Community Services. “We have an after-school program that has a direct impact other than the run-of-the-mill after school programs.
It’s almost like an extension of the school day with projects like music or STEM programming,” she said. “The school administrators have been able to tell the BCS kids from the kids who didn’t attend our after-school programs, because they were just so much farther ahead than their peers.”
Through the East New York Family Center, BCS helps underserved families remain together. “We have a program that that makes sure that families can stay together and that children are not removed from the home. Separating families is extremely traumatic,” she said. “We supports the family staying together so that the trauma that they’re experiencing that got them in contact with the system of the child welfare system at ACS is not further compounded.”
There are also two BCS homeless shelters focusing on the needs of women. “At the BCS Young Women’s Shelter for ages 18 to 25, we help them obtain permanent housing, develop independent living skills and gain access to other services to make sure that once they leave our shelter, they are able to be successful,” she explained.
“Our Transitional Living Community, TLC, works with women who have severe mental illness or are dealing with domestic violence or other kinds of trauma. We have counseling and assistance to secure permanent housing for them. It’s a safe space for women who are dealing with this trauma and these mental health issues. And we also have a garden there where they have therapeutic activities.”
BCS has earned honors for its unique mental health clubhouse programs for adults. During COVID, BCS observed there was a tragic increase in suicides by young Black men. So, BCS created CHAMP (Community Health and Mindfulness Program) to outreach to young Black men from teen years up to the age of 25. “It’s a program for youth who are maybe contemplating suicide or experiencing suicidal ideation.
Through the pandemic, young people were committing suicide at higher rates. And a lot of the populations were not on the radar of this epidemic of youth committing suicide –especially young black men,” she said. “At CHAMP they can come in and have conversations with mental health counselors. They go on trips and activities to make sure that they’re engaged and socialize, because that’s part of the problem.”
Prior to joining BCS two years ago, Priolenau-Jones served for nine years at New York City Administration for Children’s Services, where she provided technical assistance and improvement strategies for nonprofit agencies. She earned a Master of Public Administration degree from John Jay College, an undergraduate degree in government and politics from St. John’s University and graduated from A. Phillip Randolph High School in Harlem. “My mother wanted me to experience different parts of New York,” she said.
Priolenau-Jones’ family dates back five generations living in Brooklyn. “I have a very long history of being a Brooklynite on both sides of my family, and I’m very proud of that. I have my great-great grandparents on my mother’s side who lived on Nostrand Ave and Herkimer Street in the early 1920s. On my father’s side, they lived in Albany Houses in the 60s,” she said. “I was born in Flatbush. We moved around to different parts of Brooklyn. I ‘ve lived in Park Slope, Clinton Hill, Brownsville, and we settled in Bed Stuy. I’ve lived in Bed Stuy now for about 20 years.”
“I’ve been in Brooklyn my entire life and don’t ever want to leave. So being born and raised here and to be able to combine the service-oriented nature of who I am with the love of Brooklyn for Brooklyn Community Services was just a no brainer for me,” she said. “I work with an organization where the work that I do directly impacts my neighbors and my family in a positive way.”
For more information on Brooklyn Community Services, visit www.wearebcs.org
