Genesis Ramos, executive director of the Mount’s Desmond Center for Community Engagement and Wellness, discusses plans for the center at a recent hard hat tour. Members of the local community are welcome to discuss what they would like to see the Desmond Center provide at the upcoming community listening session on Thursday, September 29.
Mount Saint Mary College’s Desmond Center for Community Engagement and Wellness will be hosting a community listening session on Thursday, September 29 from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
The event will take place at the Aquinas Hall Atrium on the Mount campus, 330 Powell Ave., Newburgh, N.Y. Sign up here.
The Desmond Center aims to be an informed and responsive community fixture, providing basic health and wellness services that fill the gaps and meet the needs of community residents. As the initiative continues to grow, the administrators of the Desmond Center want to hear from their neighbors in the local community. What is important to you? What kinds of programs would you like to see the Desmond Center offer in the future? Your opinion matters to the Mount.
Funded in part by grants from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation and New York State’s Higher Education Capital (HECap) program, the Desmond Center provides accessible and equitable educational, health, and wellness services for community members and families in the local area, including the uninsured, while also creating learning opportunities for Mount students.
The Mount is proud to have Genesis Ramos, Orange County Legislator (District 6), serving as executive director of the Desmond Center for Community Engagement and Wellness.
Mid Hudson Construction Management is renovating the first two floors of Guzman Hall on campus, which will become the home of the Desmond Center in early winter. The finished space will include a two-story glass atrium, exam rooms for patients, and offices for healthcare staff and students.
During the construction, Desmond Center programming is being offered on campus and in other locations around Newburgh. Recent events include yoga and other physical health offerings, online health equity talks discussing healthcare disparities faced by women of color, COVID vaccine clinics, and more.