NYC Council Speaker’s Staff Joins Amida Care “Live Your Life” Harlem Wellness Event

Joey Pressley, Deputy Chief of Staff of Member Services to New York Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, visited Amida Care’s “Artist In You” event held on September 23 at Harlem United’s El Faro Adult Day Health Center in East Harlem. “Artist in You” is part of a series of Amida Care’s monthly Live Your Life wellness events held throughout the five boroughs of New York City where members and their guests learn about ways to get and stay healthy physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Amida Care is a not-for-profit special needs health plan (SNP) that provides comprehensive health coverage and coordinated care to New Yorkers with chronic conditions, including HIV/AIDS and behavioral health disorders. Programs like Live Your Life are a critical component of Amida Care’s unique approach to care and wellness: helping members to help themselves, ensuring that each person receives the specialized services and personal attention they need to be healthy. Members consistently express gratitude for the joy and fulfillment they receive from Amida Care’s Live Your Life events.

Artist Hilda Meza guided about 40 Amida Care members in creating their paintings. Meza and Pressley talked with members about their artwork. Member artwork ranged from silhouettes to landscapes. One member sketched a map of his home country of Haiti, saying “I’m going to take this home to hang on my wall.” Many members are planning to enter their pieces into Amida Care’s annual artwork competition, for a chance to be featured in the 2016 calendar.

“The Live Your Life program grew out of direct member feedback that health care needs to be about more than visiting the doctor and taking pills. These events are designed to meet the social, physical, and emotional needs of our members and build life skills. Our Member Advisory Council is credited with their creation,” says Doug Wirth, President and CEO of Amida Care.

Amida Care hosts several Live Your Life events every month at community organizations throughout the five boroughs. Free to all Amida Care members and their guests, the events offer opportunities to learn about nutrition, healthy relationships, art therapy, meditation, yoga, and African and Latin dance. According to Dr. Jerome Ernst, Chief Medical Officer at Amida Care, “We believe that health is more than the absence of disease, and we are doing our best to help our members achieve what the World Health Organization defines as health – a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing.”