Community Engagement Miller School of Medicine

The partnership addressing differences in sleep disorder burden is supported by the knowledge, expertise, and trust we have built within the community. We developed the proposal through consultation with our initial Community Steering Committee (CSC), composed of representatives from community-based organizations and patients with sleep apnea.

Yolette Williams

TSCS Community Steering Committee Chair

Yolette Williams is a dedicated community leader and advocate for Haitian Americans. As CEO of the Haitian American Alliance of New York (HAA) for over 30 years, she has worked to empower her community and bridge cultural, social, and political divides. At the NYC Department of Education, she championed students with special needs, bilingual learners, and families navigating educational challenges. A Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Board-Certified Neurofeedback clinician, she specializes in PTSD, adjustment disorders, and family therapy through her practice, CSW Brain Enhancement and Psychotherapy. After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, she partnered with Partners in Health to counsel survivors and train mental health professionals, continuing her mission through ongoing medical and mental health efforts in Haiti. Her leadership during the pandemic, forming the HAA COVID-19 Taskforce, earned her the Ford Freedom Unsung “Heroes of COVID-19” Award. Yolette’s life’s work uplifts marginalized communities and fosters inclusion and empowerment.

Guitele Ruiz-Nicolas

TSCS Community Steering Committee Co-chair

Guithele Ruiz-Nicolas is a seasoned leader, communicator, and community advocate with over 25 years of experience across public, private, and nonprofit sectors. She holds a B.A. in Organizational Communications from Pace University and an M.P.A. from Nova Southeastern University. As CEO/President of Inspir, LLC, she leads community-building and communications initiatives serving Caribbean and Haitian markets. She also produces The GRN Show with Guithele Ruiz-Nicolas on Roku, promoting connection and civic engagement. Guithele’s career includes leadership roles with the Children’s Home Society of Florida, the City of North Miami, Broward County, and Broward College, where she advanced economic development, workforce diversity, and educational access. Deeply committed to service, she chairs the University of Miami’s TSCS Steering Committee, serves on Plantation’s Sustainability Board, and volunteers with VITA and Moms Demand Action. Recently elected President of the Plantation Democratic Club, Guithele continues her mission of empowerment, equity, and civic participation.

The focus on sleep disorders was determined through engagement with CSC members, who participated in community health lectures in 2010. They were asked to identify the most pressing health concerns and policy issues using a Delphi survey, which identified sleep disorders as a high research priority. This led to the New York Sleep Health Summit in 2012, bringing together experts in sleep research and stakeholders to discuss implementation of novel interventions to improve sleep outcomes in their communities. During proposal development, we held weekly meetings with the CSC to build consensus around project aims, define the contributions of each partner, and clarify leadership roles and expectations. This process produced the Shared Sleep Research Agenda, calling for assessment of sleep disorder severity across communities in New York City.

Building this collaborative capacity to conduct people-centered outcomes research has been critical for recruitment into ongoing and planned studies. The partnership enables more rapid translation of behavioral research findings into interventions that support healthy aging. Equally important, this infrastructure expands research capacity to study sleep disorders across diverse populations and provides a model for translating behavioral science research with appropriate cultural and linguistic considerations. The ongoing project leverages the CSC established in New York and South Florida to maintain the cohort developed over the last two years. It also utilizes a newly constituted CSC in Miami to facilitate recruitment of an additional cohort to meet enrollment goals (see below).

TSCS Community Stakeholder Groups

Community Engagement in NYU’s Catchment Area

Trinity Baptist Church and Blanc Ministries (TBCBM)

Trinity Baptist Church and Blanc Ministries (TBCBM) is a thriving, welcoming Assemblies of God church. Trinity offers worshipers a loving environment in which to connect with others on a community level.

With an array of youth programs, community events and services TBCBM seeks to fulfill the mandate of Jesus Christ to go into all the world.

Its services are contemporary in style and dedicated to teachings derived from the Word of God, the Bible. It promotes an environment that is rich in acceptance and conducive to gaining a deeper intimacy with Jesus Christ.

Mission

To fulfill the Great Commission while demonstrating the Great Commandment. TBCBM takes this mission from Matthew 28:19 and Luke 10: 27.

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Inspire LLC

Inspir, LLC is a communications, media and community building company created to foster better understanding for individuals to live empowered and ultimately build stronger communities.

Mission

To be a positive influence for individuals and entities to reach greater heights through dialogues, connections, and resolve.

Vision

Inspir, LLC will be a reliable source to transcend information, uplift individuals, families, and the community at large.

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Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church (BEBC)

L’Eglise Evangelique Baptiste Bethel (or Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church) is a multicultural Haitian American church located in Miami Florida. Bethel (as we are known by most) is one of the largest and one of the oldest Haitian churches in the US.

Bethel came into existence in the early 1970s to meet the spiritual needs of the growing Haitian community that had started to make its presence known in Miami. At the time Bethel came into existence, the Haitian Christian community in South Florida was very small, almost non-existent. There were very few churches where Haitians could worship in their own language (French or Haitian Creole).

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Association of Haitian Physicians Abroad (AMHE)

The Association of Haitian Physicians Abroad (AMHE), was founded in August 1972, by a group of Haitian physicians determined to mark their presence as a growing ethnic entity in America, to foster professional alliances, and to promote the health and interest of the Haitian immigrant community at large.

Mission

AMHE’s mission is to provide its professional members a conduit to address the medical needs and concerns of the Haitian community at home and abroad.

Vision

Achieving prevention and treatment of medical conditions in the Haitian community at home and abroad.

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NYU CSC Members

Community Engagement in NYU’s Catchment Area

Haitian-American Community Coalition (HCC)

123 Linden Blvd, 3rd Floor Brooklyn, NY 11226 | www.hccinc.org/
HCC is a CBO that is committed to providing supportive services for the central Brooklyn Community. All of our services are free and we welcome all community members to register and join us. Besides participating and meeting new people in our programs and services, we also offer many incentives and opportunities for participants. Our Health Education and Peer Training program provides sessions geared towards raising awareness about STIs such as Hepatitis C and establishing their connection to the HIV virus.
Greater Brooklyn Health Coalition (GBHC)

1958 Fulton Street, Room 203 Brooklyn, NY 11233 | www.brooklynhealth.org/
The Greater Brooklyn Health Coalition (GBHC), formerly the Greater Southern Brooklyn Health Coalition, was formed in 1997 as a Jewish Community Relations Council project to identify the organizations that best represent the ethnic and faith-based groups in Brooklyn, as well as the healthcare systems serving them. Today, nearly 140 agencies are members of GBHC, whose mission has extended to community-based organizations, hospitals, health insurance companies, and a variety of healthcare and educational institutions. GBHC’s membership represents the ethnic, faith-based, and geographic diversity of Brooklyn.
Diaspora Community Services (DCS)

182 Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217 | www.diasporacs.org/
Diaspora Community Services is a social support service agency that empowers families and individuals to maximize their abilities to succeed through culturally sensitive health promotion, family support services and advocacy. We serve as a bridge for our clients; helping to advocate for their needs and supporting them on their personal journey to empowerment. We serve a highly diverse population providing essential health and supportive programs. We maintain the highest standards in the service of of human rights, gender equality, health-care access and opportunity for low-income and immigrant families in Central Brooklyn.
Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice (YMPJ)

1384 Stratford Avenue, Bronx, NY 10472 | ympj.org
Guided by a prophetic faith, YMPJ's purpose is to transform both the people and the physical infrastructure of blighted South Bronx neighborhoods and change the systems that negatively impact them. Founded in 1994, the mission of Youth Ministries for Peace & Justice (YMPJ) is to rebuild the neighborhoods of Bronx River and Soundview/Bruckner in the South Bronx by preparing young people to become prophetic voices for peace and justice. We accomplish this through political education, spiritual formation, and youth and community development and organizing.
The Haitian American Alliance of New York (HAA)

The Haitian American Alliance of New York (HAA) a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization has been in existence, working with the Black, Haitian, Caribbean and immigrant community since 1996.

The board members and volunteers are originally from the same community and for the most part share the same ethnic and cultural background as members of the community, including linguistic proficiency. Many still live and work in this community, and are either immigrants themselves or first-generation Americans. HAA has a long history of advocating and educating this community in the areas of health, health care, education, policy, social-economic and civic endeavors.

HAA has been very successful in developing relationships with all community stakeholders. Our role in the community is to empower members and help them lift themselves up and their voices.

The Haitian American Alliance of New York (HAA) has centered its outreach and community engagement to more deeply develop and strengthen its collaborations with other CBO’s and community stakeholders. That effort led to establishing a Haitian American Alliance COVID-19 response team which morphed to become more formally, The Haitian American Alliance COVID-19 Task Force. It is a coalition created for the sole purpose of addressing the COVID-19 pandemic which to date has had devastating impact, disproportionately in minority communities. The Taskforce consists of the Haitian American Alliance of NY, the Haitian Medical Association Abroad, the Haitian American Psychiatrists Association, International Humanitarian Outreach Ministries (IHOM), Beraca Baptist Church, Evangelical Crusade Christian Church, and other professionals.

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Community Engagement

Yolette Williams

Guitele Ruiz-Nicolas

TSCS Community Stakeholder Groups

Trinity Baptist Church and Blanc Ministries (TBCBM)

Mission

Inspire LLC

Mission

Vision

Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church (BEBC)

Association of Haitian Physicians Abroad (AMHE)

Mission

Vision

NYU CSC Members

Haitian-American Community Coalition (HCC)

Greater Brooklyn Health Coalition (GBHC)

Diaspora Community Services (DCS)

Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice (YMPJ)

The Haitian American Alliance of New York (HAA)