Maimonides Health Awarded Public Safety Grant from New York State, Funding Outreach Programs for Asian American Community in Brooklyn

Community health and safety programming includes initiatives on violence prevention, mental health support, crime reduction, injury prevention, and emergency preparedness

Brooklyn, NY, November 11, 2026 - Maimonides Health has announced that it was awarded a $50,000 grant from the New York State Department of Criminal Justice Services to support Community-Based Violence Intervention programs, including community safety and crime reduction initiatives. This funding also supports community-based outreach, youth engagement, research, mental health counseling, and other evidence-based strategies aimed at preventing violence and promoting safer, healthier communities.

Through the first round of programming funded by the grant, Maimonides is developing public resources to facilitate community knowledge around health and safety resources. Maimonides has produced printed materials for community distribution, detailing personal and community health and safety strategies, and promoting healthcare, public, and nonprofit support resources accessible to the community.

On Nov. 6, Maimonides also hosted two workshops geared toward supporting crime prevention in Brooklyn's Asian American community, including "Protecting Seniors from Scams," presented by NYPD Officer Tony Yung , and "Crime Prevention and Mental Health Support," led by Maimonides psychiatrist Dr. Liwen Ye, MD , at Park Asia Restaurant in Sunset Park. Participants were provided with the community crime prevention resource booklets, in addition to new personal safety devices.

"These workshops helped 250 members of Brooklyn's Asian American and Chinese American community in attendance recognize the signs of common health and safety issues and ensure they have access to resources to protect themselves and their families," said Janice Yang, Executive Director of Asian Community Services at Maimonides . "With this funding from the State's Department of Criminal Justice Services, we wanted to create this opportunity for members of the community to come together, share useful knowledge, and be reminded of all the resources available to help them in emergencies or times of need."

According to the Asian American Federation's 2023 Report "Asian American Perspectives: NYC Safety Study," more than half of Asian American New Yorkers who experienced a hate incident did not report the experience to anyone. To combat anti-Asian incidents, a large majority of Asian Americans strongly supported these resources such as better relations with police, mental health and legal services, senior services, youth activities, and training on how to report incidents or safely intervene when witnessing an incident.

Seniors are at particular risk of being victim to crime, violence, and other threats to health and wellbeing. The New York City Department for the Aging reported in its "Findings from Older New Yorkers' Experiences of Safety, Crime and Abuse" that nearly 15% of older adult respondents reported being the victim of elder abuse and/or crime since turning 60 years old. Over half of these victims did not report these crimes to the police.Mobility, physical, or sensory impairments, inadequate socialization, and mental health concerns put aging adults at higher vulnerability to crimes. According to AARP, 41% of Americans over the age of 50 report that they have been victims of theft due to fraud or identity theft.

View photos of the event here . To download photos, use PIN 8559.

Learn more about the following emergency and preventive health programs at Maimonides:

Maimonides Health is Brooklyn's largest healthcare system, providing more than 1 million patient visits each year through the system's three hospitals, 1,800+ physicians, and more than 80 community-based practices and outpatient centers. Our system is anchored by Maimonides Medical Center, one of the nation's largest independent teaching hospitals and home to centers of excellence in numerous specialties; Maimonides Midwood Community Hospital (formerly New York Community Hospital), a 130-bed adult medical-surgical hospital; and Maimonides Children's Hospital, Brooklyn's only children's hospital and only pediatric trauma center.

Maimonides' clinical programs rank among the best in the country for patient outcomes, including our Heart and Vascular Institute, Neurosciences Institute, Bone and Joint Center, and Cancer Center. For additional information, please visit www.maimo.org and follow us on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.