“Thank you for your tireless work and advocacy on behalf of every West Sider—and East Sider—and for your commitment to creating a more just and equitable society.”
With those words, State Assembly Member Linda B. Rosenthal presented Goddard Riverside President Roderick L. Jones with a plaque naming him the Louis B. York Justice Award honoree. The award is given out annually by the West Side Democrats.
Rosenthal lauded Jones as “someone who magically makes the impossible happen every day,” and particularly highlighted Goddard’s role during COVID.
“Rod and his team courageously leapt into action,” she said. “From enrolling homebound seniors in the city’s meal delivery program, to sourcing food for weekly distribution at NYCHA, to securing tablets for kids so they could participate in school, to organizing vaccine events, to weekly check-in calls with the elderly, to coaxing people on the street into housing—no task was too big or too small for Rod and his team at Goddard.”
As chair of the Assembly’s Committee on Housing, she also thanked Rod and our anti-homelessness programs for keeping people “safely housed during the affordability crisis.”
Jones, in turn, thanked Rosenthal for her “tremendous support,” adding: “We show up each and every day with the hope of building a society that’s fair and just for all. It really is about making sure that every person has the ability to reach their fullest potential and to achieve the American dream.”