TWIW 15: April 6, 2026

In this episode:

• Deputy County Executive Joan McDonald highlights that April is Global Volunteer Month and congratulates the Rye High School Hockey team for capturing the New York State Championship. 
• Westchester County Human Rights Commission Fair Housing Director Joshua Levin and Westchester County Office of Housing Counsel Director George Asante join to discuss the month of April as Fair Housing Month. Levin and Asante highlight their upcoming program on April 23 in observance of Fair Housing Month, and discuss the ongoing collaboration between their two offices. 
• Reverend Kymberly McNair joins to discuss her recent appointment to Westchester County Director of Faith Based Initiatives. In her new role, McNair will seek to enhance the relationship between Westchester County Government and local houses of worship. 
• Deputy County Executive Joan McDonald shares information on the upcoming State of the County Address and highlights upcoming events from the Westchester County Parks Department. 

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Transcript

Intro 0:06

Welcome to This Week in Westchester, the podcast, your weekly audio briefing from Westchester County Government. Each week, County Executive Ken Jenkins breaks down the decisions, investments, and initiatives shaping life across Westchester. Clear information, real progress, one place to stay informed. Now, here's This Week in Westchester.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Good afternoon. I'm Joan McDonald. I'm the Westchester County Deputy County Executive. I'm filling in today for our county executive Ken Jenkins, who is away. We have a couple of exciting things to discuss with all of you today, starting with April, which is volunteer, which is National Volunteer Month. It is recognized both across the United States and around the world is a time to honor the extraordinary impact of volunteers and to inspire even more people to step forward and serve. It is a moment to recognize the millions of individuals who give their time, talent, and energy to support nonprofits, schools, and civic organizations, often quietly, without recognition, but with a profound impact. Their work strengthens our communities, fills critical gaps in service, and reminds us that government alone cannot meet every need. It takes people showing up for one another. Here in Westchester County, we see that spirit every day. And this month gives us the opportunity to say thank you and to encourage others to get involved. Now we want to take a moment to recognize an incredible achievement here in Westchester County. The Rye High School hockey team captured the New York State Championship, an extraordinary accomplishment that reflects not only talent, but discipline, teamwork, and resilience. This win is a point of pride for the entire Rye community and a reminder of the strength of our student athletes across the county. These players have represented Westchester with excellence. We congratulate them, their coaches, and their families on a truly remarkable season. You all make Westchester proud. Next, I'm going to go into an important other initiative here in April. April is Fair Housing Month. And as we recognize April is Fair Housing Month, we're proud to highlight the work happening right here in Westchester to ensure that every resident has access to safe, equitable housing. Joining us today are two leaders at the forefront of that effort. Together, they are working to protect residents' rights, expand access to legal resources, and strengthen enforcement of fair housing laws across the county. This month, they'll also be hosting an important program to mark Fair Housing Month that they will speak to you about. They're going to share more about the upcoming event. So, Josh and George, come on up.

SPEAKER_03 3:26

Thank you so very much. Good afternoon, all and happy Fair Housing Month. I am Joshua Levin. I bring you greetings from Tejas Sinchala, our executive director for the Westchester County Human Rights Commission, and our chair, Doris Dalton. Nearly a century ago, one of the central figures of the civil rights movement was born into a world that could only dream about fair housing. Because it has always been understood that where you live shapes how you live. The air you breathe, the water you drink, the schools your children attend, your job, your safety, your access to green space, your zip code can determine nearly every aspect of your life. For decades, Dr. King struggled with alongside others to try to make the dream of fairy housing into a reality. For over a cent over a century ago, or rather over a half a century ago, after toilessly working towards it, unfortunately, Dr. King never got to realize that dream. Because on April 4th, 1968, he was assassinated. But that was the watershed moment that led to riots happening across this country. As locally as in Fairview, within the town of Greenberg, riots broke out, looting took place maybe hours after the broadcast of Dr. King's assassination. From Austin to New Rochelle in the days after, unrest was everywhere throughout the county, and indeed the country, from Detroit to Tallahassee, from DC to Minneapolis, this country was on fire until what was at the that time the most filibustered bill, the Federal Fair Housing Act, was finally enacted. And the dream became a promise. Just over a quarter century ago, Westchester County decided to also get into the promise and committed to trying to fight for housing rights and created the Office of the Human Rights Commission. Nearly 20 years ago, legislators from Westchester County, including our then legislator, now County Executive Ken Jenkins, renewed their efforts and their promise and enacted the county's own fair housing law. Today, under County Executive Ken Jenkins' leadership, along with our executive director, Tejas Sinchala, our office is committed to realizing the promise of fair housing and toiletly working against uh housing discrimination. Each April we commemorate the heroes of the past, both great and small, and commemorate the enactment of the Federal Fair Housing Act by recognizing Fair Housing Month. So, in that vein, we invite you to enjoy to join us on April 23rd this year at 6 p.m. at the Legal Aid Society here in White Plains. You'll get to hear about our efforts towards combating housing discrimination. You'll hear about the efforts of the county to uh further affordable housing, and you'll hear from George, who I'm gonna pass the torch on in just a moment, who will talk about the county's efforts to keep people in their homes. I look forward to seeing you all there. Happy Fair Housing Month. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 6:52

Good afternoon, everyone. All New Yorkers deserve fair and equal access to housing. The Federal Fair Housing Act, the New York State Human Rights Law, and the Westchester County Human Rights Law all prohibit housing discrimination. At the Office of Housing Council, we are grateful to work together with the Westchester County Human Rights Commission to defend these rights and ensure that housing access and stability are free from discrimination. What have we seen? Over the past two years, our programs have collaborated on numerous initiatives. Programs such as this month's Housing for All, Fair Housing Rights, Affordable Housing and Eviction Prevention Program on April 23rd is just one to name. Prior to that, we've part we've um collaborated on film screenings and know your rights programs in White Plains and Yonkers. These efforts highlight the overlap between discrimination and housing instability. What have we done? We have established a referral system whereby county residents are connected with appropriate services where they are facing whether they're facing eviction, housing discrimination, or both. Even if someone is behind on their rent and subject to eviction, a landlord may not pick and choose which tenants to evict based off of protected classes and characteristics. The results. Housing discrimination can lead to wrongful eviction and displacement. Human Rights Commission and Office of Housing Counsel, collaboration is crucial. So far, county residents have gotten support and assistance, including access to representation and advocacy services. Support with accommodations with housing nexus include accessibility or home modifications, support and service pet requests, caregiver units, caregiver assistance and unit transfers, and subsidy reconsiderations, and much, much more. The Westchester County Human Rights Commission and the Office of Housing Council continue to work together to assert rights of all county residents, and we welcome anyone facing housing-related issues to contact our offices. We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming event this April 23rd. Thank you all for your support, and we look forward to seeing you there.

SPEAKER_00 9:04

Thank you, Josh and George, in these important initiatives. And even though April is Fair Housing Month, we here at the county uh view it as an important priority for us every month. So it's a 12-month initiative that we make sure that people remain in their homes and that they are fairly represented if they need to be. So thank you both for all that you do. Next up, we are extremely excited to welcome a new leader whose work will help strengthen one of the most important connections in our communities: the partnership between government and our faith-based organizations. Joining our family here is Reverend Kimberly McNair, who was recently appointed as Westchester County's Director of Faith-Based Initiatives. In this role, Reverend McNair will work to deepen relationships between county government and local houses of worship, building bridges, fostering collaboration, and ensuring that faith leaders have a seat at the table as we serve our residents. I'm asking her to come up and share more about her vision for this role and how these partnerships can continue to uplift and support our communities across Westchester. Come on up, Reverend McNair.

SPEAKER_01 10:25

Thank you, thank you so much. Good afternoon. In the press release that went out last week, I said that I am shaped by the love and care of people who taught me how authentic connection has the power to transform. So what does that mean? That means that authentic connection is what we see when people with diverse religious, faith-filled, spiritual and ethical practices come together for a common goal, a common purpose, to bridge gaps and to create transformational partnerships. I'm grateful for the opportunity to uphold a faith-filled legacy of community building that I carry and that was handed off to me from when I was a little girl. And I look forward to continuing the work that I've been called to do with the people of Westchester. I'm so excited to be in this role. And honestly, the response from colleagues and community members across the county tells me that I'm not the only one who's excited. So with that, all I have to say is let's get to work. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

Thank you, Reverend McNair. And yes, let us get to work on continuing to build those bridges between our faith-based uh leaders and our county government. Thank you so much and welcome. Next up, uh, as we've said at the last couple of uh briefings, County Executive Ken Jenkins will be delivering his 2026 State of the County address on May 6th. Doors will open at 6 o'clock. The address will begin promptly at 6.30. As always, you will be able to tune into the speech right here on Facebook or on the county's webpage, WestchesterCounty New York.gov. Now some upcoming parks events. First up, WWE NXT Live at the Westchester County Center. WWE NXT Live comes to White Plains for the first time, featuring your favorite NXT superstars, including NXT champion Joe Hendry, NXT North American champion Ethan Page, Ricky Saints, and Tatum Paxley, excuse me, NXT Women's Champion JC Jane, Blake Monroe, and Jada Parker, and NXT Tag Team Champions Dark State, Miles Bourne, and many more exciting participants. So come on down on the on April 10th at 7:30. Saturday, April 11th, 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., there will be a guided bird walk with the Sawmill River Audubon at Croton Point Park at Croton on Hudson. Join for the guided bird walk for all ages. It's free. Also on Saturday, September, Saturday, April 11th, 10 a.m. to 2.30. It will be our second week of the 45-minute interpretive tours at the guided at the Terrytown Lighthouse in Sleepy Hollow. The county executive announced that last Thursday, and the first tours kicked off last Saturday. These 45-minute interpretive tours are every Saturday through June 27th at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. 12.30 p.m. 1.30 p.m. and 2.30 p.m. The tours are free, but there may be parking fees at Kingsland Point Park. That's it for this week in Westchester, one that really showcased the best of who we are as a community. We kick things off by recognizing April as National Volunteer Month, celebrating the incredible people who give their time, energy, and heart and soul to support others. Volunteerism is alive and well in Westchester. It's something we're proud to see each and every day. We also took a moment to celebrate a huge win for our county, the Rye High School hockey team bringing home the New York State Championship. In our community spotlight, we highlighted April as Fair Housing Month and welcomed our two leaders, George and Josh, doing critical work to ensure residents have access to safe and affordable housing. And we were very excited to introduce Reverend Kimberly McNair in her new role as the Director of Faith-Based Initiatives, an important step in strengthening the connections between county government and our houses of worship. And yes, Reverend McNair, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Thank you for that. Making sure those voices continue to help guide and support our communities. And that is this week in Westchester.