Recently, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, City of New York Mayor Mayor Eric Adams, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, and Assemblywoman Rebecca Seawright, Chair of the Peoples with Disabilities Committee dedicated a Long Island building in honor of a heroic mother who saved the lives of thousands of special needs children that were being abused in the infamous New York State facility of Willowbrook State School.
An estimated 5,400 special needs children and adults lived at Willowbrook.
Because of neglect and abuse of these residents, Victoria Schneps-Yunis filed a class action law suit on behalf of her child and others that led to the closure of the facility. The College of Staten Island is now where Willowbrook once existed for decades.
Life's Worc was created on Long Island and Queens by the mother and others to advocate for the people living at Williowbrook.
Hundreds of families and children attended the building dedication. Assemblyman Charles Levine also presented Life's Worc with a check for over $125,000 for programs for children and adults with special needs.