By Annette Pinder

It isn’t often that we hear about a Buffalo leader being asked to appear at the White House. However, the fact that Dr. LaVonne Ansari was asked to participate in President Biden’s United We Stand Summit in Washington, D.C., should not come as a surprise. The Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the Community Health Center of Buffalo, Inc. Dr. Ansari consistently puts those who are at the highest risk in our community first.

Dr. Ansari participated in a panel discussion entitled, “Healing and Rebuilding After Hate,” with a goal of countering the destructive effects of hate-fueled violence on our democracy and public safety, mobilizing diverse sectors of society and communities across the country to these dangers, and putting forward a shared, inclusive, bipartisan vision for a more united America.

What is that vision? Dr. Ansari says it is fighting hate with good. Working with White House staff, and community relations staff at the U.S. Department of Justice, Dr. Ansari shared her vision with 30 federal agents, saying, “We can and must do better by better understanding the people who live in our communities and sharing our humanity.”

It should also come as no surprise that the Community Health Center of Buffalo, Inc. was recently awarded a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCHBC) expansion grant, an award few centers receive. Dr. Ansari says the grant will increase access to, and improve the quality of, community mental and substance use disorder treatment services by providing person- and family-centered integrated services all in one location, including 24/7 crisis intervention services for individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) or substance use disorders (SUD). Such disorders include opioid use; children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbances (SED); and individuals with co-occurring mental and substance disorders (COD).

Dr. Ansari says, “Community Health Center of Buffalo, Inc. already accommodates our community’s medical needs, which include adult and family medicine, pediatric care, family planning services, dental care, behavioral health, physical therapy, and geriatric services.” The Center also provides eye exams, steroid injections, X-ray imaging, eye exams, nutritional counseling, and onsite pharmacy services. “Expanding our services to include 24/7 mental health crisis access enables us to offer a more comprehensive approach to mental health, including the ability to create our own crisis management team.”

Reflecting on the May 14 Buffalo shooting, Dr. Ansari says we are interconnected by the trauma of these massacres driven by factors ranging from anti-Asian sentiment during the COVID-19 pandemic, to anti-Black animus in reaction to 2020 racial justice protests after the killing of African American George Floyd. According to the Department of Justice, Blacks, Jews, sexual minorities, and Latinos have been the most frequent targets of hate crimes this year.

“What I learned at the White House is the importance of helping and healing communities through conversations. With 40 white supremacist organizations in New York State alone, we must fight evil with good. We need to make our voices that promote goodness louder. We need to recapture our humanity,” says Dr. Ansari.

Watch the United We Stand Summit at www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZhhyxM1frY&t=3s. Fast forward to 4:29:35 for Dr. Ansari’s panel discussion.