Benefits Toolbox - Early Season 2021

A Message from the Executive Director kristin O’Brien, LMSW, CEBS First and foremost, I’d like to wish you and your families a very happy and healthy 2021! As most of you now know, I was appointed Executive Director of the Benefit Funds in September of 2020. To say that 2020 was a challenging year would be an understatement. We all faced the harsh realities that COVID-19 brought with it; fear/anxiety, illness, financial hardships, and most sadly, in some cases, the loss of loved ones. We offer you our deepest condolences if you have lost a loved one. We thank you for your patience as the Fund Office adjusted to new working conditions, including temporary periods of remote work and limits on in-person consultations. I truly believe that knowing you’re not alone, and that we’re all in it together, provides a certain level of comfort and strength to keep going. We had our moments of uncertainty,

Benefits Toolbox / Early Season 2021

difficulty, and frustration, but we came together and persevered. Now, as we enter 2021, we can do so with fortitude and renewed optimism for the future.

“

today’s patience

can transform yesterday’s discouragements into tomorrow’s discoveries. Today’s purposes can turn yesterday’s defeats

”

into tomorrow’s determination.

As we set our agenda for the direction of the Benefit Funds for 2021 and beyond, we’ll be looking to explore and utilize emerging technologies to better serve the membership and enhance the member

experience. This includes a redesign/revamp of the member portal on the Funds’ website and possible future projects such as a NYCDCC Benefit Funds app for smartphones. In addition to improved technologies, we’ll be focused on initiatives to reduce stigma around mental health and substance abuse, as well as initiatives on preventive care. Additionally, we’ll be looking for ways to enhance member and employer relations and provide easy-to-understand benefits communications to the membership. I look forward to this new year and all that it may bring. There will be good days and there will be bad, but in the words of William Arthur Ward, “today’s patience can transform yesterday’s discouragements into tomorrow’s discoveries. Today’s purposes can turn yesterday’s defeats into tomorrow’s determination.”