Public Employee Press

Local 299 President Jackie Rowe-Adams is named
New Yorker of the Week by New York 1 television

For her community work with mothers whose children have been victims of gun violence, local television station New York 1 honored Local 299 President Jackie Rowe-Adams Nov. 18 as a New Yorker of the Week.

The union leader knows firsthand the pain caused by gun violence in her Harlem neighborhood, since her son was shot and killed 25 years ago. Two years ago, together with Jean Corbett Parker, Adams founded Harlem Mothers S.A.V.E., which provides referrals for counseling, funeral services, and outreach to mothers whose children have been killed.

“We make sure that we help mothers that don’t have a clue, like we didn’t, that we are right there to support them,” said Adams. She, Parker and others speak at churches and schools and work with local officials to help raise awareness. They also helped organize Manhattan’s gun buy-back campaign this year and got 800 guns off the streets.

“It would have just been very easy for them to crawl into their shells and for no one to hear from them again,” said Manhattan Assemblyman Keith Wright during the televised segment.