Ailing teacher pleads for help finding kidney
Though plagued by a major economic setback and serious health issues, Brooklynite Michele Gabriel has faith that, despite the odds, she’ll get through it all, and come out a winner. First, Gabriel, 51, is dealing with kidney failure. And after beginning on dialysis, she began to have vision problems.
Today, she is looking for an organ donor. After two unsuccessful retina surgeries earlier this year, her eyesight has not returned.
“I’m reaching out to see if someone can donate a kidney to me — be a donor,” said Gabriel, who was placed on a kidney waiting list by SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn.
“Half a year before COVID, I started to get into medical problems — my eyesight started to fade out and I developed kidney failure,” said Gabriel, who arrived in the U.S. from Grenada when she was 8 years old.
Last June, her economic situation was hurt by the permanent closing of her 24-year-old Little Paradise Preschool in East Flatbush, due to declining enrollment.
“I couldn’t handle it. I had to give up everything I love,” said Gabriel. “I lost my business due to COVID. I enjoyed a lot of my life there, with the children.”
The innovative Little Paradise was more than just daycare for 2- to 6-year-olds. The preschool regularly provided cultural field trips, and special events for its young clients.
“I still think I have some life in me to give to others, so I’m asking for someone to please help me get a kidney.”
Gabriel was born in Munich, in Grenada’s St. Andrew region. She attended U.S. schools and graduated from St. Joseph’s College in Brooklyn, with a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education and speech pathology.
While still a senior at St. Joseph’s, she was a case worker and life skills instructor at the Jewish Child Care Association. And before starting the Little Paradise preschool, she worked as a childcare worker at the New Foundling Hospital.
For further information, contact SUNY Downstate Living Donor Coordinator Andrea Johnson at (718) 270-4708, Kidney Transplant Coordinator Al Ryan Maduramente at (718) 270-4592, or email Gabriel at 1michele.gabriel@gmail.com.
’HIGH TEA’ MOTHER’S DAY
Performances of smooth pan jazz, a sassy hat fashion show, a silent auction, and a diverse menu are in store for patrons and their favorite ladies at the “Mother’s Day High Tea Fundraiser” on May 8 at the Major R. Owens Health and Wellness Community Center, at 1561 Bedford Ave., starting at 1 p.m.
“The High Tea Mother’s Day Fundraiser will help families within our community
who are in need of our support,” said a West Indian American Day Carnival Association spokeswoman, adding that there are also opportunities available to sponsor a senior to attend. Certain COVID-19 protocols will be in effect.
For tickets and information visit bit.ly/ WIADCAHighTea2022. Visit wiadcacarnival.org for more about WIDCA and its year-round events schedule, or call (718) 467-1797.
SCHUMER FOR HAITI
Sen. Chuck Schumer met members of the Haitian Evangelical Clergy Association last month to reconfirm his support for the Haiti Development, Accountability, and Institutional Transparency Initiative Act, which is part of the Omnibus Bill that was
signed by President Biden on March 15.
“I was honored to meet with the Haitian Evangelical Clergy Association to discuss how we can work with the Haitian-American diaspora to improve safety conditions on the island, rebuild infrastructure, better support its democratic institutions, and expand pathways for refugees,” Schumer (D- N.Y.) said at the April 20 meeting in New York.
The legislation “ensures the United States’ approach to rebuilding and developing Haiti is centered around human rights protections, anti-corruption efforts, and reconstruction efforts led by Haitians,” Schumer’s spokeswoman noted.