News + Events/October 22, 2026
Miles That Matter
The Floating Hospital is delighted and grateful to be the TCS New York City Marathon charity partner chosen by Dan Paparelli as part of his Citizens Miles That Matter Award. Every year, Citizens Philanthropic Foundation chooses five New Yorkers “whose community service, leadership, and personal journeys personify the spirit of the TCS New York City Marathon.”
Each recipient represents a New York City borough and chooses a charity in that borough to award a $20,000 Citizens grant. Paparelli, who is a pediatric intensive care unit nurse, uses running to honor the resilience of his patients and their communities. He chose The Floating Hospital because of our mission to deliver healthcare and critical support services to underserved children and improve long-term health outcomes for vulnerable families across New York City.
The Floating Hospital applied the $20,000 grant to support this year’s Camp Rise Up. As part of its curriculum, the immersive educational experience provides financial literacy, career exploration, and year-round mentoring to 100 homeless teens annually, with 85% expected to demonstrate improved workforce readiness and 75% returning to the program.
WABC is airing spotlight videos featuring the Citizens award recipients through November 1. The video featuring Paparelli can also be seen on Citizens’s YouTube and TikTok accounts.
This award is separate from the fundraising efforts of our Floating Hospital team of Waverunners, a group of marathon entrants who are raising money for The Floating Hospital as part of their training. You can still donate to our runners or the overall team.
Learn more about the Citizens Miles that Matter program via the button below.
‘A comfort zone for teenagers’
One week every summer, New York City teens living in temporary housing have a chance to break free of their surroundings and experience adventure and immersive learning at our upstate sleepaway camp. This year, a camera crew captured some exciting and insightful moments for a video we have shared on YouTube.
Camp Rise Up’s three successive educational tracks, which cover health and hygiene, life skills, leadership, financial literacy, and more, are blended with outdoor games and activities that build strength and confidence in a beautiful mountain lake setting. After three years, campers can return as paid counselors in training as they learn management, empathy, listening, and negotiation skills that help prepare them to be a counselor and for other future employment.
Our day camps in the city, Journey and SOAR, mix morning health education classes with afternoon field trips that open new worlds, such as rock climbing, the flying trapeze, going to the beach, and much more.
We’re proud to share the experiences of our campers with you and hope you will share them with others. We are also grateful for the support of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Citizens Philanthropic Foundation, Good Sports, Soles4Souls, Venable Foundation, the John and Martha Wolf Fund, and all who have donated to this year’s camp, an important turning point in many young people’s lives.
Helping survivors heal
Last year, more than 22,000 patients walked through the doors of The Floating Hospital’s clinics for vital care—a significant number of domestic violence (DV) survivors among them. We serve over 400 domestic violence safe houses and shelters in New York City, and the families we treat from them find resources and support to rebuild their lives and break free from cycles of violence and poverty.
A recent survey of more than 700 of our patients found that while 15% were in DV safe houses, 52% had experienced some form of verbal, physical, sexual, financial, legal, psychological, or spiritual abuse. Of those, 36 percent did not seek help for fear of retaliation. Many others witnessed such violence against someone they lived with, typically in childhood.
In October, we reflect on how many lives DV touches, reaching even friends and family who may be harboring a potentially life-threatening secret. Domestic Violence Awareness Month has been observed in October annually since 1989. It is “a time to acknowledge DV survivors and be a voice for its victims,” according to The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN).
This year’s DV Awareness Day fell on October 15, and our health education department marked it by wearing purple for awareness and offering information on domestic violence and where to get help.
Domestic violence is “prevalent in every community, and affects all people regardless of age, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, gender, race, religion, or nationality. Physical violence is often accompanied by emotionally abusive and controlling behavior as part of a much larger, systematic pattern of dominance and control. Domestic violence can result in physical injury, psychological trauma, and even death. The devastating consequences of DV can cross generations and last a lifetime,” NCTSN’s website states.
The Floating Hospital has been offering “more than healthcare” from its beginning. For families who have fled violent and abusive homes, it means treating them with dignity and providing tools to reclaim their futures.
Our mental health clinicians “provide hope and relief that there is help for them, and that others have been through similar situations and gotten through them,” said Dr. Jonathan Zimmerman, the director of our behavioral health department. They help them recognize patterns of violence and abuse to identify them in the moment and avoid them in the future.