Page 14 - Work Force July-August 2025

July-August 2025 15 15
The Work Force
STATEN ISLAND — After a 45-year
career at the Staten Island
Developmental Disabilities Services
Office (DDSO) and years of active
service with our union, Jeanette
Mitchell is retiring.
Born in a small Georgia town in
the 1960s and raised in a tight-knit
family of 28 grandchildren, Mitchell
brought Southern grit and heart to
everything she touched in her career
at the Staten Island DDSO and as
president of our union’s Staten Island
DDSO Local.
Mitchell began her journey at
Staten Island DDSO as a direct
support professional, eventually
rising to serve three terms as union
president.
Known for her open-door policy
and fierce dedication to fairness,
Mitchell was a lifeline to members,
especially during the COVID-19
pandemic.
She recalls one call from a
member, who told her he felt
overwhelmed and unclean during
quarantine.
“If I could just take a shower and
brush my teeth, I’d feel better,” he
told Mitchell.
Mitchell sprang into action, using
her own money to buy toiletries,
scrubs, and essentials, making
multiple runs to deliver dignity to
homes that had none.
“I just needed to do something,”
said Mitchell. “And when he called
me back to say he felt better, I knew I
had done the right thing.”
But it wasn’t just members who
leaned on Mitchell — it was the
entire system. During the early days
of the pandemic, when staff were
told to reuse personal protective
equipment (PPE) for weeks and wear
the same scrubs day after day, she
confronted management head-on.
“How dare you put this on them?”
Mitchell had demanded.
Her leadership helped spark
emergency meetings with the
state Office for People With
Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD)
management, ultimately leading
to the acknowledgment of PPE
shortages and delivering vital
equipment to front-line workers.
Jeanette Mitchell: lifetime of
service, unwavering compassion
Among her proudest memories
are chairing our union’s Human
Relations Committee, which brought
then-Gov. David Paterson to the
Institute for Basic Research (IBR),
meeting John F. Kennedy Jr., and
mentoring new leaders like Rondell
Radcliffe, whom she confidently
passes the torch to in leading the
local.
She credits mentors like Abraham
Benjamin and the Hunter sisters—
Akisha and Shemeeka—for helping
her grow as a leader and understand
the rules and nuances of union
advocacy
Mitchell also served on CSEA’s
statewide Education Committee,
the Metropolitan Region Women’s
Committee, and is currently the
Recording Secretary of the New York
Chapter of the Coalition of Black
Trade Unionists (CBTU).
A proud mother of six—Jasheva,
Jermaine, Jenise and extended
children Kimberly, Corey and
Adonis—and loving partner to Oriel
Kellerman, she now looks forward to
retirement, front porch mornings and
trips with her travel group, Black
Entertainment, which recently took
her to Africa.
Asked how she wants to be
remembered, Mitchell answers
without hesitation.
“As a fair and just president who
took everyone’s problems seriously,”
said Mitchell.
And perhaps just as importantly,
as someone who never stopped
showing up—even when it meant
spending her own money, raising her
voice, or carrying PPE boxes herself.
— David Galarza
Mitchell
In this 2020 file photo,
Jeanette Mitchell
displays face shields
that were donated by
Shields for Heroes to
help front-line workers
do their jobs more
safely during the COVID
pandemic. The not-for-
profit group delivered
the shields to Staten
Island DDSO and other
New York City-based
state facilities.
Jeanette Mitchell uses her smartphone as part of
a training session at the 2022 Annual Delegates
Meeting.