The Pusiga connection behind Gertrude Atongi’s work in New York

For Gertrude Atongi, living and working in New York has not meant losing touch with Pusiga, the community in the Upper East Region where her family has its roots, as her professional career in healthcare and human services has developed alongside her work supporting people in Ghana and the United States.

Now based in Brooklyn, Ms Atongi works as a Programme Manager at a hospital, where she oversees programmes focused on maternal and child health and family well-being, while much of her community work takes place outside the hospital through the Atongi Family and Friends Basic Needs Foundation.

She established the foundation in 2003 with her late father, Anthony Atongi, and although he died in December 2021, the organisation has continued to operate in Ghana and the United States, with education, healthcare and assistance to vulnerable people among its areas of work.

“He could have left Pusiga and never looked back but that is not who Anthony was because he stood in the shoes of the people,” Ms Atongi said.

That connection with Pusiga is reflected in the foundation’s activities in Ghana, where it has donated beds, mattresses, bedsheets, clothing, toys, school supplies and medical equipment to health facilities and vulnerable communities, while also adopting and reconstructing an Islamic school in Pusiga and continuing to provide pupils there with uniforms, footwear and educational materials.

According to the foundation, about 150 vulnerable people have been enrolled in Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme, while health screening exercises have also been organised and 50 students have received support to pursue their secondary education.

In July 2023, the organisation launched a community feeding programme in Pusiga, serving more than 150 vulnerable people with meals and providing financial assistance to some families.

“Our goal is to assist underserved special groups, such as women, youth, and people with special needs, because they have a right to a better life,” she said.

Her professional career has also involved working with families and people in need, beginning in 1993 and taking her through organisations including the Brooklyn AIDS Task Force, the Jewish Child Care Association and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

In 2016, she joined a Brooklyn hospital as a Family Support Worker Supervisor and became a Programme Manager in 2019, with her current responsibilities including programmes designed to improve maternal and child health outcomes and strengthen family well-being.

Her academic background combines nursing and social work, with two master’s degrees, while further professional training has taken her into infant and family mental health.

On 10 September 2021, she was endorsed by the New York State Association for Infant Mental Health as an Infant Mental Health Specialist, and in 2024 she received a second endorsement as an Infant Family Reflective Supervisor, through which she provides consultation, guidance and reflective supervision to professionals working with families in early intervention and home-visiting programmes.

She is also a peer reviewer with Healthy Families America, where she helps assess home-visiting programmes against national best-practice standards.

In New York, the foundation provides hot meals, hygiene products, clothing and other essential items to families living in shelters in Brooklyn and Queens.

Its work with the Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation has included support for food pantry activities, Halloween events, school programmes and holiday distributions, while in November 2024 the foundation hosted a Thanksgiving event at a Brooklyn family shelter.

The following year, it worked with Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation on a back-to-school giveaway in July, distributing school supplies and farmers’ market vouchers to underserved families, before holding its fourth annual Thanksgiving celebration at a Brooklyn family shelter in November and joining a holiday toy drive in December.

The foundation’s activities have also extended beyond Ghana and the United States, including a 2021 visit to Jamaica where it donated essential supplies and resources to the Mustard Seed Community in Ocho Rios.

In Ghana, it partnered with Amazing Grace Children’s Charity in May 2025 for a free medical care and toy drive, and later worked with the International Pentecostal Mission Food Program in August to provide food assistance and back-to-school supplies to families.

The work has continued in 2026, with the foundation partnering with the Hope for All Songtaba Foundation on 31 August for a community back-to-school event that provided educational resources and school supplies to children and families.

In September, it distributed school supplies to families living in shelters in Brooklyn and participated as a community partner and exhibitor at the African Immigrant Commission of New York and Connecticut’s African Heritage Month Celebration on 12 September.

The foundation has received recognition for its community activities, including a Humanitarian Award from 3G Media Group in October 2024 and three awards from the African Immigrants’ Commission of New York and Connecticut in September 2025.

The foundation also received Lifetime Achievement Awards attributed to former US President Barack Obama in 2014 and former President Joe Biden in 2024.

More than two decades after Gertrude Atongi and her father established the foundation, its work continues in Pusiga and other parts of Ghana, as well as in communities in New York.

Her father is no longer there to work alongside her, but the organisation they started continues to provide food, school supplies, healthcare support and other assistance to people who need it.