Cory Mosgeller realizes he has had certain advantages in his life, such as the opportunity to pursue higher education and having access to food – advantages not everyone has. What he’s chosen to do with the knowledge he has gained and his time and talents is work to improve the community around him by focusing on health equity and combatting food apartheid.

Cory is a Neighborhood Health Center patient and treasurer of Neighborhood’s board of directors. As the treasurer, Cory pays attention to opportunities or threats the organization may be facing, and how they could impact the sustainability of the organization. Cory is a Buffalo native who moved to New York City for a while and worked on Wall Street in investment banking. When he made his return to Buffalo, Cory made the decision to transfer his knowledge and skills to the healthcare industry. 

Cory was also the Massachusetts Avenue Project’s (MAP) treasurer for 6 years when that organization was building a distinct farmhouse on Buffalo’s west side. MAP works to help people access healthy foods and to combat the food desert problem that is impacting parts of Buffalo. Their mobile market comes to Neighborhood locations every Wednesday through October, to make fresh fruits and vegetables more accessible to patients and Neighborhood’s surrounding communities. 

“I am not a millionaire so I can’t donate to help these organizations build a building or something of that nature,” shares Cory. “What I can devote is my time and my knowledge to make our communities better. I feel like I owe it back to our community.”

Shortly after becoming a Neighborhood patient, Cory joined Neighborhood’s board of directors in 2019. Patient board members, like Cory are able to speak to the patient experience, and identify ways that it can be improved through the work of the board. As a Federally Qualified Health Center, at least 51% of Neighborhood’s board members must be Neighborhood patients. Currently, 93% of Neighborhood’s board of directors are also patients of the health center. Board members volunteer their time and talents to help govern Neighborhood. They are responsible for the proper care of the funds, properties, and other assets of Neighborhood, and for ensuring that the health center operates within applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Perhaps most importantly, board members advocate for the mission, objectives, and patients of Neighborhood Health Center. 

In terms of the impact that Cory would like to see within the organization, in his time on the board, he shares that it is more about the intangible wealth, like getting Neighborhood’s name out into the community and being the name that people think of when it comes to affordable accessible and high quality care in WNY. 

“When you join a board for organizations like Neighborhood, you start making decisions that you can see the positive impact of. It is a wonderful feeling to be able to see that.”