Whatever the weather, cold or warm, rainy or windy, the cats that camp out in Inwood Hill Park must eat. Inwood resident, Teresa Youngblood, has made it a priority to feed and care for the stray cats—every day at 3:00 p.m.
Youngblood, 64, suffered a brain injury four and a half years ago that hindered her memory, but she always recalls her dad’s wise words: “We’re all equal, and we should care for everyone and everything.”
That’s the legacy she’s been carrying out her whole life, as a firefighter, nanny and now through her love for the cats of Inwood.
This story first appeared on nycitylens.com.
About the author(s)
CHRISTOPHER ALVAREZ is a disability activist, reporter and filmmaker based in Queens. His work has appeared in New New York, Columbia News Service, Mas Latinos and NY City Lens. He co-wrote, co-produced, co-directed and acted in a feature film, El Padrino, about a disabled young man and his home aide on an emotional journey to avoid deportation by U.S. ICE agents in 2018.
email: a.christopher@columbia.edu
Twitter: @JournAlvarez
Instagram: @ChristopherAlv__ and @theywantca
MARIEL RODRIGUEZ-MCGILL is a video journalist and documentarian based in Manhattan. She is from Massachusetts by way of Colorado, where she produced and directed a historical documentary series for Rocky Mountain PBS. After a three-year stint with the Colorado Film Commission, Rodriguez-McGill relocated to New York City to pursue journalism. She received a BA from Boston College and holds an MA from the University of Denver. She can be reached via email at mr4068@columbia.edu, you can follow her on Twitter at @MarielEats, or find her on Instagram at @MRM_NYCLens