Roberta Todras

Affiliations:

Psychotherapist

Roosevelt Hospitals

Peace Corps

Roberta has an abiding interest in plants and the beautification of this city. The Bronx is Blooming is an excellent way for her to translate this interest into action. She is a former Peace Corps Volunteer. She has been a psychotherapist for the last 40 years.

She was in the Peace Corps from 1964-1966, serving in Malaysia. There she developed an interest in community involvement, starting a library at the school she taught in. She also worked with other volunteers on starting a day camp during school breaks. Additionally, she worked in a mental hospital in Johore Bahru near Singapore. What all this fostered in her was a growing appreciation of different cultures and their aspirational desires. The Bronx is Blooming is an organization where young people growing up in an urban culture are exposed and encouraged to expand their aspirations and to develop an appreciation of their environment and its potential.

Having obtained a master’s in Social Work, her first job was as part of a team working in a community mental health project under the then auspices of the Roosevelt Hospital. The goal, working with a diverse population, was to help people remain in the community rather than what was then called a “revolving door” — going from hospital to community to hospital, etc.

Roberta loves traveling and continues to work part-time as a psychotherapist. She is the mother of two very accomplished children and has three grandchildren.