DMHSS Chief Feted

HyeSook Chung and host Kishan Putta.

In early March, new Burleith resident Kishan Putta hosted a reception for HyeSook Chung, recently appointed by Mayor Muriel Bowser to serve as Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services. According to the DMHSS website, the Deputy Mayor "is charged with the strategic oversight of the health and human services cluster and making sure that residents of all ages receive the services and supports they need to lead healthy and productive lives in the District of Columbia." Ms. Chung spoke briefly about her plans to improve health care in DC as well as affordable housing and services for the homeless.

Ms. Chung is DC's first Asian-American deputy mayor. Putta hosted the reception via his position on the Mayor's Asian American Affairs Commission, which advises the Mayor, the Council, the Director of the Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs, and the public on the views and needs of DC's Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. 

Reception guests included Laura Newland, executive director of the DC Office on Aging, and BCA president Eric Langenbacher and his wife, Kay. Sprig and Sprout, a neighborhood favorite, catered Vietnamese appetizers which Putta and his wife, Divya Swamy, described as "scrumptious"!

Laura Newland with Kishan Putta and other guests.

Kishan Putta and Kay Langenbacher.