Who We Are
Capital District Tobacco-Free Communities (CDTFC) is a program of St. Peter’s Health Partners serving Albany, Rensselaer and Schenectady Counties, and funded by a grant from the New York State Department of Health as part of the NYS Tobacco Control Program.
What We Do
CDTFC provides information and assistance to help municipalities and a wide variety of community stakeholders implement evidence-based strategies to achieve the following goals:
- Prevent youth tobacco use and initiation
- Eliminate exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke
- Strengthen environments to better support tobacco-free choices
Our Accomplishments
We’re proud of the work we’ve accomplished to improve the health of the entire Capital District community. Here are just a few of the outcomes of our partnerships with local community organizations, businesses and governments:
- More than 10,000 additional multi-family housing units are now smoke-free, including all HUD-funded housing.
- 21 municipalities made their parks tobacco-free, making outdoor recreation healthier for all.
- More than 50 local businesses and organizations adopted tobacco-free policies for the benefit of employees and consumers.
- All Capital District colleges implemented comprehensive tobacco-free policies.
- Several local laws have been adopted aimed at reducing youth tobacco use.
Meet Our Team
Jeanie Orr | Director
Jeanie joined the CDTFC team in 2007 with her Master’s In Public Health and soon established herself as New York State’s foremost expert on Smoke-Free Multi-Unit Housing. Her pursuit of justice contributed to the dismantling of existing state and federal roadblocks to smoke-free living for families living in low-income housing, culminating in HUD’s implementation of a 2018 rule requiring Public Housing Agencies to adopt a smoke-free policy. In 2019, Jeanie was promoted to Program Manager, overseeing all aspects of CDTFC initiatives and guiding the team through the COVID and post-COVID era until she assumed the Directorship in 2024. Jeanie’s 17 years of tobacco control experience, leadership and success will no doubt hasten progress toward creating the first tobacco-free generation. For fun, Jeanie enjoys gourmet cooking but she also runs which provides a healthy balance to all that gourmet eating.
Simona Fish | Community Engagement Coordinator
Simona comes to CDTFC with a Masters of Public Health in Environmental Health Policy. Previously, she worked at the New York State Assembly in the Ways and Means Committee. She served as the Environment and Energy analyst and spent many nights sleeping in her cubicle during budget season. She now leads a slower life and spends time with her two children and farmer husband. She is dedicated to improving the public health of New York State residents when not baking bread.
Katrina Hastings | Youth Engagement Coordinator
Along with a Master’s Degree in Education, Katrina brings significant experience working with young people including teaching PreK-12, serving for several years as a children’s librarian, youth educator and museum educator. Most importantly, she brings an enthusiasm for empowering young people to play an active part in making their communities healthier places to live, learn, work and play.
To the left is a typical tobacco product display. If you don’t use tobacco, you may not even notice, but kids do. Kids see. Kids notice. Kids remember. In fact, kids are more than twice as likely as adults to notice and remember retail tobacco marketing.