Advancing the health and well-being of rural people and communities |
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Rural Matters August 2021 |
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Message from Mark Bordeau |
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My first month and a half at the Rural Health Network has flown by quickly. In this short period of time, I have had the opportunity to meet many of our community partners. Rural Health Network is very fortunate to have numerous community partners within our service area. Together, we have accomplished a lot to advance the health and well-being of rural people and communities. I look forward to continuing and further growing these partnerships in the months and years ahead.
In this issue of Rural Health Matters you will read about Nancy Morsey. Nancy has given much to her community over the past 40 years as a volunteer. The last year and half have been a very difficult time for Nancy. Thanks to the generous funding from the Roger Kresge Foundation, our Northern Broome Cares program was able to assist Nancy and 16 other senior citizens with home repairs. This is just one example of how the Rural Health Network is making a difference with the assistance of our community partners.
I am excited to announce that we will be launching our first ever fundraising event. “On the Hunt for Good Health” will be a virtual fundraiser taking place October 8 thru October 24. Participants will pick activities/challenges to complete on behalf of the Rural Health Network. The activities/challenges will align with Rural Health Network’s major areas of focus: transportation, food, education and well-being. Each participant will be able to create their own webpage that will be used to invite friends and family to participate and/or donate to support their activity. I personally have chosen two activities to complete between October 8 to 24. I plan to walk and/or run 100 miles and to visit my local farmers market weekly to purchase local farm products. Our event website will go live September 15th and will have more details. Start planning your activities now, be creative and have some fun with it.
The Rural Health Network is seeking applicants for a Finance Director. This is a new job position within the Network. If you are interested or know someone who might be interested please visit our website.
Thank you for your continued support in helping us Advance the health and well-being of rural people and communities. We could not do it without you!
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Northern Broome CARES Summer Work Crew |
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Article Provided by Mindy Alexander, Summer Crew Leader and Community Health Worker |
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Northern Broome CARES, a program of The Rural Health Network of SCNY, located in Whitney Point, received a grant from the Roger Kresge Foundation to fund a “Summer Home Improvement Crew” to help clients of Northern Broome CARES with a variety of tasks to make their homes safer. This crew of AmeriCorps members has been working through the summer on many homes, completing 17 home in total.
Pictured: Rural Health Network Executive Director Mark Bordeau, Roger Kresge Foundation Executive Director Carol Kresge, and Nancy Morsey, homeowner.
They say it takes a village to raise a child but I believe it also takes a village to help the aging seniors too. Many of the elderly in this area that own their homes, have a hard time maintaining those homes as they did for many years. There’s the typical upkeep, like mowing and trimming that sometimes we can get a neighbor or a family member to help out with, but there is much more that needs to be addressed that there isn’t always time for or in the budget to maintain. Keeping a home in good condition can be very tough on many elderly, but in order to keep it safe for them to come and go, a lot of times there are steps and deck boards in need of replacement, ramps that need to be installed, and the wood itself needs to be stained, painted or sealed to keep it strong. This can all be very hard work for some folks, and if the skill or help is there to complete the physical work, there are many times still cost barriers that prohibit the work being completed.
Northern Broome CARES client, Nancy Morsey, a Northern Broome County resident, was in need of a few home exterior repairs. Nancy was an EMT with the Lisle Medical Team for 22 years. She has been with the Lisle Fire Company for 38 years, and still serves as Secretary for the Board of Directors for Lisle Fire Company, as well as Secretary Treasurer for the Lisle Emergency Med. Team. It was a pleasure to help Nancy, who was in need of having her deck and ramp stained along with several boards that were in need of replacement. The Summer Work Cres also provided some light landscaping work around her home as well. Nancy is on a fixed income that wouldn’t have allowed for her to purchase the amount of supplies needed, nor hire out to have the work completed. For someone as giving to the community as Nancy is, it was a wonderful feeling to give back. Nancy described the work as a huge blessing to her and her family. Strong communities are the ones who lean on one another, and work together to achieve and overcome hurdles. Northern Broome County is a wonderful community to be a part of.
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Rural Health Network of SCNY, Inc. has an opening for a Finance Director. We're seeking candidates with Accounting, Business Administration or related degree, plus 3 or more years experience managing all financial aspects of a moderate size non-profit or other business/governmental agency.
Learn more about this position here.
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Introducing Alexandria Bundy, new AmeriCorps Member |
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"I'm a junior at Binghamton University, and I'm planning to pursue a career in public and community health. I'm excited to be with Rural Health Network as an AmeriCorps member because this opportunity will allow me to connect with the community and gain invaluable experience in public health outreach. I'm from rural Western New York, so I've seen firsthand how important it is to ensure that rural communities have access to the care they need."
As part of her AmeriCorps service, Alex will be providing telephone support for people who have questions about COVID, vaccines, or how to access the vaccine.
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Mike Treiman, Program Coordinator for Northern Broome CARES, a program of the Rural Health Network, attended the Broome County Fair on July 30th to share information with the community about the free services available to rural residents age 60 plus. Joining Mike for the event was Sarah Stein, a Registered Nurse from Lourdes who partners with the Northern Broome CARES program to provide completely free clinical services. Representatives spoke to a number of attendees, enrolled new clients, and were fortunate to be able to refer a few attendees to the Broome County COVID vaccination pod provided at the event.
The Northern Broome CARES program is dedicated to providing resources and information to seniors ages 60 plus in the Towns of Lisle, Triangle, Barker, and Nanticoke with the mission of keeping rural seniors in their homes and connecting them with quality of life services that typically only exist in urban environments.
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Full-Time AmeriCorps Position Available with Seven Valleys Health Coalition |
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Seven Valleys Health Coalition (SVHC) is looking for one AmeriCorps member to serve full-time (35-40 hours/week for 11 months) to provide support to SVHC’s work on hunger and healthy, local foods access through a variety of means. The member will work in Cortland County with SVHC, the Cortland Food Project (the county’s food policy council), and partner organizations on efforts such as: assisting the Cortland Food Project steering committee and its subcommittees including the Hunger Coalition; follow-up on Cortland’s Local Foods, Local Places (LFLP) action plan; provide support to development and execution of other food systems and social determinants of health activities in Cortland County including grant writing (non-federal and not more than 10% of time), project research, volunteer recruitment, connecting low-income clients to community health supports and assisting with virtual cooking classes.
For more information about this position or other AmeriCorps opportunities, please contact Haley Desilet at hdesilet@rhnscny.org or visit our website.
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For more information about Getthere services, read the latest issue of The Milepost.
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Lalor Dental is offering a Free Dental Care Day on Saturday September 11th. Registration is from 7:30 - 9:30 AM with patients seen on a first come, first served basis. |
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Doctors with a Heart: Progressive Dental will offer Free dental care on September 18th from 8 AM to Noon at their Endwell and Norwich locations. Limited to first-come, first served and subject to a Coronavirus screening.
17-year-old makes color-changing sutures that detect infection: All over the world, infections at the site of surgical incisions are a major cause of new illnesses, extended hospital stays, and even death. In the U.S. alone, these infections cost more than $3 billion annually, with even worse statistics in developing countries. PBS reports on one 17-year-old Iowa scientist who's working on a more affordable way to detect these infections early.
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