The Commission meets monthly on the third Wednesday, 4-5:30p. It is a public meeting, and everyone is welcome to attend. The agenda and meeting details can be found on the City of Kingston’s website in the Upcoming Meetings section. Email Emily if you would like to be added to the meeting reminders and calendar invites.

LWK has welcomed a few new Commissioners in 2021. Here is a list of our full wonderful group:

Age Well meets monthly on the Third Tuesday, 2pm, and brings together volunteers and agencies that support the aging. Email Emily for meeting details. 

The Office for the Aging has been working harder than ever during these Covid times. They are now able to directly register seniors for the Covid vaccine and are working hard to bring the one-shot vaccine to the homebound. For questions, find out about their events, or to connect with their many resources call 845-340-3456 or go to www.ulstercountyny.gov/aging. 

The on-site Cyber Seniors Program is still on pause due to Covid restrictions. This program connected KCSD high school students with seniors offering a curriculum to teach them how to use a computer. If you know a student that would be interested in offering remote support please email Elaine. 

Eat Well meets virtually every other month and has had a series of presenters. The next meetings are: June 2, Ulster County Food Waste Legislation; August 4, Future Fruits, Hudson Valley VegFest; October 6, Tentative-Ulster County 2040 Working Group Report; December 1, FeedHV. Anyone interested in food access, systems, programming and more, is welcome to attend. Email Katie Sheehan-Lopez to join the listserv and get meeting reminders and details. 

The Kingston Emergency Food Collaborative seeks to achieve food justice and build food sovereignty through our work in four main areas: Direct Service, Education, Production and Procurement, and Systems Change. We provide direct service by delivering meals and groceries to households in the City of Kingston and Kingston City School District in cooperation with Family of Woodstock/Hodge Center, People’s Place, Catholic Charities and many other partners. We intake requests through our emergency food hotline (1-888-316-0879); anyone who requests food can access our program. Delivery of meals and groceries to folks in the community is made by volunteers who are assigned shifts by a volunteer team of schedulers. Volunteers, organizations and community members are welcome to join this innovative group.

The newest Focus Team of Live Well Kingston, Grow Well, is still, well, growing! Organizational development has happened with a mission statement and values being established. The structure, outreach, and action plans are in development. The group has supported community gardens at Barmann Park and Rondout Gardens, is starting conversations about zoning, and has been creating communications. They meet every other week and have a Slack channel for communicating. Check out their updated Focus Team webpage.

The Heal Well Focus Team meets monthly on the first Friday at 12n, and has been hosting a series of presentations with local organizations reflecting on how their work intersects with Health. The Caring Majority presented and can be seen here. If you would like to see the Rise Up Kingston presentation, please email Emily. Future presentations may be from: Integrated Ulster, Sustainable Hudson Valley, Riverkeeper, Kingston Mutual Aid, Good Neighbor Program, Kingston Equitable Internet Initiative. Suggestions for presentations are welcome. 

The Day of Play is being planned for July 17th or July 31st, and may include activities such as a scavenger hunt, skate park pop-up, field games, bicycle ride and more in different locations around the City. Volunteers are needed to host activities and help participants follow Covid protocols. Organizations are welcome to join our group that includes: Kingston Parks & Recreation, The YMCA of Kingston and Ulster, The African Roots Center, Wild Earth, Kingston Needs a Skate Park, and others. See www.livewellkingston.org/event-directory/ soon for updated information.

The Greenline is a network of trails and suggested bicycle routes.

The Health & Wellness Department has published a Request for Proposals for a consultant on the Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan project. The PBMP will help us understand how the City's existing and planned pedestrian and bicycle networks feed into each other, and identify any gaps in those systems. It will also determine how pedestrians and cyclists can be considered in all types of transportation projects and enable us to prioritize infrastructure investments. See www.engagekingston.com/pedestrian-bicycle-master-plan for more details and opportunities to participate and let your voice be heard.

Bike Friendly Kingston hosted the third annual Kingston Women’s Bicycle Festival in May. Many of the events were virtual and recordings may soon be on the website: www.bikefriendlykingston.org/kingston-womens-bike-festival. 

The Complete Streets Advisory Council meeting recently discussed eScooter and eBike Legislation, a Road User Education Plan, Sidewalk Improvement District proposal, Bluestone sidewalks, and project updates. See https://kingston-ny.gov/ for the next meeting and zoom details.