A Division of Cornerstone Family Healthcare
I’m Doing It. Testing for HIV.
HVCS is collaborating with Walgreens in Poughkeepsie, located at 827 Dutchess Turnpike, for National HIV Testing Day (June 27th). Our team will be on site from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm for free confidential HIV testing, information on PrEP, as well as HIV prevention, care and treatment. We are partnering with Greater Than AIDS for this community event.
Hudson Valley Community Services provides a range of services for people living with chronic illnesses–including case management. But what is case management? We say that phrase all the time in the social services field, but what does that mean?
Rather than try to define it, HVCS’ LaShonda Cyrus (who was promoted to Assistant Director of Client Services right after this video was made) shares an example of what it takes to connect people in need with the services that help them live their best life.
This video was animated and produced by Darell Green, a student at Dutchess Community College, as part of their Service Learning Program under the advisement of Prof. Holly McCabe.
There is some important news for clients of our Nutrition Outreach and Education Program (NOEP).
New York State has taken the necessary steps to ensure that February recurring SNAP benefits (formerly known as food stamps) will be issued to all SNAP recipients in New York State by January 20th. If you are one of our NOEP clients, please note that this January 20th SNAP benefit is not an extra payment, but rather an early issuance of February’s benefit. Your NOEP Coordinator will work with you on how to budget accordingly since it will be coming earlier. It is also important to note that all households that require recertifications for February should complete all the necessary steps as soon as possible and before January 18th. Local SNAP offices are working hard to have these recertifications processed before January 31st. At this time, there is no information about how March benefits will be impacted. If you have any further questions please reach out to the NOEP Coordinators in your county:
For Dutchess County please contact Elena Dalia at (845) 360-9722
For Ulster County please contact Catherine Cortale at (845) 579-2558
For Orange County please contact Debbie LaBoy at (845) 522-5761
For Sullivan County please contact Pat Ocasio at (845) 842-1232
Chill Wine Bar in Beacon is hosting once again their annual “Fill Chill” food drive and dance party, with the 2018 event slated for Friday, November 16th starting at 8:00 pm. Drop off a few cans or packages of non-perishable food to help stock HVCS’ food closets for the holidays–heck, why not bring a whole bag of food? The closets also accept donations of toiletries and household cleaning products. Everyone who donates an item (or more) will be entered into a door prize drawing. You’ll also have the chance to enter the 50/50 raffle.
To keep things in the holiday spirit, Prephab, the region’s premiere DJ duo, will be spinning fun music ranging from disco to pop to dance. Chill will have their selection of wines and bottled beers available, plus their bar snack menu featuring paninis and cheese platters. Chill will donate a portion of sales to HVCS so make sure to eat and drink up!
Chill is located at 173 Main Street in Beacon. Please join us for a relaxing and heartwarming start to your Thanksgiving week festivities!
Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union’s Lisa Morris invites you and your family to The Most Important Meal, a fundraiser for the food pantries at Hudson Valley Community Services! Enjoy an all-you-can-eat cereal buffet while helping local people living with chronic illnesses. Join us on Sunday, Oct 28th from 9:30 to noon at Fishkill Recreation!
Our “endless cereal buffet” returns to the Fishkill Recreation Center on Sunday, October 28th from 9:30 to 12 noon. Get your fill with an all-you-can-eat buffet featuring an array of cereals with mix-ins and topping galore, a variety of Hudson Valley Fresh milks, oatmeal, and fresh fruit, plus coffee provided by the Crafted Kup, tea and juices. We’ll also have a silent auction with lots of fun items, and everyone takes home a souvenir bowl.
“The Most Important Meal” is presented this year by Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union.
Tickets are $30 each but kids under 12 can eat for free. This is a great event for families–Halloween costumes encouraged!
We’ll devote the proceeds to our emergency food closets so everyone can feel good about chowing down on a Sunday morning.
You can also opt to purchase a table of 10 for only $200 ($10 off each ticket) and we’ll recognize all our table captains at the event. You can also place an ad or greeting on our placemats and in our slideshow presentation.
Title Sponsor:
Major Support From:
Silver Spoon Sponsors
Milk & Cereal Sponsors
Thanks to everyone who made our new fundraising event, The Most Important Meal, a success! Photos by Anthony Accomando and Ryan Judge.
Image by Javi_Indy on Freepik – www.freepik.com
HVCS is launching a new infectious disease prevention program this December specifically for women of color. Our new Women’s Services Program will help prevent new HIV, STD, and hepatitis C infections among minority women in Dutchess, Orange, Rockland and Westchester counties. The program aligns with New York State’s “End the Epidemic” plan to increase the number of women who know their HIV/STD/HCV status and increase the number of women linked to medical care.
The Women’s Services Program will use a trauma-informed approach to outreach and prevention, since many women at high risk for these infections live with traumatic pasts or present-day circumstances, including abuse, homelessness, poverty, and immigrant status.
Our initial contract will run for five years, and we aim to serve at least 300 women each year. We look forward to sharing more news about this exciting and important new program in the future.
If you’re a longtime supporter, you may be wondering why you haven’t yet seen anything about the Hudson Valley AIDS Walk, usually held in May. The Hudson Valley Community Services will not be holding its customary Hudson Valley AIDS Walk this year.
After twenty-four years of holding the AIDS Walk, we felt that it was time for a big change. We’ve been tweaking the AIDS Walk each year to respond to your feedback and bring in new supporters and community partners. The time has come for more than tweaks—we need a complete reset. This decision was made in conjunction with our Board of Directors, our volunteer AIDS Walk committee, key staff members and feedback from past supporters. We are excited to announce that our staff and volunteers are working together to create new events that inspire and motivate our donors, participants and volunteers, and will bring in even more resources to help our clients.
Our new focus includes making the commitment to better serving our clients by identifying key fundraising targets. We look forward to sharing more success stories so you get to know our clients—and you see how your contributions are helping them. We’re committing to a more personal approach to community partnerships. And we promise that fighting HIV/AIDS and helping Hudson Valley residents living with AIDS are still top priorities.
With all these changes we don’t want to lose sight of an underlying principle: our clients still need you! We hope that as we embark on a new direction in our fundraising efforts that you’ll be more energized and passionate about the work HVCS does in the Hudson Valley. Our fundraising staff is hard at work on new ways for you to remain involved. We’re always open to your ideas and feedback, too. Let us know what interests you and how we can meet your goals for helping your community. Thank you for your past support, and we look forward to working with all our supporters as we move forward together.
We’re forming a committee to help plan a new grassroots event—The Most Important Meal, a breakfast to raise funds for our food and nutrition
programs. We need volunteers to help sell tickets, line up sponsors, sell journal ads, and collect silent auction items. The Most Important
Meal will be coming to a Mid-Hudson location in Fall 2017. If you’re interested in volunteering on the committee, contact Anthony Accomando at (914)
785-8277 or aaccomando@hudsonvalleycs.org.
Create your own mini-fundraiser by hosting a third-party event. It doesn’t have to be big or fancy, or raise a large amount to make a difference. All it takes is the desire to pitch in and an idea for a gathering. Organizing your friends, family and community and asking them to contribute small amounts can really add up! Help HVCS by organizing:
If you’re interested or you’ve got an idea, contact J. Dewey at (914) 785-8326 or jdewey@hudsonvalleycs.org.
Several Dutchess County providers are banding together to present “Health Cares: A Conference for Providers” on Friday, April 28, 2017 from 9 am to 3 pm at Vassar College. The conference will focus on the LGBTQ+ community and access to healthcare.
The keynote speaker will be Yonah EtShalom, a nurse practitioner. They are the founding program director for Transgender Health Services and they have long been an advocate for transgender health issues and public health education programs. The conference will also cover cultural competency, trans experiences in healthcare, intimate partner violence, and barriers to health care.
There is no cost to attend, and lunch will be provided. Registration is required: contact Emily Berkowitz at: emilyb@gracesmithhouse.org, or register online at: www.tinyurl.com/HealthCaresDC.
The conference will be held in Ely Hall-Aula at Vassar College, 124 Raymond Avenue, Poughkeepsie.