As in every other county in the state, Ulster nonprofits are worrying and watching to see where the state will make its cuts and wondering if the tool of choice will be a scalpel or a chainsaw.
Nearly 50 social service agencies held a Human Services Networking Fair at Kingston”™s Holiday Inn Oct. 30 to talk to the public about programs ”“ and to talk about what they can do to help each other continue to provide services when the bad news arrives.
Unlike most trade shows, booths at the nonprofit event were $30 each ”“ a price palatable for shrinking budgets, said Wendy Rudder, a care consultant for the Alzheimer”™s Association.
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The nonprofit, which serves seven counties in the Hudson Valley, will hold a caregivers conference Nov. 12 at New Paltz”™ BOCES center. The fee is $10 for families caring for a loved one; $20 for health or service professionals.
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The admission prices seem more than reasonable, but can social service agencies keep providing needed caregiver seminars if budget cuts continue?
“We”™re doing the best we can because there”™s such a need out there,” said Rudder. “We don”™t know what Albany has planned ”“ our elderly population is growing, but the money flowing in to help them and their families is shrinking.”
Colleen Mountford, executive director of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Ulster County, said her agency has been “extremely fortunate to have an increase in volunteers. We have more single-parent homes now. When hard times come and people lose jobs, we see more marriages breaking up and single parents going it alone. We had an event at SUNY New Paltz and more than 100 students signed up. I know they need the volunteer hours, but many of them sincerely wanted to help, not just get credit. I think President Obama”™s call to the nation for volunteerism has spurred our younger generation into action.”
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Mountford, an empty nester, is a Big Sister herself. “I have a 7-year-old girl I”™ve been a Big Sister to for over a year. It”™s been wonderful for both of us. Her mother was just overwhelmed and needed a hand. I get to enjoy all those things I did with my children when they were younger and she gets the benefit of having an extra person in her life to help with homework and to pay attention to her. I can”™t say enough good things about the program. But like everyone else, we”™re worried about what the state plans to do to our nonprofit agencies that rely on funding to keep their doors open.”
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Mountford said Big Brothers/Big Sisters has not seen any new grant money, but, “We have not seen the funds cut back ”“ yet.”
Bonnie Benjamin, an outreach coordinator for the American Cancer Society, says her agency”™s cancer services program is the “best kept secret in the state. The state Department of Health gives a grant to every county to conduct free colon, breast and cervical screenings for men and women 40 through 64 who are either uninsured or underinsured, plus follow-ups if an abnormality is discovered. The program has already seen a $1 million cut in the 2009-2010 state budget. “There was a threat at one point that the entire program would be shut down,” said Benjamin. “Calls to our state representatives from the public averted that ”“ but the possibility is out there.”
With the Legislature being called into extraordinary session on November 10, and Gov. David Paterson calling for “shared pain” in budget cuts he”™s recommending, all non-profits throughout the Hudson Valley and the state are now holding their collective breath.
