Sharon Soons is quick to tell you what she loves best: taking on a project that people say cannot be done, then working until it”™s accomplished.
Before she returned to work on her family”™s farm in New Hampton, she had worked on environmental projects for several years in and around New York City.
One of those projects was right under the Brooklyn Bridge ”” a former dumping ground that had been neglected for years in the shadow of John Roebling”™s architectural masterpiece. She and other like-minded residents got together in 2002 and envisioned the site as a park.
“Who doesn”™t love a park?” asked Soons. “Twenty years later, Brooklyn Bridge Park is an amazing place to visit and enjoy. To have been there when it was just an idea and see it become the beautiful place it has become is a real joy for me.”
Soons brings that same spirit to her new position as executive director of Vision Hudson Valley, formerly the Orange County Citizens Foundation.
“As the area continues to grow, people perceived the Citizens Foundation as a charitable institution, but our goal is to enhance the quality of life for all our residents.”
To that end, it has inspired the creation of the Heritage Trail, the twice-yearly Hudson Valley Honor Flight, the Orange County Arts Council and the Seligmann Center for the Arts, among other endeavors.
Now, as Vision Hudson Valley, Soons said the goal is to get more members of the community engaged and active in planning the future of the county and the Hudson Valley.
Two weeks into her new role, Soons is strategizing how best to attract new members to the organization, which was formed in 1950 by a group of artists. The nonprofit is on the homestead of Surrealist artist Kurt Seligmann, whose widow, Arlette, donated the couple”™s 55-acre farm to the Citizens Foundation before her death in 1962.
Photo by Kathy Roberts
“I”™m blessed to have an active board of directors, who bring a whole range of experience and also give us corporate support. The name change to Vision Hudson Valley will definitely help define our purpose,” Soons said.
“My parents raised me to be an environmentalist and this is the perfect job. I want to do something that makes a difference for our quality of life.”
Andrea Nilon, outgoing chair of the Orange County Citizens Foundation, said Soons “had the best combination of talents ”” she”™s worked for nonprofits, she”™s an entrepreneur and she”™s also a business owner.”
Nilon said, “Out of our 21 candidates we felt she was the perfect fit. She has a lot of plans ”¦ first, she”™s going to get herself situated. We had several events planned, including our annual Ottaway dinner, which had to be rescheduled. Sharon is going to get us back on track.”
Vision Hudson Valley will fete Linda Muller, president and CEO of Cornerstone Family Health Care, at the West Hills Country Club on Oct. 6. The event coincides with the nonprofit”™s 50th anniversary.
