Hope is always in the room

The mission of SALT

ISABEL BRAVERMAN
Posted 3/8/17

MONTICELLO, NY — If someone is in need of help, they may not know where to turn. And the very organizations that exist to help such people also may not know where to refer someone. That is …

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Hope is always in the room

The mission of SALT

Posted

MONTICELLO, NY — If someone is in need of help, they may not know where to turn. And the very organizations that exist to help such people also may not know where to refer someone. That is where Sullivan Agencies Leading Together (SALT) steps in. The year-old organization has more than 50 community partners that are all there to lend a helping hand.

As Martin Colavito, the chair of SALT, puts it, “We give hope to those who don’t realize how close hope is.” He offers the metaphor that hope is always in the room; it’s there before you walk through the door, and it will still be there after you leave.

There are numerous organizations in Sullivan County that serve those in need. While the 50 partners of SALT are too many to name, they include Catholic Charities Community Services, Latino Alliance of Sullivan County, Sullivan County Federation for the Homeless, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Sullivan County and the county legislature, to name a few. These groups and other community members work together as a reference system to navigate people to the services that they provide.

Here’s how it works: there is a phone number that anyone can call, which is routed to six members of SALT. Any one of them can answer the phone and help the caller. SALT has also created cards to be handed out by members to people they encounter who are in need of help. There are blank spaces on the card where the people who hand out the cards can fill in their own name, as well as the name of someone who is in a particularly good position to provide the needed help. After they’ve handed out the card, they call the person whom they’ve named as a possible helper to let them know that someone will be reaching out to them. That way, there is accountability and the person who has received the card feels comfortable to make that call. “We walk somebody through the process,” Colavito said.

Isaac Green Diebboll, a co-chair of SALT, also explained other services they offer, such as a moving truck. Anyone who needs furniture or a place to stay can utilize the moving service. “Maybe they need heat, maybe they need food, maybe they need a bed,” Green Diebboll said. He recounted going to people’s homes that had holes in the floor, or the heat was broken and it was freezing inside.

Unfortunately, poverty is all too common in Sullivan County. Individuals in poverty amount to 18.5% of the population. The United States poverty rate overall, is 14.4% and that of New York State is 15.1%. In Monticello, the rate is 39.4%, which is very high. In a rural county like ours, poverty and homelessness may be hard to spot, but that doesn’t mean they are not there. These community organizations recognize the need.

“We specialize in cutting the red tape,” Green Diebboll said. “We do so in a compassionate way; with a hug.” The concept of a hug is essential to the SALT mission—the act of reaching out not just to help someone, but to care, to connect with them. “We bring compassion back to the table,” Colavito said. When asked what he would say to someone who reaches out, he replied, “I would say, ‘how can I serve you?’ Let them be my boss, and tell me what they need, rather than assume.”

SALT began because many of these service organizations in the county would hold their monthly meetings and simply exchange information. They recognized that they could be doing more; instead of passive information sharing, they would use this forum to develop pro-active, community-centered solutions that leveraged the strengths of each of the partners to improve the lives of Sullivan County’s most vulnerable residents. SALT is a diverse partnership of agencies and community resources that has four goals: outreach, navigation, prevention and communication. “I think of this as a support,” Green Diebboll said. “We’re not here to replace anyone.”

Anyone can become a member of SALT, and in fact, many people that SALT has helped go on to join and help others. “You’re not somebody who’s a number, you’re somebody who’s a partner,” Colavito said. This creates community building and engagement.

A meeting is held the third Monday of every month at 9 a.m. at the government center in Monticello. To learn more, visit engncntr.com/2016/11/10/salt. The help-line phone number is 845/397-7258 (SALT).

Green Diebboll, Colavito and the members of SALT believe everyone in our community is a stakeholder regardless of a person’s immediate situation. Colavito said, “To serve others is the most powerful thing you can do.”

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