Kara Spath honored at SUNY Cortland

CORTLAND, NY — Kara Spath, a junior at SUNY Cortland, was named to the dean’s list for the 2021 fall semester. She’s achieved that rank every semester since her freshman year.

Spath is a 2019 Sullivan West graduate, and her family lives in Hankins. She is an exercise science major.

Karlee Spath on dean’s list at SUNY Cortland

CORTLAND, NY — SUNY Cortland junior Karlee Spath has been named to the dean’s list at SUNY Cortland. She is a 2019 graduate of Sullivan West, and her family lives in Hankins.

Spath has achieved a dean’s list ranking or higher since the fall of 2019, when she was a freshman. She is a sociology major.

The Sullivan County Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association collected law enforcement patches for eight-year-old Joshua Eastman, of Kane, PA, who has …

PBA contributes patches to boy with cancer

REGION — The Sullivan County Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (SCPBA) sent police agency patches to eight-year-old Joshua Eastman, of Kane, PA.

Josh, who has cancer, is a patient at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh, PA.

He was first diagnosed in May 2021.

A SCPBA spokesman noted that Josh plans to be a police officer when he grows up, and law enforcement from around the country have sent care packages with the patches, hoping to keep the boy’s spirits up.

The SCPBA sent patches from departments around the county.

The organization quoted Josh’s mother: “He is what we call a hero. He has several times come so close to death and pulled through.”

Sullivan Renaissance beautification grant applications due soon

SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — The deadline for Sullivan Renaissance beautification grants is March 1. But there’s still time to apply.

Do you want to spruce up a garden or build a park? Sullivan Renaissance can guide you through the application process.

Through onsite visits to discuss your vision or in a simple phone consultation, staff can help.

Sullivan Renaissance believes that beautification builds community pride and that partnerships and grassroots volunteerism build beautiful, active communities.

Applications are available online until March 1, at  https://www.sullivanrenaissance.org/. Complete it electronically or email it to grants@sullivanrenaissance.org.

Sullivan Renaissance has several other grant programs, with rolling deadlines as funds are available. For information or assistance with an application call 845/295-2445.

Raising awareness of homelessness with the Point in Time count

HONESDALE, PA — Every February, the Wayne County Housing Department fields a team of volunteers for the annual Point in Time (PIT) homeless count. This year, it takes place the night of February 23 to 24.

On the night of the count, volunteers disperse throughout the county to provide care packages containing toiletries and other necessities, including information about where to get help, if they want it. The teams also collect some basic information the county needs to provide to funders when seeking homeless assistance dollars.

Each year, the volunteers meet for a brief orientation and training session, which will be virtual this year to limit the amount of time spent indoors.

The count was paused in 2021, but will now resume.

PIT training will be provided one week prior, as HUD requests virtual training to minimize the time spent together indoors. Since January 2020, Wayne County secured nearly $5.7 million dollars in federal Housing and Urban Development funding. In that time, about 500 people experiencing homelessness received assistance from these programs, including families with children.  

An emergency-use apartment, transitional housing for youth and general transitional housing are available. Wayne County Human Services can also offer rapid rehousing, homeless-prevention funds, family-unification programming, and behavioral health-specific units.

Because of the grants and other efforts, the county now has many more resources available, but officials still need to complete the PIT count as one of the requirements to continue this much-needed assistance.

A person in danger of being homeless should call 211 for an assessment, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. A live person can be reached 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but the full assessment process is limited to office hours.

Rep. Delgado joins Sullivan County’s 44th annual Heart-A-Thon

MONTICELLO, NY — Recently, U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado (NY-19) joined the community for Sullivan County’s 44th annual 98.3 WSUL Heart-A-Thon. This is the Congressman’s third year in attendance.

During the event, Delgado spoke with volunteers and WSUL about the 25th anniversary of his mother’s open-heart surgery and her lifelong experience with a heart condition.

“It was an honor to join folks at the Heart-A-Thon to support the Garnet Health Medical Center—Catskills,” said Delgado. “I’m glad to be part of an event that does so much for our communities by helping make critical investments in cardiology equipment. I will keep working to raise awareness about cardiovascular health and ensure everyone in our district has access to the care they need.”

Valentine greetings for the Care Center

LIBERTY, NY — The Monticello Kiwanis and the Sullivan County Aktion Club presented Valentine’s Day cards and chocolate-rose pops to the residents of the Care Center at Sunset Lake.

They wanted them “to know that they are thought of and hopefully make their day a little more special,” said a Kiwanis spokesperson.

The Aktion Club is co-sponsored by the Monticello and Woodridge Kiwanis clubs, and the members are affiliated with the Center for Discovery, Arc of the Greater Hudson Valley and the New Hope Community.

These individuals have various degrees of physical or developmental disabilities, but they “also have big hearts filled with love, and so enjoy giving back to the community,” the spokesperson said.