We are more than three months into our pandemic plan here at The Center, and with continued diligence, devotion, and compassion, we continue to keep our community safe and well.
Here’s a look at how we are working to keep healthy:
COVID-19 Update
Parents, family members, and caregivers of residents at The Center for Discovery were privileged to hear from a leader and partner in the healthcare industry during this week’s pandemic update.
TCFD Associate Executive Director Dr. Theresa Hamlin sat down, virtually, with Jeffrey Kraut, Executive Vice President of Strategy and Analytics at Northwell Health, The Center’s new strategic and research partner, to discuss the state of the county, safety, and reopening. For more on the partnership – please read https://tinyurl.com/y9eanjd8.
Kraut has vast experience in the field of health planning, policy, and data analytics across New York State. He is the chair of the Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC), an associate dean of strategy for the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. Kraut has been instrumental in the development of Northwell into the most extensive healthcare system in New York, with more than 72,000 employees and 800 hospitals and care centers. And, he has been a homeowner in Sullivan County for a decade.
The around-the-clock work of Jeffrey Kraut’s team of data analytic experts has been key to understanding the unfolding of the pandemic and the subsequent development of plans to protect frontline workers, patients, and the public.
He cautioned everyone about the reopening of the state. In regards to personal protective equipment like masks and gloves, he said, “It’s too soon to consider not using them.” He added, “Let common sense and factual information guide your actions. Prayers and hope are not a strategy. The knowledge is still being developed. Do things that are prudent.”
Kraut also discussed the use of COVID-19 antibody tests by Northwell, which he says are 90-95% effective and useful in tracking the virus, but also potentially important in understanding why some people become so sick and why others remain asymptomatic. Northwell has done at least 55,000 tests so far on the New York City Police Department, New York City Fire Department, in churches, and their hospitals. They are now offering those serology tests on campus to TCFD residents and staff.
Kraut applauded The Center for also using data to drive decision-making. Of the partnership, he said, “We are culturally very similar. We are both leaders in the field and always thinking two steps ahead on the chessboard.”
To watch the entire interview, please visit Webinar Discussion: Terry Hamlin & Jeffery Kraut
The Center for Discovery is so excited to begin family visits. Please stay tuned for more information regarding family and residential metrics required for safe visitation. If you have any questions, please reach out to our family, infoline (845) 707-8461.
Our Community Safe & Well
A few weeks into the pandemic, we created a Staff Co-op Market in hopes of eliminating potential exposures in public grocery stores. The Market has been incredibly successful.
The Staff Co-Op Market includes fresh produce, dairy, meat, personal care items, toiletry, miscellaneous grocery, and cleaning products. Our staff can simply order what they need through an online form and pick it up at several different locations around campus on designated days.
So many staff have been expressing their sincerest gratitude for this new benefit.
Just this past week, we introduced The Wash House at TCFD.
When the danger of spending hours in a crowded and potentially contaminated laundromat came to our attention, we decided to make one of our own.
The Wash House at TCFD has fourteen washers and dryers available to our staff by appointment – for free!
An Evening of Discovery Celebrating Bob Wright
Due to the persisting medical and public health uncertainties around the COVID-19 virus, The Center for Discovery has decided to postpone the annual Evening of Discovery Gala until April 28, 2021. The event will honor Bob Wright, for “A Lifetime of Dignity” and again be at Chelsea Piers, Pier Sixty in New York, NY. Please reach out to Gabrielle Scott at (845) 707-8509 with any questions that you may have.
Federal Funding
TCFD’s Office of Strategic Outreach and Partnerships continues to work with our political and state champions, on both sides of the aisle, in the House and the Senate to access federal funding. Funding is available for healthcare organizations via the four federal bills passed so far, and there is potential for additional funding for frontline workers in the future. The team is working to secure grant opportunities from the Department of Health and Human Services, Federal Emergency Management Association, United States Department of Agriculture, and others.
Now More Than Ever
Keeping TCFD residents and staff safe is paramount. As a result, we have incurred high costs. To limit potential community exposures, we created the Staff Co-Op and Wash House. Ensuring The Center’s safety has also meant buying personal protective equipment, reconfiguring and re-allocating staff to make masks and shields, and the development of online teaching platforms for our students now at home. If you can, please stand with The Center during this crisis by donating today.
Our compassion is second to none here at The Center for Discovery. Our gratitude runs just as deep. Thank you for being the force behind the force – that is TCFD. To donate, please visit https://thecenterfordiscovery.org/nowmorethanever/.
Amazon Smile
Another way to help us here at The Center is to choose to shop via Amazon Smile.
Simply click on https//:smile.amazon.com, choose The Center for Discovery as your charitable organization and shop as usual!
Amazon Smile will donate 0.5% of the purchase price from eligible products to The Center for Discovery. No extra cost to you!
Hurleyville Happenings – La Salumina
Owners Eleanor Friedman and Gianpiero Pepe postponed the anticipated grand opening of La Salumina, here in Hurleyville. However, they have been quite creative in altering their business. Eleanor and Gianpiero are offering boxes of La Salumina Sundries of delicious cheeses, crackers, many kinds of pasta, olive oil, and other items for curbside pick-up in Hurleyville and delivery in New York City and Brooklyn.
They’re also offering homemade sausages (salsiccia), soppressata senese, pâté rutisco, and pickles! Additional offerings include wines and spirits from Upstream Wine & Spirits, a Livingston Manor, NY wine shop specializing in sustainable, organic, and biodynamic beverages. You can order your drinks and box online and pick-up at La Salumina, or Upstream. Be sure to check out the website: https://www.lasaluminany.com/.
Hurleyville Happenings – The Hurleyville General Store
The Hurleyville General Store is also offering limited curbside pick-up and online orders. During quarantine, owner Denise Lombardi has been diligently scouring the state for the best products made by companies who employ people with complex conditions, those who care about the Earth and women entrepreneurs. The new arrivals include yummy superfood cookies and crackers, uber soft t-shirts perfect for spring and summer, and beef jerky made with grass-fed and finished beef right here in the Catskills. Check out the full selection and the stories behind each product at https://hurleyvillegeneral.com/.
Denise Lombardi called her gratitude for the work of The Center and the community “unquantifiable.” She says, “The outpouring of support that we received from the community strengthens our resolve to continue our mission at the store. Even though I live alone here, I never feel alone. I know that I have so many people I can reach out to or reach out to me almost intuitively when I’m struggling. It is an indescribable feeling of warmth, caring, compassion, and community. There is simply no other place like it.”
Honoring Our Teachers
On May 5, we celebrated the world’s BEST teachers and teacher associates!
We are so grateful to our Education team. Lately, the team is creating pandemic programming that’s innovative, energetic, interesting, and individualized.
Chief of Education, Kerri Muzuruk, said of the team, “Our teachers are focused and enthusiastic- forging ahead to find new, creative ways to collaborate across disciplines to ensure that we are meeting the diverse needs of all of our students! We are uncertain, but I am proud of the work to provide high-quality support for our students, with a mindset focused on compassion and flexibility. It has been a privilege to watch the teams come together to provide all we can for our students!”
Please read https://thecenterfordiscovery.org/providing-distance-learning-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/ for an inside look at this great work.
Celebrating the “Year of the Nurse” on National Nurses Day
Just one day after applauding our Education team, it was our Nursing team’s turn.
They are our frontline workers, and on May 6, National Nurse’s Day during the World Health Organization’s “Year of the Nurse,” we celebrated our staff of nearly 150 nurses, and nurses everywhere.
A nurse’s selflessness is immeasurable, and their courage is tireless. They have and will continue to keep us safe and healthy. We are so grateful for our TCFD Nursing Staff and all those serving others around the globe!
Thanksgiving Farm Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
It is that time of year we all look forward to here at The Center for Discovery! We are dreaming of fruits and veggies, galore! And, our farming team is working around the clock to make that dream happen.
There are 50 different organic, biodynamic, nutrient-dense fruits, vegetables, and herbs on the 2020 Thanksgiving Farm CSA Prospectus. Please take a look at:
https://thecenterfordiscovery.org/thanksgiving-farm-2020-csa-membership-prospectus/.
Pick-ups are Tuesdays and Saturdays located at the DPW Building (507 Old Route 17 in Monticello, NY).
There has never been a better time to focus on nutrition!
Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day was a bit different everywhere this year.
But at The Center for Discovery, there were still flowers and lots of heartfelt, handmade cards and art expressing our deep love for our moms.
Here is a brief video: https://bit.ly/TCFDMothersDay.