In March of this year, I wrote a column entitled “Estate Planning in a Time of Crisis,” which outlined possible options for having your estate planning documents witnessed and notarized during the Coronavirus crisis.  There have been some important developments since that time that merit this update.

In my column in March, I noted how remote notarization was authorized by Governor Cuomo in his Executive Order 202.7.  This capability has been extraordinarily important, given the fact that access to Notary Public services has been severely restricted since the outbreak of the Coronavirus.

Typically, people could get a Notary to notarize their signature at their attorney’s office, their local bank, or potentially at a local city or town hall.  When the Coronavirus hit, attorneys’ offices were closed, and banks and municipal offices limited their personal contact with customers and residents.

The remote notarization authority allowed by Executive Order 202.7 has been a welcome tool for legal practitioners to continue to notarize documents for clients.  Documents needing notarization include Powers of Attorney, Deeds, Affidavits, and various important legal agreements. 

REMOTE NOTARIZATION
More than just notarization by video conference 

It is important to note that remote notarization is not as simple as having the Notary watch you sign a notarized document via video conference with FaceTime, Zoom, or Skype.  Executive Order 202.7 has specific additional procedures, including the necessity that the full notarized document be faxed or electronically transmitted to the Notary after the Notary watches the individual sign the document via video conference.  That transmission must occur the same day as the signing. 

After the Notary receives the transmitted document, they may notarize that copy and transmit it back to the signer.  The signer then, in turn, may mail the original and the copy back to the Notary within thirty days.  When the Notary receives the original and the copy in the mail, they can then notarize the original.

There are additional procedures involved, but it useful to understand the basic flow of the documents back and forth between the signer and the Notary.  To the extent that this document exchange and additional procedures are not followed properly, the notarization could be subject to legal challenge.  As a result, you should make sure the provider of remote notarization services is familiar with the specific requirements of Executive Order 202.7

REMOTE WITNESSING
An Important New Development

After Executive Order 202.7 was signed in March allowing remote notarization, Governor Cuomo later signed Executive Order 202.14 in April.  Executive Order 202.14 allows for remote witnessing of certain legal documents, including Wills and Health Care Proxies.  This is an important new development, which means that the basic documents for an individual’s estate plan (Will, Health Care Proxy, and Power of Attorney), can now all be witnessed and notarized remotely.

In my column in March, I noted that remote supervision of Will and Health Care Proxy execution could be possible if the signer of those documents had two appropriate witnesses present with them.  In practice, some people found it very difficult to secure two appropriate people to serve as witnesses because of quarantine and social distancing issues.

By virtue of the authority granted in Executive Order 202.14,
the two witnesses to a Will or Health Care Proxy signing need not be in the same location as the signer.  The requirements for remote witnessing are similar to the requirements for remote notarization, but not exactly
the same.

The Executive Order for remote notarization states that the signer “must” transmit the signed document to the Notary by fax or electronic means the same day it is signed.  The Executive Order for remote witnessing states that the signer “may” transmit the signature pages of the document to the witnesses by fax or electronic means the same day they were signed.  It has been said that this distinction was deliberate and would allow a signer of a Will or Health Care Proxy to make a copy of the signature pages and physically deliver them to the witnesses (potentially to a drop box, for example), thereby alleviating the need of the signer to have access to email or a fax machine.

Due to extensions of the original authority granted by the Governor, both remote notarization and remote witnessing are still available in New York.  Presumably, the authority will eventually expire, so anyone attempting to use either procedure should check to make sure it is still legally permissible.

Now that law offices are starting to open up in our area as part of the Phase 2, the need for remote notarization and remote witnessing will presumably decrease.  There may still be a need for these procedures for our more vulnerable communities, such as elderly persons in quarantine or nursing home residents subject to visitor limitations.  If you are in need of such services, you should contact an experienced estate planning attorney in your area to ensure all necessary legal procedures are followed.

Matthew J. Dorsey, Esq. is a Partner with O’Connell and Aronowitz, 1 Court St., Saratoga Springs.  Over his twenty-three years of practice, he has focused in the areas of elder law, estate planning, and estate administration. Mr. Dorsey can be reached at 518-584-5205, mdorsey@oalaw.com, and www.oalaw.com.

Every year, more than 27 million Americans visit a chiropractor to receive an adjustment. 

There are a lot of benefits to chiropractic adjustments including pain management, improved performance and general health. In order to see the best possible results though, you should be seeing the chiropractor on a regular basis.

BENEFITS OF CHIROPRACTIC ADJUSTMENTS:
When most people think about visiting a chiropractor, they think about seeking treatment for back or neck pain. While chiropractors can help with these issues, they can help with many other health problems as well, including the following:

• Fewer Headaches/Migraines
Many people who suffer from chronic headaches and migraines have found relief from regular chiropractic adjustments. Often, when the spine is misaligned, it can lead to pressure and tension throughout the body that manifests as a headache or migraine. Chiropractors can also provide people who suffer from headaches and migraines with techniques to use at home that will help keep them at bay.

• Improved Posture
These days, it’s not hard to find someone who’s posture is less than ideal. Chiropractic adjustments, combined with at-home stretching and strengthening exercises, can be very helpful to folks who suffer from scoliosis or other postural issues.

• Improved Athletic Performance
Many athletes receive regular chiropractic adjustments. Adjustments help to maximize range of motion, minimize inflammation and can speed up the recovery process, which is crucial for athletes who want to feel and perform their best during every game and practice session. 

• Stronger Immune System
Because it helps to minimize inflammation throughout the body, chiropractic care can help to strengthen the immune system and help improve the body’s ability to fight off infection.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU GET ADJUSTED?
Clearly, there are plenty of benefits that come with regular chiropractic adjustments. What exactly does “regular” mean, though? Do you need to visit the chiropractor once per day? Once per week? In short, it depends. The frequency with which you need to visit the chiropractor depends on a variety of factors, including the following:

• The specific condition for which you’re receiving treatment
• The severity of your symptoms
• How well you respond to and start seeing results from the adjustments

You will need to see a chiropractor on a more frequent basis when you first start seeking treatment. They may ask you to come in once a week or several times per week to be adjusted. Over time, though, as you start to respond to treatment and see results, you’ll be able to come in on a less frequent basis. Soon, you’ll get to the point where you only need to come in every few weeks or months for maintenance adjustments.

MAINTENANCE ADJUSTMENTS
As the name suggests, maintenance adjustments are designed to help you maintain the results you’ve seen from your chiropractic adjustments.

Maintenance adjustments are very important if you want to see long-term results. They can help to keep your spine in proper alignment so that you don’t see a recurrence of your symptoms later on. When you visit the chiropractor for regular maintenance adjustments (usually on a monthly basis), they can also catch imbalances and misalignment issues early and correct them faster. This, in turn, will result in less discomfort for you. It’ll also prevent you from having to start at the beginning with another round of aggressive treatment.

Can you believe it’s the middle of June already?

What a three months it’s been. And now it’s almost Father’s Day! Which means it’s time for my annual attempt to thank the dads most special to me (my own Dad and my husband) for being so wonderful.

I was reading about the importance of involved fathers in the lives of their children recently, and delighted in seeing scientific support for things I’ve experienced, both as a daughter and as a mother. 

Researchers have discovered that, for both boys and girls, having their fathers positively involved in their lives leads to a decrease in aggressive and high risk behavior, an increase in the probability of having high paying jobs and stable relationships, and less psychological problems throughout their lives. 

“Involved fatherhood” means having an active role in the lives of their children, including caretaking and playing, even when it’s not necessarily to Mom’s taste—for example, there’s evidence that fathers tend to be less overprotective than mothers, as shown in things like roughhousing (which fathers participate in more than mothers do) and learning how to swim (which at least one study showed that fathers are better at than mothers)—things that allow children to test their abilities and boundaries, which then helps to increase their confidence.

My Dad has always been as involved as they come. I don’t ever remember him shying away from all the daily things, like pacing the floors with crying babies, doing the bedtime routine (complete with songs that I still sing to my children today), helping us with our homework, leading us in prayers, and teaching us the “right way” to do chores (his raking technique is second to none). He was the one who took us sledding and ice skating, let us watch Saturday morning cartoons and play video games, and came directly to our baseball and softball games from work, cheering us on in his suit.

Dad has always been intensely interested in everything we’ve participated in, from academics and extra curricular activities to sports and jobs. He has always encouraged us to be ambitious and to take risks when it came to positive things and life lessons, and he’s beyond proud of all of his children and everything we’ve ever accomplished. I’ve particularly come to appreciate the fact that I never once was made to feel like I couldn’t do something because I’m a woman—on the contrary, Dad had the same high expectations and certain knowledge in the abilities of his four daughters as he did for his two sons.

My husband, too, has always helped out with the kids—he’s changed at least as many diapers as I have, he makes meals for the boys probably as much as I do, he’s the one who gets up with the big boys in the night when needed (I do the babies, since I’m the only one who can breastfeed them), he brings the boys to friends’ birthday parties, and does all the weekend sports things (practices, games, opening days, etc.). He equally shares with me the efforts to bring our children up in our faith, which is such an important thing for kids to see.

If it wasn’t for my husband, my kids would never go to a playground (I can’t even watch them on the playground equipment, it makes me so nervous). He joins them in playing video games (even though I generally hate them); he lets them stay up late to watch basketball games and the Super Bowl (even though I vastly prefer a regular bedtime); he was comfortable with Star Wars and Lord of the Rings for them long before I was (they’d probably all still be watching Curious George if I had my way); he lets them drink soda sometimes (I would never let them drink soda if I had my way). So many of the things my boys will remember fondly about their childhood are things my husband did with them, introduced them to, or allowed them to do. Like my siblings and me, they are lucky, lucky children.

The Child & Family Research Partnership out of the University of Texas at Austin notes that “[i]nvolved fatherhood is linked to better outcomes on nearly every measure of child wellbeing, from cognitive development and educational achievement to self-esteem and pro-social behavior,” and the Child Welfare Information Gateway (a service of the Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) quoted sociologist Dr. David Papenoe as saying, “Involved fathers bring positive benefits to their children that no other person is as likely to bring.” 

That’s quite a statement, and quite a responsibility. Cheers to all the great dads!

I also want to acknowledge that Father’s Day isn’t easy for everyone, especially those whose dearly beloved dads have passed away, or for those fathers who have lost their children, or for those whose fathers haven’t been there the way they should have been. I’m so sorry for your sadness!

To my Dad and my husband and all the men who are trying so hard to be good fathers—Happy Father’s Day! I hope you are able to celebrate in the ways you love (in our house, if there are sports on TV, that’s what will be on all day, and I won’t even complain; I’ll also be making specially requested foods for both my husband and my dad, and we’ll have some other little treats from both me and the kids as well). We’re all so grateful for you!

Kate and her husband have seven sons ages 15, 13, 11, 10, 8, 6, and 1. Follow her at facebook.com/kmtowne23, or email kmtowne23@gmail.com.

As our community begins to open up, we feel eager for the opportunity to help in any way we can. Over the last several weeks my staff and I have made major changes to how we operate. We decided early on that the lockdown was an opportunity to evaluate what we felt was working and what wasn’t working in our practice. 

One big area was realizing how much we like working one-on-one with our patients. The parameters of social distancing have allowed us to implement a more effective way of treating patients, we had to change our schedule to minimize how many people are in the building and at the same time ensure that every patient is scheduled one-on-one. 

We are choosing to be the best we can and are committed to living up to the “Best of Saratoga” award we just received for the second straight year. 

Thank you to everyone that voted for us, it is truly an honor!

For this week’s article, I asked Sarah Avery, DPT, PYT to share some strategies/solutions for people having pain when they sit. I wrote an article recently about the same topic, and thought that having a Yoga based point of view might compliment my tips.

HERE’S WHAT SARAH HAD TO SAY:

I hear frequently that sitting causes pain and discomfort not only in the shoulders, but also the low back and hips. Here are some yoga poses that combat forward head and rounded shoulder posture, tight/weak hip flexors, and an underutilized core. They can be done in your home or office when you have been sitting. They are safe and performed multiple times per day in most cases. 

These poses were carefully chosen to give you a well rounded approach to what your body needs when sedentary. Please note that these poses should not be painful, and should feel like a gentle stretch or muscle activation. If you experience pain please reach out to me for assistance!

In an effort to help our community, Goodemote Physical Therapy and FysioFit Physical Therapy will be continuing to offer virtual therapy and as I mentioned we have changed our clinics schedule to ensure we maintain social distancing parameters and provide one-on-one only therapy. 

For more information please go to: www.GoodemotePT.com or www.Fysiofit.com. Call 518-306-6894. 

Email us at goodemotept@gmail.com. Virtual Yoga Classes: www.fysiofitpt.com/virtual-classes

EVERY THURSDAY MORNING SINCE MID-MARCH I join the B94.5  Morning Getaway Crew to share tips on how to navigate the new normal of living in a pandemic.  I give steps on how to process uncomfortable feelings, how to cope with the stress of trying to work from home and take care of your family, and how to handle anxiety and depression during this time.

I do not prepare for these discussions nor do I feel anxious.  It’s subject matter I am familiar and comfortable with.  I don’t worry that I will say the wrong thing and I don’t shrink back from sharing tips I have learned personally and professionally. I speak with confidence and I feel relaxed.

So last week, when Angela, a white woman, and Jason, a black man, my Morning Getaway team,  asked me to address the murder of George Floyd and the protests going on in our Country and around the world for Black Lives Matter,  I immediately felt uncomfortable.

“I don’t know what to say, I feel like I have no right to talk about this and I’m so anxious of saying the wrong thing.  I feel paralyzed with anxiety.”

To which Jason replied, “Say THAT, just start with the truth, that is the conversation we all need to start with.” 

As we continued to talk and went on the air I realized that my silence is only perpetuating the problem.  My non-participation and silence is what needs to be examined, reflected upon and changed.

I don’t have the answers, I don’t know what it feels like to be afraid because of the color of your skin or afraid to leave your house in the evening for fear of being stopped by the police.  I will never understand what that is like.

Perhaps where we start is with the truth. You may not know what to say, you may not know what to do, but starting with that honesty breaks the cycle of silence. Participating in the conversation is where we start.  Reflecting on our actions (or lack of ) is where we start. 

As I said, I do not know what it is like to experience racism in everyday life in the workplace and in our communities. What I do know is the voice of compassion and the voice of love. I do know what it is like to be a Mamma and to know that when my son calls out to me I will drop everything to care for him. 

I have no idea how to do more or to help more.  But maybe saying that out loud is where I start.  We have to stop being silent and passive, we have to admit that we may be uncomfortable and scared.  We have to come to the table ready to talk honestly.  If we stay silent and shrink back with our support then we are cosigning on murder. 

WE MUST START TALKING. 
BLACK LIVES MATTER.

Meghan Fritz is a psychotherapist practicing in State College, PA. For more information email: meghanfritzlcsw@gmail.com 

In March of this year, I wrote a column entitled “Estate Planning in a Time of Crisis,” which outlined possible options for having your estate planning documents witnessed and notarized during the Coronavirus crisis.  There have been some important developments since that time that merit this update.

In my column in March, I noted how remote notarization was authorized by Governor Cuomo in his Executive Order 202.7.  This capability has been extraordinarily important, given the fact that access to Notary Public services has been severely restricted since the outbreak of the Coronavirus.

Typically, people could get a Notary to notarize their signature at their attorney’s office, their local bank, or potentially at a local city or town hall.  When the Coronavirus hit, attorneys’ offices were closed, and banks and municipal offices limited their personal contact with customers and residents.

The remote notarization authority allowed by Executive Order 202.7 has been a welcome tool for legal practitioners to continue to notarize documents for clients.  Documents needing notarization include Powers of Attorney, Deeds, Affidavits, and various important legal agreements. 

REMOTE NOTARIZATION
More than just notarization by video conference 

It is important to note that remote notarization is not as simple as having the Notary watch you sign a notarized document via video conference with FaceTime, Zoom, or Skype.  Executive Order 202.7 has specific additional procedures, including the necessity that the full notarized document be faxed or electronically transmitted to the Notary after the Notary watches the individual sign the document via video conference.  That transmission must occur the same day as the signing. 

After the Notary receives the transmitted document, they may notarize that copy and transmit it back to the signer.  The signer then, in turn, may mail the original and the copy back to the Notary within thirty days.  When the Notary receives the original and the copy in the mail, they can then notarize the original.

There are additional procedures involved, but it useful to understand the basic flow of the documents back and forth between the signer and the Notary.  To the extent that this document exchange and additional procedures are not followed properly, the notarization could be subject to legal challenge.  As a result, you should make sure the provider of remote notarization services is familiar with the specific requirements of Executive Order 202.7

REMOTE WITNESSING
An Important New Development

After Executive Order 202.7 was signed in March allowing remote notarization, Governor Cuomo later signed Executive Order 202.14 in April.  Executive Order 202.14 allows for remote witnessing of certain legal documents, including Wills and Health Care Proxies.  This is an important new development, which means that the basic documents for an individual’s estate plan (Will, Health Care Proxy, and Power of Attorney), can now all be witnessed and notarized remotely.

In my column in March, I noted that remote supervision of Will and Health Care Proxy execution could be possible if the signer of those documents had two appropriate witnesses present with them.  In practice, some people found it very difficult to secure two appropriate people to serve as witnesses because of quarantine and social distancing issues.

By virtue of the authority granted in Executive Order 202.14,
the two witnesses to a Will or Health Care Proxy signing need not be in the same location as the signer.  The requirements for remote witnessing are similar to the requirements for remote notarization, but not exactly
the same.

The Executive Order for remote notarization states that the signer “must” transmit the signed document to the Notary by fax or electronic means the same day it is signed.  The Executive Order for remote witnessing states that the signer “may” transmit the signature pages of the document to the witnesses by fax or electronic means the same day they were signed.  It has been said that this distinction was deliberate and would allow a signer of a Will or Health Care Proxy to make a copy of the signature pages and physically deliver them to the witnesses (potentially to a drop box, for example), thereby alleviating the need of the signer to have access to email or a fax machine.

Due to extensions of the original authority granted by the Governor, both remote notarization and remote witnessing are still available in New York.  Presumably, the authority will eventually expire, so anyone attempting to use either procedure should check to make sure it is still legally permissible.

Now that law offices are starting to open up in our area as part of the Phase 2, the need for remote notarization and remote witnessing will presumably decrease.  There may still be a need for these procedures for our more vulnerable communities, such as elderly persons in quarantine or nursing home residents subject to visitor limitations.  If you are in need of such services, you should contact an experienced estate planning attorney in your area to ensure all necessary legal procedures are followed.

Matthew J. Dorsey, Esq. is a Partner with O’Connell and Aronowitz, 1 Court St., Saratoga Springs.  Over his twenty-three years of practice, he has focused in the areas of elder law, estate planning, and estate administration. Mr. Dorsey can be reached at 518-584-5205, mdorsey@oalaw.com, and www.oalaw.com.

As a Certified Financial Planner®, I find that many people are confused about what kind of life insurance they should have. 

While life insurance is an important component of nearly everyone’s financial plan, there are several types, which can cause quite a lot of confusion. At their core, however, insurance falls into two categories: permanent and term.

The type of insurance you have depends on your anticipated need. If you feel your need for insurance will be permanent, meaning you’ll need it whether you die today or at age 95, then permanent insurance should be considered. Most people, however, only need life insurance to cover a specific period of time, making term insurance a preferable option.

Let’s take a closer look:

Term insurance is intended to cover a basic need: to replace the economic loss resulting from a death during a specific period of time. It sounds clinical, but that’s all it is. For example, if I have a child today, I may want to purchase a 25-year term policy to ensure that, if I were to pass away during childrearing, there would be sufficient assets to provide for my child. Once they’re out of the house the need no longer exists and the insurance term expires. 

With term insurance, you’re only paying for what you need, when you need it. Because of that, the premiums are much lower, relative to many permanent forms of insurance. 

Permanent life insurance is intended to cover a permanent need. The two most frequent permanent needs I encounter are: 

1. Estate planning: In order to provide for liquidity at death, or to create a tax-free estate at death, permanent life insurance strategies can be utilized. 

2. Pension replacement: In the event one spouse elected a single-life only pension, a permanent insurance policy can be used to replace the pension in the event of the pensioner’s death. 

In both of these circumstances, a permanent insurance policy is used simply because the insurance need exists for an unknown period of time. It would be unwise to use a term policy in these instances. 

Many people have been sold permanent insurance policies who may not have had a permanent need, on the premise that permanent insurance can build cash value against which tax-free loans can be taken in the future. While this is technically true, in my sixteen years in private practice, I’ve very rarely encountered a person who funded their retirement using their life insurance cash value. 

This is true for a variety of reasons. 

In order to grow significant cash value, the policy premiums needed are significantly higher than just the cost of insurance (which is all you pay in a term policy). While many people are well-intentioned on the front-end, life happens, and very often people reduce the amount they pay into their policies, which dramatically affects the policy’s performance. 

Another reason these policies often don’t live up to expectations is that life insurance agents may use unrealistic assumptions when illustrating future policy performance. If you bought a policy in the ‘80s, illustrated using 1980s interest rates, then you know exactly what I mean. 

The only time I see permanent insurance work as a savings vehicle, is for a client whose cash flow is such that they have maximized contributions to every other retirement savings vehicle, and still have significant money they need to sock away. 

It should be noted that some people start out with a temporary need which evolves into a need that is more permanent. Luckily, most term insurance is convertible into a form of permanent insurance for just this reason. 

In the battle between term and permanent, as planners, we overwhelmingly favor term insurance. It is by far the most cost-effective way to solve for a need, while preserving the option to convert to permanent insurance if the need changes. 

Your Certified Financial Planner® will be the best person to help you assess your need by helping you to understand your overall financial circumstances, and can tailor a policy to provide proper coverage. If your advisor is independent, they will also have dozens of carriers to choose from, and can help get you the most competitive rates.

Stephen Kyne, CFP® is a Partner at Sterling Manor Financial in Saratoga Springs and Rhinebeck.

Securities offered through Cadaret, Grant & Co., Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Sterling Manor Financial, LLC, an SEC registered investment advisor or Cadaret Grant & Co., Inc. Sterling Manor Financial and Cadaret, Grant are separate entities.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — For 65 years, the Saratoga Senior Center has helped Saratoga County seniors stay active, social and healthy.  During COVID-19, the Center has continued these essential services by providing continuous critical outreach, care coordination and engagement for all seniors throughout the county. 

They’ve been busy offering free fresh produce and non-perishable foods available for curbside pick-up or delivery every Wednesday, dinners to go and referrals to food pantries; free masks, hand sanitizer, books, puzzles and personal care items for curbside pick-up or delivery; daily check-in and reassurance calls, coordinating care and referrals for basic needs of at-risk and home-bound seniors; grocery shopping and outdoor spring clean-up; 1-1 assistance with Zoom, Facebook & Facebook Live, and the U.S. Census and more. 

“We want seniors to stay home and be safe and we will help in any way we can,” says Lois Celeste, the Center’s executive director.  “To help seniors stay connected, we’ve been conducting free virtual classes and programs via Zoom for our members, including arts, music, fitness, peer support groups and new initiatives such as ‘Talk Horse Racing with Tom,’ writing workshops, virtual museum tours, and a Seniors to Seniors mentoring program, linking high school and college seniors with older adult seniors. More new and unique programs are to come provided remotely by our Skidmore students. We’re also increasing our social media and online communications,” Celeste adds. 

“Our services are critical now more than ever.  In the first four months of 2020 alone, we’ve impacted more than 2,400 seniors, matching what we did in all of 2019 when we were already at capacity and needing additional space”, Celeste adds.  Mary, a senior, says “It has been a tough couple of months, but things that have made it easier are the Senior Center and their great staff. I get phone calls asking if I need groceries, to see if I need anything, and I can log onto their zoom classes to see my friends. I would be completely alone if it wasn’t for all of you.”  Ann says “Thank you for continuing to get information to us. You all must be working 24 hours a day; I’ve emailed about groceries at 8 p.m. and received a message within the hour. You all have been nothing but supportive and kind.”  Don adds “Thank you. You are doing a great job of helping everyone to cope.”

May is Older Americans Month and Mental Health Month. The relevance of recognizing both of these in the same month means something greater during COVID-19.  Older adults are at greater risk of illness – physically and mentally – during this pandemic.    COVID-19 compounds the issue and creates a dangerous combination.  Before the pandemic, Senior Centers provided a place in the community for older adults to socialize, grow intellectually, get information, exercise, and eat a healthy meal. During the shutdown, millions of older adults in North America have suddenly lost that community connection. Fortunately for them, the people who run Senior Centers didn’t throw their hands in the air and give up.

If you are a senior and need help with anything, please call 518-584-1621. We can help seniors with outdoor spring clean-up, grocery shopping, 1-1 assistance with Zoom, Facebook & Facebook Live and US Census completion. We are also distributing free fresh produce, books, puzzles, games, and face masks. To learn more or to help us continue with these vital services please go to www.saratogaseniorcenter.org. 

The Center is in particular need of iPads or laptops for seniors to allow them access to our virtual classes.  Several fundraising initiatives are also in place, including purchase of highly popular insulated wine tumblers and Koozie Koolers and special May Membership promotions as detailed on the website. Please call the Center at 518-584-1621 for more details and follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Like most in the world today, I’m not sure the Saratoga County Chamber was ready for COVID 19. BUT in the face of this adversity, we’ve adapted. 

Our professional staff is working remotely from our homes in Clifton Park, Schuylerville, Wilton, and Saratoga Springs. We hold regular staff meetings via Zoom and we stay in touch constantly during the day via email, calls and text messages.

You can still call us at 518-584-3255. You can still email us. We’re still accessible and ready to help.

What we believe has made the Chamber so vital in this crisis is how we’ve connected our members with what’s really going on and what’s really important. We’ve been relentless in our communications sharing information, ideas, important news updates, and amazing stories of kindness.

Every day we’re sending out an email to just about everyone in our database. Since March 13, these emails have been opened more than 150,000 times.    

The work we’ve done has been helped immensely by the collaborations we started with SEDC, Discover Saratoga, the City Center, the DBA, and Prosperity Partnership on March 13. 

We’ve also joined forces with FLAG Saratoga as they lead an effort to purchase more than 2,000 meals from local restaurants for delivery to health care workers and first responders. 

We joined with six breweries who call themselves wearebrewnited.com as they raise money to support local hospitality workers. 

We are working with Death Wish Coffee as they sell t-shirts to support local businesses closed during this pandemic and their employees who are now unemployed.

We’ve been visible and vocal advocates. At first, we helped businesses get classified as essential so they could stay open. Later in this crisis, we helped local businesses who had important questions get answers about their PPP loans. 

We’re regularly in touch with elected and appointed leaders at the Federal, State, County and Local level. We are constantly sharing with them what they can do to help our economy to recover.

The response to our work has been unbelievable. We’ve lost track of how many people have thanked us for listening to them, advising them, helping them, advocating for them and giving them hope. 

I can safely say the Chamber is doing well. We’re making a difference. We’re helping to lead the economic recovery in Saratoga County. In fact, we helped write the plan.

So, if today your business or nonprofit organization is in a position to support us by joining or renewing your membership in full or in part, we’d be so appreciative. And if you are not, we understand and we’ll work with you as time goes on knowing that by helping you today that you’ll be able to help us tomorrow.

We know the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce helped make Saratoga Springs and Saratoga County one of the greatest places in the world to live, work and play. We’re going to keep adapting, communicating, and leading our community through the recovery. 

So how is the Chamber? We’re here to help. We’re ready to make a difference. We always will be.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — May is National Mental Health Awareness month, a time to shine a light on the importance of mental health self-care. Statistics show that 1 in 5 people will experience a mental illness during their lifetime; however, with the seriousness of the COVID-19 outbreak, it is extremely important to note that many more people will be experiencing mental health issues. 

Prolonged isolation, social distancing, and constant worry over finances, family, and personal health, all play a large part with growing anxiety in Americans during this unprecedented time. 

For some people, a full treatment plan is necessary to maintain good mental health.  For others, there are simpler measures that one can take to assist with more of an immediate relief.  The National Mental Health Association provides the following tips: 

1. Allow yourself to feel. 

Everyone has emotions, they are part of the human experience, and you have every right to feel them, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, socio-economic status, race, political affiliation or religion. 

2. Don’t ignore how you are feeling.

Most of us have heard the term “bottling up your feelings.” When we try to push feelings aside without addressing them, they build strength and make us more likely to “explode” at some point in the future. It may not always be appropriate to process your emotions at the very moment you are feeling them, but try to do so as soon as you can. 

3. Talk it out.

Find someone you trust that you can talk to about how you are feeling. You may find that people are eager to share about similar experiences they have had or times that they have felt the way that you are feeling. This can be helpful, but if you are really only interested in having someone listen, it is okay to tell them that. 

4. Try journaling. 

Each night write down at least three feelings you had over the course of the day and what caused them. It does not need to be a “Dear Diary” kind of thing. Just a few sentences or bullet points to help you practice being comfortable with identifying and expressing your emotions. 

5. Consider the strength of your feelings.

By thinking about how intense your emotions are, you may realize that what you thought you were feeling at first could better be described by another word. For instance, sometimes a person might say they are stressed when what they are really experiencing is something less severe like annoyance; alternatively anger might really be a stronger, deeper feeling like betrayal. 

6. See a mental health professional.

If you are taking steps to be more in touch with your feelings, but are having trouble dealing with them, mental health providers like counselors and therapists have been trained to help. Your employer might have an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that offers a limited number of free counseling sessions, 

and your Human Resources department can help you access this resource. At Saratoga Center for the Family, professional therapists are available by appointment.

There is also completely free help available.  During a press conference, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that New York State is providing free online mental health services to anyone who needs them amid the state’s coronavirus outbreak.   New Yorkers can call a toll free hotline at 1-844-863-9314 to schedule a mental health appointment “totally free.”

“For each of us, the tools we use to keep us mentally healthy will be unique. Saratoga Center for the Family wants everyone to know that mental illnesses are real, and recovery is possible. Finding what works for you may not be easy but can be achieved by gradually making small changes and building on those successes,” says Rebecca Baldwin, Executive Director of Saratoga Center for the Family.

Saratoga Center for the Family offers mental health counseling as well as educational programs on parenting, anger management, child custody stress prevention, and child abuse prevention.  To learn more, visit www.saratogacff.org.  Mental health is essential to everyone’s overall health and wellbeing, and it is important to know that mental illnesses are common and treatable.