We are all guilty of compassion fatigue and frustration at times. Witnessing a persistent community problem —or need— depending on your vantage point, with little insight into the solution can exhaust even the most empathetic. This exhaustion can lead to disengagement or taking on the issue ourselves without the structural knowledge to properly drive real change. Here in Saratoga, many see a growing “problem” with street homelessness and ask what exactly is being done to help these neighbors in need while also driving sustainable outcomes.

Thankfully, in Saratoga County, we have an inter-agency street outreach team funded by COVID-19 CARES Act funding set to drive real change. The Saratoga County Alliance to End Homelessness brings together five agencies tasked with achieving aggressive street outreach goals and outcomes. 

Not just a hand-out: from the street to independence, CARES Act funding for the Saratoga County Street Outreach program began in fall 2020. In December, “Marc,” a local teenager experiencing homelessness, was connected to the Healing Springs street outreach team by local police officers after surviving an overdose. Having already started weekly collaborative meetings with the other four Street Outreach Program partners, team members from Healing Springs quickly identified that Marc did not have substance use issues but rather needed mental health support. An informed hand-off to CAPTAIN Community Human Services (CHS), connection to DSS services, and ultimate placement with Shelters of Saratoga (SOS) meant that Marc got connected to the right support services at the right time without having to tell his story over and over again. Working with SOS case management, Marc is now employed, pursuing his GED, and eligible for rapid-rehousing (another component of the CARES Act program) as soon as he is stable enough to transition. “Each week, we go over 30+ cases together at our inter-agency meetings. This funding has created a level of collaboration we’d not seen before. All five agencies have now increased our referral capacity and understanding of services between agencies. For clients like Marc, it’s a game-changer,” said Stephanie Romeo, Program Director, Shelters of Saratoga.

“We often think of personal belongings or a house as the first thing an individual experiencing homelessness may lose. I truly believe it is one’s sense of self. In street outreach, we welcome individuals to express themselves freely through the storytelling of their pasts and desires of the future, and there is a turning point when their story becomes a living narrative as each day our clients are writing their future story and walk with us on a path to their new home,” says Bri Phillips, Street Outreach Program Manager at CAPTAIN CHS, talking about the core element of building trust through street outreach work.

What is street outreach?

Street-based outreach is part of a “no wrong door” approach. Street outreach workers, trained to connect with individuals experiencing homelessness, can build trust before these individuals may be able to walk into a social service agency on their own. Street outreach workers search for these individuals in uninhabitable situations like in cars, tents, abandoned buildings, known encampments, and under bridges. 

According to the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, effective street outreach has several core elements, all adhered to by our inter-agency effort:

Efforts are “systematic, coordinated, and comprehensive.” In plain language, this means that no agency or person goes it alone. This must be a community effort.

Efforts are focused on housing. The goal of street outreach does not end at meeting one need. The goal is to establish trust, provide for immediate needs, connect to services that ultimately move someone into housing. 

Efforts are “person-centered, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive.” More harm than good can be done by well-meaning, untrained outreach efforts. Our teams have the expertise needed to cause no harm while providing services.

The ultimate goal of street outreach is to connect undomiciled individuals with shelter and permanent housing. It may take many attempts to engage participants. Persistence and inter-agency collaboration are key to encourage participants to seek shelter or go directly to a permanent housing arrangement. 

Ultimately, this new inter-agency program will support 190 individuals in its first year and hit a bold goal of moving 60% of those individuals to permanent, supportive housing or shelter. We have incredible, skilled, collaborative teams working with unprecedented funds to address this growing crisis. Please contact any of the street outreach program partners to learn more about volunteer and donation opportunities. The community plays a vital role in supporting these teams of experts. We will continue to report out here each month of progress, success stories, and outcomes.

Brooke McConnell is one of the founding members of the Saratoga County Alliance to End Homelessness and a SOS and Saratoga Institute Board member. Professionally, she works on national issues related to social determinants of health through her company Unite Us.

• The council approved a resolution that allows local restaurants to begin outdoor seating on Monday, March 15. A similar temporary resolution was first initiated in 2020 to assist restaurants limited in their indoor occupancy due to pandemic protocols, and ultimately expired Dec. 31. “This resolution (in 2020) significantly impacted the city eating and drinking establishments,” said city Director of Risk and Safety Marilyn Rivers. “We’re looking forward to a very robust tourist season.” 

• Should President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan receive Senate approval, the city of Saratoga Springs is anticipating the receipt of approximately $7 million of the $440 million overall funds estimated for municipalities in Paul Tonko’s 20th Congressional District, Finance Commissioner Michele Madigan said this week. The majority of those funds – about $5 million – will cover the city’s 2021 retirement costs, Madigan added. The remaining $2 million will assist in covering revenue, the specific details of which were
not discussed. 

• Police Reform Task Force. Last August, the mayor appointed approximately one dozen members of the community to serve on the Saratoga Springs Police Reform Task Force. The move was in response to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s June 2020 Executive Order requiring municipalities across the state to undertake a review – and with community input, develop a plan – to improve its existing police policies, practices and procedures by April 1, 2021. 

• A public forum was held this week regarding a draft of the plan, and it will be presented to the City Council for review, said city attorney Vincent DeLeonardis. The council will ultimately decide which recommendations will be implemented as well as how they will be implemented. The council next meets March 16 and DeLeonardis said he anticipates a special City Council meeting will be held in late March to evaluate the plan, in advance of the April 1 deadline.     

BALLSTON SPA —
Saratoga County officials announced March 3 the launch of a new Potential Vaccine Interest List phone call-in number, which will now enable residents to sign up for the vaccine interest list by telephone. A similar companion registry was launched online on Feb. 17 and has secured the names of approximately 11,000 local residents. 

As vaccines become available in the county, names are randomly selected for vaccinations and those people are notified. Signing up on the list is not a guarantee of getting a vaccine, officials noted.

Residents may continue to register directly online at www.saratogacountyny.gov/vax. The Inbound Call Center, which allows residents to sign up on the Interest List by telephone, may do so by calling 518-693-1075, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday, and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. 

If registered online, there is no need to call to register again, and there is no benefit to registering multiple times, county officials said.

Saratoga County Public Health Services is directly administering the Pfizer vaccine for the first time this week. Previously, the County had only offered the Moderna vaccine. Officials said they expect to have some of the newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccines available “very shortly.”

More than 45,000 residents overall – nearly 20% of the county population – have received at least one dose of vaccine. About 12,000 of those residents had been vaccinated by Saratoga County Public Health Services department or the county’s partners in the local EMS community. Just over 24,000, or more than 10% of county residents, have completed their vaccination series with both doses. 

“In addition to our own clinics, we will continue to engage with our partners throughout the county to distribute vaccine as quickly as possible and hold mass-vaccination clinic events when supplies warrant,” said Saratoga Springs Supervisor Tara Gaston, who also is chair of the county Health Committee. Eighteen locations around the county have been identified as mass vaccination sites, including the Saratoga Springs City Center, and when the county is delivered from the state ample supply of vaccine to open a mass vax site, the county is prepared to do so, Gaston added. 

Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine – which does not require cold storage – has arrived in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, during his presser on March 3. Approximately 164,800 doses are anticipated in that first J & J tranche and will be distributed while supplies last at mass vaccination sites to be open 24/7 later this week at Yankee Stadium, the Javits Center, and the New York State Fair. 

The governor also announced new Gathering Limits. In effect March 22, residential gatherings maintain at 10 indoor, but go up to 25 outdoor. Social Gatherings in public spaces go up to 100 people indoors, 200 people outdoors. 

Beginning April 2, event, arts & entertainment venues reopen at 33% capacity, up to 100 people indoor, 200 people outdoor.  With attendee testing, capacity increases to 150 indoor, 500 outdoor. Masks and social distancing protocols still required. 

Infection-wise, Saratoga County’s 7-day rolling average percent positivity is 2.3%, as of March 4.  “The continued progress that is being made in the county is encouraging,” said Dr. Daniel Kuhles, commissioner of Saratoga County Public Health Services. “However, it is imperative that we do not lower our guard and leave our communities and hospitals vulnerable to another surge in cases.”

MALTA – Small businesses will be getting an added boost through May 2, and consumers that spend at least $20.21 can enter to win weekly gift certificate giveaways and a $500 grand prize.

The Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership, a Saratoga County-based economic development organization, this week unveiled the MaltaWorks $20.21 Campaign in partnership with the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce and the Town of Malta Economic Development Committee. 

The MaltaWorks $20.21 promotion will help drive traffic to small businesses in the Town of Malta that have been fighting to keep their operations open after battling the economic impacts of COVID-19 for the past year. 

Customers participating in the program can enter to win weekly giveaways by simply spending at least $20.21 at a small business in the town of Malta, then emailing a copy of their receipt to info@saratoga.org. Each week, MaltaWorks $20.21 will randomly choose the winners of a $100 and $50 gift certificates. At the end of six weeks, all participants will be entered into a drawing to win the grand prize of a $500 gift certificate at a business of their choice in the Town of Malta. Week 1 will kick off with a chance to win a $100 gift certificate to Lake Ridge Restaurant or a $50 gift certificate to Malta Farm & Garden. 

Malta businesses, residents, and community organizations can support the MaltaWorks $20.21 effort by visiting the MaltaWorks website at www.saratoga.org/maltaworks where they will find promotional posters to print and share on social media, with the #Maltaworks hashtag.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Democrat Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, who represents the 113th Assembly District, issued a statement March 2 that called for the State Legislature to “take back its power, return to normal working order,” regarding a March 2020 bill that gave the governor emergency powers to suspend, modify, and create laws by issuing directives, in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. The powers were set to expire April 30, 2021.

Assemblywoman Woerner’s statement, in its entirety, is as follows: 

“Last year, as our state was thrown into turmoil as COVID-19 hit Upstate New York. Much was unknown and uncertain, and we needed government to respond quickly as circumstances changed and as we learned more about the virus and how it spread. At that time, it was prudent to grant the governor emergency powers to deal with the onset crisis of the pandemic. But now as we have learned more and things are beginning to stabilize, it is time to restore the balance of power in our state government.

“The measure announced today will immediately revoke the emergency powers that were granted last year and will ensure legislative oversight of changes to state laws or directives. This will restore the checks and balances that are necessary to our legislative process while ensuring there is still a fast path to respond to emergencies. This legislation also returns power to our local governments. This is a solid plan that will return us to normal working order.”

WASHINGTON — Congressman Paul Tonko announced this week that Albany International Airport will receive a combined $5,412,267 to support COVID pandemic response at the facility. Tonko helped advance the funding as part of the Coronavirus Relief and Response Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act of 2020, passed by Congress last year. The funding includes economic relief for struggling airport concessions and funds the purchase of life-saving personal protective equipment (PPE), cleaning supplies and other measures to combat COVID-19.

“This Coronavirus Relief grant will enable the Airport Authority to continue to provide a safe environment for travelers and staff members and meet our ongoing operational expenses which have remained constant despite the significant drop in air travel,” said Philip Calderone, CEO of the Albany County Airport Authority, in a statement.

• $5,091,757 will go to cover costs related to operations, personnel, cleaning, sanitization, janitorial services and other measures taken to promote passenger safety.

• $320,510 will go to deliver economic relief from rent and minimum annual guarantees to on-airport car rental, on-airport parking, and in-terminal concessions.

Since the start of this pandemic, Tonko has worked to advance a federal rescue that meets the needs of Americans in the Capital Region and beyond. Last week, he voted to advance the American Rescue Plan in the House, legislation that delivers a lifeline to struggling workers, families and communities, enacts a comprehensive national vaccination plan and provides resources to schools to support safe in-person learning. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS/ LAKE PLACID — New research conducted by Camoin 310 of Saratoga Springs for the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST) in Lake Placid and the Economic Development Corporation of Warren County (EDC) shows there is a strong interest for relocation to the Adirondacks across all income brackets in the Regional Market Area. This area includes New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire, and New Jersey. 

A total of 6,733 responses were collected and analyzed by Camoin 310 from Jan. 19- 29. More than 80% of respondents now live in the Northeast, but there were responses from as far away as Florida, California, Texas, Colorado, Missouri, Minnesota, and Oregon, as well as international locations.

Key findings indicate nearly 25% of respondents said they were either “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to relocate here in the next five years. Some indicated they have already moved here. The Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, and Lake George regions were the three most cited locations for relocation. The majority of the respondents said living in the Adirondack communities with access to high-speed internet, health care, and dining and shopping opportunities is a priority. 

Nearly 23% of Regional Market Demand is between ages 25 to 45. Quality housing and outdoor recreation were the most important factors cited when selecting a community. Remote workers and retirees present the greatest opportunity and over 40% of respondents who are working have the ability to work remotely either full-time or a majority of the time. 

Full results of the assessment can be found at: www.roostadk.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Adirondack-Relocation-Assessment-Survey-2021.pdf. 

ADIRONDACK REGION — The brand-new 15th edition of High Peaks Trails, the flagship of ADK’s (Adirondack Mountain Club’s) comprehensive Forest Preserve Series of guidebooks, has just been released. The volume is edited by longtime Adirondack adventurer Tony Goodwin, who has been writing and updating guidebooks for over 30 years.

Since the 14th edition was published in 2012, 47,000 acres of Forest Preserve have been added to the High Peaks Wilderness Area. Its boundaries have been redrawn, and new regulations governing use of these areas are anticipated. The new 15th edition addresses the significant zone changes that have been implemented by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, as well as new acquisitions, new trails, reroutes, restored and altered trailheads, and parking regulations.

This guide corresponds to ADK’s High Peaks: Adirondack Trail Map, and to National Geographic’s Trails Illustrated maps 742 and 746. Waterproof, durable, and tear-resistant, all three maps are available from ADK and at book and outdoor supply stores.

High Peaks Trails (softcover, 312 pages, 5×7”) is available for $19.95 ($15.96 ADK members) and $29.95 for the book-and-map pack ($23.96 ADK members). It can be found at book and outdoor supply stores, at ADK’s High Peaks Information Center in Lake Placid, online at ADK.org, or by calling 800-395-8080. Proceeds support ADK’s programs in conservation, education, recreation, stewardship, and advocacy. 

BALLSTON SPA — A 64-year-old Schenectady man was charged with Making a Terroristic Threat, a felony, in connection with an incident that occurred late Sunday afternoon in Wilton.

The man – Gregory L. Craig, is suspected of making a 911 call shortly after 4 p.m. on Feb. 28 and stating that he was “going to blow up the Walmart store” in the town of Wilton, according to the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office.

The store was evacuated, secured, and swept by the Sheriff’s Office K9 units.

Prior to the threat, police said that Craig had been removed from the Walmart store for an unrelated incident. He was located a short time later on a public bus in Ballston Spa, attempting to return to Schenectady.

Craig was taken into custody without incident and arraigned by Judge J. Waldron of the Stillwater Town Court. He was sent without bail to the Saratoga County Correctional Facility and is scheduled to appear in the Wilton Town Court next week.

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