Community Foundation
of Otsego County
announces awards for Helios Care,
Family Planning of South Central NY
and The Glimmerglass Festival
Staff Report • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
The Community Foundation for Otsego County announced several major awards this week and also announced that it continues to seek proposals from nonprofits operating in Otsego County for its 2021 Awards Cycle, according to a media release.
The group has funding of up to $200,000 to build the capacity of the local nonprofit sector to address issues identified in the CFOC Community Survey, such as addressing food insecurity and promoting affordable housing, economic development, internet access, and other key community priorities the survey revealed. Awards may be requested in any amount. Awards of $10,000 or less are reviewed by the group’s Initiatives Committee and approved by the Executive Committee, while requests exceeding $10,000 are considered in a special category and require the additional approval of the full board.
Special grants have been given to Helios Care for $10,000, Family Planning of South Central New York for $7,250 and The Glimmerglass Festival for $10,000.
“Our goal for 2021 awards is to build the capacity of nonprofits to advance their work on key issues, like meeting basic human needs, promoting economic development and job creation, and other key issues identified in our community survey,” said Harry Levine, CFOC board chair, in a media release. “We encourage nonprofits to apply for awards so together we can make a significant improvement in the quality of life for all who call Otsego County home.”
Helios Care provides palliative care, an extra layer of care and support to supplement patients’ current and ongoing treatments. Palliative care gives patients the opportunity to live their lives more comfortably and helps improve everyone’s quality of life, including family members and other care givers.
The award will be used to purchase software and hardware allowing home health aides to interact with medical records while performing home visits and to help improve the reimbursement process with Medicare/Medicaid.
Dan Ayres, President and CEO of Helios Care said in the media release, “Providing state-of-the-art care depends on up-to-date and reliable infrastructure. Helios Care physicians, nurses, social workers, home health aides and spiritual care providers rely on technology to provide care in the home, increasing comfort and improving the quality of life for patients and their families. Upgrading computers used by clinical and administrative staff lets us to serve patients more effectively and efficiently, resulting in more time with them, better care and ultimately, more patients served.”
Family Planning of South Central New York has five local medical centers open for urgent gynecological care, UTIs, STD testing and treatment, birth control, emergency contraception, annual exams, free condoms and more.
The award was designated to pay for transportation to and from the FPSCNY office in Oneonta, removing a barrier for patients who don’t own cars or can’t drive.
Alexis Savidge of Family Planning of South Central New York said in the media release, “On behalf of our Board of Directors and staff, thank you very much for this generous funding award. We are pleased to be able to support access to critical care at our Oneonta Medical Center.”
An award from the Community Foundation of Otsego County’s COVID-19 Relief and Recovery Fund supported The Glimmerglass Festival and its innovative Glimmerglass on the Grass season, which took the festival outdoors to address COVID-19 concerns.
Andrea Lyons, Executive Director of The Glimmerglass Festival said in the media release, “Funding from the Community Foundation of Otsego County supported the implementation of Glimmerglass Festival’s COVID-19 Health and Safety Program, including PCR diagnostic and rapid antigen testing as well as masks, sanitizers and other critical supplies. This support provided a safe path forward during the pandemic to make the 2021 Festival Season possible.”
There is no deadline for applications and awards are given out on a revolving bases. Go to www.cfotsego.org for more information.