News from the Noteworthy from Opportunities for Otsego

Reminiscences, Advice and a Fond Farewell

Now that I am officially the outgoing chief executive officer of Opportunities for Otsego, I’ve been reflecting (but not too much) on all the years I’ve been doing this work. My first day at OFO was October 1, 1987 as an itinerant outreach worker in a high school dropout prevention program. But I got started in this business with an organization called Project 85. It was named for its address, 85 Chestnut Street in Oneonta (it later moved to 259 Chestnut Street but still kept the Project 85 name). I’m not sure when Project 85 actually started, but I think it was either 1969 or 1970. It was a 24-hour hotline and drop-in center.

I got involved in 1981, first as a volunteer and then as paid staff. When I was a volunteer, I actually lived there. I received a free room in exchange for being on call one night a week and one weekend night a month. Anyone could call and talk about anything they wanted. The organization had a plethora of information and referral services for anyone needing assistance from area nonprofits, churches, government offices, and the like. It also had what used to be called a crash pad, meaning that anyone who needed a place to stay or was passing through could spend the night, have a meal or two and then be on their way. It was actually Oneonta’s first homeless shelter.

Despite its 60s flavor, after a time the people who were staying there generally became harder to work with. The challenges of mental health made it more and more difficult to deal with them when they came in for shelter. Others stayed there because they lost their housing for a variety of reasons.
This funky little nonprofit closed its doors in 1987. But some of the problems it dealt with still persist today. And, like some of the other challenges I’ve written about in the past, it can be overwhelming for local communities and governments to try and figure out solutions.

Drug addiction, mental health, affordable housing and issues of poverty have been with us for a very long time. Even as human services have grown and become a lot more sophisticated at service delivery, grant writing, and networking, the problems cost far more than the resources available.
Certainly it is important to attempt to solve these monumental challenges at the local level, but strong, comprehensive federal and state strategies are desperately needed in order for local communities to have the resources to effectively address these problems. It took a generation to get here and it could very well take another generation to overcome these challenges.

On that cheery note, as this will be my final “News from the Noteworthy” column, I want to express my personal thanks to “Hometown Oneonta,” particularly Tara Barnwell, for the opportunity to contribute. Thank you also to all who read this column and have passed on their encouragement and feedback over that last few years.

Dan Maskin is the outgoing chief executive officer for Opportunities for Otsego Inc.