PRIMARY FUNCTIONS: Crisis intervention; emergency short-term counseling; information and referral; case management; care coordination; emergency food; and access to Adult, Adolescent, and Domestic Violence Case Management, Child Care, and Emergency Housing Services. The catchment for this office is the entire southeastern quadrant of the county.
ANCILLARY SERVICES: Food pantry; free store (including clothing, furniture and household items); public rest room; community bulletin board for employment opportunities, available housing, messages, workshops, computer classes and seminars; free public telephone for local calls and long distance in emergencies; client advocacy; emergency transportation; supervision of community service, work experience, work-study, internships, and court-mandated community service; and a meeting place for other community services.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:
Family of New Paltz has expanded its community services by collaborating with local businesses and organizations to establish programs to assist in meeting our client needs. Examples include: Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Eat Healthy on a Budget Program which provides participants hands-on lessons in healthy meal planning, preparation and smart shopping to save money; New Paltz High School’s Protein Program where local businesses donate 10lbs of protein each month to FONP; the New Paltz Elks Lodge which assists us in fundraising and food drives; and Community Compost in New Paltz to reduce food waste. As a result of the changes in the delivery of mental health and health care services within the greater New Paltz area, it is expected that FONP will play a greater role in the provision of support services to those with mental health and other disabling conditions. As part of an agency-wide effort, New Paltz staff have been trained in administering Narcan and will train on its use and distribute Narcan to individuals seeking it in the New Paltz community.
The 420 program is working to expand its food program in a number of ways, including the following:
Collaborating with St. Joseph’s Church & ShopRite management to establish an “Expiring Food Program” in which FONP will accept sell by date of frozen items for our Food Pantry program
Expanding our “Food Recovery” program with Mohonk Mountain House to reduce food waste
Re-establishing a partnership with the SUNY New Paltz Food Pantry to distribute food to those students in need
Continuing to strengthen existing collaborations with local organizations, such as ShopRite, Topps, Bimbo Bakeries, Phillies Bridge Farm Justice Program and Food Not Bombs to expand available food to distributeOther areas that the program is focusing on include: collaborating with SUNY New Paltz interns to increase the program’s social media presence; expanding the Bridging the Digital Divide program which loans laptops/iPads for students in need of computers for schoolwork; establishing a tutoring program with local school districts; increasing community outreach, and increasing the number of volunteers at Family of New Paltz.
