Assembly leader sees Sullivan’s homeless help effort up close

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Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, left, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Sullivan County and Sullivan County Federation for the Homeless Executive Director Kathy Kreiter discuss their programs while the Speaker was in Monticello on Wednesday

MONTICELLO – For almost three decades, the Sullivan County Federation for the Homeless has provided help in services and supplies for some of the county’s most helpless citizens.

Federation Executive Director Kathy Kreiter said they keep busy, serving on average about 125 meals a day.

Seeing the effort firsthand at the end of lunch hour on Wednesday, were Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, whose district includes Sullivan County.

“Highlighting some of the good programs that we’ve put in place, but that we certainly have a lot more to do to the people of Sullivan County,” Gunther said.  “When we talk about equity in housing, equity in food, in jobs, and that’s what we’re striving for.”

The state is near the halfway point of the current fiscal year, so for Heastie, this was a shopping trip, of sorts.

“For us, a lot of the restorations that we do in the budget, a lot of things that we concentrate on is around human services.  That is a huge part of what the Democratic Assembly believes in.”

Heastie said he was most impressed with one thing that stood out during the visit and that was the way Sullivan County tries to help itself.

“The spirit of volunteerism, the spirit of people working who aren’t making a lot of money, shows that people are working more out of the spirit of giveness than what’s in it for them.”

It’s an effort that is shared.

Town of Thompson Deputy Supervisor Scott Mace said they channeled over $165,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) income to the Federation for the Homeless.




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