 |
||||
|
|
|||
History of the Statewide Caregiving & Respite Coalition of NY The Statewide Caregiving & Respite Coalition of NY (SCRCNY) began as a project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in July of 2006 under the name of the Northeast New York Caregivers Consortium (NENYCC). During the first two years of community work the Coalition established its’ mission statement and bylaws, created community awareness through hosting weekly radio shows, built and maintained a website, conducted two conferences in partnership with other providers, successfully applied for a grant with WMHT and partnered with others to create the WMHT “Month of Caregiving” program, worked with the Capital Region Caregiver Coalition and NYSOFA to generate the “toolkit for caregiving” available online at the NYS Office for the Aging website, and partnered with New York University to create promotional materials to recruit volunteers for member agencies. In January of 2008, the Coalition membership voted to broaden its scope and open its doors to a greater number of organizations. At this point, the NENYCC became the Statewide Caregivers Consortium of NY (SCCNY). the Coalition worked with established regional coalitions and others who were interested in developing regional coalitions. These regional coalitions included the Upper Hudson Valley, the Lower Hudson Valley and the Capital Region. Additional work was underway in 2009 to expand further into other regions, including the Fulton and Montgomery areas. Member organizations were offered a menu of resources. It was expected that in time the growth of the membership-driven organization might require it to form its own 501(c) 3. At that time it was fiscally managed by one member organization, the position of treasurer was managed by another agency, and the president, vice president, and secretary were all from other agencies spanning several counties. Yet the Coalition’s monthly conference calls and quarterly face-to-face meetings worked to keep the organization intact and effective. Also in January of 2008, the Coalition agreed to establish a Statewide Lifespan Task Force as an additional primary function of the organization. By the spring, the Statewide Lifespan Respite Task Force had a supporting membership of 23 agencies representing organizations from every disability service area and caring for clients of all ages. the Coalition arranged a location, signed a contract with the National Respite Coalition Director for her to come speak, and set up a committee to plan for a Statewide Respite Summit in May of 2009. One year after its inception, the SCCNY members realized that the rate of growth of the task force and the Coalition was beginning to exceed the capacity of its members and that a separate agency with its own staff was needed. The NYS Office for the Aging brought the Coalition together with the NYS Coalition for the Aging (NYSCA) to discuss a collaboration to create a Statewide Caregiving and Respite Coalition. After some discussions, the membership of both SCCNY and NYSCA voted to consolidate the SCCNY program and its Statewide LifespanTask Force with the NYSCA organization. This was done with the provision that NYSCA would adopt the full mission and bylaws of SCCNY and that it would offer positions on its’ board to SCCNY members. the Coalition’s name was changed to include the word “Respite” to properly include that function, resulting in the nomenclature “Statewide Caregiving & Respite Coalition of NY (SCRCNY).” More information and plans for the Statewide Caregiving & Respite Coalition of NY (SCRCNY) will be provided at the May 19 Summit. Please feel free to visit our website at www.scrcny.org or contact us at: Statewide Caregiving & Respite Coalition of NY | ||||