MARC Foundation and Prevention of Drug Misuse (Aired August 20, 2023)
Victoria Marsella (“Tori”), vice-president of the MARC Foundation, visited Radio Rotary to tell about the Foundation’s programs for providing financial support to efforts to prevent drug and
alcohol misuse and to support recovery from addiction. The MARC Foundation originated as a support for MARC residential treatment houses, which are now a part of Mental Health America
of Dutchess County (MHA). While continuing support for the houses, the Foundation has expanded its mission and now helps fund many local organizations and individuals dealing with drug or alcohol misuse. For example, the Foundation offers transition financial help for persons who have completed their treatment and are returning to normal life. With MHA, the Foundation has built a Drug Overdose Memorial on the Dutchess Rail Trail, which offers several ways to remember victims of drug misuse. Each year on International Drug Overdose Awareness Day (August 31) the Foundation invites organizations and individuals to participate in a candlelight vigil at the Memorial. The Foundation raises money for support from annual events such as a golf outing and a bowling tournament.
Learn More
MARC foundation: https://www.marc-foundation.org/
Mental Health America of Dutchess Country (MHA): https://mhadutchess.org/
International Drug Overdose Awareness Day: https://www.dea.gov/ioad
Hope on a Mission: https://www.hopeonamission.org/
Council on Addiction Prevention and Education (CAPE): https://capedc.org/
https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/jta7d53N1Db
Community Action Partnership (Aired on June 19, 2022)
Elizabeth Spira, CEO of the Community Action Partnership of Dutchess Country(CAP), visits Radio Rotary to describe the many programs that CAP offers to assist low-income residents with food, housing, energy needs, prescription medicine costs, and more. Community Action agencies originated as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty,” which began in 1964, and are an example of a federal program the works at the country or regional level. For those in need, CAP supplied 3 days of food (3 meals a day) at 4 locations in Dutchess County. For energy needs, not only is there financial help in buying fuel, but a weatherization offer that dramatically reduces fuel needs. The employment program helps seekers “Dress for Success” and prepare resumes.
Case workers help sort out the problems people face and find solutions to them. There is much more in this fascinating interview.
Learn More:
Community Action Partnership for Dutchess Country: https://www.dutchesscap.org/
History of Community Action: https://www.ncap.info/about/history/history-of-community-action.html
Hudson Valley Foundation for Youth Health (Aired on November 7, 2021)
RadioRotary welcomes Kingston Rotarian Gwen McCann, secretary of the Board of the Hudson Valley Foundation for Youth Health, which supports nonprofit organizations in five mid-Hudson counties, northern Dutchess and Columbia, Greene, Ulster, and Delaware counties. The Hudson Valley Foundation for Youth Health has since 1994 awarded over $3 million to some 1,500 community organizations committed to supporting programs that address parenting; alcohol and substance abuse; mental and emotional health; domestic violence; quality education; and other basic health issues. The money distributed is mostly from the income on a $2.6 million endowment from a former Health Maintenance Organization, which used its cash remaining in 1992 when it went out of business to set up the charitable organization. The foundation also receives and distributes donations from the public.
Learn more:
Hudson Valley Foundation for Youth Health: https://www.hvfyh.org/
Hudson Valley Foundation for Youth Health on Facebook: Hudson Valley Foundation for Youth Health
Rotary Club of Kingston: https://www.kingstonnyrotary.org/
The Borgen Project to End World Poverty (Aired on August 30, 2020)
Scott Oatkin, Political Affairs Ambassador for The Borgen Project, visits RadioRotary (via Zoom) to describe the efforts that he and other volunteers are making to encourage the United State Government to do more to help end world poverty. Around the world more than 700 million people live in extreme poverty, and The Borgen Project is dedicated to the proposition that the world’s richest nation should be leading efforts to improve economies. A better world economy would be better for the United States as well. The Borgen Project got started 7 years ago when Clint Borgen was a volunteer in Kosovo and saw first-hand how many people live without enough food or other necessities because of low income. More recently Mr. Oatkin also experienced how really impoverished people live when he was a part of the Rhinebeck Interact’s mission to build a school in rural Nicaragua, which led to his involvement in The Borgen Project. Rhinebeck Interact is a high-school club sponsored by Rhinebeck Rotary. Mr. Oatkin is now a junior political science major at NYU. As a Borgen Project Ambassador, he lobbies government officials to do more about world poverty.
Learn more:
The Borgen Project: https://borgenproject.org/
Interview with Clint Borgen: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/borgen-one-mans-seven-year-project-to-downsize-poverty/
Rhinebeck Interact on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/395583917202375/
Rhinebeck Rotary: https://portal.clubrunner.ca/2252